Lawrence Downes describes Kellyanne Conway, and Trump, correctly as bald-faced liars, in Trump, Trapped in His Lies, Keeps Lying. Sad! They’ve a certain kind of lie, though: one that rests in the idea that nothing’s outwardly determinable, and that, in fact, there are no discernible facts. See, along these lines, For Mr. Trump, It’s STEM,…
Trump
Animation, Cartoons & Comics, Trump
Trump as The Joker from Batman: The Animated Series
by JOHN ADAMS •
We’ve a long, difficult slog ahead, but occasionally a bit of humor will make the journey easier. Mark Hamill, who was the voice of The Joker on Batman: The Animated Series, has recorded one of Trump’s many unhinged tweets as though Trump were that comic book villain: The Trumpster quote #1#ANewJeersToast https://t.co/qZQEGU18r6 — Mark Hamill…
Kakistocracy, Language, Misconduct, Trump
The ‘Best Words’ Turn Out to Be Someone Else’s Words
by JOHN ADAMS •
Donald Trump insists that he uses ‘the best words‘ and that he will only hire ‘the best people.’ Turns out, some of those best people have found the best words not of their own expression, nor even of Trump’s, but of third parties from whom they have liberally plagiarized: Monica Crowley, President-Elect Donald J. Trump’s pick…
America, Authoritarianism, Liberty, Politics, Trump
Paul Krugman Asks ‘How This Ends’
by JOHN ADAMS •
On Twitter, Paul Krugman (@PaulKrugman) has a nine-tweet chain on possibilities after Trump becomes president. The chain begins at 1:05 PM – 6 Jan 2017 and ends at 1:16 PM – 6 Jan 2017. Here are those tweets, in order: Some musings on the next few years: We are, I’d argue, in much deeper and more treacherous…
Authoritarianism, Trump
Masha Gessen on Trump (1.8.17)
by JOHN ADAMS •
I respect Masha Gessen’s observations on Putin’s Russia, and her biography of Putin (part biography, part sketch of contemporary times) is excellent. See, among her many works, The Man Without a Face: The Unlikely Rise of Vladimir Putin and Autocracy: Rules for Survival. Gessen has more recent observations on Trump as an authoritarian that are compelling. Her principal…
Mendacity, Trump
Trump: Three Tweets, Three Lies
by JOHN ADAMS •
Summary first, from Greg Sargent, on Trump’s three lies in three tweets: To recap: Lie No. 1 is that thousands of U.S.-based Muslims celebrated 9/11. Lie No. 2 is that the disabled reporter’s original story backed Trump and that the reporter backtracked on it. Lie No. 3 is that Trump didn’t mock that disabled reporter…
Elections, Presidential race 2016, Putin, Trump
Intelligence community report on Russian activities in the 2016 election
by JOHN ADAMS •
City, Presidential race 2016, School District, Trump
Update: James Surowiecki on What the Press Missed About Trump’s Win
by JOHN ADAMS •
I posted yesterday on James Surowiecki’s contention that Trump’s success with non-college whites was predictable, but that Trump’s better-than-expected success with college-educated whites is what the press missed. See, James Surowiecki on What the Press Missed About Trump’s Win. Surowiecki makes a few follow-up remarks to his tweet-stream of yesterday. First, Surowiecki is not saying that…
Presidential race 2016, Trump
James Surowiecki on What the Press Missed About Trump’s Win
by JOHN ADAMS •
James Surowiecki of The New Yorker has a nineteen-tweet string on what the press missed about Trump’s win. The string starts at 10:22 AM – 5 Jan 2017 and ends at 10:48 AM – 5 Jan 2017. It’s worth reading in full, but here are Surowiecki’s 5 key tweets: 1. My least-favorite post-election meme is the…
Alt-Right, America, Authoritarianism, Federal Government, Freedom of Speech, Kakistocracy, Law, Liberty, Trump
Distillation for a Resistance (First Edition)
by JOHN ADAMS •
We’re early in this new political era, with a long time ahead of us, and there’s a need to get a sense of one’s bearings. (The sound way to approach the new politics that has overcome America through the three-thousand-year traditional of liberty to be found in many places, the Online Library of Liberty being…
Economy, Trump
Donald Trump and the Carrier Myth
by JOHN ADAMS •
During the 2016 election, the Carrier factory’s decision to move jobs from Indiana to Mexico was a story that stuck. Donald Trump won a political victory when he convinced the CEO of Carrier’s parent company, United Technologies, to keep 800 jobs in Indiana. Trump’s efforts run counter to a broader global trend, however. Most factory…
Federal Government, Kakistocracy, Trump
Trump’s Search for a Latino Cabinet Secretary
by JOHN ADAMS •
After insulting millions of Latinos during his campaign, Trump’s now having trouble recruiting from among that community, and for that problem he should look in a mirror: if Trump is having trouble finding Latinos willing to serve in his administration, for fear of being labeled an “Uncle Juan” or a vendido (sellout), he has only…
Education, Mendacity, Science/Nature, Technology, Trump
For Mr. Trump, It’s STEM, Schwem, Whatever…
by JOHN ADAMS •
Embed from Getty Images In response to a question about whether state-sponsored hacking against an American political party should go unpunished, Donald Trump grew expansive, giving his typically thoughtful perspective on science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and (even) epistemology: “I think we ought to get on with our lives. I think that computers have complicated lives very…
America, Authoritarianism, Libertarians, Liberty, Politics, Trump
Wes Benedict Has a Book to Sell
by JOHN ADAMS •
Last month, the Libertarian Party’s executive director (Wes Benedict) sent me a tone-deaf, form email. I posted Libertarianism is Enough: Goodbye to the LP in reply, in which I argued that the Libertarian Party was an unworthy vessel for a liberty-oriented politics: Imagine, then, after an election in which the LP did poorly, and in which…