In our state, local candidates have an early-January deadline by which to declare their candidacies for the 2016 election. In a small town, there’s bound to be some curiosity about who’s running. That curiosity, however, is merely a superficial – and often personality-driven – concern. It’s not who, but why someone seeks office that matters. Why…
Politics
City, Culture, Local Government, Politics
Commentary & Chronicle
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
I’ve been writing, happily, from Whitewater for years. Writing like this has, to my mind, two aspects: as commentary and as chronicle. Blogging as commentary is obvious, of course. Blogging as chronicle, however is just as important, if not more so. One writes sometimes to advocate, but always to describe. Longtime readers know that I have…
City, Misconduct, Politics
About Extraordinary Accounts
by JOHN ADAMS •
Politics, Presidential race 2016
GOP in MKE: Tonight at the Milwaukee Theatre
by JOHN ADAMS •
POLITICO has answers to likely questions about tonight’s debate: Everything you need to know about Tuesday’s Republican debate. Here are the two important answers about the main debate (an undercard debate will begin at 6 PM CST): When and how long is the debate? The prime-time debate will last two hours and begins at 9…
City, Culture, Local Government, Politics, School District, University
A, B, and Wrong
by JOHN ADAMS •
Most choices for government, such as an option between Policy Choice A or Policy Choice B, involve choices of ordinary outcomes. One option may be more efficient than the other, or one more aesthetically pleasing than an alternative, but either would be considered a normal, reasonable policy outcome. Preferences of the Right or Left, of…
City, Local Government, Politics, University
Whitewater’s Major Public Institutions Produce a Net Loss (And Why It Doesn’t Have to Be That Way)
by JOHN ADAMS •
I’ve often contended – and about this I’m sure – that most people are sharp and capable. It’s only on this foundation that a prosperous and dynamic culture like America’s would be – could be – possible. Whitewater’s major public institutions – her city government, school district, and local university – produce this unexpected result: although members of…
Blogging, Business, CDA, City, Free Markets, Gluttony, Local Government, New Media, New Whitewater, Politics
If Market-Based Solutions Are Superior to Cronyism, Why Are There So Many Cronies?
by JOHN ADAMS •
Here’s a question, concerning even small towns like Whitewater, for which the Financial Times publishes an answer: If market-based solutions are superior to cronyism, why are there so many cronies? First, there aren’t that many cronies (or insistent insiders) in Whitewater or elsewhere, but the few there are manipulate or intimidate weak reporters at local papers into representing their numbers as…
Blogging, City, Economics, Politics
Methods, Standards, Goals
by JOHN ADAMS •
Whitewater doesn’t have, and hasn’t had, a legitimate press that would serve as a check on political or corporate power. On the contrary, what’s passed for reporting in our area is merely written sycophancy. In this way, Whitewater has been ahead of a national trend toward a weaker press, or no press at all. Yet, before plentiful…
Culture, Newspapers, Politics, Press
Sadly, Milwaukee Will Catch Up to Whitewater
by JOHN ADAMS •
In our small and beautiful city, what passes for professionally-produced news is poorly written, poorly reasoned, and fawning of authority. That’s been true for years in Whitewater, much to the delight of local officials, who’d prefer a good headline at the Gazette, Daily Union, Register (or even the Banner) to actually doing a good job.…
Politics, Poll
Friday Poll: Joe Biden in the 2016 Presidential Race?
by JOHN ADAMS •
CDA, City, Corporate Welfare, Economics, Economy, Gluttony, Government Spending, Local Government, Politics
Fog Lifts
by JOHN ADAMS •
View image | gettyimages.com Whitewater started the day with fog, but there has never been a place, anywhere or ever, in which the fog did not lift. There’s reason for confidence that even befogged places see, in the course of events, clear skies. I’d guess, though, that most policymakers in town (such as they are)…
City, Culture, Local Government, Politics
Small Groups Don’t All Fare the Same
by JOHN ADAMS •
I’m not sure if it should be true everywhere, but in Whitewater it seems as though small (apolitical) community groups fare better than small political groups. I’ve not made a study of this; the observation rests on impressions, here or there, only. There’s not enough to say as much with confidence. Many would note –…
Culture, Politics
How a Perimeter Fence Dooms Elites Within to Impossible Tasks, Exhaustion
by JOHN ADAMS •
Consider a society that erects a figurative, narrow perimeter fence, one that is meant to keep unwanted influences & people out, and desirable influences & people safely within. The key characteristic of that barrier is that all that exists outside is presumed hostile: the fence sets the boundary between what’s acceptable and what’s not. That’s…
Corporate Welfare, Gluttony, Government Spending, Politics, WEDC
The Weakness of Sugar Cubes
by JOHN ADAMS •
When conditions are dry, sugar cubes are fairly sturdy. When placed in coffee, they don’t last long. View image | gettyimages.com Cronyism is like this – it does well in the dry jar of municipal officials, insiders, press-toads, big-business lobbyists, and their lightheaded cheerleaders. In the bracing coffee of careful analysis, sound economics, and impartial…