Hiding in Plain Sight: The Invention of Donald Trump and the Erosion of America by Sarah Kendzior
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Sarah Kendzior is a writer and journalist I admire, for her ability to cut through the noise and get to the point. For her ability to pinpoint larger, more systemic issues which remain largely ignored by far too many. The View From Flyover Country is necessary reading. And, so is this.
Despite buying this book shortly after its release, I put off reading it for some time because I knew it would be too enraging and I was too fragile. I knew, in part, it would break me just a little bit more.
That’s quite something given where we have collectively been these last five years, how we got here and where we are headed.
However, finishing this book the morning after Trump was impeached for the second time, after a mere 10 of 207 House Republicans voted for that impeachment, has left me shattered.
Why?
Because many of those remaining 197 Representatives, all of whom swore an Oath to uphold and protect the US Constitution, despite having survived that horrid event and admitting during the debate that the President was directly responsible for inviting the siege and encouraging the attempt to overthrow the Legislative branch of the government, still voted against impeachment.
Because, yet, another smoking gun from the President himself was ignored. And, whilst individuals in positions to hold him accountable, individuals who feel he is not fit to lead or occupy the Oval Office, watched him hold that smouldering gun and refused to use the very tools in place to preserve the rule of law and those precious checks and balances they claim to hold up as so sacred.
They did nothing. One hundred and ninety seven of them did nothing.
As enraging and tragic and heart-breaking it is to read, Kendzior’s writing is so, so beautiful. Sadly, it is also necessary, primarily to preserve this tale of American tragedy for future historians. Perhaps they can better describe and disentangle how the US ended up here, and ultimately how half of us cheered this madness on.
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A Tropical Fish Out of Water 
This book changed everything for me when I read it in….I guess it was 2016? Gosh, the years warp through all this pain. Thank you for sharing this. Be safe. ❤
This book or The View from Flyover Country? ‘Hiding in Plain Sight’ was only published last year, although Sarah has been speaking truth to power for far, far long. Regardless, solidarity!
Oh my it was definitely this book, and I have been a listener of her Gaslit Nation on Patreon. Solidarity, be safe out there. ❤
Indeed. I am as well. However, I just meant it may not have been that long ago that you read the book since it was only published last year and she finished writing it in late 2019. I mean, a week seems like a year in this administration, however. So, time is rather relative. Anyway, thanks for reading and here’s to the resistance! x
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