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…
Trump
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…
Newspapers, Politics, Trump
‘So soft I want to put them in a pillowcase’
by JOHN ADAMS •
Dave Weigel (@daveweigel), on Twitter, describes nicely the kind of questions that Trump gets from Fox & Friends: “The questions from the Fox and Friends exclusive with Trump are so soft I want to put them in a pillowcase.” I’ve added Weigel’s transcription of questions, below. Residents of Whitewater would be familiar with a local…
Russia, Trump
Jeh Johnson Testimony, U.S. House, 6.21.17
by JOHN ADAMS •
Russia, Trump
James Comey Testimony, U.S. Senate, 6.8.17
by JOHN ADAMS •
Below is a video of James Comey’s June 8th open-session testimony before the U.S. Senate, a link to a transcript of these remarks, and his printed statement for the record (released before the hearing but not delivered in Comey’s oral testimony given today). James Comey testimony transcript on Trump and Russia @ POLITICO. Statement for…
Authoritarianism, Putin, Russia, Trump
Rubin & Kendzior on Trump-Russia
by JOHN ADAMS •
Jennifer Rubin and Sarah Kendzior offer complimentary observations on Trump-Russia, that compound word for the evident association between Trump and Putin’s authoritarian state. Rubin’s remarks are from yesterday, Kendzior’s from May 20th. Rubin asks, of Trump, Would a spy for Russia be acting any differently?: By whatever means, Russia has reaped unexpected and unparalleled benefits from…
Foreign Affairs, Trump
Trump Dances with Saudi Aristocrats
by JOHN ADAMS •
Foreign Affairs, Trump
Trump Receives Saudi Arabia’s Highest Civilian Honor
by JOHN ADAMS •
Authoritarianism, Foreign Affairs, Politics, Putin, Russia, Trump
Time, 5.29.2017
by JOHN ADAMS •
Trump
Months of Failure
by JOHN ADAMS •
Books, Culture, Economy, Politics, Trump
Considering The Politics of Resentment, Concluding Thoughts (Part 9 of 9)
by JOHN ADAMS •
This is the ninth in a series of posts considering Katherine Cramer’s Politics of Resentment: Rural Consciousness in Wisconsin and the Rise of Scott Walker. I first thought I’d post, chapter by chapter, on Katherine Cramer’s Politics of Resentment after I read her 11.13.16 article in the Washington Post, “How rural resentment helps explain the surprising victory…
Authoritarianism, Foreign Affairs, Putin, Trump
Sarah Kendzior Ponders Foreign Affairs ‘In the Shadow of Putin’
by JOHN ADAMS •
Sarah Kendzior, an anthropologist with a background studying the dictatorships in the former Soviet republics of central Asia, speaks to Lindsay Beyerstein on Beyerstein’s The Breach podcast: This week on The Breach, journalist Sarah Kendzior joins us to talk about the weaponization of information in Putin’s Russia. The full extent of Russia’s influence on the 2016 presidential election…
Authoritarianism, Kakistocracy, Mendacity, Trump
‘Trump is never going to be a proper president’
by JOHN ADAMS •
America, Babbittry, City, Local Government, Trump
‘The Closest Thing We Have to State TV’
by JOHN ADAMS •
In the clip above, Seth Meyers considers the relationship between Fox News and the Trump Administration, concluding that Fox News is ‘the closest thing we have to state TV,’ represents ‘sycophantic coverage,’ and that ‘instead of a Bible, Trump should have been sworn in on a TV Guide.’ (H/t to Raw Story for the pointer.)…