Book Saloon: The Great Derangement
Like most people, I have some difficulty pinpointing the exact date on which I fell in love with Matt Taibbi. Was it that time when Glenn Greenwald quoted him discussing the wanton heap of corruption that is Tom Daschle by writing, “…he would blow a corpse for a cheeseburger?” Was it just the other day, when he compared Sarah Palin’s intellect to a celery stalk? All I know is that the moment I saw his 2008 book, The Great Derangement: A Terrifying True Story of War, Politics, & Religion at the Twilight of the American Empire, on sale for ten bucks at Powell’s, I knew I’d have some fun reading for the airplane, and I could indulge my fantasy of running my fingers through where his hair used to be. I was not disappointed. Thanks to the fortuitous coincidence of being stuck on the tarmac at LAX for an extra 20 minutes, I nearly finished it before I deplaned, having laughed so often and occasionally loudly that I was afraid at times that I might get cut off.
Taibbi’s story begins right before the 2006 elections, and ricochets from laughably cynical and corrupt Republican-led conference committee meetings to dismally predictable post 2006 Democratic backpedaling on their electoral mandate; from Iraq to the Cornerstone Church in San Antonio, Texas; from Washington to New York; all at an often dizzying pace, sadly ending just a bit before Sarah Palin was invented, but its prescience is still quite arresting in retrospect. With characteristic bluntness, Taibbi watches the Democrats’ post-2006 immediate collapse on war funding, and correctly surmises that in Washington, the big things are already decided by the congressional leaders and the corporations that own them, and the politicians and the media therefore must endlessly prattle on about the little things while the voters are utterly ignored. Taibbi would definitely agree with Billy Flynn, “It’s all show business!”
The heart of the book, though, is Taibbi’s undercover stint as a convert to Christian Zionism in the form of Pastor Hagee’s Cornerstone Church, a bizarre mixture of self-help gospel and right-wing politics, all served up with the same mind-control techniques on would expect from Scientology of the Moonies. During these episodes, Taibbi morphs into Indiana Jones, James Bond, and Hunter Thompson, all rolled together, and writes about it with such self-deprecation and genuine wonder that you are flatly dumbfounded at how he keeps it up, day after astonishing day. During the supposedly climactic “Deliverance” ritual at the end of a three-day retreat, the cartoonish spiritual leader theatrically casts out not only lust and other everyday sins, but alkso handwriting analysis and philosophy, to boot. As the whole crowd of followers pretend vomited into handily distributed bags for an hour and a half, Taibbi writes, “He had cast out the demons of every ailment, crime, domestic problem, and intellectual discipline on the face of the earth. He cast out horoscopes, false gods, witches, intellectual pride, nearsightedness, everything, it seemed to me, except maybe e. coli and John Updike novels.” And yet he kept a straight face through it all and more.
I know that ol’ Nailhead has been searching for an author funnier, smarter, and harder working than I am. I suggest Taibbi; but I saw him first.
I like Matt most of the time. I have read some things he has written that were quite sloppy, ill-informed and appearing that he eschewed any serious research. He has a narrow focus that I find relevant, but when he goes beyond certain topics, he’s pretty useless.
I think when a person stays with the subject(s) they are good at, that intrigue them, that inspire their prose and snark, they are enjoyable if not often brilliant. When Taibbi strays, he’s awful.
Well, we all have our days, you know. I do think Taibbi’s been a year ahead on the financial crises and the skullduggery of Wall Street, though, so I give him credit for that. There is, after all, a lot out there to cover.
I don’t remember reading anything by Matt that I didn’t like. Maybe I haven’t read enough or aren’t a tough enough critic, but I think what you told us about what you found in the book is more important than critiquing the author’s overall work.
It’s hard to fathom that some “Christian” leaders can be such extreme charlatans and still use the bible to lead the insecure fools to want to commit cruelty to include even murder. They are the most evil creatures that walk the earth. Check this out:
Praying for Obama’s death: Pastors are invoking Psalm 109 — “May his days be few” — in hopes of saving our country, and our souls
http://www.salon.com/news/religion/index.html?story=/mwt/feature/2009/11/23/praying_for_obama_death
Ah, yes… the bible as sledge hammer. What happened to the old Jesus=Love thing?
Matt Taibbi may have his limits; but then all writers do.
We can all agree though that he burns the paint off the wall when he takes on the poobahs of the finance sector, holding up their errors, and calling them out on the catastrophe showered on everyone since late ’08.
I’m satisfied that Matt’s reporting in this area meets a high standard of journalism within the fine tradition of gonzo.
Bondo? I’m not so sure.
One would like to think this (below) is a spoof, but one suspects not.
This guy’s probably not any loonier than Michele Bachman, but he hasn’t learned how to do “dog whistles” properly.
No “dog whistles” here. This is loud and clear.
(Not that it matters for the 2010 election, because NC-4 is a *very* blue district and no GOP candidate can win it.)
Well, anyway, submitted for your amusement or bemusement . . .
http://georgehutchins.com/hutchins-4-us-congress-6.htm
Wow. That was something else, sysprog. Did you notice an unhealthy obsesh with the buttsex? I’m so glad I don’t live in the South.
Here is a thought-provoking comment from the site…
Jeebus, Sysprog, where did you dig that up? It reminds me of the old tabloid-type underground newspapers of the 90s where the New World Order and other conspiracies were blasted like this.
Me thinks George Hutchins doth protest too much. Anyone that obsessed with gays is probably a closet homosexual who hates himself and feels guilt and shame and his mother probaby dressed him like a girl. He’s one rung above serial killer. I wouldn’t be surprised to find some decaying young male corpses buried in his backyard.
Anyhoo, happy turkey day to all here. I’m not cooking today. I have only twice in my life made T-day dinner and the rest of the time I was kindly adopted or I skipped it altogether.
I spent some time in the UT/Salon comment section yesterday (I liked Glenn’s blob better before he went to Salon) and I just can’t even read there anymore. Maybe it will morph back to something good. Blobs have dynamics like that. When you can’t control the comment section (Trolls were immediately banned, and I had a no-idiot and no profanity rule), your blog can turn into a mess.
Also, his posts of late have made me want to drink cyanide.
I know what you mean about UT, retzilian. I still like the posts, but I barely wade into the comments lately; something about the format and the mix is sorely lacking. I am going to be stuffing a 23 lb turkey in a few minutes, but otherwise I don’t have a lot to do, either.
Happy Thanksgiving, all.
Greenwald’s posts have always made me want to drink cyanide. I’m getting a much better price on it now that I buy in bulk…