Summary of Dana Milbank's The Destructionists

By IRB Media

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Book Preview:

#1 The first shot in the Republican Party’s war on truth was fired at Fort Marcy, near Washington, D. C. , in 1993. It was the suicide of Deputy White House Counsel Vince Foster, who had been battered in the press for his role in various penny-ante scandals of the Clinton presidency.

#2 The evidence against Foster was so overwhelming that even his death could not save him. Republicans continued to investigate, and concluded that Foster had committed suicide.

#3 For years, there have been conspiracy theories surrounding Foster’s death. But with the rise of right-wing media, these theories were promoted by wealthy interests within the Republican Party and accepted by high-ranking officials.

#4 Right-wing media critic Reed Irvine and a British writer had claimed that the Oklahoma City bombing was a botched FBI plot, and that Foster was murdered because of the Clintons’ financial dealings.

• Language: English
• Publisher: IRB Media
• Release date: Aug 27, 2022
• ISBN: 9798350017052

IRB Media

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Insights on Dana Milbank's The Destructionists

Contents

Insights from Chapter 1

Insights from Chapter 2

Insights from Chapter 3

Insights from Chapter 4

Insights from Chapter 5

Insights from Chapter 6

Insights from Chapter 7

Insights from Chapter 8

Insights from Chapter 9

Insights from Chapter 10

Insights from Chapter 11

Insights from Chapter 12

Insights from Chapter 13

Insights from Chapter 14

Insights from Chapter 15

Insights from Chapter 16

Insights from Chapter 17

Insights from Chapter 18

Insights from Chapter 1

#1

The first shot in the Republican Party’s war on truth was fired at Fort Marcy, near Washington, D. C. , in 1993. It was the suicide of Deputy White House Counsel Vince Foster, who had been battered in the press for his role in various penny-ante scandals of the Clinton presidency.

#2

The evidence against Foster was so overwhelming that even his death could not save him. Republicans continued to investigate, and concluded that Foster had committed suicide.

#3

For years, there have been conspiracy theories surrounding Foster’s death. But with the rise of right-wing media, these theories were promoted by wealthy interests within the Republican Party and accepted by high-ranking officials.

#4

Right-wing media critic Reed Irvine and a British writer had claimed that the Oklahoma City bombing was a botched FBI plot, and that Foster was murdered because of the Clintons’ financial dealings.

#5

The Vince Foster lie was big and bold, but it used the same techniques as Gingrich used to get to Congress in 1978 and then lead the Republicans to a majority sixteen years later: proclaiming falsehoods with righteous certainty.

#6

Gingrich, while he was Speaker of the House, campaigned against Democrats for supporting a congressional pay raise. He then voted for a raise himself. He also used C-SPAN to pose rhetorical challenges to Democrats, accusing them of disloyalty and communist sympathies.

#7

While conservative talk radio gave the public thefacts, new media created by Limbaugh, Drudge, and Murdoch needed content, and Gingrich recognized that by providing it, he could make these new outlets the house organs of his revolution.

#8

Brett Kavanaugh was deeply involved in the Foster suicide investigation, which he stretched out for more than two years. He looked at autopsy photos and toured Fort Marcy. His files included 195 pages of Ruddy’s articles, which alleged that the Foster