Norman Rockwell wasn’t the finest painter of the twentieth century (to express the matter gently), but at least when he created a painting capturing the spirit of free speech as one of Roosevelt’s Four Freedoms, he understood speech as a right, not a privilege, lucky break, or favor from government. So it is with government,…
City
City, Film
Film: Tuesday, September 12th, 12:30 PM @ Seniors in the Park: Going in Style
by JOHN ADAMS •
This Tuesday, September 12th at 12:30 PM, there will be a showing of Going in Style @ Seniors in the Park, in the Starin community building. Going in Style (2017) is a comedic crime caper in which, “desperate to pay the bills and come through for their loved ones, three lifelong pals risk it all by…
Books, City, Culture, Film
Advocacy Seldom Reaches Chocoholics
by JOHN ADAMS •
A necessary element of writing or speaking – if it is to be enjoyable and sustained – is to believe what one writes or says, and to express those beliefs as one naturally would. (Even more important, of course, is to hold sound ideas, but here I’m writing about the underlying feeling of expression.) Writing…
City, Local Government
One City, Two Presentations of the Same Regulation (Follow Up)
by JOHN ADAMS •
Last week I wrote about the differences between a City of Whitewater announcement and the Whitewater Banner‘s reworking of that same message. See One City, Two Presentations of the Same Regulation. A local reporter shared some thoughts with me about the relationship between the municipal government and the Banner. My main contention was that the…
Alt-Right, America, Babbittry, Bigotry, City, Culture, Liberty, Local Government, Politics
The Existential (Imagined and Real)
by JOHN ADAMS •
It was Michael Anton (writing as Publius Decius Mus) who exactly one year ago famously declared that 2016 was “The Flight 93 Election,” an existential fight for survival for state-loving conservatives: 2016 is the Flight 93 election: charge the cockpit or you die. You may die anyway. You—or the leader of your party—may make it…
America, City, Culture, History, School District
For Your Consideration, Dr. Jonas Salk
by JOHN ADAMS •
Each year, newcomers arrive in Whitewater to take positions of one kind or another. Two weeks ago, in Welcome to Whitewater, I posed this question to new residents: “If Whitewater were perfect – that is, complete and lacking nothing – would anyone have needed you?” Beyond that question, with its interpretation and answer left to…
City, Laws/Regulations, Local Government
One City, Two Presentations of the Same Regulation
by JOHN ADAMS •
City, Film
Film: Tuesday, August 29th, 12:30 PM @ Seniors in the Park: The Founder
by JOHN ADAMS •
This Tuesday, August 29th at 12:30 PM, there will be a showing of The Founder @ Seniors in the Park, in the Starin community building. The Founder (2016), is the story of Ray Kroc, “a salesman who turned two brothers’ innovative fast food eatery, McDonald’s, into the biggest restaurant business in the world with a combination of…
City, Culture, Local Government, School District, University
Mentoring
by JOHN ADAMS •
I’ve long held that Whitewater’s Major Public Institutions Produce a Net Loss (And Why It Doesn’t Have to Be That Way). This contention is true for several reasons, all leading to this result: “Whitewater’s major public institutions – her city government, school district, and local university – produce this unexpected result: although members of the government are…
City, Local Government, Politics
Three Tiers of Public Communication
by JOHN ADAMS •
Local government – and here I am thinking primarily of a small town’s local government – has three tiers of communication: saying nothing, saying something, saying the right thing. (In the third tier, right refers to a full and fair means of communication, and not right as merely agreeable and pleasing.) Saying nothing. Common enough…
City, Economy, Local Government, University
How a Campus Masks Local Mistakes
by JOHN ADAMS •
Many small towns, looking for something to attract visitors and newcomers, probably dream about the possibility of a college campus. Whitewater has a public university campus, and the majority of the city’s residents are students at that school. Thousands of students in the city assure a steady stream of retail traffic we would not otherwise…
City, Politics, Trump
‘Enough is enough’
by JOHN ADAMS •
The Los Angeles Times editorial board plainly states the truth about these times: These are not normal times. The man in the White House is reckless and unmanageable, a danger to the Constitution, a threat to our democratic institutions. Last week some of his worst qualities were on display: his moral vacuity and his disregard…
City, Film
Film: Tuesday, August 22nd, 12:30 PM @ Seniors in the Park: The Zookeeper’s Wife
by JOHN ADAMS •
This Tuesday, August 22nd at 12:30 PM, there will be a showing of The Zookeeper’s Wife @ Seniors in the Park, in the Starin community building. The Zookeeper’s Wife (2017), based on a true story, is set in 1939, when during the Nazi conquest of Poland the couple who run the Warsaw Zoo turn the ground’s hiding places into…
City
Welcome to Whitewater
by JOHN ADAMS •
Whitewater, a small town, sees occasional turnover from among her public officials, as would any town. Over these years, I’ve seen any number of officials arrive (meaning that any number of others have departed). This is a beautiful town; I’d welcome all the world here. No doubt, when someone arrives, he or she receives all…