Horsemen of the Trumpocalypse: A Field Guide to the Most Dangerous People in America

Description

Donald Trump is putting together the most dangerous cabinet in history. Showing no inclination toward moderation, tolerance or genuine bipartisanship, he has assembled a team that is backed with billionaires, CEOs, rigid ideologues and a rogue's gallery of white nationalists, alt-right hatemongers, voter-suppression schemers, immigrant bashers and climate-change deniers. The people Trump is bringing into his inner circle and handing positions of immense authority make no secret of their determination to impose an uncompromising and ultimately unworkable conservative agenda on a country where most Americans did not vote for Donald Trump or the Congress that will advance his policies. The Trump team, consisting of famously controversial figures and little-known but potentially even more dangerous mandarins, may not have mandate. But it will have the power to remake American foreign policy, redistribute wealth upward and suppress wages, destroy unions, dismantle Medicare and Medicaid, undermine abortion rights and affirmative action, privatize and voucherize education, make health care a privilege rather than a right and create a climate of fear and intimidation for immigrants, refugees, religious and racial minorities and Americans who dare to dissent. This is about much more than one man; this is about a wrecking crew with the power to transform everything we know about America and to make our country and our world a more dangerous place. If we are going to navigate the next four years and have the tools to fight back, we need to know who will be handling the levers of power. And we need to know how to challenge their excesses. Enter John Nichols, veteran political correspondent at The Nation, who has been covering many of these deplorables for decades. Sticking to the hard facts and unafraid to dig deep into histories and the ideologies of the people who make up Trump's inner circle, Nichols will deliver a clear-eyed and complete guide to who these people really are. This is not a laundry list of the high-profile politicians we are already familiar with -- in these pages Nichols will examine and expose all the new power players, including those who operate below the headlines but that can still cause immeasurable damage.

John Nichols is the national affairs writer for The Nation magazine and a contributing writer for The Progressive and In These Times. He is also the associate editor of the Capital Times, the daily newspaper in Madison, Wisconsin, and a cofounder of the media-reform group Free Press. A frequent commentator on American politics and media, he has appeared often on MSNBC, NPR, BBC and regularly lectures at major universities on presidential administrations and executive power. The author of ten books and has earned numerous awards for his investigative reports, including groundbreaking examinations (in collaboration with the Center for Media and Democracy) of the Koch brothers and the American Legislative Exchange Council.

In a timely volume, [Nichols] enlightens the labyrinthine corridors of governmental power...Written with typical flair and an erudite grasp of history, this is more than a handy reference work....He is to be thanked for offering citizens an accessible work to help guide us through these dark and dangerous times.--Real Change News John plays an extraordinarily important role... He is everywhere. He is an incredible writer. I try to write sometimes and I can't believe how fast he writes and how well he writes.--Senator Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont John Nichols always speaks truth to power. But in this book he shouts the truth we all need to hear.--Nina Turner, Our Revolution Nichols provides all rationally outraged Americans with factually insightful portraits of the corporatist managers of Trump's giant wrecking machine.... The unprecedented cruelty, greed, ignorance and abuses of power over the laws of the land are revealed in the pages of this fast-paced, well documented book. ... Nichols shows that the fate of our society's health and safety, justice and democracy, freedom and opportunity are being sacrificed on the anvil of giant corporatism -- unless 'we the people' stop them.--Ralph Nader The great threat posed by Donald Trump's presidency does not begin or end with him. Trump's appointees have the power to privatize, to deregulate and to rip apart the American dream. They are already attacking our liberties, our social-safety net and our planet. With this deeply reported and profoundly honest book, John Nichols exposes them all. For citizens who seek to resist not just Trump but Trumpism, this is the essential book.--Thom Hartmann The Trump horror show is overshadowing the gang of kleptocrats propping him up. They're waging a methodical war on the vast majority of Americans and on the planet we share. This is a crucial guide to get ready to stop them.--Naomi Klein, author of No Is Not Enough and This Changes Everything This is the real story of the Trump administration -- not what Trump is tweeting but what his appointees are doing to undermine civil rights, economic security and the environment. John Nichols gets behind the scenes, finds the truth and reveals it all. If you want to go beyond the 'alternative facts, ' the 'fake news' and the media spin, you must read this book.--Rev. Jesse Jackson You may have thought you knew who's working for this president, but you'll discover what you know is only the tip of the iceberg.--The Capital Times