No one is obligated to think about politics, let alone write about politics. (Indeed, in a more libertarian world, for example, the state would be smaller, and there would be fewer political matters of which to speak and write.) In Whitewater and cities nearby, however, there are more than a few who have public, political…
Trump
City, Economics, Economy, Education, Immigration, Trump
Anti-Immigration Measures, Wrong Yet Again
by JOHN ADAMS •
Embed from Getty Images An anti-immigration position is for economics something like a flat-earth position would be for natural science: one may hold it only through either ignorance or disorder. (The ignorance would have to be profound, as even the weakest grasp of economics would incline a rational person to acknowledge the benefits of a…
Authoritarianism, Trump, Trump-Russia
Amy Siskind’s Weekly Authoritarianism List
by JOHN ADAMS •
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…
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