From the Introduction of Esther Kaplan‘s With God on Their Side: How Christian Fundamentalists Trampled Science, Policy, and Democracy in George W. Bush’s White House:
Audio here!
“(Six) short years and a political lifetime ago, George W. Bush lost the 2000 popular election by more than half a million votes and assumed the leadership of a divided nation. (Since then) the Christian right has (aquired) more political power than at any point in its history, and Bush has governed from the far right. He has antagonized much of the world and a broad swath of the American people by launching a bold policy of preemptive war; by flouting international treaties on global warming, arms, and war crimes; and by invading Iraq despite global opposition. He has cemented a profoundly elite economic agenda, giving away hundreds of billions of tax dollars to corporations and the wealthy while undermining labor unions and relaxing laws monitoring public lands, environmental pollutants, and media ownership … He amassed a record deficit conservatively estimated to exceed $500 billion and then threatened social program austerity….
“So how has George W. Bush managed to pamper the corporate elite, leave 2.5 million Americans jobless, trash the environment, reduce public services, and still maintain an electoral majority?”
==============
“This book shows what happens when we allow anti-intellectualism, paranoia, and reactionary thinking to dominate our democracy. With God on Our Side is call to arms to battle those forces who want to return America to the dark ages.”
–Janeane Garofalo