--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: What we Americans go through to pick a…" description: "\"What we Americans go through to pick a president is not only crazy and unnecessary but genuinely abusive. Hundreds of millions of dollars are spent in ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/79a/matt-taibbi-2257_abusive_what-we-americans-go-through-to-pick-a-p_1039747.jpg" --- # What we Americans go through to pick a president is not… ![“What we Americans go through to pick a president is not only crazy and unnecessary but genuinely abusive. Hundreds of millions of dollars are spent in a craven, cynical effort to stir up hatred and anger on both sides.” quote by Matt Taibbi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/79a/matt-taibbi-2257_abusive_what-we-americans-go-through-to-pick-a-p_1039747.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/79a/matt-taibbi-2257_abusive_what-we-americans-go-through-to-pick-a-p_1039747.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/79a/matt-taibbi-2257_abusive_what-we-americans-go-through-to-pick-a-p_1039747.jpg) > “What we Americans go through to pick a president is not only crazy and unnecessary but genuinely abusive. Hundreds of millions of dollars are spent in a craven, cynical effort to stir up hatred and anger on both sides.” [Matt Taibbi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-taibbi/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. He criticizes the U.S. election process as wasteful, manipulative, and divisive. **In simple terms:** Elections are costly and foster hatred. Key Takeaway Demand reforms for transparency and civility. Themes politics media democracy Mood critical concerned Type political analytical When to use this quote - election cycles - public discourse - policy advocacy Key Concepts campaign finance polarization ethical governance Questions to Reflect On - What changes would reduce toxicity? - How can citizens hold leaders accountable? A Different Perspective Reforms face entrenched interests. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Anger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/anger/) [Both sides](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/both-sides/) [Cynical](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cynical/) [Dollars](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dollars/) [Effort](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/effort/) [Hatred](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hatred/) [Hatred and anger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hatred-and-anger/) [Hatred Anger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hatred-anger/) [President](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/president/) ## Related quotes > [“Everyone was oblivious to the seething hatred and anger that churned in other parts of the city — beneath the surface like an undiscovered…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-connelly/everyone-was-oblivious-to-the-seething-hatred-and-anger-that-churned/) [Michael Connelly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-connelly/) > [Hatred - The anger of the weak.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alphonse-daudet/hatred-the-anger-of-the-weak/) [Alphonse Daudet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alphonse-daudet/) > [Ultimately, being open and respectful towards each other is much more powerful as a way to diffuse hatred and anger than, you know, layering…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justin-trudeau/ultimately-being-open-and-respectful-towards-each-other-is-much-more/) [Justin Trudeau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justin-trudeau/) > [“The killer simply picked any one of the men in gray suits and followed them from office building to cash machine, from lunchtime restaurant…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sherman-alexie/the-killer-simply-picked-any-one-of-the-men-in-gray-suits-and/) [Sherman Alexie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sherman-alexie/) > [“You forgive the person or situation not because what the person did was right, but you forgive to save yourself the suffering, heartache, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/premlatha-rajkumar/you-forgive-the-person-or-situation-not-because-what-the-person-did/) [Premlatha Rajkumar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/premlatha-rajkumar/) > [It is a retarding element creating hatred and anger, and causing people to fight each other, and making them unsympathetic.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/swami-vivekananda/it-is-a-retarding-element-creating-hatred-and-anger-and-causing/) [Swami Vivekananda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/swami-vivekananda/) > [Good works are continually being undone by the tons of hatred and anger which are being poured out on the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/swami-vivekananda/good-works-are-continually-being-undone-by-the-tons-of-hatred-and/) [Swami Vivekananda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/swami-vivekananda/) > [Hatred and anger are powerless when met with kindness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-x/hatred-and-anger-are-powerless-when-met-with-kindness/) [Malcolm X](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-x/) > [“Enmeshed in collective hatred and anger, each side proclaims the crimes of the other and its own righteousness, is unable to listen to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-rothberg/enmeshed-in-collective-hatred-and-anger-each-side-proclaims-the/) [Donald Rothberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-rothberg/) > [Under the Racial and Religious Hatred Act 2006, it is an offence to stir up hatred towards religious and racial groups. 'Stirring up hatred'…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-scruton/under-the-racial-and-religious-hatred-act-2006-it-is-an-offence-to/) [Roger Scruton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-scruton/) > [We are trying to pick the next president, not review the birth of the current president.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-matthews/we-are-trying-to-pick-the-next-president-not-review-the-birth-of-the/) [Chris Matthews](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-matthews/) > [I don't have a right to pick the president's cabinet on substance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-dodd/i-don-t-have-a-right-to-pick-the-president-s-cabinet-on-substance/) [Christopher Dodd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-dodd/) > [Al Gore in 2000. He got a half a million more votes than George Bush and lost. How can that be? It's ridiculous. It's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesse-ventura/al-gore-in-2000-he-got-a-half-a-million-more-votes-than-george-bush/) [Jesse Ventura](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesse-ventura/) > [If it's a close election, then it's better for the Supreme Court to pick the president, whether or not he won the election. It's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vincent-bugliosi/if-it-s-a-close-election-then-it-s-better-for-the-supreme-court-to/) [Vincent Bugliosi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vincent-bugliosi/) > [To ZHAT: There are times I want to snap its true, I'm not directly aiming it at you, I understand the need for love…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel/to-zhat-there-are-times-i-want-to-snap-its-true-i-m-not-directly/) [Rachel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel/) ## More by Matt Taibbi > [ The Congressional Record will forever show that \[Obamacare\] was passed in a romper room of overgrown children seemingly barely old enough to keep from… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-taibbi/the-congressional-record-will-forever-show-that-obamacare-was-passed/) [Matt Taibbi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-taibbi/) > [Sniper is a movie whose politics are so ludicrous and idiotic that under normal circumstances it would be beneath criticism. The only thing that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-taibbi/sniper-is-a-movie-whose-politics-are-so-ludicrous-and-idiotic-that/) [Matt Taibbi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-taibbi/) > [I get the cynicism thing all the time, although I don't really know where that comes from, because I think I'm actually the opposite…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-taibbi/i-get-the-cynicism-thing-all-the-time-although-i-don-t-really-know/) [Matt Taibbi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-taibbi/) > [It's really interesting that we've had this great Tea Party movement that is all about restoring free market capitalist values, but what they completely…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-taibbi/it-s-really-interesting-that-we-ve-had-this-great-tea-party-movement/) [Matt Taibbi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-taibbi/) > [To be robbed and betrayed by a fiendish underground conspiracy, or by the earthly agents of Satan, is at least a romantic sort of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-taibbi/to-be-robbed-and-betrayed-by-a-fiendish-underground-conspiracy-or-by/) [Matt Taibbi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-taibbi/) > ['Nobody goes to jail.' This is the mantra of the financial-crisis era, one that saw virtually every major bank and financial company on Wall…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-taibbi/nobody-goes-to-jail-this-is-the-mantra-of-the-financial-crisis-era/) [Matt Taibbi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-taibbi/) > [The basic scam in the Internet age is pretty easy even for the financially illiterate to grasp. It was as if banks like Goldman…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-taibbi/the-basic-scam-in-the-internet-age-is-pretty-easy-even-for-the/) [Matt Taibbi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-taibbi/) > [For the broadcast business to be successful, viewers need to be not merely interested in our political melodramas, they have to be in an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-taibbi/for-the-broadcast-business-to-be-successful-viewers-need-to-be-not/) [Matt Taibbi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-taibbi/) > [It's not a stretch to say the whole financial industry revolves around the compass point of the absolutely safe AAA rating. But the financial…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-taibbi/it-s-not-a-stretch-to-say-the-whole-financial-industry-revolves/) [Matt Taibbi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-taibbi/) > [You know what an effective deterrent to crime is? Jail! And do you know what kind of criminal penalty actually makes people think twice…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-taibbi/you-know-what-an-effective-deterrent-to-crime-is-jail-and-do-you-know/) [Matt Taibbi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-taibbi/) > [Conspiracy theorists of the world, believers in the hidden hands of the Rothschilds and the Masons and the Illuminati, we skeptics owe you an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-taibbi/conspiracy-theorists-of-the-world-believers-in-the-hidden-hands-of/) [Matt Taibbi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-taibbi/) > [Like wars, forest fires and bad marriages, really stupid laws are much easier to begin than they are to end.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-taibbi/like-wars-forest-fires-and-bad-marriages-really-stupid-laws-are-much/) [Matt Taibbi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-taibbi/) > [You can have somebody living next door to you and you can live in a completely different world from that person, which is definitely…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-taibbi/you-can-have-somebody-living-next-door-to-you-and-you-can-live-in-a/) [Matt Taibbi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-taibbi/) > [George Bush and John Ashcroft were religious in a scary way, but the rational among us could always take heart that, deep down, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-taibbi/george-bush-and-john-ashcroft-were-religious-in-a-scary-way-but-the/) [Matt Taibbi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-taibbi/) > [“People aren't pissed just to be pissed. They're mad because a tiny group of crooks on Wall Street built themselves beach houses in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-taibbi/people-aren-t-pissed-just-to-be-pissed-they-re-mad-because-a-tiny/) [Matt Taibbi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-taibbi/) [Explore all 175 Matt Taibbi quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-taibbi/) ## More Abusive quotes > [“God, I was a mess when it came to Derrek. One part relief that I wasn’t still with him. One part embarrassment that I’d…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-higginson/god-i-was-a-mess-when-it-came-to-derrek-one-part-relief-that-i-wasn-t/) [Rachel Higginson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-higginson/) > [What good is talking if neither of you are really committed? If one of you had an affair or got addicted to drugs or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-sparks/what-good-is-talking-if-neither-of-you-are-really-committed-if-one-of/) [Nicholas Sparks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-sparks/) > [One of the things we're all going to have to discover, establishment is just an abusive term for institutions. It's institutions that keep us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-frum/one-of-the-things-we-re-all-going-to-have-to-discover-establishment/) [David Frum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-frum/) > [“KINGDOM OF THE WOMB From her thighs, she gives you life And how you treat she who gives you life Shows how much you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suzy-kassem/kingdom-of-the-womb-from-her-thighs-she-gives-you-life-and-how-you/) [Suzy Kassem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suzy-kassem/) > [An abusive relationship? A cheating Ex Partner? Family who constantly disrespect you? Those are just a few examples of bridges that should rightly be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/an-abusive-relationship-a-cheating-ex-partner-family-who-constantly/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I have a temper, but I wouldn't call me abusive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tatum-o-neal/i-have-a-temper-but-i-wouldn-t-call-me-abusive/) [Tatum O'Neal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tatum-o-neal/) > [I wouldn't mind being in an abusive relationship with you babes only if you would punch me with her tits.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nikhil-saluja/i-wouldn-t-mind-being-in-an-abusive-relationship-with-you-babes-only/) [Nikhil Saluja](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nikhil-saluja/) > [“The woman knows from living with the abusive man that there are no simple answers. Friends say: “He’s mean.” But she knows many ways…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lundy-bancroft/the-woman-knows-from-living-with-the-abusive-man-that-there-are-no/) [Lundy Bancroft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lundy-bancroft/) > [I am asking my Attorney General to create a special unit of federal prosecutors and leading state attorneys general to expand our investigations into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barack-obama/i-am-asking-my-attorney-general-to-create-a-special-unit-of-federal/) [Barack Obama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barack-obama/) > [Intolerance has always been one of the cornerstones of Christianity - the glorious heritage of the Inquisition. It's no coincidence that most of my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/madalyn-murray-o-hair/intolerance-has-always-been-one-of-the-cornerstones-of-christianity/) [Madalyn Murray O'Hair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/madalyn-murray-o-hair/) > [“Dr. Lois Jolyon West was cleared at Top Secret for his work on MKULTRA. West's numerous connections to the mind control network illustrate how…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colin-a-ross/dr-lois-jolyon-west-was-cleared-at-top-secret-for-his-work-on-mkultra/) [Colin A. Ross](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colin-a-ross/) > [My father was actually controlling and abusive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vidya-vox/my-father-was-actually-controlling-and-abusive/) [Vidya Vox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vidya-vox/) > [With someone who is genuinely abusive or a bad person, you should just get out of town. But if they're being the best person…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christie-hefner/with-someone-who-is-genuinely-abusive-or-a-bad-person-you-should-just/) [Christie Hefner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christie-hefner/) > [This new world was a vicious, sleek world made of street lights and tight jeans, sharp smiles and fast cars. This was a city,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maggie-stiefvater/this-new-world-was-a-vicious-sleek-world-made-of-street-lights-and/) [Maggie Stiefvater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maggie-stiefvater/) > [“Just start somewhere," Dr. Marshall had said to me as I ground a banana-pineapple one to bits between my teeth. "It doesn't have to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-dessen/just-start-somewhere-dr-marshall-had-said-to-me-as-i-ground-a-banana/) [Sarah Dessen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-dessen/) Browse all 311 Abusive quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "What we Americans go through to pick a president is not only crazy and unnecessary but genuinely abusive. 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