Yes, the elections are over, but that doesn t mean the country is any less divided along political lines than it was before last month s voting. Here are some books that might be appropriate for either left-wing, tree-hugging, anti-war do-gooders; or the right-wing, fire-breathing, my-wayor-the-highway types on your list.
“Air America: The Playbook,” by the hosts of Air America (Rodale, 256 pages, $26.95). Using outrage, humor and sarcasm, the hosts of the progressive radio network take on all things right wing. It uses interviews, transcripts of broadcasts, old and new material to get its points across.
“America at the Crossroads: Democracy, Power, and the Neoconservative Legacy,” by Francis Fukuyama (Yale University Press, 240 pages, $25). Once a neoconservative himself, the author indicts the Bush administration for its war in Iraq and for what he calls the neoconservative idea of “benevolent hegemony.”
“American Theocracy: The Peril and Politics of Radical Religion, Oil, and Borrowed Money in the 21st Century,” by Kevin Phillips (Penguin, 480 pages, $26.95). This former Republican strategist turns the tables and laments the direction the country is heading and skewers the current political condition, taking on radical religion and right-wing policies.
“Brainless: The Lies and Lunacy of Ann Coulter,” by Joe Maguire (Morrow, 204 pages, $21.95). The author takes on the so-called “mistress of malice,” rebutting her arguments and saying she has the classic symptoms of narcissistic personality disorder. In his acknowledgments, he thanks Coulter “for being such an easy target.”
“Conservatives Without Conscience,” by John Dean (Penguin, 288 pages, $25.95). Dean, who was a major player in the Watergate scandal as a Nixon administration insider, bemoans what the current minders of the conservative flame have done to the old American conservative movement.
“The Good Fight: Why Liberals – And Only Liberals – Can Win the War on Terror and Make America Great Again,” by Peter Beinart (HarperCollins, 288 pages, $25.95). Beinart asserts that America’s goodness cannot just be asserted, it must be proved. He contends that liberalism cannot just be anti-right, it must be anti-totalitarianism.
“The Greatest Story Ever Sold: The Decline and Fall of Truth from 9/11 to Katrina,” by Frank Rich (Penguin, 352 pages, $25.95). The New York Times op-ed columnist outlines a lengthy list of what he terms “lies” from the current administration and how it has manufactured an impressive “spin machine.”
“How Bush Rules: Chronicle of a Radical Regime,” by Sidney Blumenthal (Princeton University Press, 416 pages, $26.95). It’s the author’s contention that while President Bush fashions himself a conservative, he’s really more radical than any president in American history – and that he set out to do this from the start.
“Hubris: The Inside Story of Spin, Scandal, and the Selling of the Iraq War,” by Michael Isikoff and David Corn (Crown, 480 pages, $25.95). The authors claim to have the inside story on how the Bush administration misled the American public about its reasons for going to war against the Saddam Hussein regime in Iraq.
“Losing Our Democracy: How Bush, the Far Right and Big Business Are Betraying Americans for Power and Profit,” edited by Mark Green (Sourcebooks, 390 pages, $24.95). Green contends, and then goes on to try to prove his theory, that the Bush administration, in cahoots with the far right and religious movements and big business, is sabotaging our democracy.
“America Alone: The End of the World as We Know It,” by Mark Steyn (Regnery, 256 pages, $27.95). In his first book, Steyn says that America is standing alone in the world as anti-Americanism begins to grow in Europe and among fundamental Islamists. He sees the future as us against the world.
“Bankrupt: The Intellectual and Moral Bankruptcy of Today’s Democratic Party,” by David Limbaugh (Regnery, 448 pages, $27.95). The columnist and brother of Rush lambastes all things Democrat, most notably what he sees as the party’s attacks on President Bush and traditional morality. He also takes on activist judges it and left-wing racism.
“Conservative Comebacks to Liberal Lies: Issue by Issue Responses to the Most Common Claims of the Left From A to Z,” by Gregg Jackson (Jaj Publishing, 414 pages, $19.94, paperback). Just what it sounds like. Here are responses on such subjects as abortion, terrorism, the Patriot Act, the deficit, school vouchers, homosexual marriage. You get the idea.
“The Conservative Soul: How We Lost It, How to Get It Back,” by Andrew Sullivan (HarperCollins, 294 pages, $25.95). Sullivan thinks that the Republican Party moves too fast and spends too much money, depending too much on the far right wing. He wants politics that respect religion, but distances itself from it, and one that spends far less money.
“Culture Warrior,” by Bill O’Reilly (Broadway, 240 pages, $26). Never one to shy away from an opinion, the Fox pundit and host of “The O’Reilly Factor” takes on those who don’t hold to traditional values. Calling them secular progressives, he tackles their ideas on such subjects as the war on terrorism, education, religion and more.
“Godless: The Church of Liberalism,” by Ann Coulter (Crown, 320 pages, $27.95). Nobody sets a liberal’s hair on fire quite as much as Coulter. In her latest book, the pundit contends that liberalism IS a religion and lashes out at evolutionary biology and atheism, claiming that Democrats hate religion.
“Rebel in Chief: Inside the Bold and Controversial Presidency of George W. Bush,” by Fred Barnes (Crown, 224 pages, $23.95). Barnes had access to the Bush administation for this book, which posits that Bush and other members of his administration are shaking up Washington and remaking what it means to be conservative.
“The Shadow Party: How George Soros, Hillary Clinton, and Sixties Radicals Siezed Control of the Democratic Party,” by David Horowitz (Nelson Current, 304 pages, $25.99). Horowitz contends that America is under assault every day, not from without but from a group of people intent on taking over the Democratic Party.
“Stand for Something: The Battle for America’s Soul,” by John Kasich (Warner, 256 pages, $24.95). A former congressman and current Fox TV host, Kasich talks about such issues as partisanship, education, video games, and religion, his and others’.
“Strategery: How George W. Bush Is Defeating Terrorists, Outwitting Democrats, and Confounding the Mainstream Media,” by Bill Sammons (Regnery, 256 pages, $27.95). Here is an insider’s look at the Bush White House soon after the president is re-elected. Sammons was given access to a wide range of officials.
