Conservative Jennifer Rubin describes, in E Pluribus Unum vs. Trump, both the building coalition against Trump and the powerful nature of that coalition. She’s right that what seemed unlikely a few weeks ago is real now: Just a couple of weeks ago, critics of post-inaugural protesters argued the anti-President Trump movement lacked coherence. Too many small,…
Trump
History, Language, Trump
Full Transcript of Trump’s Black History Month Remarks
by JOHN ADAMS •
Politics, Trump
The ‘Balls & Strikes’ View
by JOHN ADAMS •
There’s an interesting exchange between conservative Trump-critic Evan McMullin and conservative Josh Hammer worth considering. The exchange shows the divide among conservatives about Trump. (There’s also a divide among conservatives about whether anti-Trump conservatives are, in fact, conservatives. To this libertarian, they all look sufficiently conservative; that intra-tribe debate is not one in which I’m engaged.) First…
Foreign Affairs, Kakistocracy, Trump
Britian’s Foreign Minister Uses Van Halen Defense to Justify Trump State Visit
by JOHN ADAMS •
There’s a debate in Parliament about whether to extend a state visit to Donald Trump. Trying to mount a defense of a Trump visit, the British foreign minister had this to say about why Trump should be accorded the honor: Boris Johnson tells the House that he believes “both Nicolae Ceausescu and Robert Mugabe have been entertained by…
Federal Government, Kakistocracy, Law, Trump
David Frum Asks: Should a Patriotic American Work for Donald Trump?
by JOHN ADAMS •
Conservative David Frum (with whom a libertarian would have many differences) yet asks and answers rightly the question, Should a Patriotic American Work for Donald Trump? Frum draws a distinction between personal service to Trump and government positions that are removed from the president: A law-abiding person will want to stay as far as possible…
Putin, Russia, Trump
Secret
by JOHN ADAMS •
America, Authoritarianism, Law, Liberty, Trump
Principled Conservatives Organize Against Trump
by JOHN ADAMS •
One needn’t be a conservative to admire the efforts of thoughtful conservatives to organize against Trump. Evan McMullin and Mindy Flynn have now launched Stand Up Republic to resist the Trump agenda from a conservative vantage. Jennifer Rubin reports on this in Evan McMullin makes a splash by going after Trump and Putin. Above, I’ve…
Authoritarianism, Trump
A Banner Suitable for the New Administration
by JOHN ADAMS •
Mendacity, Trump
Why Trump’s Staff Lies
by JOHN ADAMS •
Tyler Cowen, writing at Bloomberg, offers an explanation of Why Trump’s Staff Is Lying: By requiring subordinates to speak untruths, a leader can undercut their independent standing, including their standing with the public, with the media and with other members of the administration. That makes those individuals grow more dependent on the leader and less…
Newspapers, Trump
Tumulty Finds Sycophancy’s Hard to Shake
by JOHN ADAMS •
Trump Press Sec. Spicer gave a dishonest statement about crowd size on Saturday (“White House press secretary attacks media for accurately reporting inauguration crowds“), and spent a bit over an hour in a dishonest and maudlin press conference on Monday (“This time Sean Spicer smiles, spins, pledges not to lie“). It was a first conventional…
Authoritarianism, Libertarians, Liberty, Trump
Wes Benedict Tries & Fails Again
by JOHN ADAMS •
I’ve been critical of Wes Benedict, executive director of the national Libertarian Party (1 and 2), but I’ll say this for him: he’s an unfailing failure. In an email he sent today, Benedict wrote to party members, in part, that We are all waiting to see what our new president does. No doubt he’ll do…
Conway, Mendacity, Trump
Ridiculing Kellyanne Conway’s Claim of ‘Alternative Facts’
by JOHN ADAMS •
America, Local Government, Newspapers, Press, Trump
Trump Will Force Choices the Local Press is Too Weak to Make
by JOHN ADAMS •
A sound critique of the national print press says that it has a limited time left. See, concerning the work of Clay Shirky, A Prediction of Print’s ‘Fast, Slow, Fast’ Decline. Market forces will also take their toll on the local print press, and even now local papers are useful only for The Last Inside Accounts (rather than…
Authoritarianism, Mendacity, Press, Trump
Why Trump Press Secretary Spicer Lies
by JOHN ADAMS •
Anna Rascouët-Paz relates an explanation (from someone who worked in a past administration) for Trump press secretary Spicer’s repeated lies about inaugural crowd size. It’s spot on: For more on a disinformation strategy based on insisting that nothing is knowable, see The Russian Conspiracy on Behalf of Conspiracy Theorist Donald Trump (“there is a coherent pattern…