I had the great good fortune to attend a recent book signing hosted for John Dean's latest book, Broken Government. A friend invited me and, on a whim, I accepted, having no real knowledge of John Dean or his work.

I must say, I was quite impressed with what Mr. Dean had to offer in terms of his experience as a Washington D.C. insider, a former Repulican, a reporter on the Watergate scandal and a man vilified by G. Gordon Liddy (Mr. Liddy attempted to defame Mr. Dean's wife by accusing her of being directly involved in the Watergate scandal as a central figure in the form of a down-on-her-luck call girl. The Dean family successfully sued against this accusations).

Mr. Dean has written a trilogy of books, each one aimed at helping the American public understand the virulent strain of conservatism that has overtaken the Republican party and, by extension, co-opted most of the Federal government at this point in history.

Mr. Dean's first book,  Worse Than Watergate: The Secret Presidency of George W. Bush, Mr. Dean seeks to explain just what has happened to our government - how the Executive branch has been shifted from the trend toward transparency to become the most secretive administration our nation has ever seen.

In his second book, Conservatives without Conscience, Mr. Dean endeavors to reveal how the Bush administration has managed to rise to and maintain power for as long as it has. The answer lies in the personality type, now very carefully studied and documented by scholarly research, called the Authoritarian personality. This personality is one that seeks black-and-white, dogmatic answers, fears shades of grey, seeks safety in strong, simple leadership and wishes to be led. By playing to this militant mentality, the Bush administration has been able to stir up an incredibly strong, dull-headed, bullying core of unwavering support. Strum the tune of 9/11 or abortion or gay marriage and this core contingent is willing to go to almost any length to protect its clear, safe, idealistic world.

The third book in the trilogy, Broken Government: How Republican Rule Destroyed the Legislative, Executive, and Judicial Branches, focuses on the fall-out of the 8 years of Bush's administration and the job we as a nation have before us to repair our nation's system of checks-and-balances.

Mr. Dean clearly explained that he writes books to draw attention to what he believes are critical issues the American voter must know to protect the world for future generations. Specifically Mr. Dean says he writes to do his best to ensure a world of hope in which his grandchildren can live.

Overall I found him to be an emotionally stable, well-spoken, intelligent and insightful man speaking from reason and simple common sense. He is NOT a Democrat and is not endorsing any candidate or political party or point of view. Rather he hopes to draw attention to what is slowly coming to light to what appears to be most reasonable folks in America (I guess I'm taking a bit of a risk saying that, but there it is) - that our government has headed down a disastrous road toward monarchy, militancy, control by fear, a severe loss of the checks and balances built into our system of government to maintain balance and stability and a generally authoritarian style of "You'll do what I tell you to do because I damned well know what's best for you."

Mr. Dean has certainly inspired me to read his books. I will write more on those as I make my way through them. 

Peace,

Iggy, The Sexy Iguana

Tag it:

?