A Note from The Bulwark Team
Dear friend,
It’s been a rough few months years for America. And in the midst of the chaos and culture war there’s a temptation to feel down about the future. That’s understandable. Still: We are very lucky.
Not just because our country survived four long years with two impeachments and a failed coup attempt that left our democracy damaged and our populace divided and distrustful.
Through all this, we remain lucky to be Americans.
And the Fourth of July is a day when we can all get together on our street, with our neighbors, with our friends and families, and celebrate this fact. It’s a day to set aside partisanship—to look beyond it.
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That’s what we try to do every day at The Bulwark. It isn’t easy and we don’t always succeed. But we’re trying. Trying to live the country-over-party credo. Trying to model ways of having honest discussions and disagreements—so long as everyone agrees on the underpinnings of democracy and the rule of law.
Bill Kristol likes to jokingly quote a John McCain line about how “It’s always darkest before it goes pitch black.” And yes, we are in a bit of a dark period. But when you stand in the darkness, eventually your eyes adjust. In this darkness, we here at The Bulwark found you, and you found us.
Together, as a community, we might not agree on every particular, but we do agree that this country is great. And also that, like every generation, we’re supposed to work together to fix the flaws and make this great country even greater. Not great again. Greater.
The power to inform is, hands down, the single most important factor in societal change. Here, it’s not a one-way street. You subscribe to The Bulwark for information, but we, in turn, learn from you, too.
And even when we disagree, we do so like good neighbors or friends. That’s how you make us feel, and we hope that feeling is mutual.
Days like today are reminders of what we’re lucky to have and how much work remains ahead.
From all of us at The Bulwark, Happy Fourth.
From today’s The Bulwark:
I am a lifelong liberal Democrat and activist. I have also been a dedicated subscriber and donor to The Bulwark+ since first learning of it well over a year ago. Your contributors are, hands down, the best source of clear, rational thinking about how we can address the seemingly unbreachable gulf between the various political factions in America. That "lapsed" Republicans should provide the finest forum for those, of any party, who are determined to preserve and ultimately expand our democratic freedoms shames my fellow "liberals" or "progressives," who allow themselves to get caught up in silly semantic battles. Factionalism among clear-thinking people is a serious problem that hinders the vital task of uniting EVERYONE who recognizes the dangers posed by sadly effective demagogues like Donald Trump and his enablers in the GOP. I have urged all my left-of-center friends to become subscribers to The Bulwark+ and to join hands with fair-minded "conservatives" to help defeat this existential threat to America on this, the 246th anniversary of the launching of this ongoing experiment in wise self-governance.
Thank you Charlie, Bill, Sarah, Mona,Tim, JVL, Jim, Sonny, Ben, and all the contributors to The Bulwark!