Losing America: Confronting a Reckless and Arrogant Presidency

by Robert C. Byrd

Book Overview

In the months and years following September 11, Senator Robert C. Byrd has viewed with alarm what he considers to be a "slow unraveling of the people's liberties," when all dissenting voices were stilled and awesome power swung suddenly to the president to fight a "war on terror." This path violates historic American principles--it shows no regard for the balance of powers or the role of the Congress; it invades our privacy; and it eliminates public...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0393327019
• ISBN13: 9780393327014
• Release Date: April 2005
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
• Length: 272 Pages
• Weight: 0.65 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.6" x 8.2"

Customer Reviews

Awakening call from a hyper-vigilant watchdog

Armed with over half-century of legislative stewardship, heightened vigilance, and global stature, Robert Byrd squeezes a fascinating synopsis of modern American history in formidable mere 200 pages of lucid and fluid narration. The INTRODUCTION describes how 9/11 has transformed a visionless president into a global leader, unquestioned by the media and by members of either party, whose false bravado ill serves our country. It also describes how the Congress's ambivalence is endangering our constitutionally enshrined freedom from tyranny, which could only be preserved by the aggressive and vigilant maintenance of checks and balances and separation of powers of the three branches of the government. The pandering media drummed the patriotic tone to hike its profit, sanitized the news, opponents disappear, glossed over the harsh realities of war. Chapter 1, "CHANGING THE TONE", discusses the poisonous atmosphere of strained relationships, loss or respect and trust among the people's representatives and how Bush II is amassing power, rewarding friends with extreme cynicism and appeal to greed. Bush's alliance with the neo-conservatives' agenda of "New Beginning" claiming to "give the people back their money" had siphoned $2 trillion dollars to the deep pockets of the well-to-do, without Budget Committee report on the budget. The author draws parallels between Bush II in 2000 and Hoover in 1928 and the Great Depression when thousands of people become destitute by the government policies, tax cuts, and increased deficits caused by the detached ideologue Hoover. Chapter 2, "AN UNPATRIOT ACT", describes how the Congress was hurried to pass a resolution that gives the executive branch of government unfettered access to intelligence and law enforcement and could allow military tribunals instead of due process and court laws. He cites James Madison's reasoning that aggressive congressional oversight ensured government controls itself and functions in democracy because of the continual grasping and groping for more power by presidents of both parties. Chapter 3, "WORMS IN THE WOOD", discusses the dangerous changes that are honeycombing the towers of our Constitution in the form of corruption, dishonesty, greed, exit of discipline achievement from schoolroom, apathy of the governed towards the selection of those governing. The usurpation of purse control by the Republican Congress's is evident in rubber-stamping any proposal for defense through perfunctory consultation process. Restricting intelligence briefings to few members of the Congress, stonewalling, and limiting presidential information to the public are signs of clandestine abuses of power. Chapter 4, "TOUGH TALK AND AFGHANISTAN", discusses the consequences of the Senate Joint Resolution 23 that gives the president the right to declare war to defend national security and foreign policy, against nations and organizations. It contends that the global war on terror so glibly declared is a "sl

A must read.

Senator Byrd is the most knowledgable senator about the Constitution of the United States. He brings a perspective about the Separation of Powers based on 50 years of elected experience. When he sees a threat to the Constitution, we, as Americans, should listen or we may lose our country. As citizens, we must be able to say: "WE, THE PEOPLE!" Democracy demands it.

A Voice in the Wilderness

Those who knock this book don't understand the point of what Sen. Byrd is saying. In fact, from some of the negative reviews I've read here, it seems that some haven't even read the book at all and are merely throwing a review up in hopes of trashing this work so others won't read it. Well, I've read it, and I strongly advise everyone to read every word of it. It will give you an insider's view of how Congress and the Executive branch of government are functioning these days. When George Bush debated Al Gore in 2000, he said he would reach across the aisle and work with the Democrats to unite America in a common purpose. These words are laughable today. Senator Byrd, a long-time senate veteran who has worked with numerous administrations, both Democratic and Republican, speaks from years of experience in stating that he has never seen such callow, arrogant, and ignorant behavior as this Bush administration has demonstrated. Bush's contempt for Congress and crude grabs for power that have set our government's delicate and successful system of checks and balances on its ear for years to come are carefully presented by the senator. Bush's bill to authorize the war on Iraq was filled with language that took away the power of Congress to make war and gave Bush carte blanche permission to attack anyone he perceived as plotting against America. So what mechanism is in place to stop Bush and his hawks should he desire to attack Iran or North Korea or Jordan? The military in this country is supposed to be overseen by a civilian authority, but it seems that things have been reversed in Bush's administration. The military and its inherent need to make war is in charge in America, and Bush is merely an instrument of its will. And the budgeting of all this activity was ramroded through Congress with next to no debate or accountability from the Bush administration. This kind of stonewalling of Congress is not only showing contempt of Congress (an impeachable offense), but it is indicative of a certain hubris and a contempt for the American people. It shows a fundamental lack of understanding of American history, American government, and the American people. I can't thank Senator Robert Byrd enough for standing up to this new kind of dictatorial force in America, reminiscent of the McCarthy era. I just hope the American people educate themselves to this force and restore balance and democracy to our beloved land.

Our democracy is being threatened as never before.

Senator Byrd is a statesman in an era of partisan politics. No one in our government has a greater love of the U.S. Constitution, and no one has done a better job than Senator Byrd in this book of describing how the Bush Administration has circumvented the role of Congress with the support of the Republican leadership in the House and Senate. Contrary to the President's claim that Congress "had access to the same intelligence that I had" before giving him legislative support to go to war with Iraq, Byrd's detailed account demonstrates that the White House kept Congress in the dark and forced a rushed vote using every real and artificial pressure it could muster. Byrd, a student of history - and a man whose experience extends back 45 years in the Senate - contrasts the White House's secret and manipulative behavior with that of past administrations, and echoes the feelings of many that the war in Iraq has actually hurt our ability to find and fight terrorists. Equally alarming is Byrd's recounting of his numerous attempts to increase the funding for homeland security, every one of which has been rejected by the White House. Byrd summarizes the Bush strategy for getting public support for his war by quoting Hermann Goering: "...the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same way in any country."

A sense of history

When I moved to West Virginia a few years ago, I thought that Senator Byrd was a joke, the ultimate pork-barrel senator. After watching his behavior post-911 and reading this book, I am proud that he is my senator. Byrd has been in Congress since the Korean War. He isn't a liberal firebrand like Michael Moore- he has been willing to work with people from across the political spectrum (especially to bring money to West Virginia). What comes across in this book is a profound sorrow that our time-tested system of government is being destroyed for short-term political advantage. Byrd says that the real threat to our way of life is internal. Democracy is easy to subvert: the collapse of the Roman republic, is a classic case. Our Founding Fathers knew this, and the reason that our federal government seems so inefficient is that they designed it to be inefficient. They knew that leaders in the future would try to establish a dictatorship, and they feared that certainty more than the possibility of destruction from outside. Byrd was one of the few politicians who stood up to the Bush administration when they demanded complete control to combat terrorism. He tried to stop the Democrats from swallowing the lies that led us into the Iraq war. He asked for straight answers to simple questions and was ignored. Now Byrd is asking more simple questions. Why are we giving up our liberties? When is the terrorism crisis going to end? We need to come with answers before it is too late.