Democrats Need to Learn to Talk to Veterans Again

Plus: Senate Republicans Perfect the Art of Appeasement

Feb 27, 2025

BILL KRISTOL, JOE PERTICONE and ANDREW EGGER: It Is Happening Here
JVL: The Washington Post and Autocracy’s Asymmetric Advantage 🔐
ADRIAN CARRASQUILLO: Immigration Groups Need Money. Dem Donors Are Too Scared to Write Checks.

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WILL SELBER: Democrats Need to Learn to Talk to Veterans Again

IF YOU SPEND AS MUCH TIME AS I DO around current and former members of the military, you can’t avoid knowing a lot of MAGAs. That’s just the way it is. But most service members and veterans aren’t rabid Trump supporters. Most of them are basically like anyone else—they only pay attention to politics when they have to.
There is one exception, of course: Issues concerning the military and veterans matter a lot more to them than to the average American. That’s why I’m one of the relatively few vets I know who pulled the lever for Kamala Harris last year—and I wasn’t thrilled about it. I pretty much despised Joe Biden, but Donald Trump disparaged John McCain and tried to conduct a coup. No way I was going to vote for him.

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SAVE THE DATE: Saturday, March 22 for The Bulwark Live in Phoenix.

The gang is hitting the road in March for a one-night show in Phoenix, AZ. Join Tim, Sarah, JVL, Bill and Mona for an evening of sharp political insights, lots of laughter and likely a few tears. Let’s be together.

🎥 PODCASTS AND VIDEOS 🎧

Bulwark Podcast with Tim Miller: Ruben Gallego and Zerlina Maxwell: Make Them Own It [YouTube: Gallego, Maxwell]
The Next Level: Da Bomb Threat Beyond Insanity [YouTube]
Bulwark+ Live:

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JOHN AVLON: Senate Republicans Perfect the Art of Appeasement

A HALLMARK OF LIBERAL DEMOCRACY is the belief that “right makes might,” in Lincoln’s famous articulation; and that the inverse of that equation—that might makes right—is the brutal logic of the autocrat and his enablers.
In recent weeks, we have seen a remarkable abandonment of Lincoln’s bedrock principle by high-level Republican elected leaders, who in the infamous words of Donald Trump, “always bend the knee.”

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🚨OVERTIME🚨

Happy Wednesday! The False Spring continues, with the Queen City hitting 70 degrees today. East coast gas chain Wawa opened its first store here, so we’ll all be able to enjoy Hoagie Fest. And in strange turn, a rival Big Boy chain from Michigan has partnered with the landlord of a whole host of closed Frisch’s Big Boys to enter the market.

🎵On the Jukebox…🎵 Leif Vollebekk - Moondog

Absolutely wild… This footage of the SS United States on the ocean.

Ohio’s J.D. Vance… rebuked by the Pope, denounced by NATO allies, ridiculed for bizarre rant (Marilou Johanek, Ohio Capital Journal)

“We Are in a Constitutional Crisis”… A Statement of Law Professors and Law Teachers.

“I Was Ungood At Talking Heading Today”… Andrew Donaldson is disappointed with how he handled a talking head segment on the American United Nations Ukraine vote debacle, so let him play it for you then take another stab at it.

The Pendulum Has Swung… Let us not return to the censoriousness of the previous four years when we inevitably correct for the overreach of these coming four. (Jacob Mackey, Connors Institute)

Grin and Bear it for the New Gipper! Nicholas Grossman is happy about Fox changing its messaging to get viewers to accept the economic hurt caused by Trump as a means of supporting him. It is kind of funny, but then it’s not because it is a cult.

Life Imitates The Onion… From 2018: Pulitzer Feeling Increasingly Out Of Place In Washington Post Office.

From Trump's pardoned fans… intimidation and bomb threats (Lynn Schmidt, The Saint Louis Post-Dispatch)

What political scientists see as worrisome… Republicans see as welcome (Philip Bump, WaPo🎁)

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Editorial photos provided by Getty Images. For full credits, please consult the article.

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