What if former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and Vice President Dick Cheney's admission to heaven or condemnation to hell was determined by a sensational trial in the devil's own courtroom? This outrageously hilarious scenario is played out with the help of numerous influential "key witnesses" in Fred Stopsky's political satire "Don Rumsfeld and Dick Cheney in Hell." The book reads as a dialogue of the hellish courtroom proceedings, where the devil- assisted by Enron's Ken Lay, no less-calls upon a host of witnesses to help determine whether Rumsfeld and Cheney will spend eternity in heaven or hell.

FreshWave Publishing (2007)
ISBN 9780979651601
Reviewed by Cherie Fisher for Reader Views (7/07)

Readers beware - this book comes with a warning, “This book is dangerous to the emotional and intellectual health of Bush supporters.”  And that is where the story starts, stays and ends.  “Don Rumsfeld & Dick Cheney in Hell” is a very well-written, laugh-out-loud satirical look at the Bush Administration. 

The story starts with Don Rumsfeld waking up in hell.  He finds out from his representative of the Devil, Ken Lay, he will be listening to testimony from several people to determine if he belongs in Hell.  The groups include both liberal and conservative viewpoints such as Michael Moore interviewing Condi Rice and Oprah Winfrey.  The different groups include Nancy Pelosi, Rudy Giuliani, Henry Kissinger, George Clooney, Bruce Willis, Howard Stern and many more.   As you can imagine, they have very expressive views on the Bush Administration.  The author does a good job in capturing and expressing the viewpoints of each of the characters in an informative and very funny way.  About halfway through, Dick Cheney comes to hell for his trial.  Both Rumsfeld and Cheney come together towards the end of the book for a hearing with the Devil.  The finale includes George Bush providing testimony for his two friends. 

I thought that the author did an excellent job in presenting the Constitutional violations (through ex-presidents – Truman, T. Roosevelt and Lincoln) and presented a solid case on the Weapons for Mass Destruction.  The book did get a little long in areas and could have been done without a few of the chapters.  I especially enjoyed the television Law and Order Unit investigation of Weapons of Mass Destruction and I loved Barney’s (President Bush’s dog) response to Jay Leno’s question about how he would clean up the terrorist situation.  Barney’s response was “Speaking as a dog, if you want to keep things clean, have plenty of litter boxes scattered around.  I know George sometimes gets upset if I poop on the ground and he steps in it. It really bothers him.”  Yes, Barney makes more sense than some of the politicians I have heard. 

Overall this was a very funny and well-written book.  I would highly recommend “Don Rumsfeld & Dick Cheney in Hell” to people who have had it with the Bush Administration, liberals and as a gift for relatives that you would like to annoy who are Bush supporters.