| Angler: The Cheney Vice Presidency | 
 enlarge | Author: Barton Gellman
Publisher: Penguin Press HC, The
Category: Book
List Price: $27.95
Buy New: $11.50
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Avg. Customer Rating:  30 reviews
Sales Rank: 3979
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 384
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.7
Dimensions (in): 9.1 x 6.2 x 1.7
ISBN: 1594201862
Dewey Decimal Number: 973.931092
EAN: 9781594201868
ASIN: 1594201862
Publication Date: September 16, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: hb w/dc; clean, tight copy; all proceeds benefit Sisters IHM
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| Customer Reviews:
 Darth Vader Made Real November 24, 2008
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
All I can say is that I'm glad I read this book post the November 4 election rather than before, because this story sent chills up my spine. We all knew that the last eight years was more of a Dick Cheney presidency than that of George Bush, but reading about Cheney's careful and methodical approach to taking us down the darkest of rat holes is truly horrifying. Now knowing how deep in the grip we've been in the hands of a madman surrounded by other madmen it's not surprising that America has lost its way so terribly. Several times I wanted to put this book down but couldn't, because like driving by a car wreck, you can't help but wonder what could have gone so wrong. Hopefully, everyone selected for the incoming Obama administration will read this since it accurately portrays a perfect morality tale of what happens when unchecked power is unleashed in the White House.
Clearly written, chilling, sadly instructive.
Brilliant, Terrifying, Fascinating November 18, 2008
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
This is brilliantly written, gripping, horrifying, impossible to put down. Gellman's got 70 pages of source notes, and talks to or quotes the major players, which makes his research credible, and he sticks to the facts. Jim Comey is now my personal hero. Read this book!
You can't understand the Bush presidency unless you read this book! November 17, 2008
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
The best book of 2008, none I've read thus far even compare. Angler is an incredibly illuminating book into the most unique vice presidency in American history. I would also argue, after having read about a dozen books on President Bush and his Administration; that you cannot truly understand the failures of the Bush Administration and the woeful performance of the GOP in the past eight years without having read this book.
My perspective is one that had me voting for Bush in 2000, primarily in hopes that a Republican president and Republican-majority Congress would lead to authentic tax reform as proposed by most economists of that time if one wanted to sincerely optimize economic growth (i.e., a national sales consumption tax that supplanted all other federal income and wealth taxes based on a 1997 study). While I was aware that Bush was not the most competent person to be running for the job, his nominating Dick Cheney as his running mate pulled me over to supporting and voting for Bush in 2000 (though certainly not in 2004). The Dick Cheney known by his friends and even his opponents was one of intelligence, competence, patriotism, analytic skills, institutional knowledge of the Executive Branch without peer, and judgment.
This perception, shared by many both inside and outside the party, including Democratic colleagues, begs the question in retrospect: How could such a competent VP who had the ear of the President lead to such incompetent results?
Gellman shows his mastery of many topics in providing the answers and he does provide the answers. Gellman's findings are stunning given the opaqueness of the Bush presidency. Gellman was provided access to enough of the players and coupled with his functional expertise in understanding constitutional law and the machinations of the Executive Branch, provides a thorough account of several initiatives that Cheney decides to engage. The book is not a complete biography of the Cheney vice presidency, but instead an analysis of his performance by studying several key areas, such as his transforming intelligence activities post-9/11, fighting to increase the power of the Executive Branch while avoiding the checks of Congress and the SCOTUS, getting Bush reelected in 2004 by pushing for unsound economic policy that is partly the reason this recession will be deeper and longer than need be, to becoming a culture warrior in the war against science to promote certain business interests, and more.
There are no bad chapters, in fact each chapter is a masterpiece of reporting. Each is rife with explosive revelations:
from the process to win the nomination without being vetted,
to staffing allies in certain positions beyond the office of the Vice Presidency that allowed him to virtually control the content of their respective department's work in his areas of interest,
to how Cheney circumvented the law, the constitution, and its ideals,
to insuring an extremely lazy Bush was presented with only those arguments Cheney wanted him to hear,
to developing policy where his fingerprints were missing even to Bush,
to whether Cheney's efforts were in good faith or a result of cronyism or corruption;
Gellman's reporting is done within a proper context, with excellent sources, and in a writing style that reads like a thriller.
The only critique I have is a small one and mostly irrelevant for most readers of this sort of book. Gellman doesn't cover any ground on the ramifications of Cheney's policy execution. For example, while the story of Cheney authorizing the use of torture, including against people who were innocent, is excellently sourced, reported, and framed within the context of both American law and our founding ideals, it's a mere abstract rendering of results. Nowhere does Gellman report on how Cheney's policy affected real people, from those in the military that actually tortured people, to those people who are innocent of any wrongdoing that were tortured and some even tortured to death. This could cause the less-informed reader to not take Cheney's violations of our law as seriously as I believe they deserve (criminal investigations are warranted). For those readers who don't have that perspective, I also suggest the book, The Dark Side: The Inside Story of How The War on Terror Turned into a War on American Ideals and/or the DVD documentary, Taxi To the Dark Side, or the online documentary found at TorturingDemocracyDOTorg, all of which chronicles the harm done to both the tortured and the torturers while harming, not helping, American interests.
Does the book answer the questions I previously posed? Yes, without qualification I can now present a one paragraph response to how an Administration staffed with such a competent individual and delegated so much power ultimately failed so badly America will suffer its ramifications for generations.
 OK, not great November 15, 2008
6 out of 8 found this review helpful
I have read these other reviews and they see this book as being far more scathing than I do. Perhaps my loathing of Cheney raised my expectations.
The book is a very long, somehwat dry argument for the idea that Cheney was the true "evil-doer" in the Bush administration, and that Bush himself was merely an inconvient fool. It's all vaguely reminiscent of any 70's sit com where the guy in charge is an idiot who has to be "managed" but who occasionally suspects he's being manipulated and must be appeased. McLean Stevenson's character on Mash, the governor in Benson, Ted Baxter in Mary Tyler Moore. Cheney is a silent man who nevertheless is characterized as having immoveable opinions and limitless conviction in his own righteousness.
Familiar stories are recounted: how he appointed himself as VP, how he behaved during the 9/11 travesty, the Justice department meltdown, torture,etc.
There is nothing new here.
It may be necessary for this administration to be removed from the White House before truth will eventually leak out. Until now, none of the books I have seen provide any new insights or any clearer understanding than I could get from simply reading newspapers.
Be patient. It'll all come out. But I'd suggest holding off on buying these books in the meantime. They are sadly unsatisfying.
the Last 8 years revealed November 9, 2008
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
We have read all the exposés of the Bush Years. This is the best and the most terrifying.
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