Ailes built a Kingdom of Yes. That was his genius. He understood the id of many white conservatives – their sense of constant persecution and victimization; and their existential fears of an America whose racial makeup, sexual mores and gender roles were careening in the opposite direction of the country of their childhood. Joy Reid Read Quote
If you are a certain kind of white conservative, especially a white male conservative, then Roger Ailes was a hero. He constructed a world in which your core beliefs and your gut instincts were, and still are, constantly validated. Joy Reid Read Quote
Being on a grand jury felt like attending a series of hangings in a legal Wild West. Hands up for a true bill. Hands up for a dismissal. A show of hands to save a life, or to end it. Joy Reid Read Quote
If politics were a high school movie, Republicans would be the jocks and mean girls locking hapless freshmen inside their lockers and threatening to call in their rich parents if the teachers complain – plus the broke kids who are always willing to strong-arm homework for them from the nerds. Joy Reid Read Quote
When he ran for president in 2008, Mr. Obama was the candidate of the young and the demographically ascendant. He eventually attracted strong majorities among African-Americans, Hispanics, Asian-Americans and voters under 30. Joy Reid Read Quote
Technology has made it a lot easier to be productive. It’s incredibly helpful to be able to get little bits of information quickly. Joy Reid Read Quote
The reversion of American society to a nation of the superrich and the rest… is straining the country in ways that go way beyond economics. Joy Reid Read Quote
Trump’s more outre economic ideas, like repealing trade bills and implementing a massive surcharge on imports, would seem like non-starters in a Republican-led House and Senate, except when you consider a second point as a kind of syllogism: Republicans fear their angry, white electorate. Their angry, white electorate chose Donald Trump. Joy Reid Read Quote
Whatever its cause, the media’s general Hillary Clinton loathing is a foundational truth that would define her as president. Joy Reid Read Quote
