Book Review: The Great Derangement ...

Matt Taibbi is the National Affairs columnist for Rolling Stone and regular contributor to "Real Time With Bill Maher." He is often called the heir to Hunter S. Thompson's "Gonzo" style journalism. (Not that he's the only one who has been called that.) And he is the author of several political books including The Great Derangement: A Terrifying True Story of War, Politics and Religion at the Twilight of the American Empire.


There are three different areas explored by Taibbi in his book:

1. He uses a fake name to join the John Hagee Ministries in San Antonio, Texas and tells of his "spiritual journey" that he is taken on by the church and some of the other members. This will enrage Liberals.

2. The 9/11 "Truthers" and the liberal "peace protesters" who were part of the Cindy Sheehan Iraq War protests. This part will enrage Conservatives.

3. The corrupt manner in which Congress works and how laws are actually created. As well as how the process of earmarks has been so abused and turned into one of the most corrupt activities engaged in by our elected officials. This part should enrage us all.

One annoying thing about the book is that he jumps back and forth from each of these three areas. It can get a bit distracting. Not to mention the fact that the book is written more in the "Gonzo" style, meaning it is very subjective and not heavily edited. It's more a running commentary and is done very much from the view of the author who is basically the center of what he's writing about. So, if you don't really like that style then you will also find that somewhat annoying.

And one other thing. If you become furious about either the trashing of the Liberals or the Conservatives, but LOVE the trashing of the other side, then you too are being mocked by this book. If you aren't outraged by the stories of how Congress works, you are even more cynical than me.

The basic theory that Taibbi works from is that our government and media are so corrupt and incapable of acting in any sane manner, that a large segment of the population has basically checked out. With no leadership available, people have drifted to radical groups on the both the left and the right that are essentially just using them for their own personal enrichment and political needs. And of course the political parties in turn, use those organizations to try and gain power.

At the beginning of the book you get the definite impression that there is going to be a lot of bashing of Christian Conservatives who are members of the mega churches. You see that he clearly considers them to just be a bunch of rednecks and rubes. But, that doesn’t happen. In the end in fact, they are the ones that come off the best in this book. John Hagee and his church? Not so much.

The Cornerstone Church is depicted, quite rightly, as a sham organization that basically preys on people and exists mostly to enrich the Hagee’s and to cultivate power that can be used in Washington.

This is a church that has organized itself into cells. Why? You ask. So that the church will still function in the case of terrorist attack! Yes, they claim that they are one of the highest value targets for al Qaeda. I. Shit. You. Not.

Much of the vitriol that you expect Taibbi to aim at the Christian Conservatives instead gets reserved for the 9/11 Truthers. These people are a special kind of crazy and Taibbi has a special kind of contempt for them. These people clearly have their tin foil hats on wayyyyy too tightly. And for a bunch of peace activists they sure are a hateful bunch that love to threaten people.

One thing that was interesting about Taibbi’s going after the peace movement people, is that he basically considers himself one of them. Or did at least until he met them. Taibbi is definitely a Liberal, however he is one who doesn’t hesitate to slam the democrats just as much as he does republicans.

That’s part of why I like him. He’s a lot like P. J. O’Rourke, who preceded him at Rolling Stone. O’Rourke is a republican who doesn’t hesitate to eviscerate the republican party when he thinks it’s deserved. I’m a big fan of people who aren’t so bound by political ideology that they can actually criticize their own party.

And then of course there is the US Congress. Taibbi take us through the entire process of how a law comes into being. And it’s every bit as corrupt and outrageous as you might think. When he was doing this book, the republicans were still in the majority, but later in the book he hits on the democrats taking over in ’07 and the changes, or actually lack there of, that take place.

Basically every bad thing you think about our government is confirmed in this book.

We. Are. Fucked.

Even if you are a Glass Half Full type, you will come away from this book with a less than optimistic outlook on things.