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Dark Money
Dark Money: The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right | Jane Mayer
Why is America living in an age of profound economic inequality? Why, despite the desperate need to address climate change, have even modest environmental efforts been defeated again and again? Why have protections for employees been decimated? Why do hedge-fund billionaires pay a far lower tax rate than middle-class workers? The conventional answer is that a popular uprising against big government led to the ascendancy of a broad-based conservative movement. But as Jane Mayer shows in this powerful, meticulously reported history, a network of exceedingly wealthy people with extreme libertarian views bankrolled a systematic, step-by-step plan to fundamentally alter the American political system. The network has brought together some of the richest people on the planet. Their core beliefsthat taxes are a form of tyranny; that government oversight of business is an assault on freedomare sincerely held. But these beliefs also advance their personal and corporate interests: Many of their companies have run afoul of federal pollution, worker safety, securities, and tax laws. The chief figures in the network are Charles and David Koch, whose father made his fortune in part by building oil refineries in Stalins Russia and Hitlers Germany. The patriarch later was a founding member of the John Birch Society, whose politics were so radical it believed Dwight Eisenhower was a communist. The brothers were schooled in a political philosophy that asserted the only role of government is to provide security and to enforce property rights. When libertarian ideas proved decidedly unpopular with voters, the Koch brothers and their allies chose another path. If they pooled their vast resources, they could fund an interlocking array of organizations that could work in tandem to influence and ultimately control academic institutions, think tanks, the courts, statehouses, Congress, and, they hoped, the presidency. Richard Mellon Scaife, the mercurial heir to banking and oil fortunes, had the brilliant insight that most of their political activities could be written off as tax-deductible philanthropy. These organizations were given innocuous names such as Americans for Prosperity. Funding sources were hidden whenever possible. This process reached its apotheosis with the allegedly populist Tea Party movement, abetted mightily by the Citizens United decisiona case conceived of by legal advocates funded by the network. The political operatives the network employs are disciplined, smart, and at times ruthless. Mayer documents instances in which people affiliated with these groups hired private detectives to impugn whistle-blowers, journalists, and even government investigators. And their efforts have been remarkably successful. Libertarian views on taxes and regulation, once far outside the mainstream and still rejected by most Americans, are ascendant in the majority of state governments, the Supreme Court, and Congress. Meaningful environmental, labor, finance, and tax reforms have been stymied. Jane Mayer spent five years conducting hundreds of interviews-including with several sources within the network-and scoured public records, private papers, and court proceedings in reporting this book. In a taut and utterly convincing narrative, she traces the byzantine trail of the billions of dollars spent by the network and provides vivid portraits of the colorful figures behind the new American oligarchy. Dark Money is a book that must be read by anyone who cares about the future of American democracy.From the Hardcover edition.
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DogMomIrene
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Pickpick

A vivid picture explaining why Citizens United is no friend of democracy. As much as the details in this book enraged me, it was an engaging read.

44 likes2 stack adds
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DogMomIrene
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😂😂😂 I just about spit out my coffee reading this description of Ayn Rand. #truth

KathyWheeler 😄 2y
Hooked_on_books I thought this book was terrific. And there were occasional unexpected funny moments, like this one. 2y
DogMomIrene @Hooked_on_books YES! And some moments where I‘m just flabbergasted by how self-serving these billionaires are, but then they scoff at people who actually need help. 2y
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DogMomIrene
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Just boggles my mind that a Supreme Court Justice could be so obtuse about Citizens United! 😡😡😡

KathyWheeler I‘m not particularly well versed in that kind of thing, but even I could see that Citizens United could mean nothing good for actual citizens. 2y
DogMomIrene @KathyWheeler Yeah! Seriously! 🤯 2y
32 likes2 comments
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DogMomIrene
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This book requires all the snuggles and, most definitely, the wuggles!!! #dogsoflisy

Leftcoastzen Awww!🐶🐶 2y
44 likes1 comment
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DogMomIrene
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Even with quotes like above, I survived the chapter on Fossil Fuels. Just about to hit 50% through this book…starting the section on Citizens United. What could go wrong?🙄

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DogMomIrene
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🤬🤬🤬

RamsFan1963 I'd like to read this book, but I fear my head would explode from built up anger 😡😡🤯🤯🤯 2y
DogMomIrene @RamsFan1963 😤It would! 2y
36 likes2 comments
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DogMomIrene
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Thomas Frank, author of What‘s the Matter with Kansas, referring to the Tea Party rallies in 2009🤮
I‘m only 39% of the way through this book, but I really want to finish it in February so I can get back to focusing on #bookspinbingo in March.

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DogMomIrene
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I‘m slooooooooowwwwly reading this one😡 Quotes like this one would normally really irritate me, but compared to the details about the Koch brothers and their cronies, this quote pales. I knew this family was horrible, but reading how these brothers treat one another…🤯 what a bunch of sociopaths!

night_shift This quote steams me 😡 this one had been on my tbr for a bit. 2y
DogMomIrene @night_shift It had been on my TBR for a long time too. It feels weird to say that I‘m liking this book because every few paragraphs I‘m like 🤬🤬🤬 but it‘s really doing a great job painting the picture of how economic inequality was manipulated by just a few of the uber rich. 2y
night_shift @DogMomIrene I'm gunna have to make sure I have two light books to sandwich this before I attempt it. Ugh. 2y
41 likes1 stack add3 comments
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DogMomIrene
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Breakfast and a book. I‘m in the mood to be outraged😡

SRWCF Lol! You go, girl! Rage on! 😡🤬😡🤬 2y
DogMomIrene @SRWCF 😂 I had to stop after 30 minutes of reading. Sometimes I forget I'm on BP meds, and I could feel inner boiling🔥 2y
SRWCF @DogMomIrene Ahhhh...safety first, THEN rage on! 2y
53 likes3 comments
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Hooked_on_books
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Pickpick

This deeply researched book shows how the Koch brothers have impacted Republican politics by pouring in their money and that of others and pushing their own self-serving agenda. It makes me wonder if we truly have a democracy or if we are now actually in an oligarchy. I knew the Koch brothers were dirty but WOW, it‘s appalling to see exactly how dirty laid out this way.

AmyG I can always tell your posts now because of your “sleeping couch dog‘! ❤️ 2y
Hooked_on_books @AmyG Yeah, my pups are fairly predictable! 😂 2y
43 likes2 comments
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danibel
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Currently reading

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WellReadCatLady
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Good insight on some of the political issues we are experiencing today!

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MargaretPinardAuthor
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Pickpick

Infuriating. Mayer takes her case from early 20th century forays into the elder Koch‘s childhood, all the way up to 2015. VERY interested to see how the Machine has grown / pivoted since the 2016 election...
Absorbing and hard-hitting and necessary.

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MargaretPinardAuthor
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OMFG, did YOU know this?!?

Cruella DeVos‘s brother is Erik Prince from Blackwater! The ‘mercenary army,‘ some of which we may be seeing right now in #pdx. Oh this stuff makes my blood boil.

#hulksmash #corruption #beltwaybandits #themoreyouknow

Chrissyreadit Yes!! It is corrupt from the inside out at every level. Drain the Swamp was never the intention. More like tell people “it‘s not a swamp it‘s a reservoir you need” I hate them. 4y
MargaretPinardAuthor @Chrissyreadit I‘m reeeeally hoping to get to a happier part of this book... 😳😓🤢 4y
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MargaretPinardAuthor
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“Total liberty for wolves is death to the lambs.”
-Isaiah Berlin

This feels like such an important book RIGHT NOW. Hoping it goes from explaining the mess we‘re in now to how we can dismantle the #greedmachine.

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MaGoose
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This will be my first read in the readathon this weekend. (Probably my only read - I'm a slow reader.) What kind of timer do you all use to keep track of your progress during readathons?

#mrbook #litsypartyofone #24b4monday

Suet624 Hmmm...I didn‘t know about this book. 4y
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Deborah42
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Pickpick

What a depressing book. The chokehold the super rich have on our political system is both horrifying and fucking maddening. I had no idea that all of their philanthropic organizations are little more than tax shelters where they can fund things that directly affect their bottom line. If you‘re not sure we need more oversight, read this book.

What I wanted most at the end of this book was to know what we can do. I mean, besides DRACARYS.

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arubabookwoman
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Ever feel like a lamb?
This book continues to inform, fascinate and horrify.

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arubabookwoman
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Reading this as my NF read now. Learning lots about the Koch brothers, founders of the Cato Institute, and Richard Mellon Scaife (who I‘d never heard of before), founder of the Heritage Foundation, and how they, their foundations and others have managed to convince people over the last 30-40 years that government is bad and corporations and billionaires are good. Chilling book!

charl08 Yikes! Any lighter fare coming up? 6y
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RyGoSt
Mehso-so

Eye-opening to realize that the wealthiest citizens aren't simply trying to avoid federal taxes, but have used charitable giving to advance personal.agendas and fail to consider the nation as more than their playground. The almost forensic accounting used to shine a.light on some of the historically significant private politicking does.get repetitive, and the sums of money being thrown around numbing.

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DivineDiana
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The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right. The Koch Brothers. Enlightening. Frightening. Also a soon to be released documentary. #mustread #aprella #americanmoney

Cinfhen I‘m loving all these recommendations! Great prompts @Mdargusch @emilyhaldi @Reviewsbylola 6y
Mdargusch That drawing! 🙈 thanks @Cinfhen I‘m working hard for you. 😘 6y
DivineDiana @Mdargusch The book is even crazier! 😉 6y
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Reviewsbylola That picture is creepy af. 😂 6y
DivineDiana @reviewsbylola And it is even creepier what these two do! 6y
emilyhaldi Just want to make @Cinfhen happy!! 🙌🏻😄 6y
Leftcoastzen Grrrrrr they make me so angry 😡 6y
DivineDiana @Leftcoastzen It is infuriating! 6y
Suet624 I suppose I should read this but I know I‘d just be so angry when I finished it. Do you feel like there were any recommendations on how to oppose these guys? 6y
DivineDiana @Suet624 It was all new to me, and it opened my eyes. I think actively taking part in local politics is the best method to make a difference. 6y
Suet624 Well I have that covered. 😁 6y
DivineDiana @Suet624 👏🏻👍🏻👏🏻 6y
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TheBookStacker
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Little learning on this Monday off work.

mrozzz Lucky you! 😃 6y
47 likes4 stack adds1 comment
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Vanillafire
Pickpick

I now feel equal parts of motivation and helplessness after reading this book. While making a mental list of things to do to repair the damage done to our broken political system, I found myself having micro-panic attacks about what must be a great many things already in motion that we are not yet aware of.

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kristinshafel
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Pickpick

Eye-opening, meticulously researched. Mayer exposes depth to which radical libertarian billionaires, lead by the Koch Brothers, have infiltrated the US government, specifically Republicans, at all levels. The sections about their war against taking action to stabilize climate change & how they‘re trying to indoctrinate Americans to their philosophies by influencing course content in our educational system were especially infuriating. #tbr2018rbr

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kristinshafel
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This pisses me off so much. Teachers in PUBLIC SCHOOLS, REQUIRED to “[downplay] the roles of social movements and government” and our children REQUIRED “study conservative principals as part of American history IN ORDER TO GRADUATE”. This is some profoundly fucked up propaganda bullshit.

Caroline2 And they get their knickers all in a twist over communism indoctrination! This is the same if you ask me!!! Shocking!!! 😲 6y
Ddzmini There is a history of this type of issue throughout the curriculum of Schools in America. Just look at history books and you will see that events from as little as 10-15 years have changed it is sad because what I‘ve learned was not the truth 6y
Hooked_on_books I just bought this book today. If this passage is any suggestion (and I‘m sure it is), I‘ll have to read this in segments to keep my blood pressure under control. 6y
Maria514626 WTF is right! Sounds like required reading. But like @Hooked__on__books says, it may be ill advised health wise. (edited) 6y
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Mcoun
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Pickpick

This was a fascinating, yet deeply troubling, read, that has left me asking “What can we do?” If moneyed interests have infiltrated all of our institutions, how are the people to have a voice anymore?

BekahB Mayer did great interviews on Gaby Dunn‘s podcast - Bad With Money, and the Crooked Conversations podcast. I‘ve moved her book higher on my TBR. 6y
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Audrey
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Pickpick

A true horror story. The long term strategic plan as well as the patience and flexibility to shift those plans along with the billions of dollars involved in the political process is horrifying. Somehow Mayer made all this info readable and accessible.

cajunsyd My best friend just read this and was very disturbed. 6y
15 likes1 comment
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TheEscapist
Pickpick

Mind blown. The ability of billionaires to anonymously endorse politically extreme candidates is laid out detail by disturbing detail. Really glad Ontario has capped campaign contributions.

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Yellowpigeon
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A lot of screaming into the void in this book

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Yellowpigeon
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I've taken about a billion pictures of quotes from this book and keep forgetting to post them. 🙄

Ah yes, the positive health benefits of smog...

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Rcoco
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Pickpick

How the very rich control politics in the USA. If you want to know about conservative “think tanks” and what they really do and who really finances them, please read. And if you are not sure what you think of libertarians, please read. I was so shocked. Still reeling.

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Kat.Kao
Pickpick

Terrifying look at the extreme conservative donors pushing their agenda on the country. I knew this was happening, but I didn‘t realize the full systematic extent of it. Very thorough and a solid read.

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Kat.Kao
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Any book that starts with a Brandeis quote gets an instant warm feeling from me.

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nofutureparttwo
Pickpick

As I listened to names that have become recently familiar—the Devos family, a young (perhaps less intellectually bankrupt) Paul Ryan, Mike Pompeo, Rex Tillerson, and so on—I was struck by how obvious an occurrence Trump's presidency was. This did not come out of nowhere. If you would like to understand how we got to here, in this garbage autocracy run by cartoon villains and Tom Clancy rejects, read this book. And then go do something about it.

TheEscapist That's a great endorsement! I think I'll have to track this one down at the library. Thanks! 7y
Cobscook Fantastic review! Spot on! 7y
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nofutureparttwo
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I put this audiobook on hold back on 17 April, and yesterday my patience paid off! Impeccably researched, equally fascinating and horrifying, Mayer's book should be required reading for anyone who claims to care about American democracy. Kirsten Potter (who also read Station Eleven) is a wonderful narrator. #nowreading #nowlistening #audiobook #libby #overdrive

nofutureparttwo (spoiler alert: democracy loses) 7y
6 likes1 comment
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Cobscook
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This is scarier and more disturbing than a horror novel. Should be required reading for all Americans.

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DivineDiana
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Pickpick

I would have never read this if it weren't for my thoughtful Book Club. Knew nothing about the powerful, billionaire Koch brothers who have worked tirelessly to control the US government behind the scenes. Shocking, eye opening. A must read to be informed about what a select group of Billionaires are doing to advance their agenda. Not an easy read, but so glad I persisted. Jane Mayer is a modern day Wonder Woman!

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Curley_Bender
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My library offers suggestions to fulfill the Current Events square on its adult summer reading bingo card. Subjects include Putin, the Koch brothers, Saudi Arabia, Roger Ailes, anti-science, the dying Earth, and the past-is-present classic, "All The President's Men". Things are looking bleak, but it's better to know.

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Uni_hustler17
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Picked these up and I can't wait to read them!

Dark Money by Jane Mayer
Killing the Black Body by Dorothy Roberts

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Melissa.Lewis

This definitely feels like the non-fiction reading equivalent of eating your vegetables (and a lot of them), but I think it's helpful that I'm going to audiobook route on this one -- I figure an hour or so a day while tidying or getting ready for work will make finishing it easier!

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Ajbsimpson
Mehso-so

Starts out great but didn't hold my attention.

DebinHawaii Welcome to Litsy!! 🎉📚👍😆 7y
BooksTeasAndBookishThings Welcome to Litsy!!! 😊❤️🙌📚🎉 7y
3 likes2 comments
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DivineDiana
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Current Book Club read. Slow going. 😕

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BookishFeminist
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I went to lunch and book shopping with @TheNextBook and she's an enabler. 😂 But the Dennis Lehane book is for my mom for Mother's Day. The rest are...topical reading. And how can I say no to buying The Devourers with that cover?! 📚

#bookhaul

TheNextBook That could be my catch phrase ! "The Next Book: The Enabler" 7y
BookishFeminist @TheNextBook It could 😂😂 I guess it's only fair after I kept shoving books in your hands at the book sale a couple weekends ago. 7y
114 likes2 comments
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JaimeDawn
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This book should be categorized as "horror", it's that frightening.

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meligrosa
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gazillioners oil w nazi stalin rooted fortune beginning .. just getting started.

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Battledoll
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Pickpick

Extremely well researched and well written. Despite the size it's a fairly quick read.

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WomanRoars
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When books make me angry...to be fair it was already falling apart!

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h_harrison
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kicking off the weekend with some light reading about how the Koch family got rich from the Nazi regime--now the Koch's run the country--why the fuck not? --jesus christ #darkmoney #janemayer #kochfamily #americanpolitics #kochindustries #politics

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Nonaroo
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My library haul. I almost bought Dark Money in the airport the other week. I hope it will help me understand our current political climate better. I really can't wait to read all of these! Who needs sleep!

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SeeJaneRead
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