NBC reports on a deal between prosecutors in the federal Southern District of New York and AMI, the publisher of the pro-Trump National Enquirer: AMI, National Enquirer’s parent company, admitted it made $150,000 Cohen payment “in concert” with “a candidate’s presidential campaign” in order to “ensure that the woman did not publicize damaging allegations about…
Trump
Immigration, Trump
It’s On Him
by JOHN ADAMS •
America, Never Trump, Putin, Russia, Trump, Trump-Russia
On Trump-Russia, Right from the Very Beginning
by JOHN ADAMS •
Embed from Getty Images Virginia Heffernan reports Early on, Trump-Russia obsessives were marginalized; they’re prophets now: “I felt like the guy in ‘Rear Window,’ ” David Corn, the coauthor of “Russian Roulette,” told me this week. Corn was referring to his affinity for James Stewart’s character, L.B. “Jeff” Jefferies, in Alfred Hitchcock’s masterpiece film. Jeff witnesses…
Kakistocracy, Trump
Tillerson Describes Trump as Though Trump Were a Functionally Illiterate Criminal
by JOHN ADAMS •
Aaron Blake reports Rex Tillerson on Trump: ‘Undisciplined, doesn’t like to read’ and tries to do illegal things: Tillerson said Trump is “pretty undisciplined, doesn’t like to read,” and repeatedly attempted to do illegal things. He didn’t call Trump a “moron,” but he didn’t exactly suggest Trump was a scholar — or even just a steady…
Economy, Trump
Pro-Trump Areas Worse Off Than Ever
by JOHN ADAMS •
Economics professor Anthony W. Orlando writes Is Trump country really better off under Trump? No. It’s falling further behind: Two years have passed since Donald Trump made his famous campaign promise in disaffected regions across the country: “We are going to start winning again!” For many voters who felt that they had lost ground in recent decades, the…
Economy, Immigration, Mendacity, Trump
Entire Trump tweet on immigrant aid is wrong
by JOHN ADAMS •
The Associated Press reports an [e]ntire Trump tweet on immigrant aid is wrong: TRUMP’s retweet: “Illegals can get up to $3,874 a month under Federal Assistance program. Our social security checks are on average $1200 a month. RT (retweet) if you agree: If you weren’t born in the United States, you should receive $0 assistance.” THE FACTS:…
Corruption Probe, Crime, Misconduct, Russia, Sanctions, Trump, Trump-Russia
Lifting Russian sanctions key to Trump deal exposed by Cohen
by JOHN ADAMS •
Rachel Maddow shows how the Trump Organization’s continued pursuit of a Trump Tower Moscow deal into the 2016 campaign, exposed by Michael Cohen this week, explains Donald Trump’s soft stance on sanctioning Russian entities, including the bank that would finance the Trump Tower deal. Trump has survived dozens of political or financial acts that would…
Agriculture, Economy, Trump
Dairy Farmers’ Struggles
by JOHN ADAMS •
The AP reports Farm bankruptcies on the rise in Upper Midwest: The number of farms filing for bankruptcy is increasing across the Upper Midwest, following low prices for corn, soybeans, milk and beef, according to a new analysis from the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. The analysis found that 84 farms filed for bankruptcy in Wisconsin,…
Elections, Federal Government, Trump
Gains in a Long Conflict
by JOHN ADAMS •
Stanley Greenberg observes Trump Is Beginning to Lose His Grip. There’s much work yet to go, and sure to be painful setbacks ahead, but those of us who are Never Trump (mostly libertarians & conservatives) and so many others (Democrats, independents, former Republicans) have taken back a branch of the government with investigatory authority from a…
America, Mendacity, Propaganda, Putin, Russia, Trump
Operation InfeKtion: The Worldwide War on Truth (Part 3 of 3)
by JOHN ADAMS •
? Russia’s meddling in the United States’ elections is not a hoax. It’s the culmination of Moscow’s decades-long campaign to tear the West apart. “Operation InfeKtion” reveals the ways in which one of the Soviets’ central tactics — the promulgation of lies about America — continues today, from Pizzagate to George Soros conspiracies. Meet the KGB…
America, Mendacity, Propaganda, Putin, Trump
Operation InfeKtion: The Seven Commandments of Fake News (Part 2 of 3)
by JOHN ADAMS •
Russia’s meddling in the United States’ elections is not a hoax. It’s the culmination of Moscow’s decades-long campaign to tear the West apart. “Operation InfeKtion” reveals the ways in which one of the Soviets’ central tactics — the promulgation of lies about America — continues today, from Pizzagate to George Soros conspiracies. Meet the KGB spies…
America, Mendacity, Propaganda, Putin, Trump
Operation InfeKtion: Meet the KGB Spies Who Invented Fake News (Part 1 of 3)
by JOHN ADAMS •
Russia’s meddling in the United States’ elections is not a hoax. It’s the culmination of Moscow’s decades-long campaign to tear the West apart. “Operation InfeKtion” reveals the ways in which one of the Soviets’ central tactics — the promulgation of lies about America — continues today, from Pizzagate to George Soros conspiracies. Meet the KGB spies…
America, Law, Liberty, Trump
Garrett Epps on Birthright Citizenship
by JOHN ADAMS •
The first words of the Fourteenth Amendment, argues legal scholar and Atlantic contributor Garrett Epps, are the key to its meaning: “All persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.” In the newest Atlantic Argument, Epps details the history…
Alt-Right, Bigotry, Misconduct, Trump
The Unacculturated
by JOHN ADAMS •
One reads today in the Journal Sentinel that the Baraboo school district condemns a photo showing a large group of students giving Nazi salute: A photo posted on social media of dozens of Baraboo High School students giving a Nazi salute has drawn condemnation from the school district. Tweets say the photo shows the entire male class of…