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| What We've Lost: How the Bush Administration Has Curtailed Our Freedoms, Mortgaged Our Economy, Ravaged Our Environment, and Damaged Our Standing in the World | 
| Author: Graydon Carter
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Category: Book
List Price: $25.00
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Avg. Customer Rating:  13 reviews
Sales Rank: 729216
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 352
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.3
Dimensions (in): 8.6 x 5.8 x 1.2
ISBN: 0374288925
Dewey Decimal Number: 973.931
EAN: 9780374288921
ASIN: 0374288925
Publication Date: September 8, 2004
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Product Description
What We've Lost addresses the fragile state of U.S. democracy with a critical review of the Bush administration by one of our leading magazine editors, Graydon Carter. Carter has expressed his deep dissatisfaction with the current state of the nation in his monthly editor's letters in Vanity Fair--which have aroused widespread comment--and now provides a sweeping, painstakingly detailed account of the ruinous effects of this president.
The invasion of Iraq, which has proven so costly for the U.S. in lives, dollars, and international standing, is only the tip of the iceberg. It is the war at home, a quiet, covert, and in many ways more lasting and damaging war, that Carter is most wary of. The Bush White House has chipped away at decades' worth of advances in personal rights, women's rights, the economy, and the environment. It is difficult to point to a single element of American society that comes under federal jurisdiction that is not worse off now than it was an administration ago, from civil liberties to the economy, foreign affairs to the environment.
Carter discusses these topics and many more with great cogency and specificity, detailing what Bush's radical agenda means for America's future--and its future standing in the world. What We've Lost is not the position paper of a policy wonk or a pundit, but the impassioned argument of a concerned citizen in response to the most precarious political crisis of our time.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 8 more reviews...
 Losing Precious Time Reading This Book May 4, 2006
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
Graydon Carter is the Editor in Chief of Vanity Fair magazine and he is an outspoken critic of the Bush administration and its many failed policies. He wrote this book as a way to reach out to the public with facts and other official information showing why Bush is unfit to hold the office of the presidency and how much we have lost since he took the oath of office in January, 2001.
Carter spends most of his time in this book talking about specific parts of the failed Bush agenda and why they are wrong for America and the world. He begins with the military operatives in the Middle East because it is this military buildup and the reality of war that has shaped much of the president's policy- both foreign and domestic- and given the administration excuses for curtailing civil liberties, growing the size of government to record levels, and exponentially increasing the size of the federal budget deficit. What Carter talks about in these first couple of chapters is nothing new: The Bush administration created the Iraqi threat to have an excuse to invade; completely ignored the fact that the majority of the terrorists were Saudis; deliberately avoided publicly talking about Osama Bin Laden in order to shift the emphasis to Iraq; etc. These observations, and others like them, have been stated by many analysts, journalists, politicians, and other people, both expert and non- expert alike.
With the remaining chapters, Carter illustrates what Americans have lost with specific chapters on key topics like the economy, education, the environment, and others. In these and other chapters, he relies on statistics and quotes to drive his points home. There is little in the way of actual commentary by Carter. He feels the facts and quotations of others are enough to convince readers that the American people have sacrificed many things under Bush and that four more years with him in office would only compound the problem.
Some of what Carter says hits home, and many readers will have their own personal favorite topic or chapter. I like the facts about the explosion of red ink under Bush and the faltering economy and I think Carter's decision to include so many facts- along with anti Bush quotations from Republicans- does add credibility to his side. But there are several things about this book that take away from its potential as an informational source. First, I get really tired of Carter's persistent labeling of people. He goes on a tirade where he refers to people and policies with his "Right- wing" this, "Right wing" that, "ultra- conservative", and other rhetoric. Often, his labeling makes no sense and even contradicts itself. For example, there are places in the book where he attacks a Bush appointee as "anti- government" and then proceeds to explain how this appointee plans to use government to enforce his/her own social agenda- one that includes suppression of civil liberties and other rights. If someone is anti- government, they would most certainly not want to use government to further their own social agenda. These people are actually very pro- government. The only difference between them and other pro- government politicians is the way they want to use/abuse government power. Carter makes no attempt to explain this important difference.
Another thing that Carter does throughout this book is look for studies and statistics to back his own point of view, completely ignoring studies that have reached opposite conclusions. I can't really blame Carter too much for this because all political books do it, at least to an extent. But some of his sources are pretty far- fetched, like one that he quotes in the book that says the Social Security system is on solid financial footing and will be for many decades to come. Carter probably had to search long and hard to find a study like that one. I have conducted my own research on the issue and my studies show the Social Security pyramid slowly collapsing (assuming the present tax rate and retirement age stay the same) in less then 20 years. Also, Carter relies on certain sources a little too frequently, like "Mother Jones" magazine. It shouldn't be too surprising that he would choose a publication like this one to quote (given its political stand on the issues) but a little more widespread distribution on sources would have made the book stronger and more appealing.
In some other parts of the book, the author even gets a little bit insulting, like when he talks about the subject of affirmative action. The book speaks about this subject like it is an essential part of any economy and the author even has the gall to suggest that people like Condi Rice and Clarence Thomas would never have succeeded in any way without the aid of affirmative action! Carter might have intended his words on this subject to be interpreted differently, but the way I read it is that these two individuals don't have the intelligence to succeed on their own and that only government intervention can create opportunity for "oppressed" groups of people.
Other things about this book that bug me are its lack of any humor and its structure. Many other political books like this one try to lighten up the reading with some occasional sarcasm and good- humored wit. But Carter does nothing of the kind, preferring instead to keep his book straight and narrow. He is serious about how he feels and he keeps the tone of the book on this level from start to finish. Then, there is the structure of the book. I don't like the insertion of stand- alone quotations with no text leading into the quotation. Quotes are good and they add value to any book but I don't think they are handled well in this book (they jump out of nowhere). I also don't like the fact that he includes no footnote section or index. He mentions his sources as he quotes the facts (most of the time, anyway). I would like it better if there was a section at the end of the book complete with sources. And in some instances, it almost seems like Carter is deliberately "padding" his book. For example, there is a section near the beginning that lists the individual names of all the people killed in the Iraqi conflict (at the time this book was written). A simple listing of the number killed from each country would have been good enough. There was no need to take up space with all these names.
This is a difficult book to judge. On one hand, I admire the fact that Carter wants to let the world know just how damaging the Bush administration has been to America. But on the other hand, his writing leaves much to be desired and it doesn't really point out anything that others haven't already stated before (and stated better!) in other books and periodicals. For these reasons, I'm going to give "What We've Lost" a non- recommendation. It has some important things to say about a very important topic, but it doesn't go about it in the most convincing way and what it says has been stated thousands of times before.
 THE TRUTH SHALL SET YOU FREE! January 27, 2006
4 out of 7 found this review helpful
Right on for the author!
What a great, eye opening book! I wish I could give it 100 stars! Finally, someone tells it like it is and backs it with facts! Now, knowing what we have learned so far, I just want to know one thing-WHEN IS PART-2 OF THIS BOOK GOING TO BE PUBLISHED? Because I already have a spot for it on my shelf!
And Bush surely has done enough since this book was published to warrant a second book, has he not?
Lucid Study of the Bush Administration Reveals a Sad State October 20, 2004
15 out of 17 found this review helpful
Yet another distinguished voice has joined the chorus of those who have recognized how the Bush administration has significantly and perhaps irreparably weakened our democratic processes. Graydon Carter, the editor-in-chief of "Vanity Fair", uses his journalistic skills effectively by researching and presenting facts and statistics and verifying sources for legitimacy. The result is the ideal complement to the excellent books authored by his political brethren, Senator Robert's Byrd's "Losing America: Confronting a Reckless and Arrogant Presidency" and Senator Bob Graham's "Intelligence Matters". What makes Carter resonate even more is the fact that he never strays from his point to spout his own biases or beliefs. Despite the often negative findings presented, this book is not a personal attack on the President. Rather, in a more dispassionate tone than either Byrd or Graham could muster, it's an attack on the destructive errors of an administration that believes they are above the Constitution.
Carter organizes his book according to the major issues such as, of course, the war, the Patriot Act, Medicare and public funding for domestic programs. The longest and most revealing chapter is on the environment, which explains everything you were afraid was happening from how many acres of forest and wetland have been lost to the unsigned Kyoto treaty. Even though Social Security is in good shape now, Carter points out that we are in debt to the world's other strongest nations, the same ones we used to fund. In fact, it is only our past reputation that prevents us from facing an Argentina-size economic crisis, and even our nation's global standing is tenuous. According to Carter, it took us two centuries to build our position as a global leader only to see one administration destroy it, perhaps irrevocably. This is among the most clear-eyed books about the Bush administration, and coming out just weeks before the election, one you will need to move up your priority reading list post haste. The book is heavy on statistics, but Carter's findings will likely enlighten you. Highly recommended.
How recent politics has caused us to lose so much October 18, 2004
13 out of 15 found this review helpful
The subtitle for this text clearly indicates the purpose of the text - How the Bush Administration Has Curtailed Our Freedoms, Mortgaged Our Economy, Ravaged Our Environment, and Damaged Our Standing in the World. The various chapters cover items like the wars, military, secrecy, the economy, the environment, education, health care, the judiciary, state of the Union, and our reputation. Chapter 11 is particularly interesting as it shows the presidency "by the numbers". Basically, it is a collection of statistical information in simple statement form which shows things like the number of treasury agents investigating Osama bin Laden's and Saddam Hussein's money (4), amount offered by a group of veterans to anyone who could confirm Bush's Alabama guard service ($3,500), etc. A total of 404 different statistics are listed. The included information comes from multiple reliable sources and Mr. Carter has done his homework documenting the sources. At times it is obviously slanted, for example, the number of young adults that can't locate the Pacific Ocean on a map (30%) is a problem that we have known about for several years including well before Bush's presidency. Relevant most of the time, a curiosity at other times, interesting all of the time, What We've Lost is a recommended read.
Do not vote until you read his book! October 15, 2004
20 out of 21 found this review helpful
To the average Republican, this may read as a conspiracy theory book, but it's NOT. The author has thouroughly researched this book, and the result is a dubious description of the unconscionable activities of the Bush administration. From the elections in Florida right through April 2004 it gives example after examples of the administration lying to Congress and the American public. Topics covered are the Iraq, the economy, the environment (not mentioned is a single debate, much to my dismay), the Patriot Act, the treatment of the military, education (No Child Left Behind Act), and healt care, among others. It is amazing to me (though after all the bald-faced lying, not so much) how this administration has managed to hookwink so many Americans. Don't let yourself be one of them.
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