Amy Siskind, president and co-founder of The New Agenda, keeps The Weekly Authoritarianism List. She does so because, as she rightly observes, “experts in authoritarianism advise to keep a list of things subtly changing around you, so you’ll remember.” (The list has been nominated for permanent keeping with the Library of Congress.) There are just…
Trump
City, Culture, Politics, Trump, Trump-Russia
The Limits of Cultural Shelter
by JOHN ADAMS •
In difficult times, some will retreat to apolitical, cultural matters. An apolitical approach is not one that I would take, but for others perhaps it seems the best that one can do. Indeed, in Whitewater, I’ve advocated that approach for those who would not take an overt stand on the principal political question of our…
Kakistocracy, Trump
‘Trump is a dumb person’s idea of a smart person’
by JOHN ADAMS •
Jennifer Rubin writes that “Trump is a dumb person’s idea of a smart person,” and expands on that description today in the Post: In many ways, President Trump behaves just how poor people imagine rich people do — with garish, ostentatious displays of wealth, imperiousness toward the common folk and disregard for the rules others must…
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…
Politics, Trump
Comms are secondary (at best)
by JOHN ADAMS •
The Mooch did his homework. pic.twitter.com/Wku0DF2ovd — The Daily Show (@TheDailyShow) July 24, 2017 In the video above, the Daily Show compares Trump’s gestures with those of new Communications Director Anthony Scaramucci. The latter seems an impersonator of the former. (Imagine being so eager for power that one would impersonate Trump; it’s like wanting a…
Trump, Trump-Russia
Sessions Will Try to Stay (It’s the Safest Place for Him)
by JOHN ADAMS •
In the clip above, Attorney General Jeff Sessions makes clear that he doesn’t plan to resign. There’s been talk that after Trump’s criticism of Sessions in a New York Times interview, Sessions would feel compelled to walk. Unforced resignation seems improbable; it’s neither want Sessions wants (as he makes clear in his remarks) nor what…
Authoritarianism, Putin, Trump, Trump-Russia
‘Very Brazen About It’
by JOHN ADAMS •
In the video above, Dr. Sarah Kendzior describes the brazen nature of autocracy: not merely does an autocrat flaunt norms, but he does so to remind others of his power, and to attempt to instill in normal, freedom-loving people a feeling of hopelessness in the face of power aberrantly exercised. In response to these tactics,…
Fellow Traveler, Fifth Columnist, Politics, Putin, Russia, Trump, Trump-Russia
The Fellow Travelers
by JOHN ADAMS •
Jeremy Peters nicely describes the descent of far too many into mere fellow travelers for Putin, a dictator, imperialist, and murderer (Peters is far too mild about Putin, but he’s ably identified the self-hating Americans who support Russian’s dictator, and some of whom are perhaps even fifth columnists for Russia): WASHINGTON — Years before the…
Trump, Trump-Russia
Chris Hayes: Does Trump Jr.’s Email Thread Reveal He Had a Phone Conversation Before His 6.9.16 Meeting?
by JOHN ADAMS •
Having a prior phone conversation with the person who arranged the meeting, of course, makes it even less likely that Trump fils was ignorant of the subject matter. … does don jr's email thread reveal he might have had a phone conversation before the meeting? @chrislhayes walks us through it. #inners pic.twitter.com/ppluP5Vtp3 — fake nick…
Babbittry, Politics, Resistance, Trump
Trumpism Down to the Local Level
by JOHN ADAMS •
I wrote last week, in a post entitled ‘What Putin’s team is probably telling him about Trump,’ about five degrees of culpability for Putinism’s insinuation and degradation of American politics. One could modify that list only slightly, and thereby describe Trump’s present influence in America: (1) those who have served the Trump as operatives and…
Politics, Russia, Trump
Gabriel Schoenfeld on ‘Trump and his whole circus – They have no good choices’
by JOHN ADAMS •
Gabriel Schoenfeld, the author of Necessary Secrets: National Security, the Media, and the Rule of Law, was a senior adviser to the 2012 Romney for President campaign. He observes the damage that Trump has done to the GOP: Figures like Reince Priebus and Sean Spicer, cogs in the White House machinery who today seamlessly defend Trump and his…
Russia, Trump
They Took the Meeting
by JOHN ADAMS •
Juliette Kayyem (@juliettekayyem) sees the key point of the June 9th 2016 meeting between Trump’s relatives & operatives and a Russian apparatchik: Everyone who plays poker has a tell. In this case, the tell by Donald Trump Jr. was taking the meeting. @OutFrontCNN #TrumpRussia pic.twitter.com/GTw5OOD4fQ — Juliette Kayyem (@juliettekayyem) July 11, 2017
Putin, Russia, Trump
Trump Uses the Same Old Russia Excuses
by JOHN ADAMS •
For more on how Trump sows fear, uncertainty, or doubt to evade simple, direct questions, see David Graham’s The Trump Uncertainty Principle @ The Atlantic (“When Trump wants to rebut a charge, he seldom flatly denies it. Instead, he generally prefers to sow doubt, skillfully stressing uncertainties to obfuscate and muddy the issue.”) One hears…
Alt-Right, America, City, Liberty, Putin, Russia, Trump
‘What Putin’s team is probably telling him about Trump’
by JOHN ADAMS •
Michael Morell, former deputy director of the CIA from 2010 to 2013 and twice acting director, and Samantha Vinograd of the National Security Council staff from 2009 to 2013, speculate from experience on What Putin’s team is probably telling him about Trump: This is a speculative account of a memo that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s national…