#assholocracy

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What they’re really interested in is chaos … They want to throw sand in the gears of the hated federal government until it fails and they’ve finally proved that it is beyond saving. Every time they vote down a bill, they get another invitation to go on Fox News or talk radio. It’s a narcissistic – and dangerous – feedback loop.

John Boehner quoted from his 2021 memoir by Dahlia Lithwick at Slate. Another January, Another Attempt at Destabilizing the Government

This time the insurrection is coming from inside the House.

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Mitch McConnell is the the thief of the nation's soul.

Charles P. Pierce in Esquire. There Is No More Loathsome Creature Walking Our Political Landscape Than Mitch McConnell

Yes, that includes the jumped-up real-estate crook in the White House.

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On September 26 of that year, Stephen Feinberg, the CEO of the sprawling private-equity firm Cerberus, donated $500,000 to Rebuilding America Now, Scott’s pro-Trump Super PAC. In early October, one week later, the SBA made a $200 million commitment to a high-fee, high-risk Cerberus fund, Cerberus FSBA Levered Loan Opportunities Fund LP, according to a statement from the SBA [State Board of Administration].

Matthew Cunningham-Cook writing in The Intercept. Florida Handed $200 Million to Rick Scott Donor Amid Massive Contribution to Scott’s Super PAC

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When this little-known prince of private equity announced his candidacy for governor in 2013, the Chicago Tribune compared him to an earlier private equity governor who was so rich, it was often viewed as a political liability. Yet whereas Mitt Romney owned six homes, Rauner had nine.

Gary Rivlin in The Intercept. The Private Equity Governor

Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner, Sworn Foe of Pensions, Made a Fortune Charging High Fees to Public Pensions

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The real problem with assholes is that humiliation, disrespect and decontextualized judgmental arrogance contaminate the ecology of our communities. The overtones of life in general can go sour when vile exploitative attitudes abound. Assholes underestimate the profound awe of each remarkable living being. In doing so they escalate trouble untold. Fair enough, you may say, life is a bitch… but just keep in mind that it takes a great deal of collective tenderness to heal ecologies, asshole.

Nora Bateson. An Ecology of Assholes

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Hot Docs 2019 Trailers: ASSHOLES: A THEORY

Hot Docs

Assholes: A Theory Documentary

Assholes

Assholes: A Theory of Donald Trump

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Bevin disbanded the 13-member KRS board of trustees and replaced it with a new 17-person board of directors. By statute, the old board included six trustees who represented stakeholders independently elected by plan members — just shy of half the votes. Now the board would have four additional members appointed by Bevin. His picks included William Cook, who had recently retired from a job at KKR, and Neil Ramsey, a co-founder of the hedge fund BHR Capital, who now chairs the pension’s powerful investment committee. The Louisville Courier-Journal later reported that Ramsey had invested $300,000 in a business part-owned by the governor and had recently sold him a house in the Louisville suburbs for $1.6 million, hundreds of thousands of dollars below its assessed value.

Gary Rivlin in The Intercept. The Whistle Blower

How a Gang of Hedge Funders Strip-Mined Kentucky's Public Pensions

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Democracy places limits on those in power. It reduces the scope for recourse to violence on the part of ruthless leaders. It forbids the abuse of state power against individuals and against sub-sections of society. And it subjects those in power to the rule of law. In this way it provides a powerful constraint on the destructive actions of hate-mongers and their followers. A properly functioning democracy can also address the social and economic concerns that allow hate-mongers to rise and stay in power.

Ian Hughes at Open Democracy. Entrepreneurs of hate

Disordered Minds: How Dangerous Personalities Are Destroying Democracy