Conservatives for Kerry? Here's Your Man. (Kevin Phillips) Great!

[kskiska]

An Old Nixon Hand Smacks the Bushes

LITCHFIELD, Conn. -- Utter three words -- George Walker Bush -- and watch eminent author Kevin Phillips, a longtime Republican, a former Nixon aide and past party theoretician, pucker like he has inhaled a pickle.

"I've never understood why we take Bush and his family seriously," he says. "They come from the investment-inherited-money wing of the Republican Party. They display no real empathy for anyone who is not of their class."

He pauses a few seconds as his fingers execute a tap dance on his picnic table.

"They aren't supply-siders; they're crony-siders. As far as I'm concerned, I would put Bush on a slow boat to China with all full warning to the Chinese submarine fleet."

(snip)

Phillips's bottom line is unsparing. He describes the Bushes as second-tier New England monied types who made the strategic move from Greenwich, Conn., to Midland, Tex., just as the nation's power pendulum took a southern swing. This was not a particularly daring strike into the interior. Rather, like proper Wall Street capitalists, the Bushes and many other financier families had sniffed the scent of sweet cash and sent a relative or two to investigate.

more…
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A42831-2004Aug28?language=printer

[Eric J in MN]

1. Cool (nt)

nt

[kskiska]

2. He's right on the mark

What bothers him is that generation after generation of Bushes are so unwilling to transcend their class interests.

"An old buccaneer and bootlegger like Joe Kennedy became an SEC head for Roosevelt and cracked down on his own class," Phillips says, adding: "The Bush family would just appoint a Gucci-shoe-licking sycophant. The family has simply developed a culture of being enormously supportive of their class."

Even the president's Texas twang grates on Phillips, whose own accent is clipped and clear and, we must note, a tad patrician. "Listen to them! Assemble the very best panel of linguists you could find and have them listen to brothers Jeb and G.W. -- they wouldn't even guess they're in the same family," Phillips says. "G.W. talks like a cowboy and he's no more a backwoods Texan than I am."

[TaleWgnDg]

4. exactly . . .

[TaleWgnDg]

3. yup, Phillips' book . . .

"American Dynasty: Aristocracy, Fortune, and the Politics of Deceit in the House of Bush" is a good read. Phillips is an old-time Republican, and many of them are openly or secretly barfing about Bush and Company as is Phillips. Who can blame them?

[Spiffarino]

5. Good book, but a tad tangled

Or maybe I'm just dense. I had a hard time getting through it because the connections he makes are often tenuous and hard to follow. He could have written a shorter version that just dealt with things the BFEE was directly involved in and it would have had more impact, not to mention been a better read.

On the plus side, the book is meticulously researched and highly informative. So far I've loaned it twice and both times my friends came back with good reviews.

[TaleWgnDg]

6. yes, I prefer reading a well-researched book . . . and

as you said, Phillips did do that. Great to pass it along to others too.

[Spiffarino]

7. Hey, I'm a veritable library of Bush-bashing tomes

Lying Liars just came back last week...Shrub is still out on loan. Need a book, Tale?

:)