Shameless Republicans’ Deliberate Dysfunction and the Battle to Preserve Democracy

*Shameless* by Brian Tyler Cohen is a riveting exploration of the current political landscape, filled with sharp insights and candid commentary. Cohen masterfully dissects the tactics and strategies used by politicians to manipulate public perception and evade accountability. His writing is clear, concise, and often humorous, making complex topics accessible to a wide audience. The book’s engaging style, coupled with its timely subject matter, makes it a must-read for anyone interested in understanding the inner workings of modern politics. *Shameless* is a powerful call to action for those who believe in holding leaders accountable. Brian Tyler Cohen explains the craziness of the GOP politics, by using many interviews by Pete Buttiege, Jen Psaki etc.

The poor reviews seem to be related to the signed nameplates for those who pre-ordered before August 12 and filled out the link on BTC’s various sites. Those are expected to be shipped within 4-6 weeks as per the email I received the day the book was delivered. People needed to click on the link to register the pre-order, so if someone didn’t get the email, perhaps they didn’t submit the form or the email is in their junk folder.It makes no logical sense to say a book is fantastic then give it one star because Amazon doesn’t have a stock of signed name plates. I am glad that they are coming to me directly from BTC and not the Amazon warehouse.The book itself is well written and pleasant to read. I love BTC so also purchased the Audibles version so that I can listen to him read his words. The book was purchased as a hard copy for the nameplate…which will arrive in mid to late September!

Brian Tyler Cohen has a keen eye for seeing the obvious and truth; and sharing those details in an interesting and enlightening way. I thought I was aware of the backgrounds on so many of these “characters” that have woven the fabric of what they intend to be used for Lady Liberty’s shroud, but what I have realized is that I have forgotten many details and was unaware of many more of the threads that they have been crafting for decades on their archaic spinning wheels of injustice.Unexpected DelightThere are a few things pertaining to this book that have caught my attention in an unexpected, but yet a very wonderful and delightful way.The appendixes: For some reason I went straight to the end of Shameless since a quick flip through the pages showed me there was something different back there. I won’t spoil the fun of discovering some of it for yourself, but I found them to be interestingly amusing and thought provoking (appendix B) and sad (appendix A). What I will share is that Brian Tyler Cohen also has a “notes” that spans a whopping 19 pages; notes that are citations and sources for the content of this book. BTC brought the receipts, if you will.Brian Tyler Cohen caught my attention in the prologue, with paragraph five to be exact, for it is there where he tied the book’s title, Shameless, to the illustration on the jacket of Lincoln. He identified not only who was behaving without shame, and how they were going about it, but he also framed it in the light of Lincoln, and his legacy, of which Brian Tyler Cohen has left us the reader reflecting on the shame in which Lincoln would be feeling about today’s misguided party.With the amount of information and number of details and facts that are presented, I’m grateful that the flow and structure of the chapters brings organization to the details. Its obvious that a lot of attention and work went in to every word, and their placement, to help keep everything flowing smoothly. Brian Tyler Cohen knows the path, of which he skillfully leads us through on his voyage of exploring these facts and history.One major thought-provoking realization is that this book was sent to the publishers before Kamala Harris and Tim Walz became the Democratic nominees. So, this leads me to wonder if Brian Tyler Cohen will be releasing a sequel to this book. Compared to the struggles for the survival of Lady Liberty, the next part of the story might be the most important story; the strength of our nation to not only survive, but to grow stronger after being pushed so far to the edge of destruction. The hope and joy that Kamala and Tim is bring could help usher in a new era of respect and hope, instead of constant shame.Areas of ImprovementThere’s a lot that I really like about this book. A lot of it has to do with the thoughtfulness and content, and some of the unexpected gems that I’ve been discovering. But there are a few things that could have been done better with the physical, printed book.I realize things have changed, and books of today, are not like they were 30 to 40 plus years ago. Costs have gone up, and as an unfortunate reaction to higher costs, quality has taken a hit. Perhaps my gripes are minor, but they are nonetheless very noticeable and even problematic for myself.The single biggest problem that I’ve been encountering is the difficulty in reading the print. Its difficult to put my finger on what exactly the problem may be, but its causing a lot of eye strain and even headaches. The font may be the problem. It’s what I would consider a thin font face. When compared to older books, the lines are much thinner, lighter, smaller, and lower contrast. Some pages appear slightly lighter than other pages. Not sure if it’s an attempt to save ink/toner, paper, shipping costs, etc, but for myself, it’s noticeable and is a negative.The other issue is with the paper. It’s thin, but it feels sturdy and strong, but I’m frequently finding that frequently two pages are sticking together. Not stuck as in glued, or some form of bonding between the sheets, but stuck together because they are so thin. The thinness can also be contributing to my eye strain since the shadow of what’s printed on the other side of the page, and also the print from the adjoining page, are bleeding through. This bleed-through is resulting in ghosting and a blurry image coming through the page. See attached photo where I have turned the top page at an angle to the next page so you can see how much is bleeding through the page and which page it’s coming from (the angled print is the backside of the top sheet). Within the photo, the paper appears to be much darker than it actually is.Overall, I’ve very happy with this book, and I think the content is exceptional on many levels. But since the physical mechanics of the printing, and the related side effects are causing eye strain and headaches, I feel like it needs to be mentioned. Perhaps it’s totally me, and hopefully few will have the same experience I am having with the print. In the future, if there is an option for a more premium medium, I would be more than happy to give it a try; it may be worth it even if it is more expensive.

Although the book is fine (1st/1st), no signed placard was included. For the book collector (and avid political consumer) this was VERY FALSE ADVERTISING.

First, the context:In 2018 I had mostly checked out of politics and the news with the exclusion of maybe a monthly helping of bile in the form of a brief look at a highlights vid here and there. Otherwise, if it didn’t involve the House of Mario, my favorite plumber, or was Newswave’s coverage of the other consoles (which can have it’s own bad weeks lemme tell you), I had pretty much checked out in disgust (10 points on which year I made that decision btw).Then some video that had a thumbnail of this punk kid in a suit looking like a conservative popped up on my feed.I wasn’t interested in yet another RWNJ flooding my feed of course. But…. then I read the title of that video that day and felt my eyebrows raise because there was no WAY that was a conservative title!So, I caved and pulled it up.That very first video I watched and in every video ever since, he was clear, concise, and brought a whole *truckload* of receipts every. single. time. His explanations were easy to understand and follow and his editorials are always entirely backed up.It was a breath of fresh and sane air I had honestly forgotten could even exist!Honestly, from that very first video, he pointed out *why* I had gotten so sick of news and politics so accurately and brought the receipts!So. There’s the context that obviously, when he finally proudly declared a couple months ago that he had written a book, I had to save up to get a copy.Annnd, there’s the context.Like his videos, it’s concise, to the point and filled to the brim with receipts.For those who want more: It’s an explanation (something he’s excellent at) of exactly how we got here. It’s what we’re facing this November and why.Grim though the material may be, it’s filled with his normal acerbic humor filled with biting wit making for a pretty easy read with an occasional laugh.Translation? He speaks plainly without 50 cent words and is pretty funny.This book, like his videos, it’s actually really entertaining and highly informative. And we really do need to know and recognize how the heck we got here if we’re going to stand any chance of pulling ourselves out of it.