The book on Bush : how George W. Bush (mis)leads America / Eric Altermanand Mark Green.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 343-397) and index.

1. Introduction: The Power of Audacity -- 2. Drill and Cough: W.'s Environmental and Energy Policies -- 3. Deja Vu-doo Economics: The Real Faith-Based Policy -- 4. When Laissez Isn't Fair: How a Business President Handles Business Fraud -- 5. Secrecy and Civil Liberties: "Watch What [You] Say" -- 6. Mismanaged Health Care: Privatization versus Patients -- 7. Race: In the Picture, Not the Program -- 8. Reality Bites: Watch What We Say ... -- 9. Rules for Hyperpowers: "Because We Say So" -- 10. A Nation Transformed, a Tragedy Exploited -- 11. Invading Iraq: Operation Bait and Switch -- 12. The "Bungling Bully": The "Ruin" of U.S. Foreign Policy -- 13. Conclusion: The Messianic Man.

"The Book on Bush is the first comprehensive critique of a president who is governing on a right wing and a prayer. In carefully documented detail, Eric Alterman and Mark Green, two of the leading progressive authors/advocates in the country, not only trace the guiding ideology that runs through a wide range of W's policies but also expose a presidential decision-making process that, rather than weighing facts to arrive at conclusions, begins with conclusions and then searches for supporting facts." "While other commentators and authors have plumbed a particular policy (or policies) or chronicled his provable deceptions, Alterman and Green connect the dots of what's behind all the policies and prevarications. The Book on Bush reveals a president who, while determinedly uninformed, uncurious, and unyielding, is messianic in pursuing the goals of his three leading constituencies: the religious right, big business, and neoconservatives. With few exceptions, the interests of these groups have been served so effectively that the result for America is nothing less than the attempted rolling back of the progressive gains of the past century."--BOOK JACKET.