Edited 24 Oct 07 to add links for those that actually read books. My reviews of the last two books listed itemized the 25 documented high crimes and misdemeanors of Dick Cheney as covered by the two books together. I reiterate my challenge to O'Reilly: one hour, live, no notes, no cell, no laptop, moderated by an adult, on the ten high-level threats to humanity and what to do about them. He can't do it. It's that simply. The guy is a phoney, a bully, and woefully ignorant.
There is a certain class of pundit in today's age of directed communications who can pretend to be educated without ever reading a real book. O”Reilly's “analysis” is nothing more than opinion, spewed forth in a segmented “organized” stream of vitriol and ignorance.
He does not appear to be familiar with anything the Founding Fathers actually wrote, including the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, and most especially, the importance of having a God-fearing secular state in which TOLERANCE for all religions was a signal attribute.
He does not appear to be familiar with any of the literature of the dangers of intolerant fundamentalist religions (nor their hypocisy), nor does he seem to have a clue about the immoral predatory nature of modern “bandit” capitalism that is killing the working poor (see my review of the book by that title) and middle class, importing poverty, destroying pensions, devaluing the dollar, and on and on and on.
If you are one of those that used to say there is only one book that has to be read, the Bible, and then graduated to the “Left Behind” religion fiction series, this is your next read, taking you to third grade, where the bombastic articulate bully can hold court in the corner at recess.
On the other hand, if you want to actually get a grip on reality and have something to say about the future of both America and the world (which we are destroying, consuming one third of the energy and creating one third of the waste on the planet), then consider doing one thing and one thing only: spend two hours, free, reading my reviews of 800 non-fiction books about emerging threats, strategy & force structure, domestic politics as the destroyer of sane sustainable foreign policy, and the emergence of Collective Intelligence, which is what you get when people like O'Reilly are shunted off to the looney bin where they belong, and the rest of the world starts to think for itself and be open to dialog across all boundaries. [Note: my reviews are a pointer to the thoughts of others, intended as a map, not as a substitute for actually reading the books or thinking for yourself.]
Ann Coulter and Bill O'Reilly are the poster children for uninformed idiocy, and sadly, the incumbent President is their most avid reader. There you have it in a nutshell (pun intended).
Read, think for yourself, and get engaged. This book is a waste of time for anyone with a brain, and a vigorous reaffirmation for those without.
I confess to watching Fox News when Lou Dobbs, the new American hero, is not on air with CNN, but even in the intellectually sterile environment of Fox News, O'Reilly stands out as a street-corner idiot.
Postcript: Books with 200 reviews, most of them 1-2 lines with no substance, are a sure indicator of cult-like symbiosis. I meant also to point out that there *are* people who have progressive holistic solutions, just Google the web for <ten threats, twelve policies, eight challengers>. There is PLENTY OF MONEY to save the planet, it is simply too concentrated and protected by too many circles of corrupt politicians both Democratic and Republican. We can fix that in the near term.
The Lessons of History
The Landscape of History: How Historians Map the Past
The Cheating Culture: Why More Americans Are Doing Wrong to Get Ahead
Fog Facts: Searching for Truth in the Land of Spin
Weapons of Mass Deception: The Uses of Propaganda in Bush's War on Iraq
Breach of Trust: How Washington Turns Outsiders Into Insiders
The Global Class War: How America's Bipartisan Elite Lost Our Future – and What It Will Take to Win It Back
The Unconquerable World: Power, Nonviolence, and the Will of the People
Vice: Dick Cheney and the Hijacking of the American Presidency
The One Percent Doctrine: Deep Inside America's Pursuit of Its Enemies Since 9/11
