Alvin Bragg’s Case Against Trump: Four Things to Know
Alvin Bragg’s Case Against Trump: Four Things to Know
Plus: Lessons from America’s Forgotten War in Russia
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KIM WEHLE: Alvin Bragg’s Case Against Trump: Four Things to Know.
NEXT MONDAY, THE NEW YORK JUDGE overseeing the criminal hush money case against Donald Trump, Justice Juan M. Merchan, will hold a hearing to determine whether to further delay the trial. Monday was supposed to mark the start of the trial itself, but Merchan pushed it back it last week until at least mid-April. The indictment in this case, brought a year ago by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, was the first of the four criminal cases lodged against Trump since he left office, and probably the weakest.
🎥 PODCASTS AND VIDEOS 🎧
Bulwark Podcast with Tim Miller: Tom Schaller and Paul Waldman: White Rural Rage [Ad-Free🔐]
Secret Podcast: Burn it all Down 🔐
Beg to Differ: Trump is Hard Up for Cash [Ad-Free🔐]
Thursday Night Bulwark: is off through Mid-April.
ATMA 🎧: Sci-Fi or Sad-Fi? 🔐
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CASEY MICHEL: Lessons from America’s Forgotten War in Russia
IN EARLY 1919, AN AIDE to President Woodrow Wilson received a missive from struggling, scuffling Bolshevik chief Vladimir Lenin. The letter itself was straightforward, but the implications were breathtaking—especially looking back a century later. Lenin outlined a simple proposal: In return for American recognition—and Western aid to a Bolshevik regime that appeared on the brink of collapse—Lenin would grant recognition to all non-Soviet regions of the former tsarist empire.
CLARE COFFEY: Running After the Cult of Beauty.
THERE ARE FEW INTERPERSONAL DYNAMICS as potentially close, intense, and thorny as the one between two sisters. The dyad crops up frequently in art—sometimes in the service of horror (The Twa Sisters), sometimes of nihilism (Melancholia), sometimes of happy endings (Snow White and Rose Red). Sometimes the duo forms the two poles of a dream-parable, as in Christina Rosetti’s Goblin Market.
🚨OVERTIME🚨
Happy Friday! My bracket is busted, but Oakland’s Jack Gohlke (formerly of Hillsdale, of all places!) is kind of my spirit animal after sinking Kentucky, who I had winning it all.
This guy shoots (and makes) shots that got me pulled from the floor of play. As a kid, I was so bad, my coach—a Bulwark reader—called time out to take me out of a game. He told me he would if I took a wild shot, so I can’t say I wasn’t warned. Not all of us can be Mark Price, but some of us can be Jack Gohlke.
Quote of the Day:
“This is what a totally organized and ready to win in 2024 party looks like”
—Nick Leopold on the GOP floor infighting as MTG filed a motion to vacate.
Speaking of a serious party… What’s that? Rep. Mike Gallagher is retiring early to take a job at Palantir?
In local news… From the WSJ: Little League Scandal Roils Washington, D.C., Elite
Ted Cruz’s Podcast Deal With iHeartMedia… May Violate Ethics Laws, Watchdog Says In New Complaint (Forbes).
“The new rule — that “It’s no longer the economy, stupid” — has since reasserted itself.” Go read this John Burn-Murdoch item at FT:
This contrast between continents supports the theory that the hyper-partisan nature of US politics is behind the decoupling. The US electorate is now cleanly divided into Democrat and Republican factions, more hostile to one another than ever before, making it harder for economic trends to move people between political camps. If anything, voters’ politics are now shaping their economic perceptions, not the other way around.
I know JVL talks about it a lot, but I don’t think a lot of other people out there truly understand how bad for our politics it is that Donald Trump (read: Trump cultism) literally destroyed one of the biggest load-bearing beams between reality and politics: peoples’ pocketbooks and the connection to their rational brains.
Part of the problem is that this problem is so widespread, it’s not like the bosses can objectively look at their employees, who work at a company that is doing well so they can afford big trucks or boats for the Trump boat parade, spouting absolute nonsense. A normal boss would be like: I pay that guy how much and he’s that disconnected from reality? That’s concerning! Alas, a lot of bosses believe it, too. And give them bonuses.
⌚️The March Madness Minimalist… How I found an NCAA tourney swag bag watch (Casual Time).
Kushner’s Gaza remarks are a dark signal… for Trump’s second-term policy, writes Josh Rogin (WaPo).
The AI election… A little help from Fake Kari Lake? (AZ Agenda)
Trump's lawsuit against ABC… is not the flex he thinks it is (Public Notice).
Don’t give them ideas, Benjy!
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