Of all the thousands of lies that Trump has told since becoming president, perhaps the most fundamental lie is his insistence that he somehow represents a majority of his fellow citizens. The opposite is true: he lost the popular vote by three million, and he’s even less popular now than when he was elected. John…
Trump
America, Congress, Impeachment, Law, Trump
House Resolution on Impeachment and Fact Sheet
by JOHN ADAMS •
Molly E. Reynolds and Margaret Taylor offer a useful description of What’s in the House Resolution on Impeachment?: First, the resolution directs all six committees instructed by Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi to participate in the inquiry—Intelligence, Financial Services, Foreign Affairs, Judiciary, Oversight and Reform, and Ways and Means—to “continue their ongoing investigations as…
Trump
Comparisons Serious and Humorous
by JOHN ADAMS •
Pres. Obama gave a statement after Osama bin Laden’s death, and Pres. Trump gave a statement after Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi’s death. The statements were, to put it mildly, different in character. For a serious comparison, the Washington Post shows the differences between the remarks: For a humorous comparison, Jimmy Kimmel offers a mash-up:
America, Bigotry, Trump
The True Nature of These Times
by JOHN ADAMS •
Alt-Right, America, Authoritarianism, Babbittry, Bigotry, Boosterism, Economy, Herrenvolk, Impeachment, Mendacity, Television, That Which Paved the Way, Trump, Trump-Russia, Unfit
Fox News Won’t Be Enough
by JOHN ADAMS •
It’s a sound position to focus criticism of Trumpism on Trump, His Inner Circle, Principal Surrogates, and Media Defenders. This sometimes includes Trumpism Down to the Local Level. (Those local officials across America who have this past decade spread sugary lies of boosterism during the Great Recession, during its aftermath, and during the opioid crisis are contemptibly…
CDA, Corporate Welfare, Development, Foxconn, Government Spending, State Capitalism, That Which Paved the Way, Trump, WEDC, Wisconsin
Foxconn on the Same Day: Yes…um, just kidding, we mean no
by JOHN ADAMS •
One reads that in the course of a single day, Foxconn changed its plans for a major building at its Wisconsin site. Corrine Hess reports In A Day, Foxconn Changes Course, Plans To Build Different Mount Pleasant Building: This flashy building? Sorry, Wisconsin, you’re not getting this. Illustration via Mount Pleasant Development Dept. Foxconn’s plans to build a…
America, Language, Newspapers, Trump, Writing
Why Feature Stories on Major Topics are Now Often a Waste of Time
by JOHN ADAMS •
Feature stories on major topics, in which the author begins a multi-paragraph description of a person or scene before offering a substantive consideration of the topic, have today little use in newspapers. These stories are meant to set a scene, and perhaps evoke emotions in readers who are, the author presumes, indifferent or ignorant of…
Trump
The Myth of Trump as a Great Dealmaker
by JOHN ADAMS •
Impeachment, Trump
The Trump Train and the Treason Track
by JOHN ADAMS •
CDA, Economy, Trump, WEDC, Wisconsin
Trumpism Brings Economic Decline
by JOHN ADAMS •
It was supposed to be jobs, jobs, jobs for the WEDC and miniature versions of it like the Whitewater Community Development Authority. Gosh darn it, the former chairman of the Whitewater CDA even thanked (in person!) multimillionaire gerrymandered congressman F. James Sensenbrenner for part of the Trump tax bill. And yet, and yet, one reads…
Bad Ideas, Foreign Affairs, Sen. Ron Johnson, Trump
National TV Program Ridicules Ron Johnson’s Defense of Trump
by JOHN ADAMS •
America, Congress, Elections, Federal Government, Foreign Affairs, Impeachment, Poll, Presidential race 2020, Sen. Ron Johnson, Trump, Wisconsin
Sure enough…
by JOHN ADAMS •
Ron Johnson really is America’s Dumbest Senator™: MIDDLETON – U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson said Thursday there’s nothing improper about President Donald Trump’s call on Chinese officials to investigate his top political rival in his 2020 re-election bid. Trump extended the invitation Thursday to the foreign country as he faces impeachment over a similar request of the president of…
Foreign Affairs, Open Government, Trump
What else did Trump say on his call with Ukraine’s president?
by JOHN ADAMS •
Carol D. Leonnig, Craig Timberg, and Drew Harwell report Odd markings, ellipses fuel doubts about the ‘rough transcript’ of Trump’s Ukraine call: President Trump said Wednesday that his controversial July call with his Ukrainian counterpart was transcribed “word-for-word, comma-for-comma,” an assertion that fueled growing questions about the nature and completeness of an official memorandum about…
Bad Ideas, Boosterism, Mendacity, Politics, Trump, Waste Digesters
Saying and Believing Anything
by JOHN ADAMS •
Adam Serwer, writing on Twitter in response to a series of distortions from the conservative Federalist website, states plainly the truth of Trump-supporting lies: There is no incentive to correct because the targeted audience will believe anything pro-Trump they are told, whereas acknowledging error would signal weakness and insufficient devotion to the Great Leader. Yes,…