Hiding in Plain Sight

Rainer König reviewed Hiding in Plain Sight by Sarah Kendzior

None

4 stars

An interesting book to read, even after Joe Biden was elected to be the next president of the United States. Sarah writes about a nation in despair, a country with lots of inner conflicts. She tells the history of the Trump clan and how they are connected to crimes, money laundering, Russian oligarchs and so on. Its a shame that with all this criminal record Donald Trump faced no legal consequences so far and was able to damage the democracy and international affairs during his presidency.

A remarkable advice for me is the following qoute from the book: "This is why I wrote that open letter encouraging people to write down who they were before autocratic consolidation took hold. I wanted Americans to have a way to remember what we thought of as normal and acceptable and track how far we have deviated."

A very wise advice, especially in the …

An interesting book to read, even after Joe Biden was elected to be the next president of the United States. Sarah writes about a nation in despair, a country with lots of inner conflicts. She tells the history of the Trump clan and how they are connected to crimes, money laundering, Russian oligarchs and so on. Its a shame that with all this criminal record Donald Trump faced no legal consequences so far and was able to damage the democracy and international affairs during his presidency.

A remarkable advice for me is the following qoute from the book: "This is why I wrote that open letter encouraging people to write down who they were before autocratic consolidation took hold. I wanted Americans to have a way to remember what we thought of as normal and acceptable and track how far we have deviated."

A very wise advice, especially in the time of a global pandemic where you find out that lots of weird people are around that only care for themselves.

Now if you ask, why not 5 stars, then I need to explain that I got the impression that even while diagnosing more or less the critical condition of the US the author is still looking at some events like the whistleblowing of Eric Snowden with the eyes of an american patriot. Living in a country where the leaders were spied on by the NSA I see this a bit different than her.

Nevertheless, a book to recommend for reading. Hopefully the American nation has learned the lesson in 4 years of Trump's presidency.

Daniel Lawson reviewed Hiding in Plain Sight by Sarah Kendzior

Review of 'Hiding in Plain Sight' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

Sarah does an incredible job summarizing several decades of corruption and shady business by the Trump family and folks surrounding them. The weakening of trusted American institutions and involvement of outside influence contributing to it's decay is tough to read but important to understand. Maybe the most frustrating thing is that these folks often face no consequences for their actions. These are topics that certainly deserve more attention in the media.

Eric Lawton reviewed Hiding in Plain Sight by Sarah Kendzior

Review of 'Hiding in Plain Sight' on 'Storygraph'

5 stars

This is a very depressing book.

It shows in detail just how entangled Trump is with the Russian mafia, how much of the evidence is relatively easy to find for a determined journalist, yet ignored by most of the mainstream media and by the authorities in the US who should be prosecuting people.

It has been made abundantly clear outside this book that what Kendzior says, is true: Trump doesn't mind getting caught, because he knows nothing will be done about it.

It's good to have all the details to make sure that the case is proven, because it is too easy to disbelieve it. “Is this a conspiracy theory” was a recurring thought as I read the book, so the weight of evidence was important, although it was tedious at times getting through it, even though in clear prose, just because it was depressingly difficult to answer the question …

This is a very depressing book.

It shows in detail just how entangled Trump is with the Russian mafia, how much of the evidence is relatively easy to find for a determined journalist, yet ignored by most of the mainstream media and by the authorities in the US who should be prosecuting people.

It has been made abundantly clear outside this book that what Kendzior says, is true: Trump doesn't mind getting caught, because he knows nothing will be done about it.

It's good to have all the details to make sure that the case is proven, because it is too easy to disbelieve it. “Is this a conspiracy theory” was a recurring thought as I read the book, so the weight of evidence was important, although it was tedious at times getting through it, even though in clear prose, just because it was depressingly difficult to answer the question “how do we get rid of this monster who may not go quietly”. Read it anyway.

braintoast reviewed Hiding in Plain Sight by Sarah Kendzior

Review of 'Hiding in Plain Sight' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

Sarah Kendzior's Hiding in Plain Sight can be depressing, insightful, shocking, and enlightening on the same page. There's a lot going on in what she's written here. Her warnings leading into the beginning of the Trump administration were eerily prescient. Moreso in retrospect.

Her frame of reference makes her uniquely and exceptionally qualified to tell these stories and give lots of context to things that have happened since Trump has taken office, things that helped put him there, and how much of it has been moving steadily in the same direction for quite some time.

It's likely not going to lighten your mood, but this is a really well-written book which should be required reading.