Family of Secrets: The Bush Dynasty, the Powerful Forces That Put it in the White House & What Their Influence Means for America in Underground Knowledge

Mar 20, 2009 Sonic rated it really liked it

I cannot remember his exact words, but in the conclusion of this most excellent book Russ Baker states that the boundaries of acceptable thought are staked out and fiercely defended. This seems especially true in the case of History. An obvious example I would raise would be the perspective on Abe Lincoln. It was only very recently that an historian gave voice to evidence that Ol' Abe himself was initially something of a racist and only later with the help of Frederick Douglas came to see that s I cannot remember his exact words, but in the conclusion of this most excellent book Russ Baker states that the boundaries of acceptable thought are staked out and fiercely defended. This seems especially true in the case of History. An obvious example I would raise would be the perspective on Abe Lincoln. It was only very recently that an historian gave voice to evidence that Ol' Abe himself was initially something of a racist and only later with the help of Frederick Douglas came to see that slaves and former slaves from Africa were not unintelligent , but rather just uneducated. So the question must be asked, how could every other so-called historian up until now miss this fact evident in Lincoln's own letters and writing? Obviously the cherished myth was more precious to all than the actual and not-so-simple Truth. Recently I saw a book about Ronald Reagan titled "Tear Down This Myth", and I could not be in more agreement. When we look at the Bush dynasty we see many of the same players all throughout, and knowing who these people are and what their actions reveal their motives to be, we can really see (as Russ Baker states in the book's sub-title) "what their influence means for America." And it is very scary! Guess what OIL, Power, Ego and Defense Contracts have been behind many misunderstood events, that have been manipulated by money and "secret-intelligence" for a long long time, going back (perhaps and at least) as far as JFK's assassination. What's more, our views of these events have been manipulated. And yes the Bush Clan has been at the heart of much of it. This book is factual (one needs a second bookmark for footnotes) and very readable. I do not normally read this kind of book, and I doubted at first whether or not it would hold my interest but it most certainly did! It was nicely broken up into manageable sections within clearly outlined chapters, and Mr. Baker was careful not to take inferences too far, nor to misrepresent the facts. He even addressed his fear of being labeled a "conspiracy theorist" which in most people's minds conjures images of a paranoid nut-job, so successful is the drive to smear and discredit anyone willing to look deep enough.
In my mind Russ Bakers voice is careful, intelligent, even-tempered and essential to a real understanding of the history that has long been manipulated and obfuscated by the power-hungry Bush Clan.

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