When I borrowed Bush Country: How Dubya Became a Great President while Driving Liberals Insane by New York Post columnist John Podhoretz, from the library (for an essay on George W. Bush’s presidency / administration), I expected to be in for a right-wing propaganda drive.

Podhoretz did not disappoint me.

Bush Country is one of the most biased and partisan books I have ever read. It’s underlying idea: Bush et al. = good. ‘Liberals’ = bad. Liberals are blind, they refuse to understand that Bush is one of the greatest presidents America ever had, etc.

Yes, one of the greatest presidents the U.S. ever had according to John Podhoretz. As you all know, I disagree quite strongly with that: instead to me, Bush is one of the worst post-world war two U.S. presidents.

Podhoretz’s main argument for his statement that Bush is such a tremenous president is the way Bush dealt with 9/11, how he decided to attack Afghanistan and later Iraq, how he handled those two wars, how he liberated the people of those two countries and how, all in all, both wars are a gigantic success.

That’s the problem with writing a book about a president who was going to win re-election and, thus, would serve another four years after your book got published.

Bush Country appeared in 2004, when many people stil supported Bush and Bush seemed to be handling things quite well, at least regarding the Iraq front. Now, in 2007 the far majority of the American people oppose the ’surge’ Bush deemed necessary because of the steadily increasing sectarian violence tearing Iraq apart.

Podhoretz celebrated Bush, almost like a cheerleader, before knowing how things would work out.

So, Bush Country is, as I said, a piece of right-wing propaganda. But, I have to admit, I still enjoyed reading it immensely. Yes, Podhoretz is a propagandist, but he is an entertaining propagandist. His style is very accessible, very funny, and very direct. Despite the way Podhoretz tends to exaggerate Bush’s qualities, he makes some good points.

The book is set up in a quite interesting way: the starting point is what ‘liberals’ say about Bush. Podhoretz then explains why, of course, those liberals are wrong. Some names of the chapters in this book:
Crazy Liberal Idea #1: Bush Is a Moron

Crazy Liberal Idea #2: Bush Is a Puppet

Crazy Liberal Idea #3: Bush Is a Fanatic

Andsoforth.

Podhoretz takes on liberals in a playful and entertaining manner, which makes it readable, and yes, enjoyable, for those who are, like me, quite critical of George W. Bush but do not suffer from what is known as BDS.

Publishers Weekly commented: “Podhoretz’s book is polemical, written for a specific niche: conservative political junkies who relish cutthroat partisan politics. Considered in this light, the book is well done: provocative, witty, in-your-face and honest.”

Agreed. The principal public are “conservative political junkies who relish cutthroad partisan politics”, but less aggressive conservatives, and moderates will enjoy Bush Country as well, be it in a more critical manner and, yes, sometimes laughing not just at liberals, but also at Podhoretz. That is especially the case when, again as pointed out in the review of Publishers Weekly, Podhoretz claims that George W. Bush is “‘the best presidential speaker’ since Franklin Roosevelt.”

Bush, Podhoretz claims, delivered six, at least, of the most inspiring and downright great speeches in the history of the U.S. Not just the words of the speeches, but also the way Bush delivers them are tremendous, not equaled by many before him.

This is of course quite hilarious. I am quite sure that even Bush himself would never pretend to be a great speaker.

Besides the entertaining aspect of the book, Podhoretz also makes some valid points about the things liberals claim Bush is / was / does / etc. In short, Bush is not as evil, stupid, crazy, or extreme, as his most aggressive liberal opponents try to portray him. As such, I did not find myself merely laughing out loud every couple of pages, but also nodding in agreement quite regularly.

There is also an aspect of the book that must be mentioned here as pointed out by another reviewer at Amazon: “Since I am used to this partisan polemic, there are only a few things that really raised the hairs on the back of my neck. Here’s one example: Podhoretz likens the criticism of Wolfowitz and other Jewish Neocons to the Protocols of the Elders of Zion. By even invoking Protocols in this taunting careless bad faith manner, Podhoretz comes perilously close to blood libel himself.”

Indeed. Podhoretz does not cross the line often, but when dealing with criticism Bush receives, that he is a neocon or that neocon have too much influence, he diverts the attention by noting that most neoconservatives are Jewish and that, therefore, criticism of neoconservatives might very well be disguised anti-Semitism.

The above aside - to summarize: Bush Country is a good read for fervent Bush supporters and for those who want to read something ‘lighter’, who want to laugh, who do not suffer from BDS and, lastly, who have a huge amount of salt at home, because, yes, this book has to be taken with a grain of salt.

Well, more than one actually.

To order this book click here.