Rather than denouncing a new book as pure polemics, Watergate figure John Dean's examination of Republican ultraconservatism should be tested against the Bush administration's record.
Hardline Bush loyalists can hardly dismiss Dean as a vengeful liberal. He was Republican President Richard Nixon's lawyer and the man who exposed the Watergate affair, as well as a close friend of the late Sen. Barry Goldwater, father of modern GOP conservatism and to whom Dean has dedicated this new work, "Conservatives Without Conscience."
In it, Dean builds a formidable case that American politics and government are being seized by Republican authoritarian cultists (perhaps 23 percent of the party) who use the fear of terrorism and secrecy to control the country. "Fear mongering, the likes of which we have not seen in a long time," he said in a recent interview.
Raw material for Dean's conclusions come from his experiences as an intimate in the authoritarian Nixon presidency, academic studies over several decades and fresh public scandals—President Bush declaring himself above some laws, condoning government eavesdropping and sifting through personal papers, and ignoring Congress in foreign policy decisions.
His last book, "Worse Than Watergate: The Secret Presidency of George W. Bush," also charted a fearsome path away from American democratic government.
And to what end does Dean fear extremists are taking the nation? "I don't think we are in a fascist road right now," Dean told an interviewer. "We are so close to it though."
Too close for comfort.
