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The Deep State: The Fall of the Constitution and the Rise of a Shadow Government Audible Audiobook – Unabridged

Mike Lofgren (Author), Brian O'Neill (Narrator), Recorded Books (Publisher)
4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 843 ratings
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The New York Times best-selling author of The Party Is Over delivers a no-holds-barred, House of Cards-style exposé of who really wields power in Washington.

Mike Lofgren is back with a book perfectly pitched for the frenzied circus of the primaries. His argument this time is that for all of the backstabbing and money grubbing of the campaign season, the politicians we elect have as little ability to shift policy as Communist party apparatchiks. Welcome to Mike Lofgren's Washington, DC - a This Town where the political theater that is endlessly tweeted and blogged about has nothing to do with actual decision making. The real work gets done behind the scenes by invisible bureaucrats working for the vast web of agencies that actually dictate our foreign policy, defense posture, and security decisions.

Have you ever wondered why Obama's policies look so much like Bush's? Seek no further: Hillary versus Jeb is just window dressing. Actual power lies in the Deep State, Washington's shadowy power elite, in the pockets of corporate interests and dependent on the moguls of Silicon Valley, whose data-collecting systems enable the US government to spy on our every move, swipe, and click. Drawing on insider knowledge gleaned in his three decades on the Hill, Lofgren offers a provocative wake-up call to Americans and urges them to fight to reinstate the basic premise of the Constitution.

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  1. Listening Length
    10 hours and 18 minutes
  2. Author
    Mike Lofgren
  3. Narrator
    Brian O'Neill
  4. Audible release date
    January 5, 2016
  5. Language
    English
  6. Publisher
    Recorded Books
  7. ASIN
    B019J1ZGBS
  8. Version
    Unabridged
  9. Program Type
    Audiobook
  10. See all details
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Product details

Listening Length 10 hours and 18 minutes
Author Mike Lofgren
Narrator Brian O'Neill
Whispersync for Voice Ready
Audible.com Release Date January 05, 2016
Publisher Recorded Books
Program Type Audiobook
Version Unabridged
Language English
ASIN B019J1ZGBS
Best Sellers Rank #70,641 in Audible Books & Originals (See Top 100 in Audible Books & Originals)
#25 in Privacy & Surveillance Studies
#59 in National & International Security (Audible Books & Originals)
#126 in Political Parties (Books)

Customer reviews

4.3 out of 5 stars
843 global ratings

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Customers say

Customers find the book fascinating and enjoyable. They appreciate the author's insightful and honest writing style that keeps their attention. The visual quality is well-presented and stunning. Readers describe the author as intelligent and experienced. However, some feel the author's biases come through and the narrative seems psychotic at times.

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ReadabilityInsightPacingVisual qualityAuthorAuthor biasNarrative quality
91 customers mention "Readability"77 positive14 negative

Customers find the book engaging and worthwhile to read. They describe it as a compelling critique of the Deep State that weaves together entertaining narratives. Readers say it's an important guide and expose of the harsh reality of the corrupted.

"...plus a wealth of observations and vignettes, which he weavers into an entertaining narrative (see the Forward)...." Read more

"An important book with a number of incisive observations. I cannot do it justice in a few paragraphs, but here are a few examples. &#..." Read more

"This is a book worth your time, written by a retired career Congressional staff insider...." Read more

"...the deep state is and how they operate which makes the time reading the book well worth it...." Read more

70 customers mention "Insight"62 positive8 negative

Customers find the book insightful and honest, providing genuine truths worth studying. They appreciate the author's research and thorough documentation. The book explores the nitty-gritty of how our government works, providing good information but incomplete. Overall, customers say it provides a deeper understanding of governmental practices, ties, and corruption.

"...It gives him technical knowledge plus a wealth of observations and vignettes, which he weavers into an entertaining narrative (see the Forward)...." Read more

"The Deep State by Mike Lofgren is a truly important book of contemporary history...." Read more

"...Author Mike Lofgren has unique and critical insight into the workings of both the Republican Party and the Congress...." Read more

"Excellent book! Contained startling, accurate news that all Americans should take pause and take a closer look at the government to know of its..." Read more

29 customers mention "Pacing"29 positive0 negative

Customers find the book well-written and engaging. They appreciate the author's clear, detailed descriptions of money and corruption. The book starts out readable but quickly turns into a diatribe. Overall, readers find the book insightful and an indispensable guide to understanding the harsh reality of the corrupted American mindset.

"...Of course the author is well above the fray and has excellent 20/20 hind vision outlining what our leaders and advisors should have known every step..." Read more

"...Lofgen writes well. His examples are good. He is correct about K-Street and lobbyists...." Read more

"Mike Lofgren is a gifted writer, an intelligent person and, he is, undoubtedly, well intentioned...." Read more

"This book made for a very interesting and somewhat disturbing read...." Read more

7 customers mention "Visual quality"7 positive0 negative

Customers appreciate the book's visual quality. They find the information well-presented, insightful, and comprehensive. The illustrations are fascinating and provide a clear view of how things worked when regular order was the norm. Readers describe the book as coherent, lucid, and tightly woven, providing a detailed description of the U.S. government.

"I found this book to contain a tightly woven description of the U.S. government, and its shadow state, from the point of view of a recent insider...." Read more

"Fascinating illustration of how things worked when regular order was the order of the day in Congress. It is much worse without regular order now...." Read more

"...Extremely articulate and insightful comprehensive look inside the workings of the Deep State." Read more

"A helpful guide to our slide into plutocracy. Coherent and lucid. If you're not mad after reading this, you're illiterate." Read more

4 customers mention "Author"4 positive0 negative

Customers appreciate the author's thorough research and documentation of the book. They say he is an experienced insider who provides an in-depth overview of the system.

"...The author surveys the history, dynamics, and increasing lunacy of a system that has drifted into distortion and dysfunction...." Read more

"Michael Lofgren has done an excellent job of researching and documenting his book...." Read more

"This one is pretty good, the author is an experienced insider. Main flaw I noticed was limited scope of the topic...." Read more

"...If your interested in the working of Washington... Great historian." Read more

7 customers mention "Author bias"0 positive7 negative

Customers find the author's biases in the book. They say the author is dishonest about motivation and out of touch.

"...Mostly what Lofgren is providing here is his own inaccurate, biased, and cherry-picked story...." Read more

"...The author’s biases are apparent but compared to present day “journalism” this book is more even-handed...." Read more

"The authors biases sometime come through but all in all this was a very enjoyable and informative read...." Read more

"A biased book, only rants about the Deep State and the Fall of the Constitution as it benefits leftist issues...." Read more

5 customers mention "Narrative quality"0 positive5 negative

Customers dislike the narrative quality. They find it biased and disturbing, with a rambling narrative that seems psychotic. The book is described as confusing and hard to put down, with random thoughts loosely woven together on unrelated subjects.

"...At times his narrative seems psychotic as it rambles event after event with no clear guiding light through all the villainous meanderings through..." Read more

"...the real decisions being made behind the scenes." The Deep State is a disturbing, fascinating read that is tough to put down until its last page...." Read more

"...For some weird reason I lost interest. LOL. It's just too deep... just kidding, but really, seller is good" Read more

"A biased book, only rants about the Deep State and the Fall of the Constitution as it benefits leftist issues...." Read more

Great condition! On time delivery! Great read!
5 out of 5 stars
Great condition! On time delivery! Great read!
I bought this used and it is in excellent condition! It was delivered on time with 2-day Prime shipping. No issues whatsoever.In regards to the book, it was fascinating to read the experiences and insider knowledge of a 28-year congressional employee. He illustrates a deeper understanding of governmental practices, ties, and corruption. Many of the questions us forward thinkers have are brought up and dissected.Great read and great seller!
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Top reviews from the United States

  • Larry
    5.0 out of 5 stars A must-read book for anyone interested in understanding our America
    Reviewed in the United States on January 25, 2016
    Verified Purchase
    Mike Lofgren has written the definitive account of the Deep State, the “hybrid association of key elements of government and pats of top-level finance and industry that is effectively able to govern the United States with only limited reference to the consent of the governed.”

    His has the experience to do so after 28 years as senior budget and national security expert with the Republican staff in Congress. It gives him technical knowledge plus a wealth of observations and vignettes, which he weavers into an entertaining narrative (see the Forward).

    The Deep State is the hidden connecting thread to the news in America. It explains the government’s operations run with indifference to their stated goals, its leaders’ unconcern with failure, and the inability of citizens to affect its policies. The quiet growth of the Deep State is the story of modern America’s history.

    Lofgren explains the origins and operations of the Deep State, how it has shaped Washington to its needs and sent its tentacles throughout the American power structure. After reading this book you’ll see the news with a different perspective. It should be required reading for every college student.
    21 people found this helpful
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  • Brian OMalley
    5.0 out of 5 stars Wake Up and Wise Up
    Reviewed in the United States on January 9, 2016
    Verified Purchase
    The Deep State by Mike Lofgren is a truly important book of contemporary history. Like a diagnosis of cancer, the subject matter of this book is something that you do not want to believe but must recognize in the face of overwhelming evidence before the difficult and dangerous task of rooting out the pathology can begin. The gift of this book can best be described as “wising up the suckers.” Please excuse the mobster terminology but we have been played so many times, in so many ways, that even those who think they are the “wise guys” are really the stooges who perform the grunt work for those who pack away the huge financial scores. The Deep State will help the scales fall from your eyes and you will see that we are no longer citizens but subjects to be financially farmed, quantified, conditioned and intimidated into adherence to a faux religion that worships money. Mike Lofgren handles the vast panorama of these volatile matters as a cool and disciplined scholar who unsparingly dissects each of the monstrosities and fallacies that underpin the Deep State. After delineating the vast sweep of these festering problems, Mike Lofgren concludes with a rational program to counter these menaces. The Deep State could be one of the most important books of this century.
    117 people found this helpful
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  • Poly Scientist
    4.0 out of 5 stars Incisive observations
    Reviewed in the United States on December 16, 2017
    Verified Purchase
    An important book with a number of incisive observations. I cannot do it justice in a few paragraphs, but here are a few examples.

    >> all political ideologies as mental and emotional crutches, or substitute religions: for leaders, a means of manipulating attitudes and behaviors; for the rank and file, a lazy surrogate for problem solving <<

    >> the judicial travesty known as the Citizens United decision <<

    The decision [money = free speech] is legally absurd. It will have devastating political consequences as it officially codifies America as a hereditary plutocracy.

    >> “revolution within the form.” Our venerable institutions of government have outwardly remained the same , but they have grown more and more resistant to the popular will as they have become hardwired into a corporate and private influence network with almost unlimited cash to enforce its will. <<

    The Roman Republic perished the same way. It morphed into an empire with its outward form unchanged. Eventually the empire perished too.

    >> de facto oligarchy camouflaged by two-party competition within the outward form of constitutional government. <<

    >> Federal regulators could seize the bank and operate it as a conservator in the same way that the FDIC has done in hundreds of instances over many decades. Innocent stakeholders, whether low-level employees, shareholders, or depositors, would be protected. Holder’s fearmongering about the risk of endangering the world economy has no basis. <<

    This paradigm should have been applied to the entire TARP program.

    >> Albright was continually pressuring the CIA to find whatever evidence of Serbian perfidy was necessary to justify NATO military intervention. … The trumped-up evidence of Saddam Hussein’s purported weapons of mass destruction was not the first instance of cooked intelligence, nor is it likely to be the last. <<

    >> The national security sector of the Deep State achieved a zenith of incoherence in June 2014 … the United States government would be giving lethal support to Syrian rebels, the most effective military element of which was ISIS – a group we were bombing just across the border in Iraq. <<

    >> We were lucky that the cold war ended without the nuclear trigger being pulled, but that does not ensure that our luck will always hold should there be a new cold war. <<

    >> As seen through the lens of Washington, other countries are not permitted to pursue their own conceptions of their legitimate national interest. Any foreign action perceived to conflict with America’s grandiose conception of its destiny is automatically deemed hostile. <<

    Strangely though the author does not find Russia’s self-defense legitimate even when its very survival is at stake. The neocons wanted to totally destroy Russia [Dick Cheney so stated], and the destabilization of Ukraine was a means to that end. Washington wanted to place nuclear missiles and radar stations in Crimea. Even though the author knows how the establishment operates he does not seem to grasp that they control the media, they determine the agenda, they support their candidates, demonize foreign leaders, generate fake news and create virtual reality. So for the author Putin is a villain. It was on TV so it must be true!

    The author is also confused about the Vietnam war. It was certainly tragic that the U.S. failed to enforce the Paris Agreement with air power because the Congress suddenly cut funding. As a result Viet Cong and Khmer Rouge took over Indochina, and subsequently murdered 1 million people. Can you imagine the horror the victims went through? The reason it happened is that people think in cliches! Not all the wars the U.S. fought were illegitimate. Most of those that were happened AFTER the cold war.
    10 people found this helpful
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  • CharlesA
    5.0 out of 5 stars What a truly excellent and smooth read this has turned out to be
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 1, 2018
    Verified Purchase
    What a truly excellent and smooth read this has turned out to be. I enjoyed it much much more than his first effort 'The party is over' (which was ok).
    Logren writes really really well, it's clear that even though he had some backroom committee job that he is immensely articulate, educated and well-informed. When he gets his teeth into a paragraph, he doesn't throw words around like confetti, it's all pretty tight and focused and very damning.
    Every chapter tackles a huge part of the deep state or actors within it, for example Washingon itself (the Beltway), the military and foreign policy, Wall Street, the spying agencies, the banks, the judiciary and even Silicon Valley.
    In essence this is a highly non-conspiratorial book. Lofgren does not maintain that shadowy operatives act like a secretive and all-powerful cabal, for him the deep state are the very institutions, public and private (increasingly public tendering contracts to private) and more crucially the personnel, that every president inherits after taking office, and has to find a way to work with. These are the congress, banks, spies, pentagon, the think tanks and lobbyists etc... and if the president decides to take them on, they can seriously frustrate the president's aims and play the long game.
    I found it very astutely analyzed and judged.
    His last chapter is an excellent 9 point plan for fixing the political malaise in the US, it looks nothing like Trump's nonsense, Lofgren, if anything, is exceptionally rational when it comes to analysis and to prescription.
    2 people found this helpful
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  • flybaby
    4.0 out of 5 stars a very studied book where reality goes beyond any conspiracy theory
    Reviewed in France on November 29, 2017
    Verified Purchase
    Extremely well researched, the author lived through most events recounted as he spent 30 years on the hill, with the GOP. Makes you wonder whether anybody will put a brake on the path to self destruction.
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  • Anckarström
    5.0 out of 5 stars Wer hat die Macht in Amerika?
    Reviewed in Germany on February 13, 2017
    Verified Purchase
    Mike Lofgren ist ein Republikaner mit drei Jahrzehnten Erfahrung von Insiderpolitik im Amerikanischen Kongress. Er beschreibt hier wer eigentlich die Macht in Amerika hat; the Deep State, an den nicht einmal der President vorbeikommt, sollte er es mal versuchen, wie John F Kennedy es mal versucht hat. Die Macht liegt bei den wirtschaftlichen Machthabern, die Waffenindustrie, Pentagon, Wall Street und die Geheimdienste. Politische Macht ist eine Handelsware und Krieg das lukrativste Geschäft das es zur Zeit gibt. Sehr detailliert und streckenweise witzig geschrieben.
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  • Amazon Customer
    5.0 out of 5 stars READING FOR PLEASURE
    Reviewed in Australia on August 27, 2020
    Verified Purchase
    This book was bought as a gift, which the person who received it totally enjoys the book.
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  • delia ruhe
    5.0 out of 5 stars Who stole the Americans' Dream?
    Reviewed in Canada on January 17, 2016
    Verified Purchase
    When we say that something is “hiding in plain sight,” it usually means that we don’t see it because we don’t have a name for it or a theory for understanding what we’re looking at. The resolution to this seeming paradox has given rise to a whole raft of metaphors. For Lofgren, it was 9/11 that started him “connecting the dots.” For me, it was during the inauguration of Barack Obama that “the pieces of the puzzle began to fall into place.” As he delivered his mediocre speech in an unconvincing – almost irritated – tone, it was as if, between election night and this solemn occasion he’d undergone the implantation of his The Manchurian Candidate (Full Screen) (2004) chip.

    Of course, as a Canadian, I was not swept up in the tsunami of Obamania – indeed, I was too aware of contradictions in his behaviour throughout his campaign, behaviours which Obamaniacs were only too happy to overlook, issues such as his simultaneous promise to look into NAFTA with a view to extracting the US from it, while at the same time his team was “telegraphing” Stephen Harper not to panic, as it was only campaign rhetoric. Or announcing to the Arab world that he would pursue a Palestinian state with east Jerusalem as its capital, and then, the day after he received the nomination, scurrying over to the AIPAC conference to genuflect before many potential Jewish American donors and promise that Jerusalem would never be divided.

    It wasn’t until Mike Lofgren’s essay, “The Anatomy of the Deep State,” published in early 2015, that I began to know that the huge dislocation between Candidate Obama and newly inaugurated President Obama was more than a few contradictions in his nomination campaign. I was reading the probable answer to another seeming paradox – specifically, that many of the important policies of the imbecilic Republican Bush and the brainy Democratic Obama are virtually identical. Or, as Lofgren says in this most welcome follow up to that essay, all Americans should be asking “which specific deformities in our own system created lamentable specimens like Bush and promoted them to power, and why a president with a personality so apparently different as Obama’s should govern in a manner so similar to Bush on the big issues of national security, the economy, and the accountability of government to the people” (The Deep State, p. 34).

    No, the answer is not a brain implant that directs Obama to “liquidate American citizens without due process, detain prisoners indefinitely without charge, conduct ‘dragnet’ surveillance on the American people without judicial warrant, and engage in unprecedented—at least since the McCarthy era—witch-hunts against federal employees through the so-called Insider Threat Program” (p. 31). In addition, no brain chip is responsible for Obama’s persecution and imprisonment of more whistleblowers than all his presidential predecessors combined – and if you think he’ll likely exercise his presidential prerogative and pardon them all before his exit from the White House, think again. It’s not that he’s being pushed around by the Deep State; it’s that as president he is ipso facto the Deep State’s CEO.

    The Deep State is a bipartisan “partnership” (she says in scare quotes) between certain government departments and agencies, Wall Street, and America’s most powerful corporations (many of which are under contract to the government). By “partnership” I mean that Wall Street and the corporations decide what they need and government makes sure they get it. And what they generally need is the quiet and ever-increasing flow of funding from the public purse, and they generally get it – which is why Washington can always afford yet another war, but cannot see its way to providing funds for the repair of the 10,000 substandard bridges that dot the arteries of trade and commerce across the U.S. In exchange for this service, many elected and appointed government officials and high-ranking military men have access to the “revolving door” in that, to cite one example, retiring admirals and generals can step right into top paying jobs in the arms industry, and presidential appointees and even senators who chair important senate committees can look forward to seven-figure positions in a choice of industries, from health care to Wall Street banks. The lobbying firms are favourite places of employment for ex-government personnel and are also sources of future government personnel – hence, the “revolving door.”

    Lofgren describes the Deep State as somehow floating above the constitutional state – a metaphor that makes sense when you realize that “above” also means “above the law” – which is why no one is in jail for designing, approving, and ordering regimes of torture; or committing mortgage fraud so extensive that seven million Americans lost their homes; or designing and overseeing the warrantless surveillance of millions of innocent Americans and foreign heads of state. Only those who blew the whistle on these crimes have been either financially ruined and/or imprisoned.

    This review is getting unconscionably long. If you are a politiphile, a news junkie, or just a Canadian concerned about the unfortunate situation our American cousins find themselves in since 9/11, the Wall Street crash, and the multiplying wars in the greater Middle East, you need to read Mike Lofgren’s book. Since so much of our fate as a nation-state on this continent depends on the U.S., all Canadians should read it. Indeed, it should be at the top of Prime Minister Trudeau’s “to read” list so that he knows exactly who he’s dealing with when he picks up the phone to call Washington.
    One person found this helpful
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