Spanking the Donkey: Dispatches from the Dumb Season

"Spanking the Donkey", Matt Taibbi's journal of the 2004 presidential campaign, is unlike any book of any campaign l've ever read. Resourceful, original and combative, Taibbi seeks to tell the story HIS way....and in doing so, uncovers the sham of those who run for president. While last year's presidential race seems distant now, the author reminds us that it wasn't too long ago we were enmeshed in an election that pitted two woefully inept men. Taibbi covered the Democratic primary season and then went undercover to work for Bush and although he slams Kerry mercilessly, he saves his best ammo for the current occupant in the White House. This book grew on me. For the first forty pages l was convinced that "Spanking the Donkey" was written by a man in his mid-thirties for an audience in their twenties. As the book continued, however, I became aware that Matt Taibbi is an exceptionally good writer. His narrative has rhythm and bite. He maintains humor throughout (which is not an easy thing to do) and he is refreshingly opinionated. For those of us who had the misfortune not to see his essays at their time of print, "Spanking the Donkey" is nonetheless a welcome retrospective to last year's hoopla. No matter what one's political persuasion is there is something in this book for everyone. (I especially liked his criticism of author Bob Woodward) Taibbi's main contribution is to underscore the fact that as bad as the candidates are and as bad as the journalists are who cover them, the whole idea of campaign issues has been lost to rhetoric. For this alone, but for many other reasons, I highly recommend "Spanking the Donkey". I hope Matt Taibbi has another book in mind.

Matt Taibbi's excellent work is the diamond produced out of the coal mine of the 2004 presidential race. The author is a sharp-edged mix of Hunter S. Thompson and Howard Zinn - informed and outraged at the devolution of politics, but skilled at using satire to throw the sordid mess into sharper focus. The book has dozens of laugh-out-loud passages and few dry spells. Taibbi's skill at placing himself in the narrative reaches toward the ideal of journalism; what's the use unless the reader sees events through thoughtful human eyes? I would pair this book up with Thomas Frank's "What's The Matter With Kansas?" for a keen survey of American politics in mid-decade. Five stars, no hesitation.

First, a disclaimer: Taibbi is very harsh with Christian fundamentalists and people of similar political beliefs. If you are one of those people, you'd be well-advised to stay away. On the other hand, you don't have to be a raging left-winger to enjoy Taibbi's commentary otherwise. While the author's politics may be very left of center, he savages Democratic politicians as much or more than Republicans. There is a strong moral center in this book, which is why I characterize it as skeptical, not cynical. Taibbi comes from a journalist family and he has a keen eye for seeing through the spectacle that the political process is--as a symbiotic relationship between journalists and politicians and the junk-food diet public--simultaneously overfed and undernourished. Taibbi's real bias, if you will, is in favor of substance and thought and against superficial b.s. of all types. So Kerry's ridiculous tarmac football photo ops come under fire, as do the artfully "diverse" Dean photo ops, and the shallowness of Wesley Clark's efforts to act knowledgeable about labor disputes. The only guy who comes out better than before is the one we love to make fun of: Dennis Kucinich. I'll admit that I was at one point a supporter of each of the first three and loved to make of that ridiculous gnome Kucinich. Taibbi expertly demolishes the appeal of making Kucinich into the national laughingstock, pointing that, yes, he looks ridiculous, but it's the media as bully that wants to make fun of him to reassure our own insecurities about not being that guy with the sculpted abs on the cover of Men's Health. Ouch. Touche, Mr. Taibbi. This book is the perfect successor to Hunter S. Thompson's Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72. It's easy to forget that before Hunter became an overblown drug culture character, he was an incisive and talented political commentator. I hope Taibbi keeps his head on straight and maintains his focus on politics. Enthusiastically recommended. (And you know what? I take it back. A smart Christian fundamentalist should read this book and, with knowledge of the secular left's impressions of them, write a good Taibbi style analysis of what that tells us. That would make for a good read.)

Matt Taibbi, political contributor to Rolling Stone, New York Press, that magazine with the airbrushed nude photos, and many others, has always been able to wring hilarious true stories from the interiors of gorilla suits and from the hazes of hallucinogens. Now he does it in an easy to carry book form! Join Taibbi on a whirlwind tour crisscrossing America as the nation decides on which man in an expensive suit the Democratic party fingers to run against Bush. It's a fun ride, and just turbulent enough for you to keep an air sickness bag close by. People from most points on the political spectrum will either love or hate this book, seeing that he shows neither the left or the right in a favorable light. Everyone is a victim of Taibbi's skewering. Pass the hot sauce! Many of the pieces have been published before, and the best are what stayed. This way I don't have to worry about shelling out $4 for a copy of Rolling Stone if another awful "mall-ternative" band is on the cover. For new readers, he keeps things interesting - has a great gift for metaphor, a sense of humor that can cause sudden stomach pain, and a large collection of celebrity toenail clippings. Only one disappointment - Punching The Donkey would have been a far better title.