Authoritarian policies matter more than authoritarian trappings, but Trump has a taste for both: Donald Trump won’t content himself with the standard-issue presidency — he’s going to have his customized. Daily intelligence briefings are out, along with the norms that prohibit the appearance of corruption. “Victory rallies” are in — as is the private security…
Trump
Business, Corporate Welfare, Economy, State Capitalism, Trump
What a Card! Jean Card’s Comedic Claim That Trump Will Rein in Crony Capitalism
by JOHN ADAMS •
Jean Card is a weekly blogger at U.S. News & World Report (yes, it’s still in publication), former speechwriter for the secretaries of Labor (2001-03) and Treasury (2004-06) in the Bush Administration, and owner of Jean Card Ink, where she is “a writer and communications consultant with a proven track record of translating public policy jargon and government-speak…
Authoritarianism, Crime, Foreign Affairs, Trump, Tyranny
Someone the President-Elect Admires
by JOHN ADAMS •
President Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines, overseer of a contentious and bloody crackdown on drug dealers and users, boasted on Monday about having personally killed criminal suspects when he was mayor of Davao City. “In Davao, I used to do it personally — just to show to the guys that if I can do it,…
America, Authoritarianism, Far-Right Populism, Labor, Liberty, Politics, Trump
In a Principled Opposition, the Basis for a Grand Coalition
by JOHN ADAMS •
Writing at The Week, Jeff Spross nicely summarizes Why Trump’s Cabinet poses a unique threat to the working class. Spross both explains Trump perceptively & succinctly, and in the same post implicitly holds out the prospect of a grand coalition (principled liberals, conservatives, and libertarians) to oppose him. (For an explicit call for broad opposition, from…
Libertarians, Politics, Trump
Jennifer Rubin on ‘Four ideas for surviving in the Trump era’
by JOHN ADAMS •
Jennifer Rubin’s a principled conservative, and her writing is both insightful and clear. Rubin’s blog and Twitter feed have been must reading for years (including her posts when she was blogging at Commentary; she’s now at the Washington Post). In a time when it would be easy to speak lies to power, she’s remained honest.…
Libertarians, Trump
That’s Not What Libertarian Means
by JOHN ADAMS •
Over at the Washington Post, one reads that In West Virginia coal country, voters are ‘thrilled’ about Donald Trump. The mayor of Buckhannon (a Republican who voted for Clinton) describes Trump’s appeal: Trump’s appeal here is stylistic as well as policy-driven, said David McCauley, the mayor of Buckhannon, the county seat, a pretty and bustling…
Berlusconi, Far-Right Populism, Politics, Trump
Berlusconi’s Political Career as a Partial Analog for Trump’s
by JOHN ADAMS •
One reads much these days about how similar Trump and Silvio Berlusconi supposedly are. There’s something tempting about comparing Trump’s political situation to Silvio Berlusconi’s: both are businessmen, held no earlier office before winning a national election, are admirers of Putin, crude, anti-intellectual, and lecherous. There’s reason to look at parallels between the two; one…
Liberty, Politics, Trump
Saletan’s Faint Hope of Manipulating an Autocrat
by JOHN ADAMS •
Somewhere, there’s sure to be someone insisting that a hooligan who beat someone unconscious only did so from insecurity, envy, or bad toilet training. That explanation should be of no comfort to a victim (should the victim even recover). The one thing of which one can be sure is that someone attacked another, causing severe injury. In…
Politics, Romney, Trump
Dinner and a Little Romance in Manhattan
by JOHN ADAMS •
Federal Government, Language, Trump
Kakistocracy
by JOHN ADAMS •
There’s a vast difference between the average Trump supporter (similar in most ways to most people) and the people who served in the Trump Campaign and who will serve in a Trump Administration (composed of generous helpings of mediocrities, liars, or bigots). Ryan Lizza’s found the Greek term kakistocracy, a term that will apply nicely to…
Press, Trump, Twitter
Blaming the Press Won’t Slake Trump’s Thirst
by JOHN ADAMS •
CNN Money’s Jill Disis writes that Trump attacks ‘fools’ at The New York Times. There’s a short self-life to attacks on the press. Admittedly, the attack’s good for a headline, and similar insults probably helped in his campaign. Yet, all campaigns blame the press, and the blamecasting is like a narcotic to which addicts slowly become…
Federal Government, Trump
Eliot Cohen’s Wise Advice: Don’t Serve Trump
by JOHN ADAMS •
Conservative foreign policy scholar (and member of the Bush Administration) Eliot Cohen admits, “I told conservatives to work for Trump. One talk with his team changed my mind” — Nemesis pursues and punishes all administrations, but this one will get a double dose. Until it can acquire some measure of humility about what it knows,…
Politics, Trump
Forget the Tactical (For Now)
by JOHN ADAMS •
This year hasn’t been a great one for polling, data operations, or vaunted GOTV efforts. If it had been so, then Hillary Clinton would now be president-elect. So much conventional tactical analysis (much of which I accepted) has proved erroneous. There’s no gain, and much harm, in focusing on the tactical now. Even if one…
Freedom of Speech, Politics, Trump
Of Course Most #NeverTrumpers Will Capitulate
by JOHN ADAMS •
Thousands who (admirably) devoted themselves to the #NeverTrump movement have already (sadly) begun to second-guess their opposition now that Trump’s heading to federal power. Ben Terris nicely describes the impulse – the natural reaction to yield to power – in Welcome to NeverTrump Grief, Stage 3: GOP skeptics bargain with Trump — and themselves. One…