Book Description

President George W. Bush is derailing America, steering it away from its stated and accepted purpose as a nation. With his second inaugural address, President Bush (43) completed his transformation of the office of the President of the United States into a personal "mission" that serves his individual needs and agenda rather than the needs and agenda of the nation that elected him. Throughout his first term of office, intimations of a personal agenda colored by his religious "rightist" leanings, appeared in various speeches and policies, such as the canceling the $34 million authorized by Congress for the United Nations Fund for Population Activities, his withdrawing the US from the Kyoto Protocol, his appointment of conservative judges, his refusal to consider alternative energy sources, and the waging of an unnecessary and unjust war. These intimations have by now coalesced into an unmistakable agenda that fits a "mission" that has nothing to do with the presidency. Of course, Bush could not accomplish this on his own; he has help. A Bird in the Bush shows how Bush's initiatives fit within a framework of Republican activities covering a wide range of conservative thinking reaching back to the Nixon era, and then shows how various individual policies have failed to meet their purported goals and the voters' expectations. Neo-conservative thinking has undermined the roadbed and allowed Bush to promote a distorted view of the nation's stand for freedom and democracy. The perspective of Republican activities also helps show why various Bush 43's policies - which many see as blunders - have been able to go unchallenged. Responsible, constructive criticism of our government, which VicePresident Dick Cheney and Attorney General John Ashcroft consider tantamount to treason, is actually one of the most patriotic efforts imaginable. The late Sen. J. William Fulbright not only approved such dissent but called it a duty. Contributors: Dowling Campbell, Northern Arizona University John Kemoli Sagala, Northern Arizona University Zachary A. Smith, Northern Arizona University Sayuri Guthrie-Shimizu, Michigan State University Jaina L. Moan, Northern Arizona University Don Rich, Delaware and Montgomery County Colleges Douglas Becker, University of Southern California Jerry F. Hough, Duke University