Best books to give conservative whose eyes are slowly opening?

[lostnfound]

1. If you've read BOTH Unger's 'House of Bush House of Saud' and Philips' 'American Dynasty: Aristocracy, Fortune, and the Politics of Deceit in the House of Bush' -- how would you compare them for ease of reading, believability, impact on a conservative, etc.? Which is better reading?

2. What would be your favorite book to give to conservatives to read?

[RamboLiberal]

1. I'd give them both books and you might want to also

hold off and see how Richard Clarke's book which comes out Monday reads. I'm in the middle of both American Dynasty and House of Bush, House of Saud. Price of Loyalty is also a good book since it covers the fact that the Bushies were pushing for invading Iraq and the folly of their tax cuts and economic policy from the eyes of Republican Paul O' Neill.

[Andy_Stephenson]

2. Black Box Voting

Ballot Tampering in the 21st Century. Baby steps

[AP]

3. Phillips's Wealth and Democracy, and possibly the Hunting of the President

which should give some historical perspective that helps put the pieces of a different puzzle together today.

[DisgustiPatriotiated]

4. OMG, there are so many. I might be tempted to suggest one of

the books that described what a sham the Clinton impeachment was. There were a couple but Blumenthal's "The Clinton Wars" was the best. But that might be too much of a culture shock for a conservative.

I'd go with either "The Best Democracy Money Can Buy", by Greg Palast or "Big Lies" by Joe Conason, for starters.

[jab105]

10. Best Democracy and Big Lies...though good...

would not be the books to give a republican...its too much for them to deal with at once, and would most likely result in them shutting off than opening their eyes further...

Price of Loyalty is a great suggestion, a very quick easy read, and written well, with a "coming from the right" feel to it...

Am looking forward to Clarkes book...

I just got Soros' book, should start that on my Spring Break in two weeks:)

[ithacan]

30. agreed

I know a repug who was given the Palast book, he dismissed it as biased and anti-Bush... Of course this is the kind of person who might be hopeless, even if Bush was caught redhanded. But I think the other books are better, the ones written by repubs or former repubs, because they know the audience and frame their arguments in ways that repubs can relate to, and thus are more effective.

[shoopnyc123]

5. "Blinded By The Right" by David Brock

[RamboLiberal]

7. Good ideas but I'd suggest keeping it now to the * administration

Be nice to show a conservative how repugs screwed over Clinton, but you may never change a conservative's mind about Clinton. We need to convince them to either sit home election day or better yet vote for Kerry.

There's some great books out there now telling the truth about the *'s administration and PNAC. Better yet if they're written by people who served in the administration or in former Republican administrations. John Dean of the Nixon admin also has a book that just came out - Worse Than Watergate: The Secret Presidency of George W. Bush

Former White House counsel and New York Times bestselling author John Dean reveals how the Bush White House has set America back decades-employing a worldview and tactics of deception that will do more damage to the nation than Nixon at his worst.

[Melodybe]

23. That was the first book that came to mind, glad to see someone beat

me to it.

[SeveneightyWhoa]

6. The Price of Loyalty

A must-read. Gets right inside the inner workings of the White House, without being "partisan" or "Bush-bashing".

[shoopnyc123]

8. How about "Big Lies" by Joe Conason?

[BigMcLargehuge]

9. freepers opening their eyes need more simple fare

something that speaks on more of an everyman level:

Moore's "Dude where's my Country" is a good one as is anything by Al Franken. Humor opens more minds than anything. And both Moore and Franken have a great humor wedge.

[rwenos]

11. Hard to Beat Franken

Can you dig what "Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right" has done to Howard Stern? Turned him into an anti-Bush crusader.

And, Al Franken is FUNNY.

Quote (at the 2003 White House Correspondent's Dinner):

AF: "Hey, Secretary Wolfowitz, you're doing a great job with the Clinton military!"

Wolfowitz: "FUCK YOU."

[HEyHEY]

12. Nickel and dimed

It shoes that "just working hard" isn't a sure fire way to get ahead

[solinvictus]

14. Barbara Ehrenreich

I really didn't like her book. Ehrenreich came across as condescending and patrician in her views of those working poor she allegedly sought to help. I remember a particular incident while working for a maid service in which Ehrenreich berated a poor young woman who thought her work was important because she had to take tests for the job. I really thought that Ehrenreich failed in her attempt, the book certainly wasn't another "Road to Wigan Pier". She seemed devoid of any sympathetic connection to her subject. Maybe she's been in the upper middle class too long.

[Touchdown]

13. Give 'em progressive idea and truth books.

Bush is going to be gone, and they need to have a reason to stick around with us. They'll seek out the anti-Bush books all on their own. They need to have their eyes opened to new possibilities that differ from the same old propaganda we've been getting since William Buckley showed up on TV.

The Divine Right of Capital; Marjorie Kelley
Perfectly Legal; David Cay Johnson
What Liberal Media?; Eric Alterman

Big Lies, Lying Liars, Blinded by Right and American Dynasty are all good on their own, but if you want to change a conservative's mind, then you reconstruct the house, not paint it.

[DieboldMustDie]

15. Blinded by the Right : The Conscience of an Ex-Conservative

by DAVID BROCK

[Kathy in Cambridge]

27. I was going to suggest that one too.

[Kathy in Cambridge]

28. I was going to suggest that one too.

[Khephra]

16. here you go

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=111x19362#20267

[FlemingsGhost]

17. Mein Kamf.

Then... give 'em a mirror.
They need to take a long, hard look at themselves.

[WilliamPitt]

18. Not to be a dick, but

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1893956385/qid=1055796595/sr=1-2/ref=sr_1_2/104-1032495-2317530?v=glance&s=books



It's still right.

[AngeIus]

19. Conservatives can read?

Wow....

[newyawker99]

25. Hi AngeIus!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[imax2268]

20. I would have to say...

anything by Gore Vidal

[jeanmarc]

21. Confederacy of Dunces, to gain their trust. :)

Give them a laugh first, and then let them have some other laughs with Franken.

I've given Confederacy of Dunces, not so much a political tome, to way too many people and the reviews have never been bad. It's a laugh outloud book. After that, let them have some Rush Limbaugh is a Big Fat Idiot.

[Jeebo]

22. "Thieves in High Places" by Jim Hightower...

I've read quite a few of those books -- not all of them, but I still have several I've bought and haven't read yet, and several more I haven't yet bought but intend to. I vote for Jim Hightower's "Thieves in High Places" because it's the only one about which I thought while I was reading it, "Wow! I'd like to buy several copies of this book and start handing them out to Republican friends and relatives!" Y'all have recommended a lot of good ones though, but I would like to point out that the 90s are in the past and we've got to focus on getting Bush out of office in the present. So books about the Clinton years like "The Clinton Wars" and "Blinded by the Right" and "The Woman Who Wouldn't Talk" are not appropriate for the stated purpose of this thread, although I have read those books and they are really good ones. Humor is very persuasive, as some posters in this thread have noted, and Hightower's book scores on that point as well as on the fact that it is all about what's happening right now. Hightower's a Texan too, which lends a lot of credibility to his criticisms of his former governor. Not that "Thieves in High Places" is only about Bush; it's about the general trend of corporate kleptocrats and robber barons to take over everything. And that's what kind of government we have now: a kleptocracy. Oh well, I'm rambling, so I'll shut up now.

Ron

[DeepModem Mom]

24. "American Dynasty" woke up an entire family of professionals...

I'm acquainted with --

[NewJeffCT]

26. Lying Liars

Franken's book is light in tone & and easy & quick read. And, nobody has legitmately disputed any of his facts as far as I know.

[sir_captain]

29. Simple Justice

by Richard Kluger. It's a great book, and shows what a liberal Supreme Court can achieve