Books : The Great Derangement: A Terrifying True Story of War, Politics, and Religion at the Twilight of the American Empire
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Type of bind: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 973.93
EAN num: 9780385520348
ISBN number: 0385520344
Label: Spiegel & Grau
Manufacturer: Spiegel & Grau
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 288
Printing Date: May 06, 2008
Publishing house: Spiegel & Grau
Release Date: May 06, 2008
Sale Popularity Level: 2878
Studio: Spiegel & Grau
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A REVELATORY AND DARKLY COMIC ADVENTURE THROUGH A NATION ON THE VERGE OF A NERVOUS BREAKDOWN—FROM THE HALLS OF CONGRESS TO THE BASES OF BAGHDAD TO THE APOCALYPTIC CHURCHES OF THE HEARTLAND
Rolling Stone’s Matt Taibbi set out to describe the nature of George Bush’s America in the post-9/11 era and ended up vomiting demons in an evangelical church in Texas, riding the streets of Baghdad in an American convoy to nowhere, searching for phantom fighter jets in Congress, and falling into the rabbit hole of the 9/11 Truth Movement.
Matt discovered in his travels across the country that the resilient blue state/red state narrative of American politics had become irrelevant. A large and growing chunk of the American population was so turned off—or radicalized—by electoral chicanery, a spineless news media, and the increasingly blatant lies from our leaders (“they hate us for our freedom”) that they abandoned the political mainstream altogether. They joined what he calls The Great Derangement.
Taibbi tells the story of this new American madness by inserting himself into four defining American subcultures: The Military, where he finds himself mired in the grotesque grey comedy of the American occupation of Iraq; The System, where he follows the money-slicked path of legislation in Congress; The Resistance, where he doubles as chief public antagonist and undercover member of the passionately bonkers 9/11 Truth Movement; and The Church, where he infiltrates a politically influential apocalyptic mega-ministry in Texas and enters the lives of its desperate congregants. Together these four interwoven adventures paint a portrait of a nation dangerously out of touch with reality and desperately searching for answers in all the wrong places.
Funny, smart, and a little bit heartbreaking, The Great Derangement is an audaciously reported, sobering, and illuminating portrait of America at the end of the Bush era.
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Rated by buyers 
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Taibbi commendably takes his journalist spotlight off the corrupt actors on Washington's center stage, and instead investigates the most disaffected ordinary Americans. But to do so he goes undercover, posing as a believer in far right-wing Christian-Zionism, or far-left 9/11 conspiracy theories. He basically plays Borat, inventing oddball past experiences to play his part, and letting the unsuspecting locals make fools of themselves for the camera. Later Taibbi gives his real opinions of what idiots they are, and asks what America is coming to.
Only slowly does Taibbi's basic compassion for these people rise to the fore. These are people, he reasons, both conservatives and liberals, who feel so conned by the political rip-off system that they can't tell who to trust. And maybe, Taibbi suspects, part of the con has been to get them to blame and hate each other.
Rated by buyers 
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I really enjoyed this book. The author has a good sense of humour and his adventures are quite interesting. Probably not for you if you are sensitive about religion.
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This book was a complete eye-opener. Literally prying open the third eye. Must read for any remaining free-thinking Americans. Matt Taibbi is absolutely brilliant.
Rated by buyers -
Much of the book focuses on the insider game in Washington, the non-functioning government bent on both sides twisting reality while continuing to rake in millions from big business. Meanwhile, Boeing, G.M., and Ford are headed towards becoming Chinese companies, and OPEC is likely to begin trading in the Euro. In between safaris into our government, Taibbi also reports on his immersions into both far-Right evangelical religion and far-left (?) 9/11 Truthers, finding them both living in an imaginary world. The common link in all this nuttiness - Madison Avenue and its world of make-believe messages and promises.
It was shocking to read that the "06 election saw political parties spend $160 million on negative ads, vs. only $17 million on the positive. Debate has mostly been removed from the House schedule - 79% of all bills passed during the Republican's recent majority were "suspension bills" where only 40 minutes of debate are allowed, no amendments can be offered, and a two-thirds majority is required for passage.
The Rules Committee can completely rewrite what passes the committee of jurisdiction (usually in the middle of the night) to include anything leadership knew could not survive public discussion. House members are supposed to have 3 days to read the Rules Committee output before it goes to a vote, but this has been waived in "emergency." Thus, virtually every bill passing the House during the Bush-GOP majority years was voted on just hours after emerging from Rules.
Conference Committees again can totally rewrite the bill (majority vote of members not required for passage) and again send the bill out for vote with only a few hours' notice.
Moving on briefly to the Army, Taibbi reports that their camaraderie is real - for a lot of them their unit is the best family they had, they are basically lonely. He also makes a similar observation regarding the far-Right evangelicals in Texas in which he immerses himself (including baptism) while revealing their inanity. Then its the 9/11 Truthers - a 2006 poll cited found 36% believed our government either "did" 9/11 or consciously allowed it, despite the preposterousness of their thinking.
Finally, Taibbi asks: "What about our corrupt medical insurance system, disappearance of the manufacturing economy, exploding prison population, takeover of politics by financial interests?" After setting aside those believing in aliens on earth, etc., it looks like there's not enough sanity left to care!
Rated by buyers -
An anecdote in journalist Matt Taibbi's book THE GREAT DERANGEMENT proves a snapshot of what's wrong with America. Covering the United States Congress in action, Taibbi witnesses legislation that is nothing more than a gift to well-off campaign contributors. Without shame, lawmakers approve it. The author attends a press conference regarding the bill where reporters ask zero tough questions, leaving the public they purportedly serve to figure out there's nothing in this for them except the tab they have to pick up.
The United States government is letting the moneyed interests from which it should protect citizens run it. And with corporations owning more than 95% of media and not about to report what they pilfer, too many Americans do not get the news they need to know.
In THE GREAT DERANGEMENT author Taibbi frames political debate as liberal-conservative, just as the corporate media does. He should pick up on populist writer/commentator Jim Hightower, who says the real struggle is not left-right but up-down, between the wealthy and poor. History and the world yesterday are little more than the moneyed interests stealing from and dominating the people.
Taking it to the streets in THE GREAT DERANGEMENT, Matt Taibbi reports from the front lines of everyday citizens. The affluent divide and conquer the middle class and poor with blue herrings and straw-man arguments. Mega-church pastors who must read Bush White House talking points more often than the Bible sway congregations to doubt global warming. The corporate media does not investigate why the Bush administration ignored over fifty 9/11 warnings (most famous the August 6, 2001, "Bin Laden Determined to Strike in the U.S." memo to Bush), resulting in a frustration-driven movement claiming the U.S. government orchestrated the attacks. Stress, fear and confusion from thirty-plus years of declining wellbeing for most Americans turn citizens against one another when instead they ought to unite and march against injustice. Divided, America falls.
Read THE GREAT DERANGEMENT.
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