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Blockers by Michael Lewis review – the quiet heroes who tried to stop Doge
The Guardian ^ | 10 07 2026 | Sam Freedman

Posted on 10/15/2026 4:26:10 AM PDT by yesthatjallen

SNIP

Blockers is a loose sequel to the The Fifth Risk, in which [author Michael] Lewis focused on the transition from the Obama to the Trump administration and the disruption caused by the new team’s almost complete lack of interest in their jobs. It focused heavily on what different departments and agencies do and why they matter. This time around the problem is not indifference but malicious intent to destroy. The “blockers” are the dedicated officials who try to stop the wanton and often illegal destruction of their life’s work by Elon Musk’s Doge or other agents of chaos. They range from a researcher working on preventing wildfires to a security guard trying to block Musk’s goons from entering his building, and a lawyer attempting to keep personal tax data from being used to deport undocumented migrants.

In truth, they don’t do much blocking – since they all either end up resigning when they’re asked to do something illegal, or are fired. The title refers more to the assumption by Musk and his fellow travellers that these are the people who are stopping progress and need removing. Much of the book is taken up with descriptions of the valuable work they did before being turfed out.

It would have been good to have a bit more on the villains, whose motivations for participating in Doge are varied. They range from the addled young coders with limited social skills deployed by Musk, to turncoat bureaucrats looking for any easy life, and some very strange characters such as health secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr, with his bizarre obsession with dead animal parts.

SNIP

(Excerpt) Read more at theguardian.com ...


TOPICS: Chit/Chat
KEYWORDS: blockers; britishtabloid; deepstate; doge; quietcriminals; thegarbagian; theresistance
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Here is a 10 min. interview with the author Michael Lewis on CNBC which includes push-back.

‘Blockers: Rebels in the Deep State’: Author Michael Lewis on his new book

1 posted on 10/15/2026 4:26:10 AM PDT by yesthatjallen
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To: yesthatjallen

Making heroes of the deep state.


2 posted on 10/15/2026 4:28:05 AM PDT by arthurus (l| covfeve |l )
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To: yesthatjallen

Sounds to me like they were working to save their corrupt American Dream.


3 posted on 10/15/2026 4:32:39 AM PDT by FlingWingFlyer (Hey Hey Ho Ho, the Somali ho has got to go. Ship her arse out now.)
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To: arthurus

Making …LOSERS!..of the deep state.
Nothing like WINNING!!!


4 posted on 10/15/2026 4:33:59 AM PDT by Donbue
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To: yesthatjallen

I can’t wait for them to make this into a movie that totally bombs at the box office.


5 posted on 10/15/2026 4:40:18 AM PDT by Kleon
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To: yesthatjallen

Pathetic.


6 posted on 10/15/2026 4:40:39 AM PDT by ClearCase_guy (Some people want to control their own life, others want to control the lives of others. )
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To: Donbue

“Musk and his fellow travellers”…


7 posted on 10/15/2026 4:42:18 AM PDT by The Antiyuppie (When small men leave large shadows, it is near the end of the day.)
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To: Donbue

“Musk and his fellow travellers”…


8 posted on 10/15/2026 4:42:24 AM PDT by The Antiyuppie (When small men leave large shadows, it is near the end of the day.)
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To: arthurus

Blockers by Michael Lewis review – the violent insurrectionists who tried to stop Doge


9 posted on 10/15/2026 4:48:13 AM PDT by AppyPappy (They don't call you a Nazi because they think you are one. They do it to justify violence. )
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To: yesthatjallen
Wow! Michael Lewis it turns out is one of them. It seems like this is his "it's a tax" moment where there you are up in the clouds of your own success overlooking the dizzying heights to which you have been elevated only to have the trap door open and you get a wonderful expansive view straight down into the void.

ML is done and dusted. A pathetic person defending a soulless bureaucracy. The only thing that one should do is go through his book and try to identify the names of fellow travelers who should be shown the door. Call him as a witness for the prosecution to identify traitors in the government.

10 posted on 10/15/2026 4:51:51 AM PDT by AndyJackson
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To: Donbue

Michael Lewis is an very good writer, at least on sports. I read Blind Side and Moneyball-both excellent. Blind side was informative as it got into the technical side of the left tackle position and brought in Lawrence Taylor, Bill Walsh and Bill Parcells-all greats. Then there’s the football player. Forgot his name. He was funny-a fish out of water.

Michael Lewis is also a talented lefty so I didn’t bother with the other books. He’s married to Tabitha Soren who did the ‘news’ for MTV in the 80’s when it was into music videos. Unserious.

Because he’s so talented I just might read this one. It would be like an American indian reading Custer’s Last Stand. I’ll like the ending.


11 posted on 10/15/2026 4:52:33 AM PDT by DIRTYSECRET
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To: The Antiyuppie
“Musk and his fellow travelers”…

Sort of like saying Lewis and Clark and their fellow travelers.

12 posted on 10/15/2026 4:53:41 AM PDT by AndyJackson
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To: yesthatjallen
We've Got to Protect our Phony Baloney Jobs
13 posted on 10/15/2026 5:00:09 AM PDT by Pontiac (The welfare state must fail because it is contrary to human nature and diminisheRs the human spirit.)
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To: yesthatjallen

“ The “blockers” are the dedicated officials who try to stop the wanton and often illegal destruction of their life’s work. . . “

Their life’s work being the complete and total unchecked exercise of power I wanton disregard of, and in contempt of, the voters. All done by always employing illegal means.

Blockers?!?! More like usurpers.


14 posted on 10/15/2026 5:07:15 AM PDT by FlipWilson
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To: yesthatjallen

Putting a torch to the life’s work of a bunch of self-absorbed bureaucrats is wonderful and should be done over, and over, and over. None of us elected these POS. I have zero sympathy for anyone who thinks via government they have a right to control the lives and the finances of others. The amount of damage and misery caused by such people is profound.


15 posted on 10/15/2026 5:09:36 AM PDT by neverevergiveup
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To: FlipWilson

100%


16 posted on 10/15/2026 5:11:04 AM PDT by neverevergiveup
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To: Kleon

I hope they spend well into 9 figures on that bomb. Like they did Diggers.


17 posted on 10/15/2026 5:14:01 AM PDT by FreedomPoster (Islam delenda est)
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To: yesthatjallen

Hero’s? Or Zeros? Or anti-Americanos?


18 posted on 10/15/2026 5:14:13 AM PDT by albie
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To: Pontiac

Perfect.

And FWIW I bought a DVD of that just because I figured the movie might get disappeared if the Dems even have power.


19 posted on 10/15/2026 5:16:51 AM PDT by FreedomPoster (Islam delenda est)
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To: yesthatjallen

It’s hard to find anything here to take seriously. It’s just slander, little more than name-calling. I fault “The Guardian.”

“stop the wanton and often illegal destruction of their life’s work by Elon Musk’s Doge.”

I doubt that it was illegal and it’s not for an employee to judge. So, let’s throw that out.

Government employees do not work for themselves. They don’t own the company.

Employees throughout America have, at times, faced the prospect of losing their jobs, at no fault to themselves. The company or industry may face a downturn. The nation itself can have a recession.

Government employees are mostly immune to job loss. However, it can happen. Even now, it’s mostly theoretical. I’m not aware that D.C. and environs are in a recession.

There is nothing special about a government employee losing his or her job. They deserve no more sympathy than anyone else under those circumstances.

In many cases the jobs lost were worse than redundant. Those jobs did harm and many of those employed knew of the corruption or other harm caused by their actions.


20 posted on 10/15/2026 5:21:08 AM PDT by ChessExpert (Infidels of the world unite against the evil that is Islam.)
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