The bestselling grassroots guru is back with his incisive take on the state of the union and life today in the good ol' U.S.A.

America in 2004 is color coded — and it's not just a matter of red, white, and blue. The terror alert bounces from yellow to orange. The economy offers up a hundred shades of red ink. The environment is turning brown. National security is cloaked in gray shadows. And, as he did in the bestselling Thieves in High Places, Jim Hightower covers it all with uncommon insight, political fearlessness, and laugh-out-loud humor.

America's #1 populist gives us Let's Stop Beating Around the Bush — a hard-hitting, fact-filled review of the real state of the union that you won't get from the establishment media. With his daily radio commentaries and award-winning monthly newsletter, no one has chronicled the madness of King George the W, the wimpiness of corporate Democrats, and the aggressive avarice of Wall Street with the thoroughness and tenacity of Hightower. Now he brings that investigative punch into this wild and woolly hook of fiery essays.

With his satirical "Six Perfectly Good Reasons to Re-elect George W. Bush"; his mix of damning indictments and uplifting stories; and side bars, cartoons, games, and puzzles, Hightower has clone the impossible: he has created a subversive read that makes politics fun again.

Progressive populist radio commentator and essayist Hightower presents his entry in the growing list of anti-Bush volumes, characterized by his particular brand of Texas humor. He runs down the list of the various destructive policies of the Bush administration, covering the environment, the economy, agriculture, civil liberties, and social welfare in separate sections.
Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Don't's just read ittake Hightower's message to heart, take action on it, and take your country back!" (Michael Moore, author of Stupid White Men)

With his usual candor, radio commentator and bestselling author Hightower returns with his lowdown on the Bushites, Congress, the War on Terror, the economy, and a host of other hot, newsworthy topics.

Jim Hightower, national radio commentator, columnist, and bestselling author, broadcasts daily radio shows on more than 120 stations around the country. He delivers upward of one hundred speeches a year spreading his message of progressive populism and hope across America.

CONTENTS

BUSH...AGAIN?

Six Perfectly Good Reasons to Elect George W. Bush

Introduction xv

1: GLOBAL WARMING! 1

George W Does the Environment

Bush Gets Hot 7

Making Government Listen 9

Mountain Massacre 11

Bush's "Clean Coal" Boondoggle 12

The Ever-Loopy Synfuels Loophole 13

A Dirty Dozen 14

Inside the "Pink Zone" 20

Messing with Frogs 21

Dumping High-Tech Toxins on Poor Nations 22

Democrats Get Down and Dirty, Too 23

Timber Scams 25

Kill Endangered Species to Save Them 26

Putting the "Yuck" in Yucca Mountain 27

Guess Who Loves Conservation? 29

Energetic Thieves 30

Shifting the Cleanup Burden 31

The Grassroots Water Rebellion 33

Polluting the Poor 35

2: CHEAP UNDERWEAR, BUB 39

George W Does the Economy

A Work in Progress 46

Bush Creates New Manufacturing Jobs! 48

Happy Days Are Here Again 49

The Statistically Employed 52

CEOs Average $25,000...an Hour 53

Converting Safeway to Greedway 57

Bush's PR Boo-Boo 61

Bush's Jobs Plan 62

High-Tech Execs to Workers: Go to Hell 64

Get to Work, America 68

Gifts to Power 69

A Big Idea 70

A Corporation That Breaks the Greed Mold 71

3: ONE WORD, BUCKO: YUM-YUM-YUM! 77

George W Does Food

Down on the Farm 81

NAFTA Gives the Shafta to Farmers 85

The Cows Have Come Home 89

Living High on the Hog 94

Frankenfood 96

Monsanto Goes Nuts 102

Bringing the Farm to the City 105

High on Hemp 107

The Mendocino Rebellion 111

4: YOU'LL NEVER HAVE TO FEEL ALONE AGAIN, MY FRI: 115

George W Does Liberty

BushZones Go National 120

The Miami Model 128

Bush Rewrites the Founders 136

Et Tu, Postmaster? 138

New Toys for Big Brother 139

Our Loopy Attorney General 140

Shredding Ashcroft 143

Spy, Inc. 145

The Intrusion Industry 146

Corporate Cancellation of the Sixth Amendment 148

Bye-Bye, Medical Privacy 149

Catch-22, the Corporate Version 150

Letting Consumerism Get Under Your Skin 151

5: RUGGED INDIVIDUALISM, COMPADRE 155

George W Does the Common Good

Forget Health Care, We're Going to Mars 165

Reforming Nursing Home Rules 166

Defending America from Canada 167

Why Drugs Cost So Much 171

Social Security Works 172

Edison Comes A-Cropper 175

Teaching Commercialism 176

Higher Education for All 178

Why Libraries Matter 182

The Book Thing 184

Where Did Ranger George Go? 185

The Corporate Takeover of Our Water 187

The Big Muddy of Corporatization 192

Budgeting for Class Warfare 196

Betrayal of Our Troops 198

Who Gets Taxed? 202

Let's Run Government Like A... 205

Heroes 206

6. YOU NAME IT! 211

What George W Means to Me 215

Connections 217

Solutions to Puzzles 225

Index 229