There’s always been an odor of scammyness around movement conservatism but here at its end, the sheer breadth of corrupt innovation spreading across the rotting hulk of the GOP is so spectacular as to inspire wonder. What could once be dismissed as the amusing hijinks of a few hucksters has grown into a dangerous culture of corruption that threatens democracy itself.
Money tells the truth when all around us are lying. Money explains why the effort you’ve poured into legislative priorities has produced so little return. And nothing will paint a more honest picture of the influence of money on our entire political system than a few rays of sunlight falling on the Trump businesses.
All we’ll see at first in the returns is the names of these shells. But once we have the names, we can start to assemble the relationships. And when that map of relationships is in the open, further inquiries into those layers of companies can fill out the rest of the picture.
Like weeds in a garden, bots and trolls impact Twitter to a degree not seen on Facebook, or other platforms that attempt to verify a human identity behind their accounts. No one really knows how many of Twitter’s accounts represent an individual, human user. Estimates range between 40-90%, depending on …
Until a mature challenge to liberal democracy emerged from the reeking decay of the old Soviet Union, our endemic political corruption was a like manageable infection. It’s not manageable anymore.
From Sen. Joe Manchin: The Chinese are supposedly making an investment in W. Virginia larger than the state’s GDP. Their Senator wants to know why, and can’t get a straight answer. Here’s what appears to be happening. From the Daily Beast: Rand Paul is working to protect Russia’s investment in …
Three years ago today I submitted my resignation to my local GOP organization. I had been a precinct committeeman for the past decade in suburban Chicago, volunteering on state and local campaigns. It was fun. I enjoyed it. Republican politics in Illinois had been a breath of fresh air after …
Shortly after the 2016 Election I was approached by an editor who encouraged me to submit a book proposal. He didn’t like it, but the process helped crystalize my own thoughts about the political challenges we face. In our discussions in the comments section I often find myself referencing ideas …
Trump’s Fascist rally this week in North Carolina stirred vast public outrage, at least beyond the right wing bubble. By steering the idiotic hatred of his base toward a set of female, minority representatives, he escalated the risk of violence and managed to top his prior incitements. Meanwhile… Trump has …
