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Bruce Castor: The Disaster Artist
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Overtime

Bruce Castor: The Disaster Artist

What the heck did we just watch?

Jim Swift
Feb 9, 2021
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Bruce Castor: The Disaster Artist
overtime.thebulwark.com

Leading The Bulwark…

Bruce Castor: The Disaster Artist

TIM MILLER: Explaining what just happened. And why.


🎧 On the Pods… 🎧

James Glassman on Why We Need a Third Party

On today’s Bulwark podcast, James Glassman joins Charlie Sykes to discuss why we need a center-oriented third party.


For Bulwark+ Members… 🔐

MORNING SHOTS: Enemies of Democracy 🔐

CHARLIE SYKES on why the Constitutional Order Is On Trial

THE TRIAD: Are You Long or Short on America? 🔓

JONATHAN V. LAST on what impeachment means for our future.

ACROSS THE MOVIE AISLE: On a Sad, Sad Super Bowl 🔐

On this week’s special bonus edition of Across the Movie Aisle, Sonny, Alyssa, and Peter talk about how sad the Super Bowl made them.

ACROSS THE MOVIE AISLE: Trump v. SAG: Who Ya Got? Plus: 'Malcolm & Marie,' Reviewed! 🔓

On this episode of Across the Movie Aisle, Sonny Bunch (The Bulwark), Alyssa Rosenberg (The Washington Post), and Peter Suderman (Reason) get into the day’s two most pressing rivalries.


From The Bulwark Aggregator…

  • Biden’s strategy for Trump’s impeachment: Sit back and STFU – Natasha Korecki, Politico

  • Instead of Lifting Trump’s Tariffs, Biden Is Imposing More of Them – Eric Boehm, Reason

  • Welcome to Trump Impeachment Part II: Everyone Hates It Here – Sam Brodey, Asawin Suebsaeng, and Scott Bixby, The Daily Beast

  • Impeachment Is Working—Just Not as the Framers Expected – David Frum, The Atlantic

  • Biden’s Goal to Open Most Schools in 100 Days Is Not a Long Shot – Rachel M. Cohen, Bloomberg Businessweek

  • Trump plans a reemergence and some retribution after impeachment – Meridith McGraw and Gabby Orr, Politico

  • What Absentee Voting Looked Like In All 50 States – Nathaniel Rakich and Jasmine Mithani, FiveThirtyEight


In Today’s Bulwark…

Hold Them All Accountable

SARAH LONGWELL: The people who stormed the Capitol are facing the music. It’s up to us to make sure that the people who incited them do, too.

Featured Image

Watch the House Managers’ Video Montage of the Attack on the Capitol

BENJAMIN PARKER: Today, in the first day of Donald Trump’s second impeachment trial, the Senate is hearing arguments from the House impeachment…

Featured Image

The Reforms We Need to Reinvigorate American Democracy

RICHARD NORTH PATTERSON: Expanding mail-in voting, ending partisan gerrymandering, restoring the Voting Rights Act, and other much-needed fixes.

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Call. Witnesses.

KIMBERLY WEHLE: There was a crime. There is a trial. There should be witness testimony.


🚨OVERTIME 🚨

Triplet time! Let’s start today with some good stuff. Triplet toddlers excited for their bottles ready for a good meal. As a father of twins, I am envious.

Twitter avatar for @Eedwardsellis
💛🐝Ebony Edwards-Ellis💛🐝 @Eedwardsellis
A much-needed timeline cleanser...
Image
2:05 AM ∙ Feb 6, 2021
113,166Likes22,665Retweets

I wasn’t able to catch all of the impeachment trial today. But a few observations from what I observed:

  • Democrats upped their game.

  • Trump is not well represented.

Still, I think, deep down, Trump could hire Lionel Hutz from The Simpsons and still not get barred from holding future office.

Bulwark+ members saw the chart JVL shared earlier, and I think that’s right. We know who is likely to do the right thing, and then there’s this gulf of near-zero odds until you get to the requisite 17 votes. But even then, the odds are not high. That’s a risky bet.

Speaking of odds… JVL went on my buddy Alex Keeney’s podcast, and you need to listen to it. It’s fantastic. And you also all need to understand that JVL and his innate story telling ability is James Spader-esque, but 20 years younger. And the laugh? Come on. Tell me I am wrong.

Keeney is a former hill staffer turned Hollywood writer who now bets on politics on the side. He and I were in the same delegation. He’s good people. Check out his website, Star Spangled Gamblers. I went on his show last year, and it’s great.

Let’s not get optimistic here… But holy shit, a Republican who, heretofore, has carried water for Trump is hinting… he’ll do the right thing?

Twitter avatar for @burgessev
Burgess Everett @burgessev
Wow Cassidy absolutely goes off on Trump legal team “The House managers were focused, they were organized ... they made a compelling argument. President Trump’s team, they were disorganized, they did everything they could but to talk about the question at hand”
10:32 PM ∙ Feb 9, 2021
2,659Likes699Retweets

Roll tape:

Twitter avatar for @alexburnsNYT
Alex Burns @alexburnsNYT
Q: "Why did you think the Trump defense team did a terrible job?" Cassidy: "Did you listen to it?"
Twitter avatar for @alanhe
Alan He @alanhe
CASSIDY: "President Trump’s team was disorganized....if I'm an impartial juror, and one side is doing a great job, and the other side is doing a terrible job, on the issue at hand, as an impartial juror, I'm going to vote for the side that did the good job." https://t.co/PxNh2lRGBC
11:00 PM ∙ Feb 9, 2021
917Likes233Retweets

Let’s see if he does it. Green shoots? We’ll see.

How do we do this? A few of you who read my newsletter ask me how you can work at “deprogramming” people you love who have fallen in with literal insanity. I always write back with a version of: I don’t know how to help you. Every case is different. Whether or not a sibling, parent, or close friends wants to have that conversation is not something you or I can know. But people smarter than I are on the case.

My advice is:

  • Always listen until the end

  • Don’t interrupt

  • Don’t condescend.

I often don’t follow those rules, so I know they’re good rules. JVL’s newsletter was a little dark today, and I’m going to follow him here. (Sorry.)

Here is the sad reality. People don’t often “win” arguments on the internet. They just don’t. Whether it’s with your crazy aunt, a groomsman from your wedding, your dad, your sister, or your childhood best friend. That isn’t any of the way this works.

People rarely win arguments on the internet, full stop. Even if they win on the merits. It could be an NBA Jam-style posterizing Boomshakalaka dunk.

Why?

Nobody likes admitting losing or being wrong. Which makes sense.

So, what’s the best way to proceed?

  • Listen

  • Respond

  • Be respectful

  • Give them good information

Really, that’s all you can do. And not everyone wants to do that. Does that make them uncivil? No. Not at all. Everyone has a line. And the relationships between person X and person Y vary. The closeness of that relationship, the distance of the deviation from reality. Your milage my vary.

Sometimes you have to write somebody off as a friend. Sometimes they’ll do it to you without your knowledge. Maybe you just grow apart and don’t talk. But, the most important thing to consider is: are you making a conscious choice to destroy a relationship?

Doing that forecloses any opportunity to ever influence them ever again. It’d be nice if the world works in a way where your friend read a Bulwark item and writes you saying “this changed my mind!” But the world rarely works that way.

Be kind.

RIP Marty Schottenheimer… One of the best Cleveland Browns coaches ever.

Twitter avatar for @ByNateUlrich
Nate Ulrich @ByNateUlrich
Statement from family of former #Browns coach Marty Schottenheimer, who died Monday after battle with Alzheimer’s disease
Image
2:32 PM ∙ Feb 9, 2021
154Likes38Retweets

Perhaps the President should have hired this lawyer…

Twitter avatar for @byDavidGardner
David Gardner @byDavidGardner
"I'm here live. I'm not a cat." A lawyer logged into the 394th Judicial District with a cat filter on and couldn't turn it off. This may be the funniest video I've seen this year.
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6:58 PM ∙ Feb 9, 2021
51,829Likes15,154Retweets

Well, that’s it for me for today. Hope you’re enjoying (?) Impeachment 2.0 as much as I am. Questions, comments, concerns, thoughts? You know how to reach me: swift@thebulwark.com.

Remember, while we have Bulwark+, which you should join (and thanks to our many members!)…

You can also give the gift of Bulwark+ membership if you’re already a member. Somebody you know might love it.

Give a gift membership

—30—

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