Lou Dubose – författare

When it comes to reporting on politics, nobody does it smarter or funnier than bestselling author Molly Ivins. In Shrub, Ivins focuses her Texas-size smarts on the biggest politician in her home state: George Walker Bush, or "Shrub," as Ivins has nicknamed Bush the Younger.         A candidate of vague speeches and an ambiguous platform, Bush leads the pack of GOP 2000 presidential hopefuls; "Dubya" could very well be our next president. What voters need now is an original, smart, and accessible analysis of Bush--one that leaves the "youthful indiscretions" to the tabloids and gets to the heart of his policies and motivations. Ivins is the perfect woman for the job.         With her trademark wit and down-home wisdom, Molly Ivins shares three pieces of advice on judging a politician: "The first is to look at the record. The second is to look at the record. And third, look at the record." In this book, Ivins takes a good, hard look at the record of the man who could be the leader of the free world. Beginning with his post-college military career, Ivins tracks Dubya''s winding, sometimes unlikely path from a failed congressional bid to a two-term governorship. Bush has made plenty of friends and supporters along the way, including Texas oil barons, evangelist Billy Graham, and co-investors in the Texas Rangers baseball team. "You would have to work at it to dislike the man," she writes. But for all of Bush''s likeability, Ivins points to a disconcerting lack of political passion from this ascending presidential candidate. In her words, "If you think his daddy had trouble with ''the vision thing,'' wait till you meet this one."         Witty, trenchant, and on target, Ivins gives a singularly perceptive and entertaining analysis of George W. Bush. To head to the voting booth without it would be downright un-American.From Shrub: The Short but Happy Political Life of George W. Bush"        The past is prologue in politics. If a politician is left, right, weak, strong, given to the waffle or the flip-flop, or, as sometimes happens, an able soul who performs well under pressure, all that will be in the record." ¸         Bush''s welfare record: "Texas pols like to ''git tuff'' on crime, welfare, commies, and other bad stuff. Bush proposed to git tuff on welfare recipients by ending the allowance for each additional child--which in Texas is $38 a month." ¸         Bush and the Christian right: "Bush has learned to dance with the Christian right. It has been interesting and amusing to watch the process. Interesting because it''s sometimes hard to tell who''s leading and who''s following; amusing because when a scion of Old Yankee money gets together with a televangelist with too much Elvis, the result is swell entertainment." ¸         Bush''s environmental record: Since Governor Bush''s election, Texas air quality has been rated the worst in the nation, leading all fifty states in overall toxic releases, recognized carcinogens in the air, cancer risk, and ten other categories of pollutants. ¸         Bush''s military career: "Bush was promoted as the Texas Air National Guard''s anti-drug poster boy, one of life''s little ironies given the difficulty he has had answering cocaine questions all these years later. ''George Walker Bush is one member of the younger generation who doesn''t get his kicks from pot or hashish or speed,'' reads a Guard press release of 1970. ''Oh, he gets high, all right, but not from narcotics.''"

A simultaneously rollicking and sobering indictment of the policies of President George W. Bush, Bushwhacked chronicles the destructive impact of the Bush administration on the very people who put him in the White House in the first place. Here are the ties that connected Bush to Enron, yes, but here, too, is the story of the woman who walks six miles to the unemployment office daily, wondering what happened to the economic security Bush promised. Here are reports on failed nation-building missions in Kabul and Baghdad. Here, too, the story of a rancher who has fallen prey to a Bush-Cheney interior department that is perhaps a wee bit too cozy with the oil industry. Bushwhacked is highly original and entirely thought-provoking—essential reading for anyone living in George W. Bush''s America.From the Trade Paperback edition.

The untold story of Dick Cheney: the most powerful yet most unpopular vice president in American history.Cheney's relentless rise to political prominence over three decades happened almost by stealth. Veteran reporters Lou Dubose and Jake Bernstein reveal the disturbing truth about the man who successfully co-opted executive control over the U.S. government, serving as the de facto 'shadow president' in one of the most controversial White House administrations in memory.With unique access to numerous first-hand sources, this account provides startling revelations concerning the war on terror, Cheney’s relationship with the CIA and his involvement with Enron. Dubose and Bernstein explore Cheney’s ruthless manouevers and ambitious drive that consistently steered America to the right, an impact that can still be felt in American politics today.Credited by Vanity Fair as one of the key influences behind Adam McKay’s Oscar-nominated film VICE, this utterly gripping exposé chronicles the hijacking of the American presidency and illustrates the arrogance of power as never before.

The Washington Post Bestseller - Now Updated with Five New Chapters and a New Epilogue Unlike President George. W. Bush, Karl Rove, his chief political adviser, is rarely "misunderestimated." Many of the president's opponents see Rove's hand in everything the president does. His friends, and the president himself, are just thankful he's on their side, and always has been. From their earliest days in Texas, Rove saw and tapped the potential of George W. Bush. "Political hacks like me wait a lifetime for a guy like this to come along," Rove said of the future president. The authors of Boy Genius fill readers in on the man, his methods, and his plans for the Republican majority for a fascinating, entertaining look at the Man Who Would be Kingmaker, an investigation that debunks myths as it reveals facts, and the story of exactly how American politics works now. From allegations of bugging his own office back in Texas, to shadowy dealings with Swift Boat veterans in the last election, Rove has played politics all the way to the highest levels, and though it sometimes isn't pretty, it works.