GREG PALAST -- ARMED MADHOUSE

If you've ever caught yourself faking a laugh at a Jon Stewart joke because you don't want to admit you don't really get it, I have the perfect book for you: Greg Palast's Armed Madhouse. Palast's approach to politics is similar to Stewart's, with the same potty puns and exceptional wit, and with the same factual knowledge of government, world politics and money. Armed Madhouse is the first book on such subjects that I have read that has maintained my curiosity and interest all the way through. It is therefore the first book on such subjects that has actually taught me something. Now, I don't want to ruin any surprises, but Palast's research has a lot to do with Iraq, the war and the dislodging, so to speak, of Saddam Hussein and far less about Mr. Bin Laden, should its subtitle trick you. The author repeats the question: "Saddam had to go, but why?" on several different occasions and in several different chapters. The answer (along with the billion-dollar oil barrels) frankly surprised the hell out of me. Not that I believed in the weapons of mass destruction subterfuge, and not that I didn't understand that oil was the major issue, but because it's not oil these bigwigs want -- it's the prohibition (using term loosely) of oil. Of course, there is far more to Palast's follow-up to The Best Democracy Money Can Buy, but I'm not dishing out the Cliff's Notes here. (LJ) Grade: A