Reviewing "Rebel in Chief" by Fred Barnes

Although the Islamo-named Atta J. Turk and I both gave bad reviews to Fred Barnes' latest screed, I did it for the right reasons--Barnes didn't live up to his reputation as America's greatest sycophant. Turk, on the other hand, takes a page from the Michael Moore/Osama bin Laden playbook and upbraids Mr. Barnes for being too worshipful. Yes, "too worshipful," as if that's possible when the object of our adoration is The Chosen One.

Both reviews are up at Amazon. If you like either of them, please consider clicking "yes" on the "was this review helpful to you" button.

Barnes' half-hearted sycophancy, January 20, 2006
Reviewer: Gen. JC Christian, patriot (Tremonton, UT United States) - See all my reviews

When lovers of the written word discuss wit, arguments about the relative merits of Mencken, Twain, and Parker ensue, but when talk turns to sycophancy, the name, Fred Barnes, trumps all others. He is by any measure the greatest practitioner of that underappreciated literary niche.

That's why Rebel-in-Chief is so disappointing. One expects a master sycophant to break new ground in servile flattery with each book he writes. Unfortunately, Barnes seems to be only going through the motions here, relying on the tried and true like long-winded tributes to Our Leader's love of books and comparisons to the so-called "great" presidents of the past.

It is the latter that I dislike most about this book. The presidents to whom Barnes compares Our Leader are the Roosevelts, Franklin and Teddy, a socialist Democrat and a trust-busting commie. If Barnes had given it a little more thought, he'd have matched Our Leader with someone else who shares the same authoritarian and rebel qualities, someone like the great Chilean strongman, Augusto Pinochet.

It's the obvious comparison to make. Both men seized power from popularly elected leftists and both rebelled against the inconvenient provisions of their nations' laws and constitutions in order to enhance security by practicing torture, denying due process, and spying on their citizenry.

This book doesn't meet the standards we expect from America's greatest sycophant. Hopefully, Mr. Barnes will make amends with his next one.