The first time I met John Eastman, he was what passed for a respectable Republican voice in Orange County, California.
Sparring with him on a local television public affairs show about a decade ago, I noticed his wide, almost mischievous smile.
Contrary to his reputation as a conservative fire-breather, he seemed more yip than bite. He offered nothing intellectual, nothing sharp — just the usual pablum of that era’s Tea Party Republicans.
