Dead Certain - book review

Dead Certain, the Presidency of George W. Bush by Robert Draper looked like the kind of book that I would just hate, me being a registered Democrat and all. But it turned out that I rather liked the book and I think I could ever like the man as long as we didn't get on the subject of politics or current events.

The author doesn't exactly sugarcoat Bush and even points out many of the errors or mismanagement events in his presidency. But they come across as errors that we all make to some extent, his just affect the entire world. Bush has been criticized for his "swagger" the author explains but then lets Bush answer by saying, "In Texas we call that walking." And he's probably culturally correct. It's just that a Texas swagger on some streets in New York or Los Angeles will get you beat up or worse.

The author describes Bush's vision of worldwide democracy as "dead certain" among other things that the president is certain of. It is perhaps a naive, certainly simplistic view that everyone would see what he sees if they were in his position and knew what he knows. It's a view that fits someone in a bubble which the president is in, but not someone who reads a lot which Bush also claims to do. Maybe his reading list is also bubble-like.

But I was most impressed by what seemed like an almost "spin-less" account of the Bush presidency to date. No one was demonized and no one was sainted. The Patriot Act was designed, apparently by well intentioned people who felt all the provisions were necessary to fight against and stop terrorists. The war against Iraq was to make the world a safer place. I don't agree with the premises in the book but I can see better now how one could believe them and still be a reasonable person. I would probably give it 4 out of 5 stars.