Biden Needs Party Unity—or Else
Leading The Bulwark…
Biden Needs Party Unity—or Else
RICHARD NORTH PATTERSON: Here’s what squaring off against Mitch McConnell will look like.
🎧 On the Pods… 🎧
Rep. Denver Riggleman on the GOP Fever of Nonsense
On today’s Bulwark Podcast, Congressman Denver Riggleman joins Charlie Sykes to discuss the GOP’s fever of nonsense regarding the 2020 election and how disinformation is a disease infecting the Republican Party. He also discusses his new book,Bigfoot .... It's Complicated.
ACROSS THE MOVIE AISLE: 'Sound of Metal' Reviewed; Plus, Directors Vs. WB
This week, Sonny Bunch (The Bulwark), Alyssa Rosenberg (The Washington Post), and Peter Suderman (Reason Magazine) review the critically acclaimed new movie, Sound of Metal, streaming on Amazon now.
For Bulwark+ Members… 🔐
ACROSS THE MOVIE AISLE: The Blockbuster Is Dead, Long Live the Blockbuster
On this week’s special members-only edition of Across the Movie Aisle, Sonny, Peter, and Alyssa discuss how our conception of what a “blockbuster” is might have to shift in the era of streaming.
MORNING SHOTS: Democracy Prevails. For Now.
CHARLIE SYKES writes:
Monday was a day of clarifications. Even Vladimir Putin felt it was time to recognize Biden’s election as president, which puts the Russian ahead of much of the Republican Party.
With the final vote, though, we got to see which GOP Denialists are so wrapped in delusion, fear, or lickspittleism that they are willing to continue pretending that reality is not reality.
“Democracy prevailed,” Biden declared Monday night. But it emerges badly battered and besieged, and the worst may be yet to come.
THE TRIAD: Everyone Trump Touches Dies: The List
JONATHAN V. LAST, in today’s Triad:
Barr began the Year of Our Lord 2016 as a well respected member of the conservative legal establishment. He concludes 2020 with his reputation destroyed, destined to be remembered as the most dishonorable attorney general in a century. The fact that he tried to salvage his legacy in the closing weeks of his tenure looks less like a man standing up and more like Meat Loaf.
He would do anything for Trump. But he won’t do . . . that.
If you’re not yet a member of Bulwark+ and want to read JVL and Charlie, get access to our livestreams and exclusive podcasts… well…
From The Bulwark Aggregator…
After 12 years of work, Congress is set to disclose hidden corporate owners – Jim Saksa, Roll Call
Raphael Warnock’s Dog Ads Cut Against White Voters’ Stereotypes Of Black People – Michael Tesler, FiveThirtyEight
Trump antagonizes Republicans with Georgia fundraising ploy – Alex Isenstadt, Politico
Plea to the Press: Don’t Make Trump 2021’s Shadow President – Matt Lewis, The Daily Beast
Republicans are waging a war on democracy. But why are they allowed to get away with it? – Marc Armbinder, MSNBC
Doylestown family’s emails show a ‘sucker punch’ COVID-19 tragedy unfolding in real time – Jennifer Pignolet, Akron Beacon Journal
Joel Osteen’s Lakewood Church took $4.4M PPP loan – Shelby Stewart, Houston Chronicle
In Today’s Bulwark…
‘Songbird’ Review
SONNY BUNCH: I don’t know if it’s good, exactly, but it’s kind of amazing.
How David Hockney Trolled the ‘New Yorker’
HANNAH YOEST: His latest cover art set off a (small, cozy) firestorm.
Never Forget the Republicans Who Held Fast
CHRISTINE TODD WHITMAN: There should have been more of them. Lots more. But a few did stand strong.
It’s Not About This Election, It’s About the Next One
ROBERT TRACINSKI: The Republican party wasn’t prepared to help Trump steal this election—but they’re being prepared for the next one.
Bye-Bye, Bill Barr
MONA CHAREN: The mostly tarnished legacy of Trump’s mostly complicit attorney general.
Know somebody would appreciate what we do? Looking for the perfect gift for the holidays?
🚨 OVERTIME 🚨
Let’s not talk about the Browns game…
Thanks to all you Cleveland and St. Louis folks… for sharing your baseball memories with me yesterday. As I sit here typing this in my basement office at my house, I look over at all the foul balls I’ve been lucky to get over the the years, and hope that the Dolans won’t pick a silly, silly name. I’d very much like to be a Cleveland-first baseball fan, but I am not going to cheer for a team with with a ridiculous name. (Unless they’re the Billikens, my alma mater.) In my baseball collection, I have what I assume is a very unique autographed baseball, probably the only one of its kind on planet earth.
A baseball autographed by Bob Feller and Chad Ogea. I got the ball, a National League ball, my only one, during batting practice during a Phillies / Indians spring training game in Winter Haven, Florida. Ogea was pitching for the Phillies in the last season of his career, 1999, and I already had gotten Bob Feller, who was there to sign autographs to sign my ball. I adored Chad Ogea, as a young pitcher.
Take this, from his Wikipedia entry about the 1997 World Series:
Ogea, having lost two games in the ALCS and winning no games in June, July, or August, managed to win two World Series games, both of them against Marlins ace Kevin Brown. In that Series, he gave up just two earned runs for an ERA of 1.54. Batting in Game 6 against Brown, Ogea managed to get his first hit since high school, knocking in two runs in the process. Later, he hit a double to lead off the 5th inning. He would score on Manny Ramírez's sacrifice fly. He became the first pitcher since Mickey Lolich to drive in two World Series runs and the first Cleveland Indians pitcher to drive in a World Series run since 1920.
I was young and dumb, but I was never going to sell a Bob Feller baseball. I handed it to him through the fence and he saw the ball and hesitated. Should he really sign a baseball already signed by a Hall of Famer like Bob Feller? He hesitated and asked if I was sure. I was 100% sure. And 21 years later, I cherish that baseball.
Just please, for the love of God, pick a good name. That’s all I ask. They’re keeping the name Indians for 2021, unlike Dan Snyder’s “Washington Football Team.” But if they went by “Cleveland Baseball Team” from now until the end of time, I’d remain a fan. If they pick something horrific or cursed, like Wizards or Spiders, well, I’ll become a free agent and sign with the Red Birds.
Hoping for a miracle… Let’s stick with Cleveland for a moment. I am not usually one to ask for prayers, but I’d like to make an exception for my friend Andrew Kaczynski. He’s CNN’s “KFILE” chief, and was in my little sister’s class in grade school back in Cleveland. Right now, he and his wife packed up and left NYC to live in Boston full time while their daughter, Francesca, who is very young, is fighting for her life.
Here at The Bulwark, we are #TeamBeans, and pray for them constantly. I’d appreciate it if you you prayed for her and her family, too.
When your cable provider makes an amazing mistake…
#MeToobin. Inside the downfall of a “leading man of legal journalism” at the New York Times.
And the Zoom meeting was not the first time Mr. Toobin has surprised someone in the business with his sexual forwardness. The magazine journalist Lisa DePaulo said that in 2003 Mr. Toobin asked her out for New Year’s Eve, telling her he’d separated from Ms. McIntosh. A few days after accepting, she returned home to a phone message from Mr. Toobin in which, she said, he described in vulgar terms a sex act he planned on enacting with her.
“I kept the message and played it for all my friends,” she said. (One of whom corroborated her story in an interview.) Mr. Toobin later called to confirm she’d gotten his message — “usually someone takes me to dinner first,” she told him — and told her he was back together with his wife.
“I didn’t think he was a sexual predator,” Ms. DePaulo said. “I just thought he was a nice guy who was pervy. It was just like, ‘Jeffrey? Ick!’
Just remember, people in the industry have known Toobin was a major league asshole for years. Why CNN and The New Yorker continued to give this guy a perch is anyone’s guess.
The oldest Chinese restaurant in America. Anyone who follows food knows that American “Chinese” food is not really, well, Chinese. But where did it get its start?
That’s it for me for today, dear reader. Have a safe and enjoyable Tuesday. If you’re on the East Coast, I hope you avoid the snow. Rather, that it avoids you. But if it doesn’t? Who cares? It’s not like we have anywhere to go, at least most of us.
Questions? Comments? Thoughts? You know how to reach me: swift@thebulwark.com.
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