"Buckley is an apt figure to study at a time when leading conservatives exhibit scant charm while adopting a no-enemies-to-the-right policy—and when conservatism itself, as he would have recognized it, has ceased to be a force in American politics."
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"Buckley is an apt figure to study at a time when leading conservatives exhibit scant charm while adopting a no-enemies-to-the-right policy—and when conservatism itself, as he would have recognized it, has ceased to be a force in American politics."
What exactly has this Supreme Court done to give us confidence they *won't* find a tortuous way to greenlight Trump firing Powell if he decides that's what he wants to do? ICYMI @kimwehle.bsky.social: www.thebulwark.com/p/if-trump-t...
Drawing down our presence in Europe to focus on the Indo-Pacific would reflect a recurring American error: our repeatedly misplaced confidence that we can predict the next war and optimize for it in advance. ICYMI @markhertling.bsky.social: www.thebulwark.com/p/withdrawin...
The six reliably pro-Trump justices are "racking up a rap sheet of constitutional abuses of staggering import." ICYMI Philip Allen Lacovara on the coming judgment of history:
"Sending away the 'others' to make way for white people to flourish is at the literal center of Gast’s painted vision of the West. That vision is reproduced in Homeland Security’s own videos." ICYMI:
"She goes with him to the school library during one lunch to look up the word 'panic.' They discover that panic 'is derived from the god Pan, and originally referred to the sudden fear aroused by the presence of a god.'"
"Liberal democracy is created and imposed; it must be maintained through active tending. You probably see where I’m going with this: Is it already too late?"
Full show: Substack: www.thebulwark.com/p/wes-moore-... YouTube: www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ZmA... Apple: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/w... Spotify: open.spotify.com/episode/19xA...
"Especially for people who do believe in the long term stability of the state of Israel, you cannot focus on winning a war if simultaneously you're losing the world." @iamwesmoore.bsky.social talks the situation in Gaza and more with @johnavlon.bsky.social, in the latest episode of How To Fix It:
"Arias Cristobal never set out to be part of a national political debate, but that too has been a tricky component of life after detention. She certainly didn’t imagine that her story would come to exemplify the excesses of a presidential administration."
Raddatz: "One of the things that they're trying to do in D.C. with the National Guard is have them back up federal law enforcement." Gov. Wes Moore: "They're picking up trash."
Gov. Wes Moore: "As the Commander in Chief of the Maryland National Guard...the National Guard is not trained for municipal policing. You know who is? Local law enforcement, FBI agents, and ATF agents—and the president's budgets cut funding for them."
Raddatz: "There are people out there that don't feel safe." Moore: "My heart breaks for anybody in our community and doesn't feel safe...I know what that feels like. I would love more federal support...on things that actually make sense, not on things that are performative."
There are some policies that even Trump can't convince his hard-right base to get behind. ICYMI @willsommer.bsky.social on the uproar over 600,000 Chinese international student visas: www.thebulwark.com/p/maga-meltd...
Q: "Your congressional map already gets an F from most good government groups for being gerrymandered. Would you wipe out all the Republican districts?" Pritzker: "Ya. It is possible to have more Democratic districts in Illinois. We could do it. It's not something I want to do."
Q: "Would more federal agents in Chicago assisting federal law enforcement help deter crime right now?" Pritzker: "Of course! If you wanna help us catch bad guys, bring the FBI, bring the ATF. We already coordinate with them."
Pritzker: "We want more help—civilian law enforcement help. We would like ATF agents to help us take more guns off the street. We would like FBI to coordinate with local law enforcement to help catch perpetrators. If they do that, we'd welcome it. That's not what they're doing."
Q: Are you planning to expand ICE and National Guard operations to other cities like Boston? Noem: "There's a lot of cities that are dealing with crime and violence right now, so we haven't taken anything off the table."
"Here’s the truth we cannot escape: If Ashli Babbitt is honored, then few things are sacred. If loyalty to the Constitution and an attempt to overthrow it are treated as equal, we lose the very meaning of service." www.thebulwark.com/p/honoring-a...
Full show: Substack: www.thebulwark.com/p/wes-moore-... YouTube: www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ZmA... Apple: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/w... Spotify: open.spotify.com/episode/19xA...
"For people who are frustrated with the system...Donald Trump is a remarkable vessel for the frustration. What he is not is a vehicle for the solution. That's where the Democratic party must come in." @govwesmoore.bsky.social joins @johnavlon.bsky.social in the latest episode of How To Fix It:
Mallory McMorrow: "When we take back power, we need a party who is not afraid to use it."
"That’s why it’s so hard to sell the lie that Trump doesn’t collude with Putin: He just goes out and does it again." ICYMI @saletan.bsky.social: www.thebulwark.com/p/putin-trum...
"'What’s happening at the DNC right now is just farce. If you can’t raise money, you can’t register voters, you can’t put states back in play, and you can’t broaden the tent, I just don’t know what purpose you serve,' said a progressive Dem strategist."
Not all heroes throw subs. But some do. ICYMI @monacharen.bsky.social celebrates signs of defiance against Trump: www.thebulwark.com/p/the-sub-he...
"If you don’t want to tear it down and start from scratch, you’re part of the problem. If you *do* want to tear it down and start from scratch, congratulations, you’re hired." Not much more to it than that.
"Nothing happens in public life without Trump putting his stamp on it. Cooperstown? Cracker Barrel? The Kennedy Center Honors? Trump has a will to dominate them. He is the living embodiment of the leviathan, the totalized state."
"It’s a movie about a man suffering, a man in need of an absolution that can only come through self-control. And that—even that mere sliver of a possibility that things could get better—is a rare commodity indeed in Darren Aronofsky’s moral universe."
"Agnes Callard’s Socrates is not merely depressing. He represents a new achievement in tragic literature." Mary Townsend reviews "Open Socrates": www.thebulwark.com/p/agnes-call...
"Another picture emerged: that of small businesses being harmed by a president who was elected because of his purported business acumen; of a man whose obsession with appearing tough on crime now threatens to sabotage urban economies across the country."
"Kennedy went on to say that he 'would never advise somebody to get sick' and that 'what we need is good science on all of these things so that people can make rational choices.'" (The rational choice is the vaccine). ICYMI @citizencohn.bsky.social: www.thebulwark.com/p/rfk-jr-wor...
"Whatever one thinks of Bolton’s politics and policy ideas, he is a man—and a public servant—of integrity. The FBI raid on Bolton’s house and office is in all likelihood not about national security but a step designed to punish a prominent Trump critic."
"It’s rare to pack so much culture-war toxicity into one short post over something that matters so little." But Chris Rufo can do it! ICYMI @cathyyoung63.bsky.social on Rufo's anti-woke authoritarianism: www.thebulwark.com/p/how-chris-...
Great leaders understand the need for disagreement, dissent, and debate. But perhaps no one understands it better than the soldiers who have lived through the consequences of plans made in echo chambers. ICYMI @markhertling.bsky.social on the perils of yes men: www.thebulwark.com/p/donald-tru...
"She did not die defending the Constitution. She died trying to overturn it. She was not protecting lives at a gate in Iraq; she was forcing her way through windows in the Capitol to stop the peaceful transfer of power." New from @markhertling.bsky.social:
"Honoring Ashli Babbitt Dishonors the Military - If there’s no difference between upholding the Constitution and attacking it, then there’s no honor in service", writes @markhertling.bsky.social at @thebulwark.com www.thebulwark.com/p/honoring-a...
Gen Mark Hertling: I am infuriated that the Air Force plans to grant military funeral honors to Ashli Babbitt. She did not die defending the Constitution. She died trying to overturn it.
From @markhertling.bsky.social — retired Three Star General, veteran of our modern wars. www.thebulwark.com/p/honoring-a...
“…I am infuriated that the Air Force plans to grant military funeral honors to Ashli Babbitt. She did not die defending the Constitution. She died trying to overturn it.” My latest in @thebulwark.com www.thebulwark.com/p/honoring-a...
"The enemies of a free society—the enemies of limited government and the rule of law, the opponents of political liberty and human equality—don’t sugarcoat what they’re doing. There’s surely no reason we should sugarcoat what we’re seeing."
If groceries aren't expensive enough for you, electricity bills are spiking around the country—rising twice as fast as the rate of inflation. Democrats are honing a new message ICYMI @lauren-egan.bsky.social: www.thebulwark.com/p/paying-too...
You actually can compensate people injured by rare but real vaccine side effects, *and* promote widespread vaccination. We've been doing it since a 1980s law that modernized liability for vaccine manufacturers. Don't let RFK Jr. "fix" it. @CitizenCohn:
"In a secular world, authentic religion has a naturally countercultural aspect. But Pan isn’t a book about piety. It’s a book about divorce, high school, fear, and faith. Imagine a 15-year-old Baudelaire trying to find his way in Chicago."
Bill Kristol channels Trump musing on firing RFK Jr.: "What was it that Roy Cohn used to say? He had some quote he liked from Shakespeare (can you believe it? Roy was something). It was basically that if you’re gonna do something, do it quickly?"
"With each institutional failure, there are fewer mechanisms to return the system to balance." How a complex system falls apart: www.thebulwark.com/p/democracy-...
In an interview with The Bulwark three months after her release, "Cristobal explained that being let out of detention and returning to freedom aren’t the same thing, and that her life now is totally different than what it had been before she was detained."
Kennedy might have prospered had he simply been content to continue slapping a MAHA coat of paint on the good work of the government’s actual scientists. Instead, he seems determined to rip the engine out while the car is hurtling down the interstate.
"The sensibility Catholic school kids develop is unique, and it sticks with them long past graduation. I tell people that Catholicism is culture, culture, culture, and Pan is one of the best contemporary novels to evoke the paradoxes of the faith."
Full show: Substack: www.thebulwark.com/p/tom-nichol... YouTube: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dfyi... Apple: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t... Spotify: open.spotify.com/episode/01nK...
"This is authoritarian bullying in its purest form. And Vance, I think, in some ways is the worst of the bunch because Vance more than anybody knows better." @radiofreetom.bsky.social joins @timmiller.bsky.social on today's Bulwark Podcast:
Still some things Donald Trump and his lackeys can't do
"Today I want to talk about an idea from a science-fiction novel that I fear might be applicable to where we are. It’s a high-concept piece about the nature of systems. Like everything else from the last two weeks, it’s not encouraging." www.thebulwark.com/p/democracy-...
"This is all the same project: attacking the government and re-engineering it to serve as a weapon against the American people. It’s the greatest act of civilizational self-mutilation since the First World War."
Full Bulwark Podcast: Substack: www.thebulwark.com/p/tom-nichol... YouTube: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dfyi... Apple: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t... Spotify: open.spotify.com/episode/01nK...
"There would be a special appointee that would focus on sexual assault in the military. How's that fucking going? Have we seen that? Or have we actually just seen women get purged from the military?" @timmiller.bsky.social and @radiofreetom.bsky.social on Joni Ernst's "promise" from Pete Hegseth:
Full video: www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zKG...
Did Joni Ernst see the writing on the wall for her prospects in an off year after the Iowa special election? Or did she just not want to hear "We're all going to die" quoted at her forever? @jvl.bsky.social and @sarahlongwell25.bsky.social talk Iowa and Joni Ernst's shock retirement:
"Arias Cristobal came to the United States at age 4 from Mexico. She knows only one state, Georgia, and only one country, the USA. She said she loves her family’s culture, but considers herself American." She spent more than two weeks in immigration detention. www.thebulwark.com/p/what-happe...
Full show: Substack: www.thebulwark.com/p/tom-nichol... YouTube: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dfyi... Apple: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t... Spotify: open.spotify.com/episode/01nK...
Trump is a weenie dictator who can't commit: "Authoritarians usually say 'I'm in charge, I speak for the nation. I'm the mighty and powerful Oz.' You know, the wizard doesn't come out and say, 'Some people say that I am a powerful wizard.'" @radiofreetom.bsky.social joins @timmiller.bsky.social
"In the days since his latest meeting with Putin, this time in Alaska on August 15, Trump has again been spewing Russian propaganda, including against the United States. The collusion was real. And it never stopped." www.thebulwark.com/p/putin-trum...
"The more Nick hangs out with Sarah and her friends, the more their parties resemble absurd rituals—kids trying to conjure up something more than mischief. Nick feels the change: 'I felt as if Pan visible might extend from my eyes—His horns out of my eyes.'"
"This stuff at CDC and HHS isn’t getting me any more power, or glory, or money. And everything that’s happening is in the service of Bobby. Not me. It’s getting like it was with Elon. He became the story" - Trump right now?
"Hats off to the good citizens of the District of Columbia and the others who are meeting this moment with signs of fight and the recognition of what we’re facing."
"'I hear so many stories about ‘We are not going to allow their students,’ but we are going to allow their students to come in,' Trump said. 'We are going to allow it. It’s very important, 600,000 students.'" In a rare case, Trump's base is upset at him.
Mike Johnson on CNN and Fox News polls that show how unpopular Trump's One Big Beautiful Bill Act is: “I'm not buying that, polls can be manipulated.”
@adriancarrasquillo.bsky.social: "Cristobal was mistakenly stopped by police & put in a detention facility for more than two weeks in May...While Arias Cristobal is now home, preparing with her lawyer for what’s ahead, she feels trapped, she told @thebulwark.com." www.thebulwark.com/p/what-happe...
NEW: What happens after ICE chews you up and spits you out? You may remember this 19-year-old's story. We follow up with her. www.thebulwark.com/p/what-happe...
NEW: "The reality is that it feels like things have shifted over the last couple weeks. Maybe you disagree. Or maybe you feel it, too." www.thebulwark.com/p/democracy-...
NEW from me: What Happens After ICE Chews You Up and Spits You Out? www.thebulwark.com/p/what-happe... via @thebulwark.com
"While our system of liberalism is complex enough to withstand some shocks, it doesn’t have the depth to withstand a series of catastrophic events." In today's Triad from @jvl.bsky.social, how a science-fiction novel illustrates collapse: www.thebulwark.com/p/democracy-...
Joni Ernst is not running for reelection. @lauren-egan.bsky.social spoke to Senate candidate Josh Turek before the news, and he said she was already in big trouble: www.youtube.com/watch?v=YbUP...
Gov. Pritzker: “The president doesn't seem to understand that it's actually Republican states that have the crime problem. Of the 20 states that have the biggest crime problem, 13 of them are red states controlled by Republican governors.”
Full video: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kx-F...
"It's further eroding...the credibility of those who are in leadership positions in our military, that they would allow full military honors to someone who lost their life while committing the act of sedition." Michael Fanone discusses Ashli Babbitt with JVL:
For immigrants detained and released, what comes next? Free, but with the cloud of future deportation following them around wherever they go? Ximena Arias Cristobal is one such immigrant. @adriancarrasquillo.bsky.social tells her story in the latest Huddled Masses www.thebulwark.com/p/what-happe...
Full Bulwark Podcast with @timmiller.bsky.social: Substack: www.thebulwark.com/p/sam-stein-... YouTube: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yaho... Apple: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/s... Spotify: open.spotify.com/episode/4xwt...
"Like any 11 year old, I didn't think about the deep inequality in my city....And then I just saw how we had the money and means to just go over to my uncle's place, then there were other 11-year-olds that were on their roofs or at the Superdome." @talsmith.bsky.social remembers Katrina:
Mike Johnson: “I hope the National Guard does go to Chicago.”
Q: “Do you think specifically that there has to be some sort of accountability on the transgender front?” Mike Johnson: “I think so…I think lawmakers and policymakers need to look at that very carefully.”
Full show: Substack: www.thebulwark.com/p/grand-juri... YouTube: www.youtube.com/watch?v=czhh... Apple: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/g... Spotify: open.spotify.com/episode/4Elh...
"My biggest fear is that authoritarianism ultimately wins because people sort of can't be bothered to get up off the mat, and that exhaustion is so deep. And that's the thing I see and hear in people right now." @sarahlongwell25.bsky.social, joined by @weissmann.substack.com:
Newsom: “Just consider Speaker Johnson's state and district. Just look at the murder rate, that's nearly four times higher than California's in Louisiana.” Johnson: “He can name-drop me all he wants. He needs to go and govern his state and not be engaging in all of this.”
New legal pod with @weissmann.substack.com sitting in for @gtconway.bsky.social. A fun episode!
Full video: www.youtube.com/watch?v=YbUP...
"This is not a mistake that happened or just a one-off.... I am feeling an amazing energy all across the state....And I really believe that Iowa can be the center of the political universe." Josh Turek talks the Iowa special election and more with @lauren-egan.bsky.social:
"We've seen this story play out across every critical government agency.... This is all the same project: attacking the government and re-engineering it to serve as a weapon against the American people." www.thebulwark.com/p/the-cdc-th...
NEW: "The damage will be far-reaching, and the repairs—if we ever get a chance to make them—will not be quick or cheap." www.thebulwark.com/p/camelot-fo...
Now that Donald Trump is back in the White House, conservatives are more than happy to ignore, excuse, and even justify each other’s improprieties, and Matt Schlapp’s operation is booming again.
"If you don’t want to tear it down and start from scratch, you’re part of the problem. If you do want to tear it down and start from scratch, congratulations, you’re hired." Today's Morning Shots from @billkristolbulwark.bsky.social and @eggerdc.bsky.social: www.thebulwark.com/p/camelot-fo...
This right here.
Watch the full preview here and the whole interview Sunday on How To Fix It: thebulwark.com/p/wes-moore-...
EXCLUSIVE PREVIEW: In a new interview with @johnavlon.bsky.social, @iamwesmoore.bsky.social delivered some of his sharpest pushback against Trump to date, accusing him of being motivated by pettiness and partisanship. John talked with @samsteindc.bsky.social about the conversation.
"Michael Clune never loses the plot, but sometimes 'Pan' comes close. At some points in the story, the line between drugs, play, and possession gets blurred, and Clune seems to revel in the confabulation." Nick Ripatrazone reviews:
GOP Rep. Moore tucked tail and ran during a brutal town hall booing
A little bit of hope today from Mona Charen rounding up examples of effective pushback to Trump's overreach: www.thebulwark.com/p/the-sub-he...
"'What’s happening at the DNC right now is just farce. If you can’t raise money, you can’t register voters, you can’t put states back in play, and you can’t broaden the tent, I just don’t know what purpose you serve,' said a progressive Dem strategist."
In other news: "Plenty of people could have viable libel cases against Project Veritas over this. But it’s not clear that the outlet has a ton of money left."
Jeanine Pirro is already struggling to force the legal system to comply with Trump’s wishes and threats—with embarrassing results.
"'Every minute, every hour, and every day of that DNC meeting should have been about making [the] Democratic economic message a priority—and nothing else, literally nothing else...', said Democratic pollster John Anzalone."