Trainwreck: The End of the Conservative Revolution (and Not a Moment Too Soon)

by Bill Press

Book Overview

One of America's best-known progressive commentators reveals that, far from betraying conservative ideals, George W. Bush's administration has behaved exactly as anyone would expect of a group that believes government is evil and always doomed to failure. Bill Press demonstrates that conservative positions have remained consistently wrong, and that, from its inception, the movement was dedicated to tearing things down, not building them up. Trainwreck...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0470182407
• ISBN13: 9780470182406
• Release Date: March 2008
• Publisher: Trade Paper Press
• Length: 256 Pages
• Weight: 1.05 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.5" x 9.4"

Customer Reviews

A glorious and eloquent rant with bite and substance

This is a book that in sharp language recalls the history of the conservative failure. "It began with Robert Taft... It was fueled by the intellectual fervor of Russell Kirk and William F. Buckley Jr. It picked up steam and political power with Barry Goldwater. It peaked in influence with Ronald Reagan and Newt Gingrich. It crashed and burned with George W. Bush." (p. 1) Bill Press adds near the end of the book: "For the last forty years, conservatives have dominated the political debate. And for most of that time, conservatives have held key positions of power." (p. 227) Nonetheless it may seem a bit premature to announce the end of the conservative revolution that begin, as Press has it, with Senator Robert Taft in opposition to FDR's New Deal; however I think there is an overriding reason having more to do with science, technology and globalization than it has to do with politics, for believing that Bill Press is right. Most people, especially people who might be called "the salt of the earth" tend to the conservative. This is evident in small town life, in the boardrooms of giant corporations and in the small business community. The reason for this is simple: these people have adjusted to their environment. Consequently any change can be threatening to them. In fact it has been argued that there is a genetic component to being conservative that affects a certain significant portion of the population. Perhaps that number is similar to the percentage of people who still support George W. Bush even after what he has done to this country. In other words probably about 25% of the population can be described as "congenital conservatives." That's a nice starting base, certainly larger than the perhaps five to ten percent who could be called DNA liberals. Being conservative is--or I should say, has been--the right default because throughout human history following the tried and true ways was usually the wisest course. Usually. In times of upheavals, great environmental, political or social challenges, people willing to embrace change have come to the forefront. Often they are young and disenfranchised, or just plain more knowledgeable about what is going on than their counterparts on the other side of the tribe. But those times have naturally been less frequent than times of stability. And stability is what we all need to live our lives in peace with the possibility of prosperity. But what is happening today, with the rapid acceleration of technology and the great reach of ideas from one culture to another, prohibits a strictly conservative view. There are great changes taking place almost overnight everywhere around the world. Consequently the immediate prospect and the long term prospects are for change, some of which will be momentous. To adapt to this world in flux we must be ready to change ourselves. We must reinvent our economies and our political institutions. We must do this carefully with open minds and with the

Liberal comebacks to conservative lies.

Republicans make us safer! - No... they don't. Conservative rule means smaller federal government! - No... it doesn't. Conservatives love the enviornment! - No... they don't. Conservatives are fiscally responsible! - No... they aren't. Conservatives talk a big game, but every time they come up short and show that they are unable to rule. From the enviroment, to the economy. From foreign policy to smaller federal power... conservatives can't deliver... and Bill Press shows you how. There are many books that expose conservative lies, but this is one of the better ones. It's easy to read, and Press is funny throughout. You can't argue with the facts... but like Stephen Colbert said: "Facts have a liberal bias." Also recommended: - Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right

Corporatism, not conservatism.

Talk show host Bill Press has done a valuable service in writing this book. There is a lot of confusion regarding political terms in this country that have largely lost their meaning. This has come about due to the deceitful work of figures like Sean Hannity and the corporatist movement he represents that has co-opted the term "conservative." As Bill Press has pointed out in another book, right-wing elites have similiarly co-opted the term "Christian" How the Republicans Stole Religion: Why the Religious Right is Wrong about Faith & Politics and What We Can Do to Make it Right, much like Roman emperor Constantine did Constantine's Sword. Franklin Delano Roosevelt warned us of the depridations of the "industrial dictatorship," and that is why Rush Limbaugh hates FDR and the government agencies (when they are not corrupted by Big Business) that can curb the excesses of the "aristocracy of our monied corporations" (to use Thomas Jefferson's phrase). "Train Wreck" outlines the many ways in which the "conservative" movement has operated in opposition to actual conservative values - they have not been fiscally responsible as our massive debt illustrates, they have directed an interventionist military agenda The Sorrows of Empire: Militarism, Secrecy, and the End of the Republic (The American Empire Project), they are disrespecting our environment and squandering natural resources Crimes Against Nature: How George W. Bush and His Corporate Pals Are Plundering the Country and Hijacking Our Democracy, they are disrespecting states' rights on issues like medical marijuana Waiting to Inhale, and they are trouncing our civil liberties Unconstitutional - The War On Our Civil Liberties. What we have been witnessing hasn't actually been a "conservative revolution," but rather a corporate coup The Corporation. A segment of the population, around 20%, has profited from this coup. Maybe they work in the fossil fuel, pharmaceutical or prison industries; so they are happy to see our government become the representative of business executives instead of the general public. And those that have profited are politically active and are misinformed each and every day by radio hosts across the country, and by corporate news channels like Fox, which receives sponsorship dollars from war profiteers like Lockheed Martin. In terms of media access, political influence and wealth distribution, the U.S. is becoming more and more like a two-tiered almost feudal society that we're accustomed to seeing in the Third World. And to maintain these disparities and injustices, we have a growing network of government agencies like the CIA, DIA, NSA, DEA and other ominous developments. Today's "conservatives" bemoan the "nanny" state (that provides social spending that the general public wants), but they love the authoritarian "daddy" state that surveils us, imprisons hundreds of thousands, regulates small business to death, and makes life miserable for economic refugees from

Informative, and a "need to read" for all Americans

I first heard of this book as it was plugged on the Stephanie Miller show. That was enough of a recommendation right there. I went ahead and got it last week, and I was not sorry I did. The book is a little bit dry, almost like a text book. But it is full of FACTS, which are not talking points, and which cannot be DISPROVED -- only DISAGREED with. I highly recommend all responsible adult Americans read this book, and decide for themselves if they want to give the Republicans another chance.

Funny and True

A book that opens with the sentence "The modern conservative movement is dead" is bound to solicit one-star reviews from those who call themselves "proud Republicans." Press goes on "the conservative revolution is finally over--and it was a total bust. If the Republicans were a restaurant, they'd have been closed by the Board of Health. If they were a building, they'd have been condemned. If they were a Hollywood starlet, they'd be in rehab." He notes an easily overlooked fact: conservatives are better at tearing down than accomplishing things. He notes that none of the ten items in Newt Gingrich's Contract With America is actually law... despite 14 years during which conservatives have vcariously controled of the House, the Senate, the Presidency, the Supreme Court. Not one item accomplished. Press' funny and insightful new book goes on to reveal the "Ten Things that Republicans Hope You Never Find Out." These are o Why the conservative movement that spawned Reagan, Gingrich, and Bush is now dead. o How many core conservative principles the Republicans have betrayed. o How Republicans have made us less safe, not more. o How Republicans became the biggest spenders of all time. o How much bigger the federal government has grown under conservative rule. o How Republicans got caught with their hands in the cookie jar. o How Republicans went from protecting the environment to plundering it. o How the party of peacekeepers became the party of perpetual war. o How Reagan was worse than Nixon-and Bush worse than both. 0 Why conservatives can never again be trusted with power. The last point is sure to incite some right-wing nutjobs out there... Press' makes the point that people who hate government should never again be allowed to run it (he does state conservatives could be a useful break on too much liberal power). There are eight chapters 1) "Loving the Great Outdoors" - environment. 2) "Restoring Honor and Dignity to Government" - about unethical conservatives from Bob Ney to Duke Cunningham to Ted Stevens to Tom DeLay to John Doolittle. 3) "Making Americans Safer" - about security issues. 4) "A Safeguard Againast Tyranny" - about how the Bush Administration betrayed conaservative principles to spy on its own citizens and institute torture. 5) "Avoiding Pointless Foreign Adventures" - Iraq and Iran 6) "Cutting Waste, Fraud, and Abuse"- how the GOP policies led to the FEMA's failure, collapsing bridges, unsafe planes, failure to regulate the banking industry and so on. 7) "The Party of Fiscal Responsibility" - how Bush and a GOP Congress turn a surplus into the largest deficit in history 8) "Less power to Washington" - how the GOP uses states' right rhetoric when not in charge, but behave the opposite way (cf Terry Schivo) when they are in charge. Each chapter concludes with a "Lessons Learned" section. In his conclusion, Press makes the case that it isn't Bush who failed conservatism (he lists a spate of recent titles), but