David Lauter of the Los Angeles Times aptly describes Trump: Trump says he’s combatting fraud in the election. But, like O.J. Simpsonclaiming to be searching for the “real killer,” there’s no sign of an actual investigation. The filings in courts around the country from Trump and his allies have featured a pathetic lack of actual…
Trump
Authoritarianism, Bigotry, Law, Libertarians, Liberty, Never Trump, Trump, Trumpism
The Libertarian Remnant
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
Shikha Dalmia is a libertarian, and as a libertarian who is true to those beliefs, she is necessarily opposed to the authoritarianism of Trump and in Trumpism. Because the definition of libertarianism has been distorted beyond any true meaning by opportunistic or ignorant rightwing donors, she’s lost her job Reason magazine. Conservative donors pay the…
Babbittry, Boosterism, City, Conflicts of Interest, Culture, Ethics, Local Government, Never Trump, That Which Paved the Way, Trump, Trumpism
Before Man & Movement, That Which Paved the Way
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
Trump did not spring from the ground; he did not fall from the stars. Neither horticulture nor astrophysics played any role in his rise. Before Trump and Trumpism, there were towns and cities into which he and his movement found receptive audiences. Patients already ill are often susceptible of worse maladies. So it has been…
Never Trump, Trump, Trumpism
Man and Movement
by JOHN ADAMS • • 2 Comments
There’s Trump and then there’s Trumpism. The first (an ignorant, bigoted autocrat) has been defeated, the second (a nativism in the tradition of Know Nothings, Confederates, Klan, and Bund) will carry on. See Trump’s GOP Is Increasingly Racist and Authoritarian—and Here to Stay (‘Having already forsaken Republican principles and policies, his supporters are now willing to forsake…
2020 Presidential Election, America, Courts, Documentary, Economy, Film, Law, Trump
Frontline: Supreme Revenge: Battle for the Supreme Court
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
With the confirmation of Justice Amy Coney Barrett days before the 2020 presidential election, conservatives solidified a 6-3 majority on the Supreme Court — and the chance to shape American life and policy for a generation. Behind it all was a powerful Republican from Kentucky: Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, for whom Barrett’s confirmation was…
Presidential race 2020, Republicans, Trump, Trumpism, Wisconsin
Wisconsin Republicans Mean Nearly Nothing To Trump
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
Here in Wisconsin, there’s an election recount in two counties, and there are repeated Republican objections to the recount there. This is a curious turn, as Patrick Marley accurately reports that The Wisconsin voting system Donald Trump is attacking was built by Republicans: MADISON – In his move to overturn Wisconsin’s election results, President Donald Trump…
America, City, Culture, Ethics, Never Trump, Politics, School District, Trump
They’ve Become What They Once Despised
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
The greatest tragedies are injuries inflicted on the innocent. There are, however, other sad moments of our time, among them the collapse of responsibile conservatism into Trumpian irresponsibility & dishonesty. So many conservatives have become what they once despised. A local example would be proud conservatives who now insist, nationally or locally, that government is…
America, Elections, Law, Trump
Michigan
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
Authoritarianism, Law, Liberty, Never Trump, Portland, Trump
Trump’s Illicit Attempts Remain Illicit
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
A man may unsuccessfully attempt a robbery or murder, yet one would rightly see him as a wrongdoer. The failure to achieve an evil end does not absolve those so attempting from moral culpability. See Attempts. So it is with Trump, now: his attempts to subvert the election through lies and (baseless) lawsuits are no…
2020 Presidential Election, America, Coronavirus, Culture, Documentary, Economy, Elections, Film, Trump, Voting Rights
Frontline: A Nation in Turmoil (Full Film)
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
Filmed across the country this past year by a production team headed by Mike Shum and Blair Woodbury, “American Voices: A Nation in Turmoil” captures the diverse perspectives of a number of people — a pastor, a barber, a doctor, an activist and more — as they deal with COVID-19 in their communities, respond to…
Culture, Economy, Joe Biden, Trump
The Economic Gap Between Biden and Trump Counties
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
While Biden has won an absolute majority of the popular vote, he’s also won that majority from counties significantly more productive than the counties Trump won. A stark difference between counties that went for Biden and those that went for Trump is the significantly higher share of gross domestic product in Biden-supporting counties. (The gap…
America, Authoritarianism, Conspiracy Theories, Elections, Law, Trump, Unfit
Attempts
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
When a burglar walks through a neighborhood, and tries doorknob after doorknob to see which one might be unlocked, no reasonable person would say that his attempts to enter are innocent acts. On the contrary, he’d rightly been seen as dangerous. In the same way, when Trump challenges election results through lies, his attempts to…
Authoritarianism, Law, Never Trump, Race, Republicans, Trump, Trumpism
Trump’s Refusal: Explanations Particular and General
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
There’s more than one explanation for Trump’s refusal to concede: that he cannot manage the narcissistic insult of defeat, that he wants to support Georgia’s Republicans in a January 5th runoff, or that he wants to bolster his chances of a following after January 20th (for a television network, another campaign, or simply to vacuum…
Never Trump, Trump
The One Thousand Four Hundred Fifty-Seventh Day
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
Today is, by my way of counting, the one thousand four hundred fifty-seventh day (days since Trump’s election, with 11.9.2016 as the first day). Tomorrow will be the one thousand four hundred fifty-eighth day. If one learned that there would be fourteen thousand rather than fourteen hundred days, then still one would carry on as resolutely…