A much more important book is Peter Schweizer's Profiles in Corruption: Abuse of Power by America's Progressive Elites.
Schweizer will be known to many readers of American Greatness.
As Schweizer notes, "While few today would follow the outdated pattern of 1930s bribery, current political figures often benefit from financial ties with special-interest parties that are hard to trace, obscured behind what seems like a rock wall.... Part of the challenge is first identifying the tie between political power and those with whom they leverage their position."
The rhetorical power of Schweizer's books stems from two things: first, meticulous research that provides the gem-like elements of his political portraits, and second, an evenhanded, almost deadpan, narrative style in which facts are marshaled, set forth, and left to speak for themselves without undue editorializing.
"What makes so many people angry at Washington," Schweizer writes, "Is the fact that those with political power get to operate by a different set of rules than the rest of us."
As Schweizer dryly notes, when Barack Obama picked Biden as his running mate in 2008, "It boosted the Biden family fortunes to another level. Now suddenly there were opportunities on a global scale. The executive branch offered an abundance of power to leverage, and the value of the Biden family's commercial deals, especially those of Hunter, James, and Frank, would skyrocket."
Such people "Use their own levers of power to protect their family and friends from the scales of justice; bail out their failing businesses; steer taxpayer money to them. When they misstep, they are excused or it is covered up. While those with little or no power have to pay for the consequences of their actions, the political class often does not. The power elite-the people who grease the wheels for themselves-are the most disconcerting and dangerous ones."
https://amgreatness.com/2020/01/25/the-grubby-corruption-of-our-power-elite/
Schweizer will be known to many readers of American Greatness.
As Schweizer notes, "While few today would follow the outdated pattern of 1930s bribery, current political figures often benefit from financial ties with special-interest parties that are hard to trace, obscured behind what seems like a rock wall.... Part of the challenge is first identifying the tie between political power and those with whom they leverage their position."
The rhetorical power of Schweizer's books stems from two things: first, meticulous research that provides the gem-like elements of his political portraits, and second, an evenhanded, almost deadpan, narrative style in which facts are marshaled, set forth, and left to speak for themselves without undue editorializing.
"What makes so many people angry at Washington," Schweizer writes, "Is the fact that those with political power get to operate by a different set of rules than the rest of us."
As Schweizer dryly notes, when Barack Obama picked Biden as his running mate in 2008, "It boosted the Biden family fortunes to another level. Now suddenly there were opportunities on a global scale. The executive branch offered an abundance of power to leverage, and the value of the Biden family's commercial deals, especially those of Hunter, James, and Frank, would skyrocket."
Such people "Use their own levers of power to protect their family and friends from the scales of justice; bail out their failing businesses; steer taxpayer money to them. When they misstep, they are excused or it is covered up. While those with little or no power have to pay for the consequences of their actions, the political class often does not. The power elite-the people who grease the wheels for themselves-are the most disconcerting and dangerous ones."
https://amgreatness.com/2020/01/25/the-grubby-corruption-of-our-power-elite/
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