World governments
The real governments of the earth are a major part of this book's imagery because without an abstract understanding of how those entities operate, it may not be clear how serious the issues of this book really are. The gravity stems from political corruption and interference by foreign powers in American political elections. Because of these allegations, it is necessary to understand the way Russian communism works; the government is not its own entity, separate from other businesses; rather, the Russian government has companies within it which provide services to the nation. In other words, a person could have a job that seems to have nothing to do with the government, but still be a government employee.
Global economies
Another important backdrop for this story is the modern development of global economies. Now, industrialization and technological advancement have come so far that there are global economic interests for basically every economic industry. That means that American companies are able to consider business from across the planet. In this case, that happens to be incredibly relevant because Donald Trump has business relationships with Russia. The extent of his involvement is largely a mystery, but has recently been the subject of many political debates.
American politics
American politics is largely based on competition between the right and the left, and the major political parties that historically emerged from those interests. On the left, fierce Democrats who resist Donald Trump tooth and nail and who often lambaste him and other conservative voices who advocate for industry practices which ignore or worsen climate change. On the right, the Republicans who are friendlier to big business and who historically desire to weaken the ability of the government to oversee or control industries where wealthy people stand to acquire more wealth.
Investigation and the imagery of truth
Maddow provides an example of heroism by sacrificing the time and safety which it costed for her to acquire the knowledge she shares with us here. Her commitment to truth is apparent and stops her from drawing conclusions which she cannot support. Rather, she sticks to slow and steady analysis, ordering data in a logical way. Truth has an imagery quality of complication and paradox, because the things which seem most impossible are often the facts of the matter in cases like this. For example, consider the book's claims about conspiracy and interference at the very top levels of authority on the earth. Suppose they don't want that conspiracy to be discovered; they will work to complicate the truth-finding endeavor so that Maddow's task is one of serious challenge.
