Exploring the Impact of Donald Trump on America: How His Rise to Power Has Led to an Unprecedented Erosion of Our Nation's Values

bookreader: I wish this book had been rendered irrelevant by the passage of time, but the same faces from this clown-car-crash/horror-movie keep bobbing back to the scummy surface of public life, and it's more important than ever for people to know the toxic cesspool they come from. It's also vividly and fluently written; accessible and engaging.

United Kingdom on Jul 08, 2023

Cathy: There is too much autobiography in this book. Too much, "Me" and "I". Stopped reading after chapter 3.

Canada on Feb 06, 2023

Ramat: Corruption, the dangers of the extreme right and the oligarchy. History is about to repeat itself. The damage is deep and disturbing.

Canada on Oct 25, 2022

Russell Ferrell: This book is an eyeopener. It is a hard-hitting expose on Trumpism, a trend setting agenda that has been hiding in plain sight for four years. The thesis of the book is gripping. The author is honest and brave. For anybody wishing to withstand the transformation of Trumpism, or at least understand its development, this is a must-read book – certainly, the best book out there on the subject. This author is deserving of much praise for her no-holds-barred approach to the subject and for enlightening us about the perils we face. This is not conspiracy theory. Kendzior’s work is well-researched and documented. Trump’s path to power parallels a decades-long erosion of American stability, integrity, and democracy.
American exceptionalism, the erroneous belief that America is unique and impervious to autocracy is the delusion that paved the way for Trump’s victory. (Page 4) According to Kendzior’s research, Trump is part of a complex illicit network of individuals from Russia, Saudi Arabia, Israel, the US, and the United Kingdom, that has no loyalty to any country. They represent an unfathomable network of criminals without borders. They are not necessarily fascist because...

United States on Oct 23, 2020

Gareth Bate: I've listened to the Gaslit Nation podcast for a while and followed Sarah on Twitter. This book is very good and I highly recommend it. Sarah reminds me of Jane Jacobs in her ability to see things clearly by being observant of the actual world we live in rather than living in a fantasy. Her choice to live in the midwest gives her a different perspective. Sarah sees way ahead because she has the historical knowledge and the imagination to anticipate where things are going. She's not afraid to voice her predictions and potentially be wrong. I'm surprised, an unsurprised by how often the things she predicts have come true. The problem is that she's seldom wrong and ends up screaming into a void as people in power continually ignore her warnings. She's often branded as "hysterical" or talking conspiracy for warning us all about a predictable uncreative series of moves that those seeking to establish authoritarian rule consistently follow. In reality those who hold power are unwilling to act to defend The United States. They instead operate as if they live in democracy blessed by God that requires no maintenance or defence. They are seemingly embarrassed to imagine how bad it could...

Canada on Sep 06, 2020

Jeffrey Penn May: Kelptocracy In Plain Sight

Sarah Kendzior writes tight, powerful sentences, poetic and meme-ready quotes to be admired and emblazoned as precursors to action, the clarion calls that helped avoid an all too real impending crisis. If we all had her courage, wisdom, research skills, clarity of thought, and talent at concisely stating fact, the world might become a better place.

And I say this not just because I’m from her hometown. Her description of Missouri and St. Louis almost made me defensive; surely she was wrong about my home. But if I looked beyond the insulated world of St. Louis county where I live and did more than take daylight strolls through north city where I worked as an underpaid, underappreciated adjunct, then I might be screaming louder, working harder to help her turn the country around and right the injustices so clearly evident. I will try to call out the corruption, the Kleptocracy “hiding in plain sight,” despite the potential for online ridicule and retaliation. But whatever online abuse you and I might encounter pales in comparison to the threats of physical harm and the death threats Kendzior has endured. Those who have dared to...

United States on Jun 16, 2020

Stef: The last 50 years has seen a quantum shift away from basic democratic principles, not only in the US, but in peer democracies around the world. A myriad of factors are responsible and there are plenty of heady books that chip away at some aspect, source or agent, but Dr. Kendzior's book, along with her previous one, 'The View from Flyover Country' represent the most visceral of accounts. It is beautifully written, weaving in both the social scientist in her as well as the mother, wife and citizen, and while looking at macro events, she never loses sight of the real effects on average citizens. The two books, which I would call companions, ultimately wind up asking the basic question, 'what kind of society do you want?' and they do so by showing you plainly the very kind of society you are in and how it went all so very wrong. The nefarious protagonist may be Donald Trump, but blame is cast wide and includes all for allowing institutional rot and storied institutions to crumble. The book, written ins 2019, is at times prescient at the national and even global level:

On page 2, “'To millionaire elite, many of whom already had an apocalyptic bent, a depopulated world is not...

Canada on Apr 09, 2020