HARDBACK ATTACK POLARIZED NATION ALREADY VOTING WITH ITS BOOK-BUYING DOLLAR.Byline: David Kronke Staff Writer ``It really gets me when critics say I haven't done enough for the economy,'' President Bush joked at May's White House Correspondents dinner. ``Look what I've done for the book publishing book publishing. The term publishing means, in the broadest sense, making something publicly known. Usually it refers to the issuing of printed materials, such as books, magazines, periodicals, and the like. industry.'' No kidding: Political polemics po·lem·ics n. (used with a sing. or pl. verb) 1. The art or practice of argumentation or controversy. 2. The practice of theological controversy to refute errors of doctrine. are stuffing bookstore shelves at an unprecedented rate. It's not a joke for those writing and buying these books: Titles attacking the Bush administration have been dominating best-seller lists, which Bill Clinton's memoir currently tops, followed by books both celebrating Bush and attacking liberals. ``These books are a symptom of the extreme political polarization in this country, and I don't think it's healthy,'' declares Sen. John McCain For McCain's grandfather and father, see John S. McCain, Sr. and John S. McCain, Jr., respectively John Sidney McCain III (born August 29, 1936 in Panama Canal Zone) is an American politician, war veteran, and currently the Republican Senior U.S. Senator from Arizona. , R-Ariz., whose most recent book is ``Why Courage Matters'' (Random House; $16.95), a work more inspirational than political. ``Polarization breeds political cowardice Cowardice See also Boastfulness, Timidity. Acres, Bob a swaggerer lacking in courage. [Br. Lit.: The Rivals] Bobadill, Captain vainglorious braggart, vaunts achievements while rationalizing faintheartedness. [Br. Lit. in us - cowardice, not courage.'' The New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of Times' David Brooks David Brooks is the name of:
``The crucial question is, why is he so polarizing?'' Brooks asks. ``His true believers "True Believers" is the fourth episode of the first season of the CBS television series The Unit. The episode aired on March 28, 2006. Summary The team is sent to Los Angeles to protect Mexico's drug minister from an assassination threat. say he's a transformational president, like Franklin Roosevelt or Ronald Reagan, so they believe it's inevitable, because he's trying to do so much. I'm not sure. If he reached out to Democrats, he'd be in a lot better shape,'' The louder the volume Hence a lot of trees getting pulped at the behest of opposing ideologies. Pasadena-based writer John Powers The name John Powers can refer to:
``Six anti-Bush books on the best-seller list (at the time of this interview) - how many more can people take? A lot of them are good, true things. But the overall effect will be to diminish all of them a little bit, through no fault of any one of them.'' < Powers' book humorously observes how popular culture reflects on the Bush administration and vice versa VICE VERSA. On the contrary; on opposite sides. - Powers calls the current climate ``Bush World,'' which, coincidentally, also serves as the title of New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd's new book (Putnam; $25.95). ``Bushworld: Enter at Your Own Risk'' comes out Tuesday and, at more than 500 pages, is the weightiest of the anti-Bush screeds. As John Dean, White House counsel during the Nixon administration and author of ``Worse Than Watergate: The Secret Presidency of George W. Bush'' (Little, Brown; $22.95), notes, some of the sniping simply represents a return to form on behalf of the media. ``Before Watergate, the president was given the benefit of doubt; since then, he's been assumed guilty of everything,'' Dean observes. ``That ran through Clinton, and then a great switch in the sky during the 2000 campaign gave Bush and (Vice President Dick) Cheney a pass. Whether it was the influence of the Fox News Channel or the excesses of coverage on Clinton's sex life, it changed the aggressive coverage of the presidency. For a while, it seemed that the prevailing view was that we should view the president as a monarch and never question him. That's what he wants, but I can't believe as a nation we want to go there.'' TV drops the ball Amy Goodman Amy Goodman (b. April 13, 1957 in Bay Shore, New York) is an American progressive broadcast journalist and author. A 1984 graduate of Harvard University, Goodman is best known as the principal host of Pacifica Radio's Democracy Now! , host of the extremely liberal Pacifica Radio's ``Democracy Now!'' and author (with her brother David) of ``The Exception to the Rulers: Exposing Oily Politicians, War Profiteers, and the Media that Love Them'' (Hyperion; $21.95), also believes that it's time It's Time was a successful political campaign run by the Australian Labor Party (ALP) under Gough Whitlam at the 1972 election in Australia. Campaigning on the perceived need for change after 23 years of conservative (Liberal Party of Australia) government, Labor put forward a for the other side of the debate to be heard. ``There are four major nightly newscasts, and in the run-up to the war with Iraq, 393 interviews were done, and only three were with anti-war representatives,'' she says. ``That's obscene. The media was beating drums for war. We have an utterly cowardly media in this country for the most part. The people want to hear other voices.'' ``Any Bush-is-evil book will go on the best-seller list these days, whether they're anti-Bush screeds that just say, 'Agghhh, I hate you!' or are, like some, scholarly,'' says Tucker Carlson Tucker Swanson McNear Carlson (born May 16, 1969) is a libertarian-conservative political news pundit who formerly co-hosted Crossfire and currently hosts Tucker, a national television news show, which is broadcast weekdays at 6 p.m. ET on MSNBC. , CNN's conservative ``Crossfire'' co-host, whose own book, ``Politicians, Partisans and Parasites: My Adventures in Cable News'' (Warner Books; $24.95), doesn't grind many axes. However, Carlson suggests, ``Outside of the author's mom, people don't buy these books to read them. People buy political books as a talisman: `I love Bill O'Reilly Bill O'Reilly may refer to:
Nonetheless, Carlson says, ``I think it's ominous. The White House should be concerned.'' Driving the news ``There's no doubt that there's a bit of a dike-breaking quality to what's happening now,'' says Ron Suskind Ron Suskind is an American journalist and writer. A former Wall Street Journal reporter (1993-2000), he won the Pulitzer Prize for Feature Writing in 1995. Career , Pulitzer Prize-winning author of ``The Price of Loyalty,'' the best-selling account of Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill's unhappy experience in the Bush administration. ``This administration has been so good at managing its message and staying on script, and yet revelations are coming out month by month - my book, and (Richard) Clarke's ('Against All Enemies') and Bob Woodward's ('Plan of Attack'). ``A book offers a lot of advantages - you can spend time digging, be thorough and produce something in a partisan environment that is bulletproof Refers to extremely stable hardware and/or software that cannot be brought down no matter what unusual conditions arise. See industrial strength. bulletproof - Used of an algorithm or implementation considered extremely robust; lossage-resistant; capable of correctly ,'' he adds. ``People say, 'I want something I can rely on, with facts and truths so I know what to think.' They want a sentient sentient /sen·ti·ent/ (sen´she-ent) able to feel; sensitive. sen·tient adj. 1. Having sense perception; conscious. 2. Experiencing sensation or feeling. and informed judgment.'' But even thorough reporting can be filtered through ideology. Fox News Channel's John Gibson John Gibson is a common name, shared by:
Michael Moore's hit documentary ``Fahrenheit 9/11'' has furthered suspicions toward the administration on one side of the political spectrum and cries of propagandizing on the other. Clinton's ``My Life'' has also proven polarizing, renewing attacks from the right. War fatigue Vehemence toward the Bush administration was similarly reflected in a recent letter from the editor of the Post-Crescent newspaper of Appleton, Wis., which urged readers to write more pro-Bush letters. ``We've been getting more letters critical of President Bush than those that support him,'' the paper's editor wrote, adding, ``We're not sure why, nor do we want to guess. But ... we would prefer our offering to put forward a better sense of balance.'' Many interviewed believe, however, that Americans have reached a point where they can't defend the president's policies, even though many, in the wake of 9/11, still wish to support him. ``(His support) is more psychologically based than politically based,'' suggests conservative-turned-liberal Arianna Huffington, author of ``Fanatics and Fools: The Game Plan for Winning Back America'' (Miramax; $23.95). ``Why does the wife with evidence of her husband having an affair refuse to see it? A lot of us are invested in Bush's presidency. We don't want buyer's remorse.'' Ganging up on the president, while satisfying to his foes, can have a backlash effect. ``Democrats risk overplaying Bush hatred,'' Carlson says. ``Clinton was more popular at the end of the impeachment impeachment, formal accusation issued by a legislature against a public official charged with crime or other serious misconduct. In a looser sense the term is sometimes applied also to the trial by the legislature that may follow. proceedings than at the beginning. Republicans felt that if they got the message out about what a creep Clinton was, people would never vote for him, but he still went up with polls. Likewise, (online activist group) MoveOn.org thinks that if only the public knew what a liar Bush was, people would vote against him. It's a dumb assumption - anger makes you lose.'' ``That's a sound point,'' Suskind agrees. ``The White House strategically feels we are a nation divided in terms of the coastlines and the way much of the rest of the country feels on these matters. Some in the White House believe if this president is attacked for his incuriousness in·cu·ri·ous adj. Lacking intellectual inquisitiveness or natural curiosity; uninterested. in·cu , in some ways he scores points with people who frankly don't like the media. He may be intellectually disengaged dis·en·gage v. dis·en·gaged, dis·en·gag·ing, dis·en·gag·es v.tr. 1. To release from something that holds fast, connects, or entangles. See Synonyms at extricate. 2. in some cases, but don't mistake that for lack of acuity. He has tactical intelligence and is very effective at leveraging cultural divisions in the country.'' David Kronke, (818) 713-3638 david.kronke(at)dailynews.com CAPTION(S): 3 photos Photo: (1) no caption (book: ``Politicians, Partisans and Parasites: My Adventures in Cable News'') (2) no caption (book: ``Sore Winners (And the Rest of Us) in George Bush's America'') (3) no caption (book: ``Fanatics and Fools: The Game Plan for Winning Back America'') |
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