July 30, 2007
In his latest anti-Republican polemic, ex–Nixon White House counsel and Watergate whistle-blower Dean (Conservatives Without Conscience
) moves from policy to “process”—how necessary government functions are corrupted and hobbled by Republican politicians and their ethos of authoritarianism, secrecy, partisanship and dogmatic contempt for the public sphere. It's a long indictment. The last Republican Congress, Dean contends, rubber-stamped Bush's policies, shut Democrats out of the legislative process, neglected pressing issues and made a shambles of government finances. Meanwhile, the Bush administration—“the worst presidency ever”—has sought to replace constitutional checks and balances with a “unitary executive” that brooks no congressional interference and undermines civil rights. All of this is enabled by the swelling ranks of “fundamentalists” on the federal bench and Supreme Court (some of whom, he insists, committed perjury to get confirmed). The author, a former Republican, bolsters his procedural analysis with insights from political scientists, but doesn't offer procedural reforms; the cure he prescribes is to stop voting Republican. (He hails the new Democratic Congress for repairing much of the damage done by the GOP.) Dean's take on “process”—mainly a conventional reverence for the Constitution and bipartisanship—isn't acute, but he presents a vigorous critique of the Republican machinery.
Starred review from October 29, 2007
Dean delivers the presumably final book in his “impromptu trilogy” on the dread direction Republicans have taken both their party and the government in the past 40 years. His scathing premise that the government is on the brink of destruction due to the active choices of Republicans and the ineptitude of Democrats rings true as he meticulously identifies the failings and tenuous limbs upon which the three branches of government now exist. Dean also keenly identifies how the media has failed to address issues of how government processes its powers. Dean’s prose provides clear and concise explanations and a rhythm that Michael easily integrates into his cadence. While sounding uncannily similar to narrator Scott Brick, Michael’s voice has a slightly sterner tone, which further emphasizes Dean’s disgusted stance. Footnotes are placed conveniently at the end of sentences in a surprisingly unobtrusive manner. While the performance does contain the occasionally badly edited voice shift, it still ends up an impressive and eye-opening deconstruction of politics today. Simultaneous release with the Viking hardcover (Reviews, July 30).