Max Pearl reviewed Blowback by Miles Taylor
Well written, interesting, intriguing, with one major blind spot
4 stars
This is, I think, the third or fourth book from people who were lifelong Republicans, and were in some ways involved in the Trump administration, but then realized how messed up he, his administration, and the whole GOP was, then wrote about it.
This particular version is very well done. It reads like a combination of thriller and polemic. It describes in great detail the personal costs that this author went through in his process of being one of the "adults in the room" during the Trump administration, how he came to leave it, and what happened after.
He details, based on his national security background, what a "Trump 2.0" would do to our democratic process, and what we can do to stop it. It's both gripping and grim. And I do think this book is worth a read.
The blind spot? This is the blind spot that all GOP …
This is, I think, the third or fourth book from people who were lifelong Republicans, and were in some ways involved in the Trump administration, but then realized how messed up he, his administration, and the whole GOP was, then wrote about it.
This particular version is very well done. It reads like a combination of thriller and polemic. It describes in great detail the personal costs that this author went through in his process of being one of the "adults in the room" during the Trump administration, how he came to leave it, and what happened after.
He details, based on his national security background, what a "Trump 2.0" would do to our democratic process, and what we can do to stop it. It's both gripping and grim. And I do think this book is worth a read.
The blind spot? This is the blind spot that all GOP dissenters seem to have. They seem to forget, or ignore that they were instrumental in making Trump possible. Without GOP policies, particularly Nixon's "Southern Strategy" as well as GOP focus on voter suppression, Trump 1.0 would never have been possible. He equates the far right with the far left, without nuance. The far right is entirely authoritarian, whereas the far left is pretty anti-authoritarian, with some exceptions. He completely ignores issues of race, which, I think underlies much of the problems we face.
I appreciate his perspective, and I'm glad I read (well, listened to) this book. But this blind spot of ex-GOP conservative types continues to annoy me.