Whitewater’s public comment periods are lawful rights worth defending, and there has never been a time when respecting public comment – humbly and gratefully – has been more important for the city. Since June, there have been three meetings during which Whitewater’s current council president has deprecated public comment, or wrongly set the order of…
Politics
Blogging, City, Local Government, Music, Politics
Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Helpful Advice for Whitewater, Wisconsin
by JOHN ADAMS •
Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Hamilton is rightly celebrated as a masterpiece. It also offers useful political advice, even for small town officials. From that musical’s Washington on Your Side, consider this sage observation on the limits of intra-institutional reform: If there’s a fire you’re trying to douse, You can’t put it out from inside the house. There’s…
Babbittry, Boosterism, City, Coronavirus, Culture, Laws/Regulations, Local Government, Politics, Public Health
Whitewater’s Local Government: Always Literally, Not as Often Seriously
by JOHN ADAMS •
It was the Trump apologist Salena Zito who, by way of defending Trump, suggested that his words should be taken ‘seriously, not literally.’ (She offered this defense in a deceitful effort to absolve Trump from the plain meaning of what he said, at any moment. Instead of considering his statements, one was supposed to take…
Babbittry, Boosterism, City, Conflicts of Interest, Coronavirus, Culture, Ethics, Local Government, Politics
Social Capital and Hardship
by JOHN ADAMS •
What role does social capital play in a community’s health? Adam Gopnik, in The Paradoxical Role of Social Capital in the Coronavirus Pandemic, ponders whether there’s a relationship between communities with high social capital and a community’s public health. Gopnik uses a traditional definition of social capital as the “parts of society that, without being…
America, Elections, History, Politics
The Convention Bounce
by JOHN ADAMS •
Politics, U.S. Senate
Trump Stooge
by JOHN ADAMS •
Culture, Freedom of Speech, Politics, Protests, Race
Widespread, Continuing National Support for Racial Justice Protests
by JOHN ADAMS •
Steven Long and Justin McCarthy of Gallup report Two in Three Americans Support Racial Justice Protests: WASHINGTON, D.C. — About two in three Americans (65%) support the nationwide protests about racial injustice that followed the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police in late May. Half say they feel “very” (23%) or…
Local Government, Politics
Engagement and Engagement-Engagement
by JOHN ADAMS •
Sometimes, as a matter of emphasis, people repeat a word – so a big tree becomes a big-big tree, and something sweet becomes sweet-sweet. The repetition of the adjective suggests an exceptional thing – more intense or more significant. In this way, there might be both engagement and engagement-engagement. In this first situation, there’s some…
City, Culture, Politics
Barriers to Substantive Change in a Small Town
by JOHN ADAMS •
Several recent posts here are FREE WHITEWATER are, collectively, a cautionary series on the difficulty of effecting substantive change in Whitewater, Wisconsin. One might want change; realism demands a clear-eyed assessment of its likelihood. Other towns might have better (or even worse) odds; Whitewater is not, by definition, another town. A listing of challenges, with…
Blogging, Culture, Local Government, Newspapers, Politics, Press
After a News Desert
by JOHN ADAMS •
A news desert is a community without coverage from a daily newspaper. If coverage means timely newspaper reporting on a city’s principal public meetings and events, then Whitewater has been a news desert since the nearby Daily Jefferson County Union stopped reporting on Whitewater’s common council & school board meetings. If coverage means timely, insightful,…
History, Politics, Presidential race 2020, Trump
Trump Rallies on Juneteenth in Tulsa
by JOHN ADAMS •
Trump is both ignorant and slow, but his aide Stephen Miller is neither. Knowing as much about these men, one reads that the Trump campaign has picked Juneteenth for a rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma: How can you further inflame racial tensions? Send the president, who has called those protesting for racial equality “thugs,” to a…
Babbittry, City, Corruption, Federal Government, Law, Local Government, Official Misconduct, Open Government, Police, Politics, State Government
Cameras, Not Committees
by JOHN ADAMS •
Recent protests across America against excessive and biased use of police force began after ordinary people in those communities recorded official (to the point of murderous) actions, and then shared their recordings with others. It was not government – local, state, or federal – that promptly shared these recordings of excessive force; it was ordinary…
America, Politics, Poll, Trump
Trump’s Undersized Base
by JOHN ADAMS •
Polling from Morning Consult illustrates well the limitations of Trump’s base-only strategy: his support (base and supportive voters) represents less than needed for re-election. That support is, in fact, notably consistent in its inadequacy: Over many months, including before the brunt of the pandemic, Trump has been stuck in a weak position. This does not…
Babbittry, Bad Ideas, Boosterism, City, Culture, Local Government, Politics, School District, University
The Lingering Problem of Local Exceptionalism
by JOHN ADAMS •
A common error in small rural communities is the persistent, false claim that local officials are examples of a local exceptionalism that makes them implicitly immune from the flaws and mistakes that beset the rest of humanity. Under this thinking, while there may be problems in the wider world, there are no local examples of…