John Dean on C-Span2 now (12:30 am et)

Speech: Conservatives Without Conscience

John Dean talked about his book Conservatives Without Conscience, published by Viking. In his book Mr. Dean argued that conservative politics in the U.S. had moved perilously close to authoritarianism. Former White House counsel John Dean, who was a prominent figure in the Watergate scandal that brought down his former boss, then-President Richard Nixon, further distanced himself from his Republican roots with criticisms of the current Republican leadership, claiming it had sullied the principles of conservatism with radical right-wing policies and Machiavellian tactics. Following his remarks he answered questions from the audience.

of the "devolution" of the Republican party to the caricature it is today.

I thought it was interesting that he says he registered as an Independent quite a few years back, when he realized how far to the right his former party was moving.

His comments about the influence of the fundies, the "religious right," were spot-on, too! To paraphrase what he said, he feels the Repugs are making a bargain with the devil, so to speak, and that it's one they will live to regret. This one issue alone could cement the divisions within the party and weaken it for a long time to come.

Whatever one thinks of Dean, he sure is voicing some important criticisms of this administration in his writing these days, and I welcome that!

Excellent book title, too, as with his last one, Worse Than Watergate. Sometimes a title alone can have an impact because so many consumers merely passing by a bookstand will see it, even if they won't buy the book and read it. The idea of leaders who have no conscience is a very unsettling one that ought to disturb anyone.

"well left of center" ...

he said he's pretty much non-partisan too ... he said he cares more about good government than he does about the political parties ...

thanks for the review ... i like listening to Dean ... he has such a prominent place in history ...