John Dean's "Conservatives Without Conscience"

Keith Olbermann on MSNBC Countdown tonight had a prolonged interview with the former Nixon White House official who presented some interesting information, little of which of course comes as a great surprise. To me, it sounds like a book to read ASAP.

First, I feel somehow obligated to note that the conservatives of the Bush era are not conservatives in the traditional sense of the term, any more than today's GOPer is anything like our parents' Republican party member. Traditional conservatives, by and large, are as unhappy and even horrified by the Bushies as the rest of us. Bush represents a truly radical fringe, where huge government spending is all fine and dandy as long as other radical extremists benefit from kickbacks from same.

Now... the premise of the book is that the type of conservatives who align with Bush are willing to do anything and everything to stay in power. This includes doing anything to the rest of us - principally in the form of non-stop terror fears - to get us so afraid that we'll buy into totalitarian rule, so long as the ruler is one of them.