David Cay Johnston

Founder https://t.co/WOxAZ05hj8; @ShadowingTrump IRS commissioner; 2001 Pulitzer; 51 years of investigative reporting

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Book Recommendations:

DC

Recommended by David Cay Johnston

Trumper Kellyanne Conway‘s “alternative facts,” is the mendacious child of Newt Gingrich’s “the truth as I understand it” justification of his 1990s calculated lies and hypocrisy. — @Milbank (Dana) in his fascinating new book The Destructionists https://t.co/ytOlr3PZbe (from X)

NEW YORK TIMES BEST SELLER • A scalding history of twenty-five years of Republican attempts to hold on to political power by any means necessary, by a hugely popular Washington Post political columnist "A thorough and scathing account of how the Republican Party fell prey to Trumpism."—The New York Times Book Review In 1994, more than 300 Republicans under the command of obstructionist and rabble-rouser Congressman Newt Gingrich stood outside the U.S. Capitol to sign the Contract with America and put bipartisanship on notice. Twenty-five years later, on January 6, 2021, a bloodthirsty mob incited by President Trump invaded the Capitol. Dana Milbank sees a clear line from the Contract with America to the coup attempt. In the quarter century in between, Americans have witnessed the crackup of the party of Lincoln and Reagan, to its current iteration as a haven for white supremacists, political violence, conspiracy theories and authoritarianism. Following the questionable careers of party heavyweights Newt Gingrich, Karl Rove, Mitch McConnell, and Rudy Giuliani, and those of many lesser known lowlights, Milbank recounts the shocking lengths the Republican Party has gone to to maintain its grip on the American people.

DC

Recommended by David Cay Johnston

My @DCReportMedia take on the revealing abd insightful Mary Trump book, which came this morning: https://t.co/1knHTkvxHp (from X)

In this revelatory, authoritative portrait of Donald J. Trump and the toxic family that made him, Mary L. Trump, a trained clinical psychologist and Donald’s only niece, shines a bright light on the dark history of their family in order to explain how her uncle became the man who now threatens the world’s health, economic security, and social fabric. Mary Trump spent much of her childhood in her grandparents’ large, imposing house in the heart of Queens, New York, where Donald and his four siblings grew up. She describes a nightmare of traumas, destructive relationships, and a tragic combination of neglect and abuse. She explains how specific events and general family patterns created the damaged man who occupied the Oval Office, including the strange and harmful relationship between Fred Trump and his two oldest sons, Fred Jr. and Donald. A firsthand witness to countless holiday meals and interactions, Mary brings an incisive wit and unexpected humor to sometimes grim, often confounding family events. She recounts in unsparing detail everything from her uncle Donald’s place in the family spotlight and Ivana’s penchant for regifting to her grandmother’s frequent injuries and illnesses and the appalling way Donald, Fred Trump’s favorite son, dismissed and derided him when he began to succumb to Alzheimer’s. Numerous pundits, armchair psychologists, and journalists have sought to parse Donald J. Trump’s lethal flaws. Mary L. Trump has the education, insight, and intimate familiarity needed to reveal what makes Donald, and the rest of her clan, tick. She alone can recount this fascinating, unnerving saga, not just because of her insider’s perspective but also because she is the only Trump willing to tell the truth about one of the world’s most powerful and dysfunctional families.

DC

Recommended by David Cay Johnston

A smart way to spend time right now: read @sarahkendzior's brilliant new book Hiding in Plain Sight: The Invention of Donald Trump and the Erosion of America. In popular language she shows how autocracy is replacing our democracy. https://t.co/YwzFbrsqBG (from X)

Instant New York Times Bestseller Washington Post Bestseller USA Today Bestseller Indie Bound Bestseller Authors Round the South Bestseller Midwest Indie Bestseller New York Times bestselling author Sarah Kendzior documents the truth about the calculated rise to power of Donald Trump since the 1980s and how the erosion of our liberties made an American dema­gogue possible. The story of Donald Trump’s rise to power is the story of a buried American history – buried because people in power liked it that way. It was visible without being seen, influential without being named, ubiquitous without being overt. Sarah Kendzior’s Hiding in Plain Sight pulls back the veil on a history spanning decades, a history of an American autocrat in the making. In doing so, she reveals the inherent fragility of American democracy – how our continual loss of freedom, the rise of consolidated corruption, and the secrets behind a burgeoning autocratic United States have been hiding in plain sight for decades. In Kendzior’s signature and celebrated style, she expertly outlines Trump’s meteoric rise from the 1980s until today, interlinking key moments of his life with the degradation of the American political system and the continual erosion of our civil liberties by foreign powers. Kendzior also offers a never-before-seen look at her lifelong tendency to be in the wrong place at the wrong time – living in New York through 9/11 and in St. Louis during the Ferguson uprising, and researching media and authoritarianism when Trump emerged using the same tactics as the post-Soviet dictatorships she had long studied. It is a terrible feeling to sense a threat coming, but it is worse when we let apathy, doubt, and fear prevent us from preparing ourselves. Hiding in Plain Sight confronts the injustice we have too long ignored because the truth is the only way forward.

DC

Recommended by David Cay Johnston

@MitchMcConell @RudyGiuliani Would that Grand Illusion, the Wayne Barrett & Danny Collins book, had sold a million copies. As with all reporting by the late, great Barrett the book is rock solid. (from X)

Rudy Giuliani emerged from the smoke of 9/11 as the unquestioned hero of the day: America's Mayor, the father figure we could all rely on to be tough, to be wise, to do the right thing. In that uncertain time, it was a comfort to know that he was on the scene and in control, making the best of a dire situation. But was he really? Grand Illusion is the definitive report on Rudy Giuliani's role in 9/11—the true story of what happened that day and the first clear-eyed evaluation of Giuliani's role before, during, and after the disaster. While the pictures of a soot-covered Giuliani making his way through the streets became very much a part of his personal mythology, they were also a symbol of one of his greatest failures. The mayor's performance, though marked by personal courage and grace under fire, followed two terms in office pursuing an utterly wrongheaded approach to the city's security against terrorism. Turning the mythology on its head, Grand Illusion reveals how Giuliani has revised his own history, casting himself as prescient terror hawk when in fact he ran his administration as if terrorist threats simply did not exist, too distracted by pet projects and turf wars to attend to vital precautions. Authors Wayne Barrett and Dan Collins also provide the first authoritative view of the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, recounting the triumphs and missteps of the city's efforts to heal itself. With surprising new reporting about the victims, the villains, and the heroes, this is an eye-opening reassessment of one of the pivotal events—and politicians—of our time.

DC

Recommended by David Cay Johnston

No US president has been lampooned, caricatured and vilified like Trump. Ben Arogundade assembled a superb collection of Trump images on magazine covers worldwide. FAKE VIEWS is a great conversation starter. Brit author did an Obama covers book, too. https://t.co/2anMLF2St1 https://t.co/1OBorHjKon (from X)

WINNER: General Non-Fiction: Indie Book Awards 2019 Donald J. Trump is the most vilified American president ever, derided on more front covers than any other. He’s been portrayed as the anti-Christ, Adolf Hitler, The Joker, a Ku Klux Klansman, King Kong, a terrorist, a madman, a psychopath, a narcissist, a buffoon and a sexual predator, to name but a few. Fake Views? President Donald Trump’s Book Of Covers, reveals the US head of state in all these guises and more. Which portrayals are truthful, and which may be classed as “fake news”? AMERICA’S UNLIKELY PRESIDENT Since being elected to the White House in America’s 2016 election, President Donald Trump has featured on thousands of newspaper and magazine covers around the world. This new photo-biography of Trump’s front pages brings you the best examples that tell the story of the startling events that brought Donald Trump to the Oval Office as America’s 45th leader. This groundbreaking new book by Ben Arogundade, author of Obama: 101 Best Covers, presents a unique visual collection never seen before in one package. NEW DONALD TRUMP BOOK Since his 2016 election victory there has been a plethora of new Donald Trump books covering biography, autobiography, memoir and poetry. There are even President Trump colouring books. Authors such as Michael Wolff (Fire & Fury: Inside The Trump White House), James Comey (Higher Loyalty), Newt Gingrich (Trump’s America) and Conrad Black (A President Like No Other), have helped create the extensive narrative that seeks to make sense of the Trump administration and what has been described by many as the “Trumpocalypse”. However, none of these titles tell the Donald Trump story like this book does — through the eyes of the print press that have featured him on their front pages for four decades. TRUMP’S FIRE, FURY, COMEDY Available in paperback and hardcover, Fake Views? President Donald Trump’s Book Of Covers, curates the biggest selection of Mr. Trump’s front pages ever assembled, from 1979 to the present. Over 240 images are included, with many never-seen-before examples that will shock and amaze. Meticulously researched, the author has sifted through thousands of Donald Trump covers, selecting the best examples to inform its narrative. Featured publications include Time, Rolling Stone, The New Yorker, Esquire, The Guardian, The New York Times, Playboy, GQ, The Economist and Der Spiegel. PRESIDENT TRUMP — A VISUAL BIOGRAPHY This new Donald Trump book presents readers with a visual biography of images that span his life as a young real estate mogul in the 1980s, right through to his behaviour and policies inside the White House since being elected president in 2016. In colour and black-and-white, the book mixes photography with illustrations devised by some of the finest political cartoonists and graphic designers in the world, including Adel Rodriguez and Barry Blitt. Collectively the book’s covers veer from horror to comedy and back, deriding Donald Trump more than any other American president in history. TRUMP: THE ART OF THE DEAL The text that accompanies Ben Arogundade’s new Trump book discusses the design, typography, photography and political context of each cover, bringing to life this unique portrait of the world’s most talked about person, and America’s most controversial president. NEW DONALD TRUMP BOOK: SUMMARY • 240 covers spanning four decades, many never seen before. • Detailed analysis and background narratives for each one. • A recommended read, or gift, in hardcover and paperback formats.• ‘Lean’ book production using print-on-demand technology — less paper, less waste. AMAZON BOOK CATEGORIES 2018/2019 Biography – Political – Political Leaders and Leadership,Biographies & Memoirs – Historical – United States – US Presidents,Arts & Photography - Celebrities.

DC

Recommended by David Cay Johnston

The Deficit Myth is simply the most important book I've ever read. Stephanie Kelton carefully articulates a message that obliterates economic orthodoxy about public finance, which assumes that taxes precede spending and deficits are bad. Kelton's work is on a par with the genius of DaVinci and Copernicus, heretics who proved that Earth revolves around the sun. (from Amazon)

A New York Times Bestseller The leading thinker and most visible public advocate of modern monetary theory -- the freshest and most important idea about economics in decades -- delivers a radically different, bold, new understanding for how to build a just and prosperous society. Stephanie Kelton's brilliant exploration of modern monetary theory (MMT) dramatically changes our understanding of how we can best deal with crucial issues ranging from poverty and inequality to creating jobs, expanding health care coverage, climate change, and building resilient infrastructure. Any ambitious proposal, however, inevitably runs into the buzz saw of how to find the money to pay for it, rooted in myths about deficits that are hobbling us as a country. Kelton busts through the myths that prevent us from taking action: that the federal government should budget like a household, that deficits will harm the next generation, crowd out private investment, and undermine long-term growth, and that entitlements are propelling us toward a grave fiscal crisis. MMT, as Kelton shows, shifts the terrain from narrow budgetary questions to one of broader economic and social benefits. With its important new ways of understanding money, taxes, and the critical role of deficit spending, MMT redefines how to responsibly use our resources so that we can maximize our potential as a society. MMT gives us the power to imagine a new politics and a new economy and move from a narrative of scarcity to one of opportunity.

DC

Recommended by David Cay Johnston

Jason Stanley reveals how the liberties of the people wither when voters embrace politicians who promote the divisive politics of us versus them while denigrating cooperation, compromise, and respect for others. How Fascism Works builds on philosopher Stanley’s insightful How Propaganda Works to explain in concise and easily understood terms how people get tricked into reversing the expanding rights that made America great. (from Amazon)

“No single book is as relevant to the present moment.”—Claudia Rankine, author of Citizen “One of the defining books of the decade.”—Elizabeth Hinton, author of From the War on Poverty to the War on Crime NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW EDITORS’ CHOICE • Fascist politics are running rampant in America today—and spreading around the world. A Yale philosopher identifies the ten pillars of fascist politics, and charts their horrifying rise and deep history. As the child of refugees of World War II Europe and a renowned philosopher and scholar of propaganda, Jason Stanley has a deep understanding of how democratic societies can be vulnerable to fascism: Nations don’t have to be fascist to suffer from fascist politics. In fact, fascism’s roots have been present in the United States for more than a century. Alarmed by the pervasive rise of fascist tactics both at home and around the globe, Stanley focuses here on the structures that unite them, laying out and analyzing the ten pillars of fascist politics—the language and beliefs that separate people into an “us” and a “them.” He knits together reflections on history, philosophy, sociology, and critical race theory with stories from contemporary Hungary, Poland, India, Myanmar, and the United States, among other nations. He makes clear the immense danger of underestimating the cumulative power of these tactics, which include exploiting a mythic version of a nation’s past; propaganda that twists the language of democratic ideals against themselves; anti-intellectualism directed against universities and experts; law and order politics predicated on the assumption that members of minority groups are criminals; and fierce attacks on labor groups and welfare. These mechanisms all build on one another, creating and reinforcing divisions and shaping a society vulnerable to the appeals of authoritarian leadership. By uncovering disturbing patterns that are as prevalent today as ever, Stanley reveals that the stuff of politics—charged by rhetoric and myth—can quickly become policy and reality. Only by recognizing fascists politics, he argues, may we resist its most harmful effects and return to democratic ideals. “With unsettling insight and disturbing clarity, How Fascism Works is an essential guidebook to our current national dilemma of democracy vs. authoritarianism.”—William Jelani Cobb, author of The Substance of Hope