Leading The Bulwark…
In Praise of Those Who Resist Temptation
DAVID HOLT: The job of elected officials is to tell people the truth. Even when they want to hear lies.
🎧 On the Pods… 🎧
Quinta Jurecic on What Happens on January 6th
On today’s Bulwark Podcast, Quinta Jurecic from Lawfarejoins Charlie Sykes to talk about the Trump/Raffensperger tape, the GOP’s response, and whether Trump considering a self-pardon is a way of daring the Biden administration and others to charge him with crimes.
Farewell to all that…
A.B. Stoddard joins the group on New Year's Eve to discuss the lows (many) and highs (there were some) of 2020.
For Bulwark+ Members… 🔐
THE TRIAD: What If?
JVL deconstructs the the "calm down" conservatives.
SECRET PODCAST: Another Perfect Call
Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water . . .
MORNING SHOTS: What We Learned From The Trump Tape
“So look. All I want to do is this. I just want to find 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have. Because we won the state.”
From The Bulwark Aggregator…
‘I just want to find 11,780 votes’: In extraordinary hour-long call, Trump pressures Georgia secretary of state to recalculate the vote in his favor – Amy Gardner, The Washington Post
Trump Call to Georgia Official Might Violate State and Federal Law – Eric Lipton, The New York Times
Trumpism has never been about policy. It still isn’t. – Josh Kraushaar, National Journal
Republicans Turn to QAnon Central to Save Them in Georgia – Sam Brodey, The Daily Beast
In a Last-Minute Reversal, HHS Voids FDA Fees on Distillers Who Produced Emergency Hand Sanitizer – Jacob Grier, Reason
All 10 living former defense secretaries: Involving the military in election disputes would cross into dangerous territory – Ashton Carter, Dick Cheney, William Cohen, Mark Esper, Robert Gates, Chuck Hagel, James Mattis, Leon Panetta, William Perry and Donald Rumsfeld, The Washington Post
In Today’s Bulwark….
MAGA Nihilism Is on the Ballot in Georgia
TIM MILLER: We believe in nothing . . . except God-King Trump.
The Wall Street Journal Epitomizes the Failure of Elite Conservatism
MONA CHAREN: Once the paper of record for conservative opinion-makers, the Journal’s editorial page has betrayed its readers.
The Bravery of William Winter
STUART STEVENS remembers the Mississippi governor who changed his life.
Biden’s DOJ Must Investigate Trump’s Relationship to Russia
RICHARD NORTH PATTERSON: The pardons of Manafort, Stone, and Flynn fit into a long pattern of abuse and obstruction regarding Trump’s Russia connections.
It’s Time to Speak for America
WILLIAM KRISTOL: The Republican party and the conservative movement must now choose: Trump or America.
McConnell’s ‘Conscience’ Crisis
AMANDA CARPENTER: He stood by as Team Trump tried to overturn the election. Even now he refuses to smack down the Big Lie.
Tim’s 10 (Or So!) Favorite Albums of 2020
TIM MILLER: From Dua to Phoebe, our weird year in music.
Crimes, Crises, and Coup
BRIAN KAREM: The longing to belong that has led Trump’s supporters to forgive his failings and embrace his misdeeds.
Josh Hawley Is Madison Cawthorn Is Marjorie Taylor Greene
AMANDA CARPENTER: There’s not a dime’s worth of difference between the “crazies” and the Very Serious People in the GOP.
🚨OVERTIME 🚨
Welcome to 2021… Are you feeling saner yet? I thought not. I hope you had a good holiday period. Two negative COVID tests meant I was able to see my family, and it was nice to host them for part of Christmas.
We can rebuild him… But then, what I can only assume is stress compounded by the Bad Orange Man caught up with me. A late night Charlie Horse I have just gotten over. But on Friday, waking up to a missing filling on a chipped front tooth that required an emergency dental visit just today. So today’s Overtime might be a little shorter as I try and get the smell of plastics out of my mouth and nose, reminding of the one summer I spent as an injection molder. Like the six million dollar man, they can rebuild me. We have the technology. Plastics make the world possible, etc.
While I’m glad to see… All of these fence sitters and “we like the judges/tax cuts” types finally realize that Trump has found a line he could cross that would make them concerned… I wonder, what are they going to next? We’ve all seen this story before. Remember when Susan Collins thought Trump had learned ‘a pretty big lesson’? Acta non verba.
Green shoots… At least sports wise. My Ohio State Buckeyes are going to the CFB championship. Unlike my Cleveland Browns, who made the playoffs for the first time in 18 years, and the second time in their new history, I am optimistic about the Buckeyes. But not the Browns.
My dog, Gus, is actually named Angus Buckeye Swift.
He’s from Canton, Ohio, home of the Hall of Fame. But my wife wouldn’t let me name him after one of my favorite Browns players, Phil Dawson.
A prank?
Imagine if the intern didn’t think it was a prank, and the first of 18 calls got through. Would there have been a recording?
My God, What Have We Done? Friend and former colleague Chris Deaton was reminded of this TWS story he wrote today, apropos of nothing… Here’s Marco Rubio in 2016:
There is going to be a reckoning here. I don't know if it's going to happen before this election or after this election, but there's going to come a moment where people in the conservative movement who are supporting Donald Trump are going to stop and say, My God, what have we done? What have we done? There's going to be prominent people out there that are going to spend a significant amount of time over the next few years explaining away how they fell into this over the last few months. Because Donald Trump, by no standard, is he a conservative. By no other measure can you argue that he is a serious presidential candidate. This is a man who has refused to offer a serious solution on any major issue, and to the extent he has, it's crazy policies that would harm the country.
Better batten down the hatches, Sen. Rubio.
Oh….
Analyzing Trump’s Temporary Restraining Order request…
That’s it for me for today. We’ll be back tomorrow, and we’ll also have a livestream later this week, so stay tuned.
If you’re not yet a member of Bulwark+, we’d love it if you joined us. If you’re already a member… thank you! And while most of the holidays are over, it’s always great to give gifts.
Questions? Comments? Concerns? Holiday stories? You know how to reach me: swift@thebulwark.com.
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