Trumpocracy: The Corruption of the American Republic -
A New York Times Bestseller!Bestselling author, former White House speechwriter, and Atlantic columnist and media commentator David Frum explains why President Trump has undermined our most important institutions in ways even the most critical media has missed, in this thoughtful and hard-hitting book that is a warning for democracy and Americas future."From Russia to South Africa, from Turkey to the Philippines, from Venezuela to Hungary, authoritarian leaders have smashed restraints on their power. Media freedom and judicial independence have eroded. The right to vote remains, but the right to have ones vote counted fairly may not. Until the US presidential election of 2016, the global decline of democracy seemed a concern for other peoples in other lands. . . . That complacent optimism has been upended by the political rise of Donald Trump. The crisis is upon Americans, here and now."Quietly, steadily, Trump and his administration are damaging the tenets and accepted practices of American democracy, perhaps irrevocably. As he and his family enrich themselves, the presidency itself falls into the hands of the generals and financiers who surround him.While much of the country has been focused on Russia, David Frum has been collecting the lies, obfuscations, and flagrant disregard for the traditional limits placed on the office of the presidency. In Trumpocracy, he documents how Trump and his administration are steadily damaging the tenets and accepted practices of American democracy. During his own White House tenure as George W. Bushs speechwriter, Frum witnessed the ways the presidency is limited not by law but by tradition, propriety, and public outcry, all now weakened. Whether the Trump presidency lasts two, four, or eight more years, he has changed the nature of the office for the worse, and likely for decades.In this powerful and eye-opening book, Frum makes clear that the hard work of recovery starts at home. Trumpocracy outlines how Trump could push America toward illiberalism, what the consequences could be for our nation and our everyday lives, and what we can do to prevent it.
Published: 2018-01-16 (Harper)
ISBN: 9780062796752
Language:
Format: ebook, 301 pages
Goodreads' rating: -
Reviews
Trumpocracy: The Corruption of the American Republic by David FrumTrumpocracy is a solid book of those who enable, empower, support and collaborate with Donald Trump. Senior editor at the Atlantic and author of nine books including the bestseller The Right Man, David Frum provides the public with yet another conservative voice who has taken a public stance against Trumps subversion of norms and the paralysis of governance. This interesting 325-page book includes the following twelve chapters: Chapter 1: Pre-existing Conditions Chapter 2: Enablers Chapter 3: Appeasers Chapter 4: Plunder Chapter 5: Betrayals Chapter 6: Enemies of the People Chapter 7: Rigged System Chapter 8: America Alone Chapter 9: Autoimmune Disorder Chapter 10: Resentments Chapter 11: Believers Chapter 12: Hope.Positives:1.A well-written, concise book. Frum writes with clarity.2.Im always interested in the political views of reasonable authors and intellectuals. Frum falls into this category.3.The author takes great pride in providing links to notes so that the reader can corroborate the compelling claims of the book. 4.The introduction does not waste time with what this book is all about. Trumpocracy has left Americans less safe against foreign dangers, has diverted their money from its proper purposes to improper pockets, has worked to bias law enforcement in favor of the powerful, and has sought to intimidate media lest they report things the public most needs to know. To shrug and say, What does it all matter? is not only to dismiss the poor and the vulnerable but to submit your own interests to the mercy of the greedy and unscrupulous. It is to submit to life as a subject rather than a citizen.5.Conspiracies debunked. The hoax almost instantly became decisive in the Republican Partys presidential politics. Donald Trump seized on the Birther hoax in 2011, shouldering aside its early promoters to emerge as the nations preeminent denier of Obamas Americanism.6.Clearly discloses Trumps rise to power. Donald Trump did not create the vulnerabilities he exploited. They awaited him. The irresponsibility of American elites, the arrogance of party leaders, the insularity of the wealthy: those and more were the resources Trump used on his way to power.7.The provocations of Trump. Whatever else Trump may fail to dostaff a government, enact a program, safeguard US classified secrets, relieve disasters on Puerto Ricothere is one thing at which he never fails: provoking outrage among the people whom Trump supporters regard as overentitled and underdeserving: the New York theater and arts and croissants crowd, as Rush Limbaugh calls them.8.Keen observations. While the party elite coalesced upon more immigration, less secure health coverage, and one more Bush, the rank and file were frantically signaling: less immigration, better health coverage, and no more Bushes.9.Does a great job of capturing Trumps many lowlights. From Trump, The US has become a dumping ground for everybody elses problems. When Mexico sends its people, theyre not sending their best. Theyre not sending you. Theyre not sending you. Theyre sending people that have lots of problems, and theyre bringing those problems with us [sic]. Theyre bringing drugs. Theyre bringing crime. Theyre rapists. And some, I assume, are good people.10.A repressive kleptocracy. What is spreading today is repressive kleptocracy, led by rulers motivated by greed rather than by the deranged idealism of Hitler or Stalin or Mao. Such rulers rely less on terror and more on rule twisting, the manipulation of information, and the co-option of elites. Their goal is self-enrichment; the corrosion of the rule of law is the necessary means. As a shrewd local observer explained to me on a visit to Hungary in early 2016, The main benefit of controlling a modern bureaucratic state is not the power to persecute the innocent. It is the power to protect the guilty. The satisfying assurance that the president is appointing the fittest individualsand not seeking to build up fortunes for himself and his familyis precisely what is most lacking under Trumpocracy.11.The two perverse factors that strengthened Trump against the congressional Republicans. The first factor was the stark unpopularity of much of what the congressional Republican leadership wished to do. The second unlikely factor enhancing Trumps power over Congress was Trumps own unpopularity.12.Trumpocracy in a nutshell. Trumpocracy as a system of power rests not on deregulation but on nonregulation, not on deconstructing the state but on breaking the state in order to plunder the state.13.Fake news! The 2016 presidential campaign introduced Americans to fake news as a tool of power. A term that had originated to describe intentional lying was redefined by Trump to dismiss honest reporting.14.The Russian influence. Russia mounted a costly and aggressive espionage campaign to help elect Donald Trump and congressional Republicans and to defeat Hillary Clinton and congressional Democrats.15.The worlds perception of Trump. Foreign leaders quickly perceived that Trump could easily be manipulated, but never reasoned with.16.The book is full of profound statements. In the world as at home, systems that serve the interests of all endure better than systems that oppress many to serve a few.17.Trumps issues with the law. Under a president who despises law even more than the most impatient general, a generals instincts become even more dangerous to him, to the government, and to the nation.18.Excuses! Salena Zito, writing in the Atlantic in September 2016, postulated that Trumps supporters take him seriously but not literally. The phrase would become one of the most famous of the Trump era, also an all-purpose excuse.19.Interesting perspective. If conservatives become convinced that they cannot win democratically, they will not abandon conservatism. They will reject democracy.20.Provides a chapter on hope moving forward. Trump has repelled a generation of young people from conservatism and Republicanism.Negatives:1.Not as insightful as other books of this ilk but it is reasonably captures what Trumps presidency represents.2.Lacks supplementary visual materials like charts and diagrams that would compliment the excellent narrative. 3.Nothing really new here but just better summarized.In summary, I really enjoyed this book. Frum writes with clarity and makes keen observations. He is a conservative with a conscience and has made a compelling case against Trumps style of presidency and the potential damage against American democracy. Filled with notes and supporting information, Frum takes much care and providing unequivocal evidence to support his views. I recommend it!Further suggestions: How Democracies Die by Steven Levitsky, Conscience of a Conservative by Barry Goldwater, The Price of Politics by Bob Woodward, Up from Liberalism by William Buckley Jr., Capitalism and Freedom by Milton Freedman, How the Right Lost Its Mind by Charles J. Sykes, and Democracy in Chains by Nancy MacLean.
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/...
Very good commentary from David Frum, a conservative journalist. He is right on about many things about who elected Trump and why they elected Trump. He notes the antipathy about immigrants many of the Trump voters have and he warns that conservatives who feel threatened will check out on the democratic process. In the end he offered hope if the conservative view is included in government, and says that Nazi and Communist are just names. I agree with a lot that he says has already happened but the Hope chapter seems to be a reach. It is longer than the others and made my patience fall away. Sometimes I rolled my eyes and looked to see how many more pages before the book ended. Before the las chapter I might have given the book a 5 star rating. Frum is pointing out the conservative view which mainly means the white male view and apparently those baby boomers approaching retirement WH want to keep what get have. Like Trump voters, Frum has no view of Americans who are not White and only Barack Obama is mentioned. Latinos dont exist and there is mention that the foreign horn were big reapers of the Alternative Healthcare Act. In his view, those foreign born including naturalized Americans are the biggest problem and cultivated the Us vs. Them mentality. The white male loss of face was a major factor in Trumpism too. I agree that this is a point of view of Trump voters but think that Conservatives are already trying to abandon democracy and disenfranchise others. I think we are in dangerous times and arent going to get far in trying appease a small set of voters. Everyone is important and the US needs diverse views. What I dont agree with is that spending so much time on one groups view to allow them control for others to participate is going to yield better government. It is time for participation and rights of minorities who have so long been disenfranchised.
Sorry, Dave, but the erosion of the Republican base was well underway during Your Guy's administration. Your start date of 2008-ish for when Things Started Going Downhill in the Party is kinduva steaming load of bullshit. I don't disremember those 8 years. It was shit, and your party was starting to show signs of rot & disorder & subversion of norms to the point that Jim Jeffords left you guys.Don't gaslight me, Dave.It'd be nice to see a parade of flagellant ex-Bushies in the streets, but I won't hold my breath.My sense is that a lot, if not most, of this ilk would be a-ok with Trump if he'd be more subtle in his methods. He really gave the game away, and they would go right back to their old ways if a slicker & deceptively benign figure came along. *side-eyes Pence*That said, the book - though rather disorganized and without a coherent organization - was readable and had some info nuggets that had slipped past me due to the spastic tennis ball machine of BS that was 2016 & 2017.The audiobook version had a stilted, robotic reader, though. That format is such a mixed bag at times.
What a disappointing effort from David Frum! While I do not share many of the author's political convictions, he is one of the writers I turn to to better understand neoconservative Republican viewpoints. His writing in "The Atlantic" magazine, where Frum is a senior editor, is usually crisp and his points well substantiated, so I was looking forward to reading a strongly argued position expanding on his many articles addressing the peculiarities of the Trump campaign and presidency. I was specifically interested in reading more about a concern he raised in the March 2017 issue of the magazine, addressing a trend since 2000 of the slow and insidious erosion of world democracies and the subsequent rise of authoritarianism."Trumpocracy" makes some fair points and has a few highly quotable tidbits, but the title largely comes across as a disorganized, rambling, low-energy rant, obsessively cataloguing the multiple transgressions of Trump against political norms, while offering little of the cogent analysis or historical perspective that would have made his argument regarding the dangers to our democracy persuasive or even understandable. Frum's railing at the rise of Trump seems to arise more from anger at the Republican Party's know-nothing populist lurch sidelining his neoconservative friends and principles rather than arising from a genuine concern for our nation.If you are interested in the question of whether Trump's political behavior presents a threat to our democracy, I would highly suggest reading "How Democracies Die" instead. Where the arguments in "Trumpocracy" are a scattershot, angry reaction to the abuses of Trump and his circle, the authors of "How Democracies Die" take the time and care to organize their points, supporting them with historical and comparative examples, with the effect that the reader is informed rather than inflamed. "HDD" confines its argument to Trump's damage to the mechanisms and norms of democracy, and this sharper focus helps their case.