Graydon Carter, the editor in chief of Vanity Fair, ought to have been Lapham's co-counsel. What We've Lost is surprisingly plainspoken, free of grandiloquence or snarkiness--and none the worse for it. It too is a brief: that the Bush Administration has performed execrably in every field, notably the economy, the environment, healthcare, education, civil rights, government accountability, judicial appointments, foreign affairs and national security. Carter's method is to quote short, boilerplate statements of noble purpose by the President or other high-level officials, then list scores of facts that show the statements to be insincere, even dishonest. It is extremely effective.

What We've Lost has been criticized as a clip job, a blizzard of hastily culled, bullet-listed facts flung between hard covers. Facts, these critics admonish us, do not interpret themselves. On the contrary, they often do, which is why the Administration keeps removing inconvenient ones from government publications and websites. Confronted with Carter's lists of

§ urgent security measures still unfunded;

§ essential military gear unprovided to American combat personnel, while Halliburton and Bechtel are showered with public cash;

§ cuts in pay and health coverage for armed services personnel and their families;

§ deceptive statements about air quality in Manhattan after 9/11;

§ presidential and departmental orders restricting public access to essential information;

§ controversial legislation passed at strange hours, after curtailed debate;

§ controversial regulatory policies announced on Friday afternoons after 5;

§ tax hardships of ordinary Americans compared with tax windfalls for Republican campaign contributors;

§ regulatory appointees with extremely close ties to the industry they are supposed to regulate;

§ the environmental consequences of Clean Skies and other Administration programs;

§ the heavy burdens imposed on underfunded school districts by No Child Left Behind; and

§ the colorful backgrounds of many recent federal judicial appointees,

few readers will any longer believe the Bush Administration capable of, or even much interested in, advancing the nation's welfare. Though not as entertaining as the magazine Carter edits, What We've Lost is a real public service. Give a copy to every potential Bush voter you know, and you will have performed an important civic duty.

• « Previous
• 1
• 2
• 3
• 4
• 5
• Next »

• Get The Nation at home (and online!) for 75 cents a week!
• If you like this article, consider making a donation to The Nation.