(2008) Bush's Law: The Remaking of American Justice. By Eric Lichtblau. (ISBN: 9780375424922)

Book Description: Pantheon Books, New York, 2008. Stated First Edition, number line on copyright page reads 2 4 6 8 9 7 5 3. Red Hard Cover Boards, Blue Cloth Spine with Silver Text and silver star to front. This is a First Edition remainder book which is new and never used. Book has red felt pen remainder mark on the bottom edge of the pages. 349 pages include epilogue, notes, author's notes, index and a note about the author. 6.375" x 9.5" tall, 1.125" thick. Like new copy - Never read - Not price clipped. Beautiful copy of book and dust jacket. COLLECTOR'S COPY.

Book Condition: Like New. Front cover has one small scuff on it (see scan).

Dust Jacket Condition: Like New. NON price-clipped DJ [$26.95 US].

About This Book: New York Times writer Eric Lichtblau, author of “Bush’s Law” and winner of a 2006 Pulitzer Prize for national reporting, will deliver the keynote address Sept. 18, culminating a two-day celebration of the U.S. Constitution at Cal State Fullerton.

Lichtblau’s talk, “A Free Press in the Age of Terror: How Much Does the Public Really Need to Know?” will examine the role of the press and issues from his book.

According to it’s description, “Bush’s Law,” published in 2008 by Random House, “is an account of how the Bush administration employed its ‘war on terror’ to mask the most radical remaking of American justice in generations.”

The book raises questions about the constitutionality of President Bush and his administration’s tactics, including warrantless wiretapping and White House pressure on the New York Times to thwart Lichtblau’s story on the program.

About "Bush's Law," Jeff Stein wrote in his New York Times book review: "Even readers who have followed the administration’s legalistic contortions over wiretapping and waterboarding since 9/11 may be unnerved by Lichtblau’s recounting of the human dramas behind the stories of laws broken and ignored. Some of his stories involve officials who stood up to the White House and its henchmen in the FBI and the Justice Department at the cost of their jobs. Others are moving accounts of professionals who lost their integrity, or at least their dignity, by averting their eyes."

Lichtblau works in the Washington bureau of the New York Times, covering the Justice Department and national security issues. He worked in the Washington and California bureaus at the Los Angeles Times for 15 years before joining the New York Times in 2002.

“Eric is a childhood friend and I've followed his career for many years,” said Scott J. Spitzer, assistant professor of political science who organized Lichtblau’s visit. “He won his Pulitzer Prize for the New York Times story that broke the news on the Bush administration’s wiretap surveillance program, and the violation of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act statute that this involved.

“His work speaks directly to the challenges of protecting our Constitutional principles in a time of war, in a time of unspecified terrorist threats and in a time where our presidency has once again become enormously powerful relative to the Congress," Spitzer added. "Anyone who takes the time to come and hear him speak, and to read his book, will be deeply affected by what he has to tell us about how our national security effort is challenging our civil liberties.”

September 8, 2008

By Mimi Ko Cruz

Synopsis: In the aftermath of 9/11, President Bush and his top advisors declared that the struggle against terrorism would be nothing less than a war--a new kind of war that would require new tactics, new tools, and a new mind-set. Bush's Law is the unprecedented account of how the Bush administration employed its "war on terror" to mask the most radical remaking of American justice in generations. On orders from the highest levels of the administration, counterterrorism officials at the FBI, the NSA, and the CIA were asked to play roles they had never played before. But with that unprecedented power, administration officials butted up against--or disregarded altogether--the legal restrictions meant to safeguard Americans' rights, as they gave legal sanction to covert programs and secret interrogation tactics, a swept up thousands of suspects in the drift.

Eric Lichtblau, who has covered the Justice Department and national security issues for the duration of the Bush administration, details not only the development of the NSA's warrantless wiretapping program--initiated by the vice president's office in the weeks after 9/11--but also the intense pressure that the White House brought to bear on The New York Times to thwart his story on the program. BUSH'S LAW is an unparalleled and authoritative investigative report on the hidden internal struggles over secret programs and policies that tore at the constitutional fabric of the country and, ultimately, brought down an attorney general.

Reviews:

"A sobering, saddening but altogether excellent book of legal reportage." --Kirkus Reviews, 03/01/2008

"All The President's Men for an age of terror." --Jeffrey Rosen, The New York Times

"...another must-read for those curious about the back story in the legal war on terror ...a riveting account of the Bush administration's various steps and missteps in chasing down terrorists." --Dahlia Lithwick, Slate.com

"It’s Stephen King country, a collection of horror stories every bit as mouth-drying and finger-curling as Kathy Bates’s taking the lumber to James Caan in 'Misery.'” --Jeff Stein, The New York Times, Sunday Book Review

"A terrific read... a super, super book." --Lou Dobbs, Host of Lou Dobbs Tonight on CNN

About The Author: Eric Lichtblau is an American journalist and Washington bureau reporter for The New York Times. Lichtblau joined The Times in September 2002 as a correspondent covering the Justice Department. Previously, Lichtblau worked at the Los Angeles Times for 15 years, where he also covered the Justice Department in their Washington bureau from 1999 to 2002. Prior to that, Lichtblau did stints on the L.A. Times investigative team in Los Angeles and covered various law enforcement beats. Lichtblau was born in Syracuse, N.Y., and graduated from Cornell University in 1987. With fellow New York Times reporter James Risen, Lichtblau was awarded a 2006 Pulitzer Prize for national reporting. He is the author of Bush's Law: The Remaking of American Justice.

Bibliography:

• Bush's Law: The Remaking of American Justice (Pantheon, 2008 ISBN 037542492X)