(a) learn about Dark Money without having to read the books, and
(b) use this blog as a resource in your own political activism.
The first thing to know is that all the posts are actually quotes from the books. Each post ends with the page number in parentheses. Unless otherwise stated, the pages from Dark Money by Jane Mayer; pages from Kochland by Christopher Leonard are followed by a capital K, e.g. (33-K). The titles of the posts are like entries in an index, that capture essential keywords. The entire blog is searchable using the search widget.
Here is my plan to finish this blog:
- finish posts from both books (currently, 3/31/18, up to page 198)
- to provide a searchable index of the quotes that I am building from the book
- to provide a concise summaries of the major sections and chapters of the book
- provide suggestions on what you as individuals can do to help this cause by providing a closed forum discussing Democratic Party strategy, using this book's research
So, if you just want to learn about the book, that will be provided by the first three steps.
But my final purpose is this:
to provide an overview of how the book's research can be used to improve the political strategy of the Democratic Party and show them where they need to improve their strategies -- and start winning, instead of losing, elections.
What has most shocked me about the Dark Money's effect on our American political system?
The fact that it's working!
They have, for the moment, won: they control the Republican Party which currently rules American politics. As Bernie Sanders has pointed out the obvious: whatever the Democrats have been doing, it hasn't worked.
The only longterm strategy to change this situation, politically, is to back the Democratic Party, reform it from within, and elect new office holders, as broadly as possible, at as many levels of government as possible. And I believe a majority of the American people want that too -- otherwise I would not be putting so much of my energy into this effort.
Let me be clear that I am supporting the Democratic Party not because I so admire them politically; I don't. I am much more in favor of the political platform of the the Green Party; but I rather doubt the Greens have the political support to effect change in the short term, and there is a dire need to do so. I sincerely hope the Democratic Party can reform itself, and move closer to the Green Party's ideas and values.
If you want to be part of the closed discussion forum about improving Democratic Party strategy, and have real ideas about that, you can request to join this blog.