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A review by colin_cox
It Was All a Lie: How the Republican Party Became Donald Trump by Stuart Stevens
2.0
This is a tricky book. Stevens tells an attentive political media consumer everything they already know. Sure, to some degree, it is refreshing to hear a committed conservative say what Stevens says. Still, like many a Republican politician who criticized Trump in the twilight of their final term in office, Stevens's honesty carries little to no risk. It Was All a Lie was not written to persuade a Trump voter to abandon their fealty to Trump. No, It Was All a Lie is a book-length mea culpa that offers few meaningful solutions to our current predicament (to his credit, Stevens addresses campaign finance reform, so there is that).
What Stevens wants is a return to a more civil political environment. However, what those antiquated niceties mask is a slate of policies and policy positions that increase inequality, pure and simple. For example, many consider Senator Mitt Romney a principled conservative dedicated to fighting the hideousness of Trumpism. Yet, according to FiveThirtyEight, during the 116th Congress, Romney voted with Trump 78% of the time. What does it say about a political position (conservatism) if the principled member of that position agreed, via his vote, with Donald Trump, someone Stevens argues represents what is wrong with contemporary American politics? Regrettably, Stevens sees Donald Trump as the unfortunate conclusion to what the Republican party has become instead of seeing Donald Trump as the natural conclusion to conservative politics.
What Stevens wants is a return to a more civil political environment. However, what those antiquated niceties mask is a slate of policies and policy positions that increase inequality, pure and simple. For example, many consider Senator Mitt Romney a principled conservative dedicated to fighting the hideousness of Trumpism. Yet, according to FiveThirtyEight, during the 116th Congress, Romney voted with Trump 78% of the time. What does it say about a political position (conservatism) if the principled member of that position agreed, via his vote, with Donald Trump, someone Stevens argues represents what is wrong with contemporary American politics? Regrettably, Stevens sees Donald Trump as the unfortunate conclusion to what the Republican party has become instead of seeing Donald Trump as the natural conclusion to conservative politics.