The Making of the American Conservative Mind: National Review and Its Times by Jeffrey Hart Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of The Making of the American Conservative Mind: National Review and Its Times
Book Review: nothing here will please conservatives who support Bush.
Summary: 5 Stars
Faith-based conservatives, those who value Bush because he claims to be a conservative despite the overwhelming evidence he isn't, will hate this book. Bush's freewheeling fiscal policies, whose intent is to make the rich even richer, and never mind the exploding national deficit are given full attention by Hart. More attention might have been paid to Bush's despoliation of the environment by relaxing controls of air and water pollution---i.e, in not conserving the environment and human health.
Areas that mark Bush's incompetence, even as a conservative, include:
Centralizing power within the executive branch to an unprecedented degree
Starting two major wars, one started with questionable intelligence and in a manner with which the military disagreed
Massive tax cuts during wartime, with a corresponding massive increase in the national debt.
Rolling back and refusing to enforce a host of basic regulatory protections
Appointing industry officials to oversee regulatory agencies; ask miners, for example, what they think about having a former mining executive head their federal safety board.
Establishing a greater role for religion through faith-based initiatives
Passing Orwellian-titled legislation assaulting the environment -- "The Healthy Forests Act" and the "Clear Skies Initiative" -- to deforest public lands, and put more pollution in our skies
Hart, who has impeccable conservative credentials, does well in showing how what Bush does (evidence) is at odds with what conservatives are supposed to believe (faith).
Useful adjuncts to this book are John Dean, Conservatives Without Conscience and Kevin Phillips, American Theocracy.
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