Begin forwarded message:
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Date: March 16, 2007 4:00:31 PM PDT
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: It HAS Happened Here
"It CAN Happen Here: Authoritarian Peril in the Age of Bush"
By Joe Conason
BuzzFlash.com's Review (excerpt) from a Daily Kos Book Review by
Susan G:
"Joe Conason has hit upon an elegant solution on which to hang a
very American narrative by reviving interest in Sinclair Lewis’
disturbingly prescient "It Can’t Happen Here," written in 1935 as a
response to Lewis’ concern about the rise of Italian fascism....
"Lewis’ novel, centers on the rise of Buzz Windrip to the
presidency, a man who, in Conason’s words, is "a charismatic
politician with little intellectual curiosity but great capacity to
appeal to the regular guy." Guided by a former advertising maven,
Lee Sarason, Windrip campaigns – and wins – through a platform of a
"syrupy compassion for the white, Christian, middle-class family
while proclaiming a staunch moral and patriotic conservatism." Soon
after taking office, he proclaims a permanent state of emergency
based on an economic downturn and relegates Congress to an advisory
body, stacks the courts with pliant hacks and dismantles
constitutional protections as a "dangerous barrier to executive
action," according to Conason....
"If we don’t want IT to happen here, this is a book that should be
purchased, read and passed on. It’s a serious, focused and well-
reasoned call to awakening for American citizens, and the Lord only
knows how many more of these kinds of works we will need to rally
our nation back to democracy. Conason’s book is one of the best
places I can envision a start on that work."
Ever since BuzzFlash read the eye-opening "The Hunting of the
President: The Ten Year Campaign to Destroy Bill and Hillary
Clinton" (which Conason co-wrote with the inimitable Gene Lyons),
we have considered him among the first rank of political analysts
who cut to the chase.
For the editor of BuzzFlash, "The Hunting of the President" was a
galvanizing book that documented, not just speculated upon, a well-
funded right wing conspiracy to remove from office a duly-elected
president of the United States, Bill Clinton. The book tracked a
ten-year trail -- which included obscure figures in Arkansas and
mega-wealthy financiers -- that concluded in the Ken Starr pursuit
of a way to frame Bill Clinton into committing a legal error that
could be technical grounds for impeachment.
During the Bush years, Conason has been one of the most level-
headed and consistently insightful journalists exposing the vast
betrayals, deceits, and crimes of the Bush Administration.
He is not an alarmist; he just calls the shots as he seems them.
And right now, he reveals in "It Can Happen Here" that democracy is
hanging by a thread.
Joe Conason writes for Salon.com and has written a popular
political column for The New York Observer since 1992. He is the
author of Big Lies, The Raw Deal, and, with Gene Lyons, The Hunting
of the President. His writing has appeared in The New Yorker,
Harper’s, The Nation, and many other publications. He is a regular
commentator on Air America Radio.
Review by Matt Browner Hamlin of "My Left Nutmeg" Blog:
"Conason's 'It Can Happen Here' succeeds in reaching both the
blogger and non-blogger audience in a way that I have rarely seen
over the last few years. 'It Can Happen Here' addresses the
question posed by Sinclair Lewis in his 1935 dystopia 'It Can't
Happen Here: Can Totalitarianism Come to America?'
"Sinclair Lewis's book includes the famous line, "When fascism
comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag, carrying a
cross." Conason makes the case that the question Lewis asked
seventy-two years ago needs to be asked again today."
"Conason closes his book, "Yes, it CAN happen here. Whether it ever
will depends on our determination to defend our rights, our
liberties, and our democratic inheritance, not only for ourselves
but for generations to come." I would add that our willingness to
confront the sad, scary realities of what the actions of our
government say about our current state of freedom, as Conason has
done in this book, will also determine whether or not
authoritarianism does happen here."
"It CAN Happen Here: Authoritarian Peril in the Age of Bush"
St. Martin's Press/Thomas Dunne Books
256 pages
Size: 6 1/8 x 9 1/4
Pub Date: 02/2007
ISBN: 0-312-35605-6
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