Biden Should Call for a Commission to Investigate the 2020 Election
Confront the conspiracies and let Congress and Biden focus on governing.
Leading The Bulwarkā¦
Biden Should Call for a Commission to Investigate the 2020 Election
PETER D. FEAVER: It would definitively address conspiracy theories about the election being āstolenāāand let Congress and the new administration focus on governing.
š§ On the Podsā¦ š§
Molly Jong-Fast on the Dark Political Winter of 2020
On todayās Bulwark podcast, Molly Jong-Fast joins Charlie Sykes to discuss the dark politics unfolding during the darkest time of the year.
GOP Crack-Up
Charles Lane joins to discuss how Biden is doing. Is GOP terminally Trumpy? A look at the Georgia run-off. Plus, is huge government debt actually ok?
For Bulwark+ Membersā¦ (Unlocked!)
MORNING SHOTS: Impeach Him... Again?
CHARLIE SYKES: And a COVID relief bill that nobody likes.
THE TRIAD: MAGA Marks and the Future of Democracy
JONATHAN V. LAST: How do you run a functional democracy when 40 percent of the people are willing suckers?
Normally, these newsletters are only for members, but as a Christmas-week gift, weāve unlocked them both today. Not yet a member? Please consider joining:
Already a member? (Thank you!) Have somebody who might appreciate a gift membership? Weāve got you covered:
You can even schedule it to take effect whenever youāre exchanging gifts as not to ruin the surprise.
From The Bulwark Aggregatorā¦
Mitt Romney: GOP has āstrayedā from core values ā Fadel Allassan, Axios
Inside Trumpās pressure campaign to overturn the election ā Anita Kumar and Gabby Orr, Politico
Joe Scarborough: Why Even Have the 25th Amendment if We Donāt Use it After Trump Talks Martial Law? ā Colby Hall, Mediaite
A Conservative Justice in Wisconsin Says He Followed the Law, Not the Politics ā Reid J. Epstein, The New York Times
Chris Wallace defends Jill Biden: No one āmade a fussā over calling Martin Luther King Jr. a ādoctorā ā Zack Budryk, The Hill
Trump Is Already Wondering What Airport Will Bear His Name ā Asawin Suebsaeng, The Daily Beast
In Todayās Bulwarkā¦.
Lou Dobbs Debunks Himself
MONA CHAREN: Fox was forced to issue a correction. The New York Times did so willingly.
The Trade: Meet the New Red Dog Democrats
TIM MILLER: The two parties have traded votersāwhether the old political class likes it or not.
The Origins of a Warning from Voltaire
WALTER OLSON: An investigation.
Medals of Democracy
LENNY GLYNN: President Biden should lay out a new vision of patriotism, accountability, and courage for public servants.
Taking āThe Standā
BRENT ORRELL: Itās early days in the new miniseries but longtime fans of Stephen Kingās book have reason to hope.
šØOVERTIME šØ
Happy Mondayā¦ Hope you had a great weekend. We did a little housekeeping for the holidays, and my wife tried out a new recipe for Guinness Braised Short Ribs. They were wonderful, and weāre just considering and experimenting with some new recipes for the Christmas season. Remember, some items from our Thanksgiving Cookbook made by staff and readers might have something worth trying!
A programming noteā¦ This newsletter (and the daily podcast) will be taking off Thursday and Friday, to return next week. Stay tuned to the site for new content on those days. Unless thereās fiery news wreckage, weāre going to try and log off and spend some time with our familiesā¦.
Speaking of fiery wreckagesā¦ Utz-oh! A semi-truck full of delicious cheese balls wrecked and caught fire on the Beltway. No word if they were local favorite Utz, or Planters, or another brand.
How theyāre coping in Queens.
Itās perfectā¦ My alma mater is having a gingerbread contest, and somebody did one of my college bar and place of employ, since closed.
This is not a good signā¦
Chat with your fellow Bulwarkers! Did you know we have both a Reddit group and a discord? Both are unofficial, but I try to jump in to chat from time to time. Remember, you can always reach me at swift@thebulwark.com. I try to get back to everyone.
Falling for Martin Shkreliā¦ This is quite the story. A Bloomberg reporter fell for her subject and basically upended her life for him.
The Cleveland Browns have 10 wins. While I still remain pessimistic about the playoffs, it is fun not to be the laughingstock of the NFL. I was a Baker Mayfield skeptic early on, but heās really come into his own this season, and Iām happy to have been wrong.
Thatās what must be doneā¦ This Aussie took Premier of Victoria Dan Andrewsās COVID-19 warning, which was turned into a viral remix, and went whole hog in doing a whole Christmas lighting show around it.
A right wing holiday gift guide. Itās probably getting too late, but in case you have a white elephant party (no relation to the GOP), here are some ideas.
How it started vs. how itās going. Smartmatic and Dominion sent some lawyer letters to the networks, and well, (read Monaās item above), but Ben Smith in the NY Times highlights how bad a lawsuit could be for Fox, Newsmax, and OAN.
And hoo boy, did Newsmax cave quickly. (Will it save them completely? Weāll see!)
And this statement is going to get read by a lot of Newsmax people in the coming days.
But, at One America News Networkā¦ Hold their beer.
Why are people numb to the COVID-19 death stats? An important read in WaPo:
Something happens in the brain when fatalities reach such high numbers, say psychologists who have studied genocides and mass disasters. The casualties become like a mountain of corpses that has grown so large it becomes difficult to focus on the individual bodies.
With the coronavirus in particular, experts say, the deaths have been hidden from sight even from friends and family ā the human cost sequestered in hospitals and nursing homes.
And meanwhile, at Mar-A-Lagoā¦ The Daily Beast reports about a Turning Point USA party there where: āSouth Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, Project Veritas founder James OāKeefe, and Roger Stone were among those who attended the gala, where hundreds flouted Palm Beach COVID-19 measures.ā Kayleigh McEnany was there, too.
MAGA, a Marriage of Idiocy and Influenceā¦ At ArcDigital, our pal Berny Belvedere has this important column on why ā[T]he Trumpian governing class is a fundamentally unserious political entity. But power has a way around that modest shortcoming.ā
Hereās a bit a quite like:
In the Year of Covid, Trump wanted to steal an election by problematizing the only form of socially distanced voting we had. This is distressingly ironic, as it suggests a self-reinforcing attack: first, Trump catastrophically mismanages the pandemic, and second, he leverages that failure into a legal technique by which he can steal the presidential election.
Thatās it for me for today. Weāll see you back here tomorrow. If youāre not a member yet of Bulwark+, we hope youāll consider joining.
And remember, we do offer gift memberships.
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