I only seem to comment on the non politics stuff. Anyway I am so relieved my son is out of baseball now. He participated in Perfect Game events last summer as a freshman. Had a club coach that was a former major league pitcher. It was all about speed and hard throwing. Clinics that doubled in price as they built bigger facilities. And what I saw is that he lost control the harder he threw. High school teams depended on you developing skills at your club and the high school just went through the motions during the season. My kid got bored. He was a good little pitcher, threw hard since he was little. Strikes, had movement as he got older. But he doesn’t need baseball to get into college.
I object to the (widespread) I-don't-like-him-but reaction. Bolton has more principle and guts than most - and is being pounded for it. I saw a picture of Mrs. B. with tousled gray hair and a flannel shirt, standing on her front step while the FBI ransacked her house, solely because Donald effing Trump has a grudge against her husband and thought, she looks like me. The Eye of Sauron can fall upon anyone. Solidarity requires that we who oppose the regime support one another unequivocally.
It looks like we are at the "make alliance with Stalin" part of the fight. Trumpism has got to go and we need all the help we can get in making that happen.
I only got to watch the beginning of JVL with Jon Lovett and I was laughing because it was obvious Jon wasn’t very familiar with JVL. He had that kind of reverence for the reformed conservative—“it must have been so difficult for you...” JVL has always struck me as the least conservative of the bunch. Definitely a free-thinker.
It seems to me that training a kid in baseball or other sports should also include having them peak in their sport at an opportune time. Their bones are still growing. Their brains are still forming. And who wants an otherwise talented kid burned out by sixteen? Or a kid having already had multiple injuries? Your comparison to women's gymnastics (at least in previous decades) is apt.
Thank you for the reflections on courage, JVL. Many subscribers, I have to imagine, are wrestling with what we can DO at this time to stand up and push back. I also imagine many folks in this community have day jobs and busy lives and families. I wonder if The Bulwark would consider an occasional or even regular feature that helps this community explore how we can make a difference in these troubling times. I imagine some folks, myself included, would be willing to help out behind the scenes with that in some capacity. Thanks for considering.
I listened to a man who voted for Trump three times. He was full of regret and was registering as a Democrat. He asked for support and understanding because the change was hard for him. He was humbled to say the least. We need to let people change. I admit to enjoying the comeuppance videos of MAGA people and thinking, "You deserve it". What hit me with this one though was his embarrassment that he had believed Trump and his sincerity. His attitude had changed. This guy thought he wanted what Trump was selling, but realized he didn't. We need to welcome people like him, and not just because we need every person we can get to defeat Trump, et. al. It's also the right and compassionate thing to do. I'm changing a little bit so I can do that.
I was never an admirer of John Bolton. I disagreed with much of his foreign policy agenda and his cynicism and blatant self promotion during the first Trump administration. He was one of the old style Republicans I detested. However, those were political differences. I believe he is the kind of person follows the rules in regard to national security, especially in regard to sensitive/classified materials. I feel he does have respect for the Constitution. Just the sheer disgust he had at the activities of Rudy G. and his goons in Ukraine.. calling it a "drug deal" shows he had a sense of ethical governmental/official behavior, that there were protocols to be respected. Now, I could be wrong, I don't know him personally. I suppose people could have said the same thing about Poindexter and North during the Reagan years.
Of all the ways America is failing under the current administration, I think federalism hasn't gotten nearly enough attention. I always thought it was part of the genius of America: that we had these bulkheads like on the Titanic (I know; hardly an encouraging metaphor) where some of them could flood and the whole ship would only sink if too many of them flooded. The way Trump & Co. just have no respect for letting localities do things their local way is really frustrating. The way that attitude somehow becomes reality, even moreso.
Tina Peters is absolutely part of this. Janet Mills, the Maine governor who had the audacity to not break state law on trans athletes, jumps to mind. Sanctuary cities, DEI in state-level government, probably lots of similar things, denying FEMA funds for blue states and people deemed insufficiently loyal. I'm sure the list goes on. But really, Trump just seems so narcissistic, he can't accept or at least refuses to, that not every decision is under his sway.
It's not. And the fact he somehow gets away with acting like it is just makes me very, very angry.
JVL, we need to form the BCLU to compliment the ACLU for people like Bolton who are personally unappealing in their political animalness, but deserve our support nonetheless because of the stands they take against evil power, whether we like his underlying principle or not. And I would nominate George Conway to head the Bulwark Civil Liberties Union, fully expecting the William Tecumseh Sherman response when asked, after the Civil War whether he would allow his name to be put into nomination for President ,"If nominated, I will not run; if elected, I will not serve."
I only seem to comment on the non politics stuff. Anyway I am so relieved my son is out of baseball now. He participated in Perfect Game events last summer as a freshman. Had a club coach that was a former major league pitcher. It was all about speed and hard throwing. Clinics that doubled in price as they built bigger facilities. And what I saw is that he lost control the harder he threw. High school teams depended on you developing skills at your club and the high school just went through the motions during the season. My kid got bored. He was a good little pitcher, threw hard since he was little. Strikes, had movement as he got older. But he doesn’t need baseball to get into college.
I object to the (widespread) I-don't-like-him-but reaction. Bolton has more principle and guts than most - and is being pounded for it. I saw a picture of Mrs. B. with tousled gray hair and a flannel shirt, standing on her front step while the FBI ransacked her house, solely because Donald effing Trump has a grudge against her husband and thought, she looks like me. The Eye of Sauron can fall upon anyone. Solidarity requires that we who oppose the regime support one another unequivocally.
It looks like we are at the "make alliance with Stalin" part of the fight. Trumpism has got to go and we need all the help we can get in making that happen.
I only got to watch the beginning of JVL with Jon Lovett and I was laughing because it was obvious Jon wasn’t very familiar with JVL. He had that kind of reverence for the reformed conservative—“it must have been so difficult for you...” JVL has always struck me as the least conservative of the bunch. Definitely a free-thinker.
It seems to me that training a kid in baseball or other sports should also include having them peak in their sport at an opportune time. Their bones are still growing. Their brains are still forming. And who wants an otherwise talented kid burned out by sixteen? Or a kid having already had multiple injuries? Your comparison to women's gymnastics (at least in previous decades) is apt.
Thank you for the reflections on courage, JVL. Many subscribers, I have to imagine, are wrestling with what we can DO at this time to stand up and push back. I also imagine many folks in this community have day jobs and busy lives and families. I wonder if The Bulwark would consider an occasional or even regular feature that helps this community explore how we can make a difference in these troubling times. I imagine some folks, myself included, would be willing to help out behind the scenes with that in some capacity. Thanks for considering.
I listened to a man who voted for Trump three times. He was full of regret and was registering as a Democrat. He asked for support and understanding because the change was hard for him. He was humbled to say the least. We need to let people change. I admit to enjoying the comeuppance videos of MAGA people and thinking, "You deserve it". What hit me with this one though was his embarrassment that he had believed Trump and his sincerity. His attitude had changed. This guy thought he wanted what Trump was selling, but realized he didn't. We need to welcome people like him, and not just because we need every person we can get to defeat Trump, et. al. It's also the right and compassionate thing to do. I'm changing a little bit so I can do that.
I was never an admirer of John Bolton. I disagreed with much of his foreign policy agenda and his cynicism and blatant self promotion during the first Trump administration. He was one of the old style Republicans I detested. However, those were political differences. I believe he is the kind of person follows the rules in regard to national security, especially in regard to sensitive/classified materials. I feel he does have respect for the Constitution. Just the sheer disgust he had at the activities of Rudy G. and his goons in Ukraine.. calling it a "drug deal" shows he had a sense of ethical governmental/official behavior, that there were protocols to be respected. Now, I could be wrong, I don't know him personally. I suppose people could have said the same thing about Poindexter and North during the Reagan years.
JVL, do you have a Bulwark email address? I am a bit groggy this Sunday am and having trouble finding it.
JVL is a Vulcan, dedicated to a hard logic that we can trust -- even when its conclusions are other than those he or we'd prefer.
Thanks again.
Love the pic of George being a brat.
Of all the ways America is failing under the current administration, I think federalism hasn't gotten nearly enough attention. I always thought it was part of the genius of America: that we had these bulkheads like on the Titanic (I know; hardly an encouraging metaphor) where some of them could flood and the whole ship would only sink if too many of them flooded. The way Trump & Co. just have no respect for letting localities do things their local way is really frustrating. The way that attitude somehow becomes reality, even moreso.
Tina Peters is absolutely part of this. Janet Mills, the Maine governor who had the audacity to not break state law on trans athletes, jumps to mind. Sanctuary cities, DEI in state-level government, probably lots of similar things, denying FEMA funds for blue states and people deemed insufficiently loyal. I'm sure the list goes on. But really, Trump just seems so narcissistic, he can't accept or at least refuses to, that not every decision is under his sway.
It's not. And the fact he somehow gets away with acting like it is just makes me very, very angry.
This is Project 2025.
Agreed on all points, and kudos to George Conway for his reportage in front of Bolton’s home.
Good column. Needed. Thank you.
JVL, we need to form the BCLU to compliment the ACLU for people like Bolton who are personally unappealing in their political animalness, but deserve our support nonetheless because of the stands they take against evil power, whether we like his underlying principle or not. And I would nominate George Conway to head the Bulwark Civil Liberties Union, fully expecting the William Tecumseh Sherman response when asked, after the Civil War whether he would allow his name to be put into nomination for President ,"If nominated, I will not run; if elected, I will not serve."
Your column is the best thing I read every day. Thank you!