20 May 2004 - Thursday

Apocalyptic foreign policy

An article by Rick Perlstein at the Village Voice has been causing some commotion among the commentariat. Until now, I hadn't been able to read it for myself. The opening paragraph contains a sort of synopsis:

It was an e-mail we weren't meant to see. Not for our eyes were the notes that showed White House staffers taking two-hour meetings with Christian fundamentalists, where they passed off bogus social science on gay marriage as if it were holy writ and issued fiery warnings that "the Presidents (sic) Administration and current Government is engaged in cultural, economical, and social struggle on every level"—this to a group whose representative in Israel believed herself to have been attacked by witchcraft unleashed by proximity to a volume of Harry Potter.
I find this less alarming than Perlstein does -- not because the theology and political science in question are sound, but because the White House has to deal with a wide variety of rather special interest groups. Nevertheless, I find this information fascinating on all levels; the opinions and rhetoric of the religious group, the response of the White House, and the interpretation of the left are all entertaining.

| Posted by Wilson at 16:04 Central | TrackBack
| Report submitted to the Power Desk


Friend, forgive me for taking advantage of a one-time rift in the time-space continuum--my happening upon a story, about the George Bush's romance with apocalyptic Christians, linked by every blog in the world--to do some self promotion.

My book on the rise of the conservative movement, BEFORE THE STORM: BARRY GOLWATER AND THE UNMAKING OF THE AMERICAN CONSENSUS, has been very well received.

The reviewer in The Nation wrote: "I've read Before the Storm twice and intend to go on reading it, as my opiate, as long as Bush is in the White House.... Before the Storm is the story of such a fascinating era and Perlstein is such a great storyteller--one of the most enjoyable historians I've read--that I guarantee for a while you will simply forget the dreariness of today's politics."

In the Village Voice: ". Daring, virtuosic writing, and encyclopedic mastery make the book's title and its Goldwater focus inadequate to all Perlstein accomplishes. This is an exciting volume, an outstanding debut. It goes beyond conservatism. It ups the ante on what popular history can, and should, do."

OK. Enough. I'm blushing. If you liked "The Jesus Landing Pad: Bush White House checked with rapture Christians before latest Israel move," you'll, um, love BEFORE THE STORM.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0809028581/qid=1085016241/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i1_xgl14/002-0473633-7022428?v=glance&s=books&n=507846

Warm personal regards,
Rick Perlstein

The thoughts of Rick Perlstein on 22 May 2004 - 15:57 Central
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Despite my draconian spam policy, it is my pleasure to leave that comment alone. It amuses me.

The thoughts of Wilson on 22 May 2004 - 23:31 Central
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