The Longest Con: How Grifters, Swindlers, and Frauds Hijacked American Conservatism

by Joe Conason, George T. Conway III (Foreword by)

A sardonic chronicle of how conservatism turned into a racketeering enterprise – and why Donald Trump became the living emblem of the American right’s moral decay. The Longest Con tells the fascinating story of the partisan con artists who have corrupted conservative politics in our time, creating a toxic phenomenon that culminated in the election of Donald Trump, a bumptious fraud whose checkered career and tawdry retinue, including his presidential cabinet, have featured almost every variety of scam. But long before he appeared, Trump’s path to power was blazed by the motley horde of swindlers and quacks who preceded him. From the “professional anti-communists” (whose tactics even J. Edgar Hoover despised) to the “populist” grifters of the Tea Party movement and the religious charlatans of the “prosperity gospel” (who provided a pious front for Trump), the right-wing ripoff has remained remarkably consistent, even as personalities change and new technologies Stir up anger and resentment, demonize political opponents, promise vengeance, and collect donations from the gullible. It’s a highly lucrative game that any unscrupulous charlatan can play, as many have – and they are named in these pages. In an unsparing and often comic narrative, Joe Conason explores the right’s long, steep descent into a movement whose principal aim is not to protect freedom or defend the Constitution, but merely to line the pockets of pretenders and blowhards whose malevolent tactics now endanger the nation.

Genres: Politics, Nonfiction, History, Theory, Economics, Philosophy, Social Justice

305 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 9, 2024

About the author

Joe Conason is an award winning political journalist and author. His best-selling titles illuminate the mendacity and malice in American Politics.

Reviews

[Scott Rhee]

Donald Trump, sad to say, isn't the first con man to sit in the seat of the U.S. presidency. He is, however, the first to be re-elected after being outed as a con man. Oh, and he's the first to be a convicted felon.

That elected officials and their political lackies have been pulling fast ones and bilking millions out of their constituents for as long as there has been elected officials shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone. Aristotle warned about the dangers of oligarchies thousands of years ago, so this isn't a new problem.


The Devil's lawyer (and trump's mentor), Roy Cohn has a list of diabolical deeds and moral failures that could fill another book.

Anyone with a decent dose of cynicism and smarts knows that politicians lie, cheat, and swindle their way to the top. The problem now is that the Republican party---once the party of Lincoln, with some semblance of respectability---has lost any sense of pretense and shame about it. That, and a good chunk of Republican voters seem to have two things in abundance that corrupt politicians love: gullibility and lots of money.

Joe Conason's "The Longest Con: How Grifters, Swindlers, and Frauds Hijacked American Conservatism" is a detailed and entertaining (albeit distressing) account of how gullible and generous a large percentage of Republican voters are, starting with the McCarthy Era to the Nixon years to the Moral Majority to January 6.


Don't let the fact that he's a triple amputee and an Iraq veteran fool you: this guy is a piece of shit. Brian Kolfage, still serving prison time, bilked millions from donors to a fake organization that was trying to get trump's wall built.

With crooks and con men like Roy Cohn, Dan Smoot, Richard Viguerie, Richard Nixon, Jerry Falwell, Jerry Falwell Jr., Ronald Reagan, Roger Stone, Paul Manafort, Steve Bannon, Timothy Shea, Andrew Badolato, Brian Kolfage, Jared Kushner, Eric Trump, Don Trump Jr., and Donald Trump (just to name a few) pulling the wool over voter's eyes, the party of Lincoln has become the party of Liars.

[Dottie Resnick]

What is surprising to me is the extent of corruption that has occurred and the fact that it has occurred for so many decades. It is disgraceful and disgusting that people who are supposedly “respectable public servants” have chosen to be so concerned with their own interests rather than the people they represent. It has become clear that hoodwinking is the norm and not the exception. Truly an eye opening book, extensively researched and written in a clear and comprehensive manner.

[Sabrina]

Not a lot of new information here but when you read it from beginning to end it is dizzying. I find it absolutely mind boggling that so called Christian evangelicals can still justify voting for Trump and his maga cronies.

[Emily]

Anti-communist crusaders and televangelists primed conservatives to be trusting, send money, and believe in a conspiracy laden nightmare that should never be questioned. We are so fucked. Good writing.

[Tom Walsh]

Well done connecting of dots.

Conason does a good job of exposing the network of Grift that the Far Right has initially tolerated but is now embracing. I have followed the brazen hypocrisy of the Christian Nationalists since the Eighties and the Long Con that the book documents but I had hoped its damage was limited to the poor deluded folks who filled its collection plates. Now that its Marriage to the MAGA Fascists has been consummated in Drumpf’s Rise it is a Danger to all of us Americans.

Hopefully The Longest Con, by naming names and exposing relationships, will awaken voters in time to prevent calamity. Four Stars. Well done, Joe! ****

[Mr. Book]

You can also see this review, along with others I have written, at my new blog, Mr. Book's Book Reviews.

Thank you St. Martin’s Press for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own. No review was required in return for an advance reading copy and no review was promised.

Mr. Book just finished The Longest Con: How Grifters, Swindlers, and Frauds Hijacked American Conservatism by Joe Conason.

I’ve been a fan of Conason’s writing ever since I originally found his work during the George W. Bush administration. So, I was very excited to see that he is having a new book come out. I came into reading this with very high expectations and the book definitely lived up to them.

The thesis of this book is how the conservative movement, and the Republican party, has turned into one big con game. As Conason does a great job showing, it didn’t just start with Trump. Trump is just another datapoint, albeit a very huge one, in an ongoing tale that has lasted decades.

The Longest Con traces it all back to the early 1950s, with Roy Cohen: the infamous lawyer who also became Trump’s mentor.

One of the highlights of the book was the discussion anticommunism movement and it shows its connections to profit motives and religious groups. As one state Attorney General noted, “No wonder this whole movement has been called ‘Patriotism for Profit.’”

One of the most fascinating revelations of the book was how the exposure of Richard Nixon’s corruptions actually made him more popular among many right-wingers and authorities. Ass veteran activist said “If I’d known he’d been up to all that stuff, I’d have been for Nixon all along. I didn’t like Nixon until Watergate.”

Another big highlight of the book was the discussion of the Reagan years, especially the focus on all of the corruption. More than 200 members of the Reagan administration came under ethical or criminal investigation, with 38 indictments. By comparison: 28 members of the Nixon administration were indicted for Watergate, while Clinton’s administration resulted in just two, with none under Obama. And, as Conason points out, while Iran-Contra was the biggest scandal of the administration, there were others that cost the American taxpayers a lot more money. As P.J. O’Rourke summed up the Reagan years, “Republicans are the party that says government doesn’t work—and then they get elected and prove it.” But, what Conason adds is this is al of their plan to enrich personal profit and power.

The discussion of the infamous Bush 43 administration, as well as the conservative movement during those years was also one of the highlights of the book. While he’s been overshadowed by the scandals and crimes of his successor, George W. Bush had been our worst president prior to Bush.

And, then when the discussion turned to Trump, it was a series of even more excellent chapters. The book was focused not only on the president himself, but also the many corrupt people he surrounded himself with in his administration.

I gave this book an A+, which results in its induction into my Hall of Fame. NetGalley, Goodreads and Amazon require grades on a 1-5 star system. In my personal conversion system, an A+ equates to 5 stars. (A or A+: 5 stars, B+: 4 stars, B: 3 stars, C: 2 stars, D or F: 1 star).

I just hope that it is also released in Audible format, so I can enjoy it again.

This review has been posted at NetGalley, Goodreads and my blog, Mr. Book’s Book Reviews. It will be posted at Amazon when it is released on July 9.

Mr. Book originally finished reading this on May 29, 2024.

[Marjorie]

3.5

[Amanda Brooke]

My brain got caught up on the emollient words and the vision of Newt Gingrich being defenestrated. Nazi is the new commie. Bottom line: stop giving money to grifters, and stop using the automatic synonym generator.

[Carmen Smith]

Tbh I’m sad because the people who need to read this either can’t or won’t. Seeing that DJT is rinsing and repeating almost to a T what has been going on for decades is honestly wild though. Whew 😮‍💨

[John Schorg]

This is a well-researched book that provides ample detail about the changes in a political movement that have made it a feeding ground for those who care only about gaining power and, above all, lining their own pockets. If it generates less than the highest praise, well...
This is part of the growing number of books about our political climate that seems content to preach to the already converted. Those who do provide their money to support these dubious causes are routinely described in these pages as rubes, marks, and suckers, and that's it. The author doesn't seem the slightest bit interested in talking to these rubes, marks, and suckers, which means this is an incomplete portrait of a serious problem.

[Kyle Jamison]

Was hoping for an outside prospective. Thought some of it may have been valuable... but the author is so incredibly biased I can't trust anything he writes without further inspection. In fact, derived from his bias hypocrisy becomes prevalent. He then mimics the very thing he seeks to idealistically despise.

An example of this from a high level. He calls out several people as conspiracy theorists for connecting dots between deaths of individuals and "Theorized" perpetrators. He then directly does the exact same thing. He alludes to the death of an individual as suspicious and calls out individuals by name. Never directly saying they were responsible but alluding to it all the same. What is the difference here?

He is so very quick to point out the faults and flaws of the republican party. Grouping all republicans into one nice, neat basic basket of idiots ready to throw their money away. Providing no nuanced perspective at all. No growth, no thought. This is just a book built around pushing the exact same thought process of whomever is most likely to read it. And to confirm any of their thoughts, feeling and desires. Ironically, this is probably one of the most polarizing and divisive perspectives a person can take in politics. One, in which only one party can win and the rest are bumbling idiots destined to destroy all ways of life. This certainly makes it easier to justify any wrong doing of their own party or leaders. Or justify the active silencing of said idiots through government intervention. Idk something like putting an FBI office in twitter to reduce conservative media.

[Diana]

I did not like this book. It was just too sensational-feeling to me. The author seems to be a good journalist from what I can tell, and I have great respect for George Conway, who wrote the forward, but whether there were just too many facts thrown out or the lack of references to where the facts were found, it just threw me off. I don’t disagree agree with the author’s conclusions, but just felt like it was too cursory in its presentation to feel truly credible.

[Heather Baxendale]

Over the years, I have heard and read countless explanations for how the GOP moved so far right that it barely resembles the conservative party I grew up with, and how Donald Trump became a political leader and a messianic figure to so many of its voters. Joe Conason traces the rot back long before Reagan, beginning with Roy Cohn, McCarthyism, anti-communist fearmongering, and a long line of grifters who discovered that fear, resentment, and paranoia could be converted into money and political power. Reagan was not the beginning, but his alliance with the religious right helped bring that machinery into the center of Republican politics. Televangelists, prosperity-gospel hucksters, fundraisers, and political operatives learned how to exploit Christian belief, monetize outrage, tell people who to vote for, and convince them that anyone outside their bubble was an enemy. Whether these people believed the faith they were preaching almost became irrelevant because they understood how effectively it could be weaponized. From there, the con kept growing until Trump and MAGA became not an aberration, but the inevitable final form of a movement that had spent decades rewarding dishonesty, corruption, conspiracy theories, and blind loyalty. The corruption is Mariana Trench deep. Whether you read it or listen to the audiobook, Conason breaks down a complicated political history in a way that is tangible, engaging, and frequently darkly funny, and easy to follow.

[Craig McGraw]

This book should be read by all Americans but won’t because people will say it is prejudiced against conservatives and Republicans. It is frightening the extent of the cons run on people. Barnum was right- a sucker is born every minute!

[Girard Bowe]

Details how some conservatives and religious figures have weaponized anti-communism, anti-semitism, anti-government hatred, racial hatred, and xenophobia to prey on the fears of the ignorant to get them to part with their money, not to mention enacting self-serving legislation. Conason begins in the 50s, with McCarthy's Red Scare and ends, of course, with Donald Trump. The through-lines runs from Roy Cohn to Roger Stone and Trump.

Nothing really new here, although I learned more about some of the lesser-known cons and grifters. A worthy read for those who want to know how the Republican party has devolved.

My biggest complaint is about the notes and sourcing. Each chapter has its set of endnotes, but there are no footnotes, so none of the citations is linked to a particular part of the text, which makes the endnotes maddeningly useless. Also, there are persons in the text who are not listed in the index. I don't understand why, in 2024, some books don't do a better job of footnoting and indexing. The technology should make this easy.

[Pat Herndon]

This book gives a very good overview of 70 years of grifting and conniving on the national stage. America is certainly not better because of it. Innocent people have been swindled and lost everything due to greedy people who besides wanting fame & fortune also want to peddle influence. They are so very despicable.

[Lori]

It’s hopeful to learn that many con artists and grifters get caught in the end. But many don’t. Would have preferred less focus on religious grifters and more on Bush 1 and Bush 2 who look like choirboys next to Trump. Lies about nuclear weapons, Halliburton isn’t even mentioned. Disappointing

[Jessie]

There is a lot of information I should have expected, a lot I already knew and this confirmed, and quite a bit that surprised me.

I could never imagine basing my happiness on how much money I could trick people out of by performing so many dupes. I also cannot understand those that keep getting fooled. There's a lot in here. No trying to convince you of his opinion, all I read was a straight laying out of facts with sources. That is how non-fiction should be written. Now I shall probably take more than a week's hiatus from this kind of non-fiction to decompress.

This was good, if you want insight into the history if how we got to now in politics. I'll give you a hint, it didn't start with the current POTUS, it goes back further than you think.

[Angie Gazdziak]

It took nearly 2 weeks to read this one because I was distracted by the Olympics and then by the flu. I did feel like this was extremely well-researched and really dove into the history of how con men and grifters involved themselves in politics for their own long-term gain. I had quite a bit of frustration while reading because it's essentially preaching to those already converted or to those who never belonged to the church of conservatism. There isn't a lot that was new information to me and I kept saying, "Yeah, I KNOW!" while reading. Still, it's a good read if you have any interest at all in the history of the contemporary GOP and are curious about how we got from here to there.

[Len Boselovic]

Meh. Conason travels the same well documented road of others in the cottage industry that exhaustingly catalogs the continuing graft of Tump and his growing list of fraudsters. Sadly, the burgeoning industry has earned far less on its crusade than Trump et al have stolen with theirs. The sad collision of the greedy with the gullible endures. The "ideological termites" (Conason's term) continue to prey on "a mindset impervious to facts and logic." So what are Conason and the rest of us going to do about it? If the truth no longer works, what will?

[Stephanie Turner]

This made me so mad because it was so good. There are definitely other books and podcasts about most of the grifters mentioned in here that would go into more lengthly detail, but this truly covered everyone you can think of with relevance to the happenings of today despite being published nearly a year ago.

[Kat Dixon]

A thorough if depressing reminder of how easily Americans fall for a dirty, no good grift.

[J.J. Lair]

I’ve read so many books like this in the past year. I even went back to ensure that I haven’t read this before. That can be the most disappointing or annoying thing about this. The information is already out there and yet, here we are.
Give the book time because when it gets into the people, the author gets clearer and better.
We start decades ago. The story of Roy Cohn was interesting. I didn’t know the name Viguerie before. The influence of Goldwater and Billy James Hargis was a revelation for me. The Falwell family are all disgusting. I knew that, but how do they continue to have followers and people that send them money?
It’s a wonder that Republicans aren’t enraged by the grifters that used them. Most of the most vile were Republicans that ripped off other Republicans.
The author describes grifters like we all know it. Whatever reason, media, resources, gossip, people don’t realize what sleezebags are in politics.

And then we get to Donald Trump and his many scams. I didn’t understand the NFT scams as told by Nightly News and here he describes it. He explains why Truth Social isn’t a thing. Again Nightly News dropped the ball on that.
The author makes it sound like this is obvious, but no media, Congress or anything calls these grifters out for what they are.

[David Rebula]

Donld Trump didn't write "The Art of the Deal". We've all know this. He has bankrupted his companies by refusing to pay his workers. We've always known this. He fucked a porn star 3 days after the First Lady gave birth. We know this. He was convicted of it. Those felonies? Yeah, that guy. I have to give it to the GOP. They are the best salesmen. They swindle and con and sell a product that looks shiny but is actually a piece of shit knock off that breaks if you play with it long enough. The Republican party, right now, looks great on the shelf. But the minute you try and use it in your daily life, you realize it's just a piece of shit. You got duped. It sucks finding out you're a sucker. I know when I did. It feels empty when you realize that you've been indoctrinated to see the other side as the enemy and your side as the side of the tradition and capitalism in all its glory and potential. Blessed by God? you know who laid their hands on him? A guy who liked to be pegged by his wife and his wife's pool boy lover. Yeah, that guy. Oh, and Roger Stone? The guy who hated gay people? Ha, he diddled young boys. But we've always known that. That guy who said he's for union workers and middle class folk? You know he never paid those people for their work, right? But we always knew that. But somehow, all of that was a much better option than trans people in the same bathroom. Right. But we always knew he was a con

[Joe Stack]

The subtitle, “How Grifters, Swindlers, and Frauds Hijacked American Conservatism,” says it all. Starting with Sen. McCarthy and his anti-communist campaign and finishing with Trump’s loss to Biden, this is an informative, infuriating history of what this reader calls “politics for profit.” Conason follows the money revealing an infuriating history of deceit for personal gain.

Clear and comprehensive, this narrative discloses how lots of money has been made using “exaggeration, deception, and fabrication” to rile up fear, anger, and resentment against communists, labor unions, federal bureaucrats, assertive women (radical feminists), gay people, etc. The author covers - rather, uncovers - more scams than I anticipated.

This reader was impressed with the depth of this narrative. While the author focuses on the crooked activity and hypocrisy of members of the far right, he makes clear early on that there have been crooks involved with the Left, and scams and cons have been part of American politics dating back to our beginning.

I think two of the most interesting chapters are Chapters 7 & 8, “Profits (and Prophets) Without Honor” and “Let Us Prey” respectively. The author delves into the politicalization of religion, specifically the religious Right. While I knew about some of the fraudulent behaviors, the extent of the dishonesty and hypocrisy of the fundamentalist and evangelical ministers included in this narrative was a disturbing learning experience.

I found the narrative most remarkable in the two chapters covering Trump. Chap. 12 covers Trump’s years before he’s elected President; Chap. 13 covers his first term. For this reader, the extent of his flimflamming and that of the officials he appointed was mind boggling.

I think what makes this narrative compelling are the ways flimflam, fakery, & fraud is carried out; how these behaviors accelerated over time, and how so many get away with it. By the end of this narrative, one of my takeaways is how easy it is be duped.

*****************************
Some excerpts & notes:

George T. Conway III writes in his Forward, “It turns out that lies sell. Anger sells. Hatred sells. Conspiracy theories, libels, imaginary enemies—they all can be manufactured, at minimal cost, and marketed, from coast to coast, at a handsome markup, to the masses, including many people who probably can’t afford the price. . . . Anyone can play the game if they are shameless and greedy and dishonest enough.” (p. x)

FBI director J. Edgar Hoover publicly decried the “grifters” who posed as anti-communists and saviors of true American values.

Most leaders of the far right did not support Nixon because he was too moderate. After Watergate broke, they supported him.

Corruption (influence peddling, bribery, fraud, illegal lobbying) during the Reagan administration:
- 33 indictments compared to 28 Watergate indictments, two under Clinton, zero under Obama. 33 may be an undercount as other investigations find 138 to 200.
- The wrongdoings “exceeded that of previous presidents, including Nixon Harding, Grant, and Buchanan” (p. 98).
- No evidence Reagan knew what was going on; nor did he profit from any of it.

Prior to Carter’s presidency, attempts to bring evangelical ministers into the political Right were generally unsuccessful. Success came when Pres. Carter started to take measures “against the Christian schools trying to deny them tax-exempt status on the basis of so-called de facto segregation.” (p. 110). Gaining support of the religious Right was not for issues of abortion, school prayer, homosexuality. The grifters wanted the direct-mail lists.

“ . . . the very conservative southern Baptist convention had . . . affirmed women’s right to abortion on at least three occasions: . . . at its 1971 convention, two years before the Roe decision; . . . at its 1974 convention; and then at its 1976 convention . . .” (p. 111)

“Compassionate conservatism” sounded good, but it was hollow.

“Of all the rhetorical strategies deployed by Republican politicians in recent decades, none has proved more durable than their insistence that God wants them to rule America—and that their opponents are impious, atheistic, materialistic, or even worse, inspired by Satan. Defying the customs of normal political debate and conflating religious faith with ideological conviction, it is an assertion impervious to factual contradiction or logical argument. It can be persuasive to the unwary and unsophisticated, as generations of faith-based con artists have demonstrated on these shores since long before the founding of the American Republic. The intense attraction between purportedly Christian swindlers and right-wing demagogues is not accidental. They are often working the same kind of grift. And they both resent any government interference in their dubious operations.” (p. 126)

The religious Right is not “burdened by intellectual consistency.” (p. 133): Bush and Trump disdain each other, yet, evangelical leaders found a way to support both. Bush, in the aftermath of 9/11, was said to have been chosen by God to lead “because he was so earnestly and ostentatiously religious.” Trump, a person much less religious (and moral), was also touted as chosen by God. This was explained as God working in mysterious ways!

Trump appeals to the preachers of the prosperity gospel. Both pursue wealth, display showmanship, have “disdain for government, and . . . propensity to make extravagant promises with no means or intention of fulfilling them . . . “ (p. 192)

A tenet of the prosperity gospel is that tithing will make you rich. If you don’t get wealthier, it’s because your faith is weak, not tithing enough. The ones getting wealthier are the prosperity gospel preachers, particularly the televangelists.

Many closeted gays have led campaigns against gay rights because they could gain money & power. Same hypocrisy when Donald Trump Jr. sold Trump-branded merchandise that was made in China while “China was often the target of Junior’s bitterest xenophobic tirades online.” (p. 269)

McCain’s running mate, Palin, set a precedent by showing how “a politician could successfully leverage the celebrity gained in a presidential campaign into a multimillion dollar fortune, and quickly.” In less than a year after resigning her governorship, she earned an estimated $12 million (p. 148)

Trump’s rise from celebrity to a position of power mimics the movie A FACE IN THE CROWD and Sinclair Lewis’ IT CAN’T HAPPEN HERE. Trump’s rise based on spectacle, deception, and malice.

The Donald J. Trump Foundation was set up to send funds to help the homeless, Vietnam vets, AIDS, multiple sclerosis, and more donated very little. Instead, for 30 years the Foundation was used for his personal financial and political interests. (p. 200)

The financial benefit of being President started with Trump’s inauguration. “Of $107 million total raised . . . no more than $67 million in audited expenses could be traced, which meant that $40 million had simply disappeared. Despite strenuous investigation by federal authorities—including Justice department subpoenas to the ignore committee—what happened to those funds was never determined.” (p. 223)

“Exploiting the ignorant was always profitable and modern information technology had made such fleecing feasible on a mass scale at very low cost.” (p. 234)

Four days before Trump was elected, Steve Bannon told a group of his political associates that Trump was going to declare victory no matter what happened on election night. Whether he won or lost, his strategy was to say that he won, and if he lost it was due to fraud. (p. 253-4). The GOP leadership knew that he had lost and chairwoman Ronna Romney McDaniel admitted that on NBC’s MEET THE PRESS. (p. 256)

“From the election to the insurrection Trump and his subservient Republican partners banked a total of $255.4 million, a record setting haul by nearly any measure.” (p. 256)

P.J. O’Rourke, conservative satirist, “Republicans are the party that says government doesn’t work—and then they get elected and prove it.” (p. 107)

[Charles Wagner]

A massive rogues gallery of suspects so multitudinous I cannot, nor do I want to, remember them all. As always, hatred of jews, people “of color,” homosexuals, communist, Democrats, non-Pentecostals, and the like fuels the fires of “conservatism,” and money grabbing.
Hatred is just an excellent tool for trolling in conservatives voters… and their money. Doncha just love hatred in politics? And, the media: Isn’t it great that most of the media is owned by billionaires who do not like real people at all? Thanks to Reagan’s dumping of the Fairness Act, so they can say anything they want.
“The penchant for stoking distrust of traditional American institutions proved to be an enduring moneymaker and remains a pervasive theme on the right, which today targets not just Democrats , diplomats, and academics but schoolteachers, scientists, doctors, Hollywood stars, Girl Scouts, and ultimately even FBI agents.” P. 34
The really big questions is why America is not more f@@@@d up than it is after the insidious grifting hard labors of so many whackos for such a long time. Yes, that’s correct. It could be worse.
To be perfectly blunt, fundraisers, the rich, the rich’s media, organized cults, and campaign scalawags don’t got no sense of responsibility. The path to victory is paved with slander. (p. 80)
This book gives me little reason to respect humanity, either those who do it, those who believe them forever regardless of honest revelations and send them money, or those who do not pay attention or care. .
Moral of the story: Do not trust any fundraiser unless you are personally cognizant of their balance sheet.

[Dan Downing]

Remember Roy Cohn? Or Richard Nixon declaring "I am not a crook"?

Mr. Conason brings back memories of those thieves, con men, and grifters, as they were. He goes on through the decades and scammers, liars, and con artists up to the present day. If, like me, you lived through those years, then this book will bring back memories for you, too. If you are a bit younger, then some of this will be new material for you. But whatever your age, eventually the narrative will reach crooks whose names you will recognize.
This is a work of history, not investigating reporting. It relates well-documented activity, much of it already enshrined in court records, all too little attested by prison time. It wraps up discussing The Big Lie, the ridiculous claim by Donald J. that he won the election.

There are many traditional Republican values, and Conservative tenants, which we would do well to be living by. None of them are evident in today's Republican Party. For instance, honesty and courage. Practically all officials of the Party have knelt to kiss Trump's feet (at least) even though they know full well he represents the antithesis of America. This is the kind of book some reviewers will say "Every citizen who cares about the country needs to read this". Today's voters, sadly, will not read it. Tomorrow's historians will find it a delightful guide.
Recommended.

[Catherine Davison]

I had no idea the rot had started to set in so long ago, way before I was even born the fraudsters and conmen have been laying down the groundwork that has brought us to the shocking situation we are in now. A balanced and informative read.

[Tom Cross]

Total garbage.

[John]

A disturbing read. Joe Conason wrote a book about the grifting and cons from American conservatism. Since Trump becoming president in 2016, I have been interested in the right wing. I have read Rick Perelstein, The Right by Matthew Continetti, and Steve Kornacki's book about the politics of the 90s. This book provides more information that I lacked than the other books, not that those books are bad, but Conason's book provides more. Unfortunately, people will not read this book or not believe it. I hear from average Americans state their agreement with conservative talking points, yet they seem to not know about the scandals within the conservative movement. People fondly remember Ronald Reagan, which perplexes me, but his cabinet was full of scandals. Since he had a nice smile and was articulate, we all just forgot and looked the other way. Conason also discusses the religious right. A lot of tactics conservatives used in the past are still being used today.

I know my review is basic, but this is one you must read.