You know guys the Republican machine courted this sort ideology in a very calculated way. I understand there is some very good books on this path the Republican machine took to end up with this big Kick in the Gut.
Here are is one I heard from a friend is quite good:
American Theocracy: The Peril and Politics of Radical Religion, Oil, and Borrowed Money in the 21st Century
by Kevin Phillips
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbninquiry.asp?ean=9780670034864&pwb=1&z=y· From Our Editors
Can any other critic of the Bush administration match Kevin Phillips's credentials? This veteran political and economic commentator literally wrote the playbook (The Emerging Republican Majority) that the GOP has been using successfully since the Nixon era. Now, with American Theocracy, he has composed an indictment of right-wing policies even more scathing and erudite than his American Dynasty. Phillips details the axis of political fundamentalism, petro-politics, and "borrowed prosperity" that are endangering America's future.
From the Publisher
From Americas premier political analyst, an explosive examination of the axis of religion,politics, and borrowed money that threatens to destroy the nation
In his two most recent New York Times bestselling books, American Dynasty and Wealth and Democracy, Kevin Phillips established himself as a powerful critic of the political and economic forces that are rulingand imperilingthe United States. Now, Phillips takes an uncompromising view of the political coalition, led by radical religion, that is driving America to the brink of disaster.
From Ancient Rome to the British Empire, Phillips demonstrates that every world-dominating power has been brought down by a related set of causes: a lethal combination of global over- reach, militant religion, resource problems, and ballooning debt. It is this same axis of ills that has come to define Americas political and economic identity in the past decade. Military miscalculations in the Middle East, the surge of fundamentalist religion, the staggering national debt, the costs of U.S. oil dependencetogether these factors are undermining our nations security, solvency, and standing in the world. If left unchecked, the same forces will bring a debt- bloated, preachy, energy-starved America to its knees. With an eye on the past and a searing vision of the future, Phillips has written a book that no American can afford to ignore.
Praise for Kevin Phillips and American Dynasty:
"[Phillips] is a deep thinker extraordinaire, who does a masterful job of connecting the military- industrial dots. . . . A searing indictment of the Bush Dynasty."
Douglas Brinkley, Mother Jones
"Devastating . . . an important, troubling book that should be read everywhere with care, nowhere more so than in this city."
Jonathan Yardley, The Washington Post Book World
Author Biography:
Kevin Phillips, a former Republican strategist, has been a political and economic commentator for more than three decades. He is currently a regular contributor to the Los Angeles Times and National Public Radio and also writes for Harpers Magazine and Time. He has written twelve books, including The New York Times bestsellers The Politics of Rich and Poor and Wealth and Democracy.
From The Critics
Publishers Weekly
Scientists repeatedly prove the limited amount of fossil-based fuels left in the world and emphasize the environmental effects of using them. Yet many Republicans ignore science in the name of God while promoting a debt-driven consumer society. Debt, radical religion and fuel have been individual sources of expansion and destruction for many nations throughout history. Utilizing these precedents, Phillips provides detailed and troubling criticism of the United States' excessive dependence on and promotion of these three factors. Phillips predicts these practices will significantly diminish the power of the United States in international politics. In navigating this sometimes complicated book, Scott Brick delivers an outstanding performance. His command of the text will leave listeners believing that he wrote the book. His intensity matches the author's urgency while his emphasis proves a great value in determining the important information. Nonfiction audiobooks of this breadth often become cumbersome and daunting with information overload. But Brick leads his listeners with the gift of a master performer who knows his audience. While extras such as a time line, bibliography or character glossary could only improve this audiobook, the clarity of the text through the efforts of the author and narrator make it well worth the listen. Simultaneous release with the Viking hardcover (Reviews, Feb. 13). (Mar.) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.
Library Journal
When Phillips wrote The Emerging Republican Majority almost 40 years ago, he correctly forecasted the electoral landscape of the United States for a generation and has ever since been among our most prominent political commentators. Now, however, in the latest of his many books, Phillips finds that the party he once served as strategist has become "a fusion of petroleum-defined national security; a crusading, simplistic Christianity; and a reckless credit-feeding financial complex." While some points made here overlap with points Phillips has already made elsewhere, e.g., in American Dynasty, his broadside against the Bush family, the most original part of this new book is his analysis of the "southernization" of American politics, an important component of his case here on oil and religion. If Phillips's political allegiance has changed over the decades, the sharpness of his observations and the historical depth and range of his arguments-as well as the wit and style gracing them-have not. His warning of an "Emerging Republican Theocracy" is sure to capture media attention and draw many readers. For all libraries. [See Prepub Alert, LJ 11/15/05.]-Robert F. Nardini, Chichester, NH Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.
Kirkus Reviews
A dazzling treatise on the collapse of Republican virtues under the fundamentalists and plutocrats united in the perfect storm of Bushism. Phillips (American Dynasty, 2004, etc.), the apostate former Republican strategist, once coined the term "Sun Belt" and envisioned the Southernization of American politics. He is now in the unhappy position of bearing witness to the birth of a Texas-fried, small-tent politics that blends religious orthodoxy and unwavering uncertainty in presidential infallibility with an economics predicated on indebtedness and extraction. The red state/blue state schism marks several old divides, he holds, one between "a preference for conspicuous consumption over energy efficiency and conservation," one between secularism and theocracy. Why would a good American encourage the latter? Well, a certain school holds that the Second Coming will not be triggered until theocratic rule is established in this most divinely favored of countries, after which, presumably, it will be up to the damned to sort through the ugly business of paying the debts and filling the tanks. Many of these divides are very old, Phillips observes, between "greater New England and the South"-save the polar reversal of the South now being Republican, the Northeast Democratic. As to the manifold manifestations of theocracy, few are subtle: Consider the Schiavo case, and unprecedented federal meddling in science education (with the executive's expressing a clear preference for so-called "intelligent design"), and the endless effort to undo various civil liberties. And the financialization of America? Again, writes Phillips, it's not subtle: "Never before have political leaders urged . . . large-scaleindebtedness on American consumers to rally the economy," to say nothing of an economy based on servicing debt rather than making anything useful-and, of course, on ever-scarcer oil. Other credit-happy theocracies, like Inquisition Spain, went bankrupt, collapsed under their own weight, disappeared from influence and view. Phillips's historical essay/polemic is provocative, though plenty of folks in Houston-to say nothing of Washington-won't like it at all.
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pastor dan, a pro-Contract GOP who voted Kerry, 07/22/2006
Read Part III First
Despite the title, the parts on oil and the religious right are not the scariest. The part on financing shows how OPEC or the Red Chinese can sink our economy right now! (And WE set ourselves up). How real is it: the very day I finished the book my credit card got bundled into a resale package to people I didn't like the first time around (something covered in Part III). Especially if you're a conservative, part III needs reading.
Also recommended: Mayflower, Dave Ramsay's Financial Makeover, N.T. Wright's SIMPLY CHRISTIAN, Leslie Weatherhead's THE WILL OF GOD
A Greenspan, A reviewer, 07/11/2006
SNOREFEST
He claims radical Christians are the threat, yet he ignores the real threat of radical Islam. He denies the 18 month bull market and economic success since the 2001 recession and 9/11.
Also recommended: We the Navigators, the millionaire mind,liberalism is a mental disorder, the enemy within, the political zoo, the savage nation.
Michael Thompson, a Director of Human Resources, 05/11/2006
Must Reading
I listened to Kevin Phillips talk about his book and found him fascinating and a Moderate Republican. Now I have read it and believe it is outstanding and should be required reading for all Americans. I learned more about why the Right Wing Evangelical Christians are terrible for our Country. Mr. Phillips explains in detail why we went to war with Iraq (Oil), too many Radical Religious Christians and the incredible deficit George Bush has run up. Again, American Theocracy is simply one of the best and should be thanked by everyone.
A reviewer, A reviewer, 04/23/2006
Enthralling and revealing
This book was a true education regarding the past and present U.S. hegemony and political manipulations regarding oil, national debt and the morbid and morose end-of-days Armageddon-loving section of our population. This was written by an ex-Republican strategist for Nixon, so for those who are dimissive of any argument or claim based on a person's political proclivities might find themselves more open-minded. If however, you are a reflexive Bush cheerleader type, you will not like the book at all. This book should be read to counter-balance the crony worshipping books written by the likes of Fred Barnes, etc. It certainly impacted me.
vincent david scala, an attorney in New York, 04/04/2006
excellent, if a little disjointed
Kevin Phillips' book is an excellent account of the impact and influence of oil in foreign policy, the enormous power of mindless religious belief and it's influence on domestic and foreign affairs and the perils of our federal, state and personal debt. Coming as it does from a conservative intellectual is all the more appealing to a left wing radical like me, since my opinions are being somewhat validated by Mr. Phillips. The book was somewhat disjointed in that it cites numerous facts to support the proposition (good), but also is a bit confusing. It doesn't always read smoothly. I found myself re-reading portions of the book just to get a handle on some of the points being made. All in all, any American, Republican or Democrat, conservative or liberal should admire the intellectual honesty of a conservative intellectual who is saying things that any thinking person is likewise thinking. The influence of religion in America is making us a laughing stock around the world, given the mindless beliefs of so many millions of Americans. Our reputation (if we have one anymore) in the area of science is being shattered by the Know Nothings and those who would bring us back 1, 2 or 3 hundred years. The term used by Mr. Phillips regarding 'disenlightenment' is very true and very revealing. It is becoming almost a badge of honor to reject thinking, facts, knowledge and science. That is FRIGHTENING. The book is necessary reading given the times we live in.
Also recommended: Cobra II March to War Foxes in the Henhouse Team of Rivals
