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State of Confusion: Political Manipulation and the Assault on the American Mind | 
 enlarge | Author: Bryant Welch
Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books
Category: Book
List Price: $25.95
Buy New: $13.33
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Avg. Customer Rating:  10 reviews
Sales Rank: 131729
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 304
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.9
Dimensions (in): 8.3 x 5.3 x 1.3
ISBN: 0312373066
Dewey Decimal Number: 155.8973
EAN: 9780312373061
ASIN: 0312373066
Publication Date: June 10, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
Finally, the answer to the many questions that have been preying on the minds of millions of Americans has arrived. Why are Americans so vulnerable to divisive political tactics? Why did Americans get dragged into such an unwise war in Iraq? Why do fundamentalist religious groups, Fox News, and right-wing radio still play such influential roles in America’s political landscape? And why are long-accepted rational scientific ideas like evolution under siege? These questions hold America’s future in the balance. Ultimately, they are questions about the American mind. Psychologist-attorney Dr. Bryant Welch has the answers.
If America is going to change the mind-set that led us to war in Iraq and left us unable to confront our serious national problems, this book is vitally important. Drawing on his unique experience both as a clinical psychologist and a Washington, D.C., political figure with the American Psychological Association, Dr. Welch shows how the long-term effects of sophisticated new forms of political manipulation have not only led to our debacle in Iraq but are also currently undercutting America’s ability to address its very serious problems. In the 1944 movie Gaslight, a husband drives his wife to the brink of insanity by playing games with her sense of reality. Just as in the movie, America’s most recent political “gaslighters,” such as George W. Bush, Karl Rove, Rush Limbaugh, Ann Coulter, and many religious leaders, have generated and exploited confusion in the minds of countless Americans.
Gaslighters prey on their victim’s vulnerability to paranoia, sexual perplexity, and envy to undermine the mind’s ability to function rationally. Welch examines why millions of Americans, in response to such assaults, subconsciously and dangerously create their own simplistic reality, even if it is completely different from the more complex reality of the world.
Most important, State of Confusion explains how and why Americans must act now to fight back against this harmful manipulation before it’s too late. Dr. Welch’s exploration of the American mind is both fascinating and frightening, and State of Confusion is a must-read for everyone who cares about the future of this great country.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 5 more reviews...
 An incredibly interesting read October 6, 2008
As a psychotherapist, I was fascinated by this book. Dr. Welch is able to explain some of the most complicated psychological concepts in very clear and logical fashion. It connects the mind to the current American political crisis, like no other book I have ever read. He explains why we were so irrational after 9/11, why sexuality has become such a political third rail in American politics, and why negative campaigning works even though everyone claims they hate it. Anyone with a psychological orientation to the world willlove it!
Understanding the Brain Washing America September 16, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Bryant Welch is an insightful psychologist and experienced political activist and fast becoming one of the most important new voices in American Journalism today.
His book, State of Confusion calls out the Bush Regime, the possible forthcoming Palin Presidency and the bullies at Fox News for employing the same tactics as the Psy-Ops Strategies imposed by the government in George Orwell's classic book 1984.
The Lee Atwater/Karl Rove/Roger Ailes Psy-ops maneuver is exposed for what it is - and the corporate media (which controls most book reviews) isn't eager to publicize a book that posits that a large segment of the American population (you can find a chunk of them regularly watching FOX News) have been brainwashed, emotionally manipulated, and embedded with a false sense of reality.
Bryant Welch revels why so many Americans are living in an alternative reality created by the demonic Thought Police (Atwater, Rove, Ailes) of the Republican Party. He shows how Americans have been emotionally and psychologically manipulated by a "manufactured reality" of the right wing consortium by using think tanks, public relations spin, advertising techniques, corporate media, psychological tactics, politicians, and twisted religious leaders.
Who can ever forget the "Two Minutes of Hate" in George Orwell's Classic 1984? Every citizen was required to assemble together in front of a large Tele-screen every day so that the government would show videos of our enemies and we were to focus our hate on them and chant slogans for two minutes every day. These slogans are now replaced by Fox News code words such as Prayer. You know, as Sarah Palin says, lets pray for the completion of the Alaskan Drilling Projects - and pray that no wolves or bears get in her way - for they will surely learn about the vengeance of god.
Thank you Dr. Welch for such a thoughtful and critical analysis explaining the false reality that at least of Americans live in today.
 Disappointing September 13, 2008
0 out of 2 found this review helpful
Though I agree with Welch's view of the right-wing movement, too much of the book appears overly facile and superficial. Take for example this excerpt from Welch's discussion of envy as a necessary part of the human condition. "All human achievement as well as much destructive human aggression is a reflection of envy." (P. 252). Now, this is a sweeping conclusion, to say the least, about the connection between envy and human achievement. It also strikes me as just plain wrong. This morning it took me an hour to draw a little picture-- a minor achievement, for sure, but an achievement nonetheless. More importantly, I did it for the sheer pleasure of doing it. There are many, more significant examples of non-envious achievements from all walks of life. Welch is not just wrong in this case, but factually wrong, unless, that is, he resorts to playing games with a vague term like "reflection" which, to his credit, he gives no indication of doing.
The problem with the book is not just this one egregious example, but that the entire work consists of little more than a series of bald assertions: some common-sense, some speculative, and others just plain arguable. As a result, there is a general lack of grounding of key statements beyond their simple assertion and how well they fit into the general story he tells. For example, I agree that envy is a very potent force in our hierarchical competitive economy, but must we agree that it's envy that "creates our motivation to work and be producive." (p. 105) Again, a big load for envy to carry and another sweeping assertion that goes unargued. Moreover, it's not clear to me that envy is in fact "a necessary part of the human condition." (p.252) On the contrary, it can be argued that desiring what others have arises in those cultures that emphasize property and status, but not in those that don't. Now, perhaps in the last analysis Welch is right. Nonetheless, the problem here is that there is not even a first analysis, just an assertion.
Now, I'm certainly in agreement with his view of the political right-wing. Their movement is becoming ever more solipsistic as the facts go against them. But I picked up the book, hoping to gain more insight than what I found. To be sure, the text does contain points of interest and is an easy read-- though I'm not sure the latter is a point in its favor. All in all, however, I found the book both oddly comforting and definitely disappointing.
A "must-read" for every caring, thinking voter August 31, 2008
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
If you're interested in -- or just curious about -- how the US got where it now is in Iraq and among the nations of the world, you need to read this book. It explains how the "gaslighters" [Karl Rove, Fox News, Rush Limbaugh, etc] manipulated the minds of American citizens, increasing their vulnerability after 9/11, to make Americans more dependent on "their" brand of reality and to enable their agenda to be achieved. They warped American citizens' ability to "think," and discredited those persons and professions that could foster "clearer" thinking and decision-making. The psychological explanations are invaluable tools for helping readers identify similar on-going manipulations from the current Presidential campaigns. State of Confusion: Political Manipulation and the Assault on the American Mind
Substantially true, but not very deep and not one of the best books on the subject August 30, 2008
9 out of 14 found this review helpful
I'm somewhat perplexed by the string of five-star reviews. Despite agreeing with the author on virtually every point, I do not think this is a very good book. The book lacked depth at certain points, borders on abject ignorance whenever matters of religion are addressed, and consistently lacks in nuance. I also found the book marred by a tendency to engage in psychoanalytic citing of anonymous cases, something that is simply out of place in writing about our current political crises.
I have to confess that as a film buff I was put off at nearly the very beginning, when Welch introduces the notion of "gaslighting" -- a metaphor that is quite apt in discussing the Right's persistent and largely successful attempt to muddy the minds of Americans in thinking about politics -- and talks exclusively of the 1944 Hollywood film starring Charles Boyer and Ingrid Bergman that was a remake of a superior 1940 British film starring the great Anton Walbrook, which was itself a film version of the Patrick Hamilton stage play. OK, not mentioning any of this is indicative of the persistent lack of depth I found in the book. No doubt the author wanted to keep things simple (assuming he was aware of the earlier film or play; it is possible that he knows only the later Hollywood version), but throughout the book I found myself wanting to add footnotes. The fact is that I am not sure I learned a single new fact reading the book. Any reader who has read a substantial number of recent books on the state of politics in America will already know everything contained in the book. Many will already have a deeper understanding than can be gained from the book. Though the concept of gaslighting is helpful, it is the only new thing I gained.
I do think the discussion of healthcare was strong. Though even there he misses a lot that is common knowledge. For instance, he mentions that universal healthcare under Truman failed because of a fear of communism. In fact, if you look into it in more depth, the fight against universal healthcare was led by Southern politicians who understood that Truman's plan would have resulted in whites and black being treated in the same hospitals, something they found intolerable. (As a Southerner, I find much to regret in my heritage.) A fear of communism might have been a secondary factor, but the main reasons universal healthcare was defeated were racist.
Any discussion of religion in the book is simplistic and uninformed. There are always two perspectives in a discussion of religion: an insider's perspective and an outsider's. I personally am a leftist (a passionate democrat whose political values are informed by the New Testament, Enlightenment ideals of justice and fairness, and socialism, equal parts Sermon of the Mount, Thomas Jefferson, and Ernst Bloch), but am also a largely orthodox Christian. My own discussion of religion is that of an insider. It is unquestionably possible to discuss religion intelligently as an outsider. One does not find that here. I found none of Welch's comments on religion to be either informed or perceptive. The perception was lacking simply because he apparently understands why he does not care for religion, without grasping why others do. Those he verbally gestures at the enormous complexity of American Christianity, it is not heartfelt. Like too many today, he ignores the fact that there are vast numbers of Christians who are politically left-leaning. Even within fundamentalism an increasing number of Christians are becoming disturbed by the so-called Religious Right's lack of concern on environmental and poverty issues. Jesus talks of the poor more than anything else in the Gospels; more and more conservative Christians are taking note of that. But Welch has no feel for this diversity. He lumps together large groups of Christians who ought not to be lumped. Frankly, you shouldn't publish comments on something you don't know about.
I was tempted to make this a bibliographic review, citing 20 or 30 books that are better than this one. Let me cite only a few. David Brock's THE REPUBLICAN NOISE MACHINE gives far greater detail and provides more insight on how the top-down leadership of the GOP has systematically mislead and misinformed Americans for the past forty years. Thomas Frank's WHAT'S THE MATTER WITH KANSAS? (and his new book THE WRECKING CREW) examines in depth the bait and switch tactics of the GOP. Naomi Klein's THE SHOCK DOCTRINE details the catastrophic results of the free-market economic ideology that has dominated the GOP (and tragically the Democratic party as well) over the past forty years. Kevin Phillips's AMERICAN THEOCRACY and Michelle Goldberg's KINGDOM COMING provide perceptive and insightful outsider perspectives on the Religious Right, while Randall Balmer's THY KINGDOM COME: HOW THE RELIGIOUS RIGHT DISTORTS THE FAITH AND THREATENS AMERICA provides an insider's perspective (his MINE EYES HAVE SEEN THE GLORY, published by Oxford University Press, shows the kind of complexity that exists even in the Religious Right, something Welch ignores). The most passionate and well-reasoned attack on the notion of American (Christian) exceptionalism has come from a deeply religious evangelical pastor, Gregory Boyd's THE MYTH OF A CHRISTIAN NATION. I will gesture at Garry Wills's HEART AND MIND while adding that there are a host of good leftist political books written by Christians. In a string of excellent books, George Lakoff has dissected the niceties of political discourse, beginning with MORAL POLITICS, repackaging that in concentrated form in DON'T THINK OF AN ELEPHANT, and continuing in WHOSE FREEDOM? and THE POLITICAL MIND. I could easily name 20 or 30 books that I would recommend before this one.
In summary, while the metaphor of gaslighting is quite apt and helpful in thinking about the strategies of the right in America today, it isn't sufficient to make this a good book. To be honest, I'm giving this book three stars only because I agree with the author politically. But all of this has been said by others, better, with more insight, and definitely more sensitivity to religious matters.
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