pickA vivid picture explaining why Citizens United is no friend of democracy. As much as the details in this book enraged me, it was an engaging read.
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Dark Money: The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right | 
pickA vivid picture explaining why Citizens United is no friend of democracy. As much as the details in this book enraged me, it was an engaging read.
😂😂😂 I just about spit out my coffee reading this description of Ayn Rand. #truth
Just boggles my mind that a Supreme Court Justice could be so obtuse about Citizens United! 😡😡😡
Even with quotes like above, I survived the chapter on Fossil Fuels. Just about to hit 50% through this book…starting the section on Citizens United. What could go wrong?🙄
🤬🤬🤬
Thomas Frank, author of What‘s the Matter with Kansas, referring to the Tea Party rallies in 2009🤮
I‘m only 39% of the way through this book, but I really want to finish it in February so I can get back to focusing on #bookspinbingo in March.
I‘m slooooooooowwwwly reading this one😡 Quotes like this one would normally really irritate me, but compared to the details about the Koch brothers and their cronies, this quote pales. I knew this family was horrible, but reading how these brothers treat one another…🤯 what a bunch of sociopaths!
Breakfast and a book. I‘m in the mood to be outraged😡
pickThis deeply researched book shows how the Koch brothers have impacted Republican politics by pouring in their money and that of others and pushing their own self-serving agenda. It makes me wonder if we truly have a democracy or if we are now actually in an oligarchy. I knew the Koch brothers were dirty but WOW, it‘s appalling to see exactly how dirty laid out this way.
pickInfuriating. Mayer takes her case from early 20th century forays into the elder Koch‘s childhood, all the way up to 2015. VERY interested to see how the Machine has grown / pivoted since the 2016 election...
Absorbing and hard-hitting and necessary.
OMFG, did YOU know this?!?
Cruella DeVos‘s brother is Erik Prince from Blackwater! The ‘mercenary army,‘ some of which we may be seeing right now in #pdx. Oh this stuff makes my blood boil.
#hulksmash #corruption #beltwaybandits #themoreyouknow
“Total liberty for wolves is death to the lambs.”
-Isaiah Berlin
This feels like such an important book RIGHT NOW. Hoping it goes from explaining the mess we‘re in now to how we can dismantle the #greedmachine.
This will be my first read in the readathon this weekend. (Probably my only read - I'm a slow reader.) What kind of timer do you all use to keep track of your progress during readathons?
#mrbook #litsypartyofone #24b4monday
pickWhat a depressing book. The chokehold the super rich have on our political system is both horrifying and fucking maddening. I had no idea that all of their philanthropic organizations are little more than tax shelters where they can fund things that directly affect their bottom line. If you‘re not sure we need more oversight, read this book.
What I wanted most at the end of this book was to know what we can do. I mean, besides DRACARYS.
Reading this as my NF read now. Learning lots about the Koch brothers, founders of the Cato Institute, and Richard Mellon Scaife (who I‘d never heard of before), founder of the Heritage Foundation, and how they, their foundations and others have managed to convince people over the last 30-40 years that government is bad and corporations and billionaires are good. Chilling book!
so-soEye-opening to realize that the wealthiest citizens aren't simply trying to avoid federal taxes, but have used charitable giving to advance personal.agendas and fail to consider the nation as more than their playground. The almost forensic accounting used to shine a.light on some of the historically significant private politicking does.get repetitive, and the sums of money being thrown around numbing.
The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right. The Koch Brothers. Enlightening. Frightening. Also a soon to be released documentary. #mustread #aprella #americanmoney
pickI now feel equal parts of motivation and helplessness after reading this book. While making a mental list of things to do to repair the damage done to our broken political system, I found myself having micro-panic attacks about what must be a great many things already in motion that we are not yet aware of.
pickEye-opening, meticulously researched. Mayer exposes depth to which radical libertarian billionaires, lead by the Koch Brothers, have infiltrated the US government, specifically Republicans, at all levels. The sections about their war against taking action to stabilize climate change & how they‘re trying to indoctrinate Americans to their philosophies by influencing course content in our educational system were especially infuriating. #tbr2018rbr
This pisses me off so much. Teachers in PUBLIC SCHOOLS, REQUIRED to “[downplay] the roles of social movements and government” and our children REQUIRED “study conservative principals as part of American history IN ORDER TO GRADUATE”. This is some profoundly fucked up propaganda bullshit.
pickThis was a fascinating, yet deeply troubling, read, that has left me asking “What can we do?” If moneyed interests have infiltrated all of our institutions, how are the people to have a voice anymore?
pickA true horror story. The long term strategic plan as well as the patience and flexibility to shift those plans along with the billions of dollars involved in the political process is horrifying. Somehow Mayer made all this info readable and accessible.
pickMind blown. The ability of billionaires to anonymously endorse politically extreme candidates is laid out detail by disturbing detail. Really glad Ontario has capped campaign contributions.
A lot of screaming into the void in this book
I've taken about a billion pictures of quotes from this book and keep forgetting to post them. 🙄
Ah yes, the positive health benefits of smog...
pickHow the very rich control politics in the USA. If you want to know about conservative “think tanks” and what they really do and who really finances them, please read. And if you are not sure what you think of libertarians, please read. I was so shocked. Still reeling.
pickTerrifying look at the extreme conservative donors pushing their agenda on the country. I knew this was happening, but I didn‘t realize the full systematic extent of it. Very thorough and a solid read.
Any book that starts with a Brandeis quote gets an instant warm feeling from me.
pickAs I listened to names that have become recently familiar—the Devos family, a young (perhaps less intellectually bankrupt) Paul Ryan, Mike Pompeo, Rex Tillerson, and so on—I was struck by how obvious an occurrence Trump's presidency was. This did not come out of nowhere. If you would like to understand how we got to here, in this garbage autocracy run by cartoon villains and Tom Clancy rejects, read this book. And then go do something about it.
I put this audiobook on hold back on 17 April, and yesterday my patience paid off! Impeccably researched, equally fascinating and horrifying, Mayer's book should be required reading for anyone who claims to care about American democracy. Kirsten Potter (who also read Station Eleven) is a wonderful narrator. #nowreading #nowlistening #audiobook #libby #overdrive
This is scarier and more disturbing than a horror novel. Should be required reading for all Americans.
pickI would have never read this if it weren't for my thoughtful Book Club. Knew nothing about the powerful, billionaire Koch brothers who have worked tirelessly to control the US government behind the scenes. Shocking, eye opening. A must read to be informed about what a select group of Billionaires are doing to advance their agenda. Not an easy read, but so glad I persisted. Jane Mayer is a modern day Wonder Woman!
My library offers suggestions to fulfill the Current Events square on its adult summer reading bingo card. Subjects include Putin, the Koch brothers, Saudi Arabia, Roger Ailes, anti-science, the dying Earth, and the past-is-present classic, "All The President's Men". Things are looking bleak, but it's better to know.
Picked these up and I can't wait to read them!
Dark Money by Jane Mayer
Killing the Black Body by Dorothy Roberts
This definitely feels like the non-fiction reading equivalent of eating your vegetables (and a lot of them), but I think it's helpful that I'm going to audiobook route on this one -- I figure an hour or so a day while tidying or getting ready for work will make finishing it easier!
so-soStarts out great but didn't hold my attention.
I went to lunch and book shopping with @TheNextBook and she's an enabler. 😂 But the Dennis Lehane book is for my mom for Mother's Day. The rest are...topical reading. And how can I say no to buying The Devourers with that cover?! 📚
#bookhaul
This book should be categorized as "horror", it's that frightening.
gazillioners oil w nazi stalin rooted fortune beginning .. just getting started.
pickExtremely well researched and well written. Despite the size it's a fairly quick read.
When books make me angry...to be fair it was already falling apart!
kicking off the weekend with some light reading about how the Koch family got rich from the Nazi regime--now the Koch's run the country--why the fuck not? --jesus christ #darkmoney #janemayer #kochfamily #americanpolitics #kochindustries #politics
My library haul. I almost bought Dark Money in the airport the other week. I hope it will help me understand our current political climate better. I really can't wait to read all of these! Who needs sleep!
Talk to your children about Republicans before it's too late pls 🙏🏻 #IfYouComeBackToMeWithOhItsthePartyOfLincolnIWillBlockYou #CanYouBlockOnLitsy #DoRepublicansReadOrTooBusyFuckingOverPoorPeople 🤔
