Kill Switch: The Rise of the Modern Senate and the Crippling of American Democracy
Adam Jentleson
Feb 2021 · Highbridge Audio · Narrated by P.J. Ochlan
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9 hr 57 min
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An insider's account of how politicians representing a radical minority of Americans are using "the greatest deliberative body in the world" to hijack our democracy.
Every major decision governing our diverse, majority-female, and increasingly liberal country bears the stamp of the US Senate, yet the Senate allows an almost exclusively white, predominantly male, and radically conservative minority of the American electorate to impose its will on the rest of us. How did we get to this point?
In Kill Switch, Adam Jentleson argues that shifting demographics alone cannot explain how Mitch McConnell harnessed the Senate and turned it into a powerful weapon of minority rule. As Jentleson shows, since the 1950s, a free-flowing body of relative equals has devolved into a rigidly hierarchical, polarized institution, with both Democrats and Republicans to blame. The current GOP has merely used the methods pioneered by its predecessors, though to newly extreme ends. In a work for fans of How Democracies Die and even Master of the Senate, Jentleson makes clear that, without a reevaluation of Senate practices—starting with ending the filibuster—we face the prospect of permanent minority rule in America.
Every major decision governing our diverse, majority-female, and increasingly liberal country bears the stamp of the US Senate, yet the Senate allows an almost exclusively white, predominantly male, and radically conservative minority of the American electorate to impose its will on the rest of us. How did we get to this point?
In Kill Switch, Adam Jentleson argues that shifting demographics alone cannot explain how Mitch McConnell harnessed the Senate and turned it into a powerful weapon of minority rule. As Jentleson shows, since the 1950s, a free-flowing body of relative equals has devolved into a rigidly hierarchical, polarized institution, with both Democrats and Republicans to blame. The current GOP has merely used the methods pioneered by its predecessors, though to newly extreme ends. In a work for fans of How Democracies Die and even Master of the Senate, Jentleson makes clear that, without a reevaluation of Senate practices—starting with ending the filibuster—we face the prospect of permanent minority rule in America.
An insider's account of how politicians representing a radical minority of Americans are using "the greatest deliberative body in the world" to hijack our democracy.
Every major decision governing our diverse, majority-female, and increasingly liberal country bears the stamp of the US Senate, ...
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November 15, 2024
"As someone who's worked predominantly for Democrats and democrat causes," and brother, it shows. When he's not doing research for his next book, Democrats good, Republicans bad. He's a frequent contributor on (P)MSNBC. Which pretty much tells you what you want to know about the author. As a progressive Democrat chihuahua, he's learned a thing or two, and his frustration with what Congress has become is something many Americans can relate to. Even if the majority of Americans in '24 don't share many other of his ideas. If you have money to burn but are all out of lighter fluid. I'd say give this audiobook a "read." The narrator is excellent and won't cause you to fall asleep 20 minutes into the book.He does a good job. Progressive liberals are going to be the vast majority of book authors. No matter what genre of book you prefer reading. Adam Jentleson is by no means the worst of the lot.
About the author
Adam Jentleson is the public affairs director at Democracy Forward and a former deputy chief of staff to Senator Harry Reid. A columnist for GQ and frequent political commentator on MSNBC, he lives in Takoma Park, Maryland.
P. J. Ochlan, an Audie Award-winning and multiple AudioFile Earphones Award-winning narrator, has recorded hundreds of audiobooks. His acting career spans more than thirty years and has also included Broadway, the New York Shakespeare Festival, critically acclaimed feature films, and regular roles in television series.
Adam Jentleson is the public affairs director at Democracy Forward and a former deputy chief of staff to Senator Harry Reid. A columnist for GQ and frequent political commentator on MSNBC, he lives in Takoma Park, Maryland. P. J. Ochlan, an Audie Award-winning and multiple AudioFile Earphones Awa...
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