Budd Margolis

“Steve Bannon, for example, is an alt-right hero to the pro-Trump white working class. Bannon rose from Breitbart News editor to running Trump’s victorious 2016 presidential campaign. From there he became Trump’s White House Chief Strategist and Senior Counselor. His politics derive from his father’s experience losing his life savings during the 2008 financial crisis. According to Bannon, the elites (inside and outside American government) who built the global capitalist system emerged from the wreckage unscathed—often even richer—while working-class heroes like his father were decimated. Bannon doesn’t hide his intent: “Lenin wanted to destroy the state, and that’s my goal too. I want to bring everything crashing down, and destroy all of today’s establishment.” These sentiments, more than anything else, explain the Trump phenomenon. For what better vessel is there in the entire world for accomplishing this goal—for bringing everything crashing down—than Donald J. Trump? That’s why Trump’s behavior in office was okay. That’s why his lies about the election are just fine. That’s why the January 6 riot didn’t matter. Not because Trump’s base thinks those things are good for America … but because they know those things are bad for America. Trump has come. And he will go. But what does it say about the underlying state of the American polity that a politician whose central platform is lying about elections is the unrivaled champion of one of the two major political parties? Something broad and deep is afoot. Something pernicious. Something likely to last.”
― William Cooper, How America Works... and Why It Doesn't: A Brief Guide to the U.S. Political System

“You can think something often enough, but you will never be prepared for your heart disintegrating.”
― Richard Osman, We Solve Murders

“my mum, Brenda. I just emailed her to say that a newspaper would like to take a photo of her with Dame Helen Mirren on the set of the Thursday Murder Club film, and I assumed that was okay with her?”
― Richard Osman, We Solve Murders

“The optimal response to Covid 19 would have been measured, balancing protecting vulnerable populations with tailored health measures against the heavy toll of closing schools and businesses. Few advocated for this approach. Americans’ reflex of running to extremes and addressing complicated policy challenges with the blunt weaponry of tribal warfare—reinforced by years of muscle memory—was simply too strong to shake off.”
― William Cooper, How America Works... and Why It Doesn't: A Brief Guide to the U.S. Political System