I admit it: I saw this on a library cart and assumed from the cover that this was some political humorist on the order of P. J. O' Rourke or Jon Stewart who had simply not come to my attention.

How wrong I was.

Greg Palast bills himself as some kind of investigative reporter. He is not. He is a partisan who puts together a tidbit here, a tidbit there and fills in the blanks with left-wing cant taken from the talking point memos of a thousand fringe groups and special interests. What doesn't fit in with his agenda is simply ignored. Where a "fact" is vitally necessary, it is often invented.

Palast doesn't document his "secret" finds. Much like Seymour Hersh, another truth-challenged "investigative reporter", Palast expect you to accept on his own authority that when he tells you of this or that secret document that has come into his possession, you are to believe simply because he says it is so (ipse dixit, as the Latin goes).

The basic themes are what you would expect to find in any "progressive" screed: the United States is evil, Bush is evil and dumb, big corproations are evil and greedy, there are secret cabals that rule the United States and want to dominate the world and would, were it not for a few "freedom fighters" who blow up innocent women and children and so forth. We've all heard it ten thousand times and its no more rational coming from Palast than it is from someone else.

Two examples will suffice to show the blatant dishonesty of Greg Palast.

First is Palast's defense of Dan Rather's use of forged documents. Palast, without evidence, not only rejects the argument, but attacks the people CBS brought in to examine the entire fiasco. No evidence - just blast.

Next is Palast's attempt to misrepresent the work of M. King Hubbert, a geologist, on oil reserves. Even though he reproduces Hubbert's original chart, Palast simply distorts Hubbert's conclusions.

Overall, Palast simply plays to the crowd: those who share his beliefs. No proof is needed to support his contentions. As long as he casts the United States as evil and so on, all will be well and his books will sell well since the people who read them are not interested in truth, but in having their already existing beliefs reinforced.

Jerry

Armed Madhouse is one of the most striking books I have ever read. If it were not written by a journalist, one could easily classify the book as fiction. Shades light on the basic motives of the Middle East conflict.

I've never read Greg Palast before, but his style is very entertaining, and his analysis of the criminal enterprise masquerading as a presidential administration is fascinating and illuminating. The book can be read in chunks, and it has exhibits and pictures for those who, like me, have internet addiction-induced ADD. A perfect antidote for the "liberal media" (I mean, liberal in its sucking up to power).

Oh, incidentally, please throw away your TV.

Greg will take you beyond where you would go with Michael Moore. This is information that's hard to come by in the current media world, Mother Jones, The Nation, Atlantic Monthly all included. Greg is not affraid to tell it like it is and go where other journalists fear to tread. Hat's off to Greg for this book. I'm eager to dive into his next selection!

And, where Bush is planning on taking us from there? Well, this book gives you the answers to those questions and a whole lot more. Greg Palast gets access to information that the fat cats would rather you and I never see. He has an uncanny knack for building relationships with those with access to the insider info and the inner workings of those who craft our foreign and domestic policy, who they are, who they work for, their motivations and their goals. This really is a must read book for all Americans regardless of political stripe. You owe it to your country to know how and why we are in the mess we're in in Iraq and a whole lot more. Buy it today. You won't regret it.