More than one small town has struggled for years under the debilitating influence of political & economic conflicts of interest, misguided priorities, and dodgy or grandiose claims. These conditions where those that That Which Paved the Way for Trumpism. Those locally who carried on this way made Trumpism more likely, the way a moderate illness might weaken…
Law
Law, Politics
Podcast: Stay Tuned with Preet Bharara
by JOHN ADAMS •
There’s a new podcast from Atty. Preet Bharara, former United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York. I’ve embedded the first episode, below, and readers can subscribe to this and future episodes via iTunes or Stitcher. On March 11, 2017 President Donald Trump fired US Attorney Preet Bharara. Preet tells the story in…
City, Law, Liberty, New Whitewater, Trump
On Transgender Americans
by JOHN ADAMS •
One could write about the recent Twitter statement from Trump that “[a]fter consultation with my generals and military experts, please be advised that the United States government will not accept or allow transgender individuals to serve in any capacity in the U.S. military,” but there’s a broader question than military service. To be sure, I believe…
Crime, Law, Litigation, Misconduct
He Knew
by JOHN ADAMS •
Raquel Rutledge reports that Eric Haertle knew the medical products he sold were infected: The former co-owner and chief operating officer of a Hartland pharmaceutical company — once among the nation’s largest manufacturers of alcohol wipes — has pleaded guilty to shipping a product he knew was contaminated with dangerous bacterium. Eric Haertle, who owned Triad…
America, Law, Liberty
Under the Gazette‘s Reasoning, Rosa Parks Should Have Stayed at the Back of the Bus
by JOHN ADAMS •
Over at the Gazette, there’s an editorial about whether a local school superintendent should have sent a message about immigration to residents without consulting his school board. See, Our Views: Superintendent sends the wrong message. I’ll set aside the issue of immigration, and address the deeper issue of the Gazette‘s reasoning on obedience to the…
Kakistocracy, Law, Mendacity, Trump
Axl Rose on Jeff Sessions
by JOHN ADAMS •
Crime, Law, Litigation, Walworth County
The Enduring Sadness of Walworth County
by JOHN ADAMS •
“ELKHORN—A woman who son was shot and killed by a Walworth County sheriff’s deputy in 2012 has settled her lawsuit against the county and deputy for $1.1 million. Nancy Brown, mother of 22-year-old John Brown, filed suit in U.S. District Court in Milwaukee in May 2013 alleging Deputy Wayne Blanchard used excessive force when he…
Authoritarianism, Law, Liberty, Trump
A Grand Coalition Forms
by JOHN ADAMS •
Conservative Jennifer Rubin describes, in E Pluribus Unum vs. Trump, both the building coalition against Trump and the powerful nature of that coalition. She’s right that what seemed unlikely a few weeks ago is real now: Just a couple of weeks ago, critics of post-inaugural protesters argued the anti-President Trump movement lacked coherence. Too many small,…
Federal Government, Kakistocracy, Law, Trump
David Frum Asks: Should a Patriotic American Work for Donald Trump?
by JOHN ADAMS •
Conservative David Frum (with whom a libertarian would have many differences) yet asks and answers rightly the question, Should a Patriotic American Work for Donald Trump? Frum draws a distinction between personal service to Trump and government positions that are removed from the president: A law-abiding person will want to stay as far as possible…
America, Authoritarianism, Law, Liberty, Trump
Principled Conservatives Organize Against Trump
by JOHN ADAMS •
One needn’t be a conservative to admire the efforts of thoughtful conservatives to organize against Trump. Evan McMullin and Mindy Flynn have now launched Stand Up Republic to resist the Trump agenda from a conservative vantage. Jennifer Rubin reports on this in Evan McMullin makes a splash by going after Trump and Putin. Above, I’ve…
America, Authoritarianism, Ethnicity, Law, Liberty, Religion
Against a Registry
by JOHN ADAMS •
Alt-Right, America, Authoritarianism, Federal Government, Freedom of Speech, Kakistocracy, Law, Liberty, Trump
Distillation for a Resistance (First Edition)
by JOHN ADAMS •
We’re early in this new political era, with a long time ahead of us, and there’s a need to get a sense of one’s bearings. (The sound way to approach the new politics that has overcome America through the three-thousand-year traditional of liberty to be found in many places, the Online Library of Liberty being…
America, Authoritarianism, Enforcement, Law, Liberty, Military, Tyranny
Gingrich’s Defense of a Self-Pardoning Administration: From Bad (12.19) to Much Worse (12.21)
by JOHN ADAMS •
On the Diane Rehm Show of 12.19.16, former Speaker of the House Gingrich offered that a Trump Administration could simply pardon its own advisors to remove those advisors’ unlawful conflicts of interest: I think in the case of the president, he has a broad ability to organize the White House the way he wants to. He…