government

Arianna Huffington's superbly witty book is particularly significant in view of the fact that she falls into the category of independents that the Democratic Party needs to win back the White House in November. Huffington reveals her epiphany, when Harris Wofford, a former civil rights leader with close ties to Martin Luther King, convinced her in the wake of her criticism that the Americorps program he headed in the Clinton administration deserved her support. Arianna not only reversed course on Americorps, she became an articulate populist who is now one of the most trenchant critics of George W. Bush.

The rationale for Huffington's book is stated in her title, bracketing competing political forces into fanatics and fools. She sharply attacks the Bush administration and the current Republican Party, attaching the label of fanaticism based on what she perceives as destructive policies, 1) in the realm of supporting tax cuts which disproportionately benefit the wealthy at the expense of the rest of America, 2) a jingoistic foreign policy responsible for not only launching a war in Iraq that was unnecessary, but alienating world opinion through a go it alone attitude, 3) shortchanging America's schools, 4) despoiling the environment, 5) leaving America vulnerable to foreign terrorist attack while making bogus claims of making the citizenry safer.

The Republicans are defined as fanatics and the Democrats labeled as fools for failing to mount a cohesive opposition. Huffington delivers a necessary slap in exhorting the troops to shape up after the disastrous 2002 mid-term elections, in which the opposition party failed to provide a clear message and appeared intimidated by boisterous Republican propaganda efforts directed by Karl Rove equating opposition with an absence of patriotism. Speaking as someone with authentic independent credentials of her own, Arianna bluntly tells the Democratic Party leadership that the only way Bush can be defeated is to stir the increasing number of Americans dropping out of the process with a clear and effective message, a concise and sharply articulated alternative to Bush Republicanism. Bush Lite, she argues, will do no more than provide Bush More.

Huffington, who was a candidate in the recent California recall race for governor before dropping out late in the race, provides an intelligent analysis of Arnold Schwarzenegger from the up close perspective of someone who has known him for a long time, becoming acquainted with him initially when the actor supported her ex-husband in his attempt to defeat Senator Dianne Feinstein in a hotly contested 1994 race. She notes that he uses his charm to shield himself from criticism, dodging the tough issues. Despite his "moderate" tag stemming from issues such as abortion and gay adoption, she notes that on the important money issues that really matter to the Republican Party, Schwarzenegger's positions are in lock step with those of Bush, someone for whom he has expressed deep admiration. She notes that in honoring his pledge to repeal the controversial car tax, Schwarzenegger reeked economic wreckage in which the blind, students from middle class families hoping to attend college, and welfare single mothers seeking to bring up families were all deprived of needed funds.

Huffington writes with a penetrating wit, honed as a debater in her college days at Cambridge University. It is understandable why right wing Republicans prefer to keep their distance from her.

Arianna Huffington has written a well thought out book that profoundly indicts the current Bush Administration but does so in a way that the most respected political philosophers of today like Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. would be proud.

Basically, Ms. Huffington warns of an America that is so wildly off course due to the detached leadership of George W. Bush that we are getting to a dangerous point in our country's history. She offers the thought that asks how long can the downtrodden be tossed aside before the entire social fabric that hold our society collapses?

Ms. Huffington adds that the amount of people looking for emergency rooms as their health care is increasing at alarming rates. She cites headlines from around the country that note the plight of the working poor and wonders why they are being ignored by our political system.

More importantly, Ms. Huffington calls into question that lack of leadership by the media who've abandoned the task of reporting on how Bush has broken promises to help the poor and children but had rewarded the rich time and again with excessive tax cuts.

Ms. Huffington then calls into question the political rise of Arnold Schwarzenegger and sadly notes that he is nothing but a warmed over George W. Bush who upon taking office made his first action to strip away a cost of living increase for California's poor. She then says that the media has fallen in love with Arnold and is giving him a pass time and again all to the determent of the poor of California as he cuts their social net.

This is a well written book on so many levels that is better than the Franken book as it is less angry and more intellectual. Her book is more of a strategic argument for a new course of action for the Democratic Presidential Candidate of 2004 and the party itself.

In short, this is an excellent political treatise that should be read by all who are looking for a new course for our country.

Yes, this is another book of political complaints and recommendations that has been written specifically for the election year market. As usual, most reviews will be based on each reader's personal agreement with Arianna Huffington's personal politics. There is nothing inherently wrong with that, and I'm probably about to do the same thing myself. So does this politicized tirade have any advantages over the avalanche of others that are currently available, from pundits of all political stripes and intelligence levels? Yes, some very specific advantages. Most importantly, Huffington positions herself as a "Progressive," leading to useful insights from outside the present two-party system.

What's unique about this book is that Huffington usually (though not always) succeeds in saving us from yet another partisan whinefest, and she has plenty of vitriol for everyone. Here we have not the usual left vs. right arguments, but down-to-Earth insights for the mass public vs. the privileged few. The "Fanatics" of the book's title are the elite establishment Republicans that Huffington used to party with, especially the current administration, who by relentlessly controlling social thought, have miraculously convinced the public that they actually represent regular people rather than just the mega-rich and corporate campaign contributors. Meanwhile the "Fools" of the title are the Democrats that Huffington now supports in principle, but are too wishy-washy to be anything other than watered-down Republicans.

Great column-sized vignettes outlining the sheer ridiculousness of the Bush Administration's policies make up about three quarters of the book, with Huffington's outstanding insights into the severe hypocrisy and lying involved, plus the real-world consequences. However, the tail end of the book is problematic as Huffington outlines what the Democrats can do to fix the situation. Her recommendations are correct and aligned with the great strengths of both the Democrats and the American people. However, her writing on this subject disregards short-term political realities and tends toward the idealism of a wishful, though certainly good, speechwriter - which appears to be Huffington's next career goal. [~doomsdayer520~]