The Dirty Truth: The Oil and Chemical Dependency of George W. Bush – Rick Abraham
The Dirty Truth: The Oil and Chemical Dependency of George W. Bush – Rick Abraham, Mainstream Publishers (2000) 193pp. (S) ***
Though this book has all the hallmarks of a hastily put together publication (i.e. more grammatical errors than there should be), one can not refute the urgency of the subject matter. Like J.H. Hatfield, author of Fortunate Son, Abraham understood that timing is everything, and that if his work was to have any bearing on the 2000 U.S. presidential election, his book had to go to print before an event that has now become renowned for its contentiousness and irregularities. Abraham attempts to envision essentially the “Texification” of America, a most unpleasant exercise indeed. By blowing the whistle on Bush Jr.’s disgraceful gubernatorial record with regards to the environment, Abraham seeks to raise reader consciousness as to the very real threat Bush posed to the country at large.
In these pages we learn of the deep-pocketed moneyed interests that fuel the George W. Bush electoral machine and which buy influence, influence that does not go un-rewarded. The usual culprits are big business, and their interests come at the expense of the welfare of the general public. The examples are myriad. From the small west Texas town of Sierra Blanca where imported sludge from New York City was spread out in the open to stew and stink in the hot sun, to Bush’s neglect of the state’s park system. We learn the origins of insidiously titled legislation like “the clear skies” initiative, with Bush backed ideas like “water quality protection zones,” which channeled public monies to private interests.
Kudos to Rick Abraham for having the courage and initiative to take on the Bush electoral machine when it really mattered, not two or three years into the administration by riding a wave of anti-Bush publications, when numbers brought safety. If only more had followed his example, just maybe we wouldn’t be in the mess we presently face today. Though given the difficulties faced by the publication of Fortunate Son, there is likely a reason that not more persons dared come forward with their criticisms in the months preceding the 2000 election. The Bush team was playing hardball, long before it seized office in a judicial coup. This makes Abraham’s work all the more remarkable and commendable.
Though this book has all the hallmarks of a hastily put together publication (i.e. more grammatical errors than there should be), one can not refute the urgency of the subject matter. Like J.H. Hatfield, author of Fortunate Son, Abraham understood that timing is everything, and that if his work was to have any bearing on the 2000 U.S. presidential election, his book had to go to print before an event that has now become renowned for its contentiousness and irregularities. Abraham attempts to envision essentially the “Texification” of America, a most unpleasant exercise indeed. By blowing the whistle on Bush Jr.’s disgraceful gubernatorial record with regards to the environment, Abraham seeks to raise reader consciousness as to the very real threat Bush posed to the country at large.
In these pages we learn of the deep-pocketed moneyed interests that fuel the George W. Bush electoral machine and which buy influence, influence that does not go un-rewarded. The usual culprits are big business, and their interests come at the expense of the welfare of the general public. The examples are myriad. From the small west Texas town of Sierra Blanca where imported sludge from New York City was spread out in the open to stew and stink in the hot sun, to Bush’s neglect of the state’s park system. We learn the origins of insidiously titled legislation like “the clear skies” initiative, with Bush backed ideas like “water quality protection zones,” which channeled public monies to private interests.
Kudos to Rick Abraham for having the courage and initiative to take on the Bush electoral machine when it really mattered, not two or three years into the administration by riding a wave of anti-Bush publications, when numbers brought safety. If only more had followed his example, just maybe we wouldn’t be in the mess we presently face today. Though given the difficulties faced by the publication of Fortunate Son, there is likely a reason that not more persons dared come forward with their criticisms in the months preceding the 2000 election. The Bush team was playing hardball, long before it seized office in a judicial coup. This makes Abraham’s work all the more remarkable and commendable.
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