Here’s How the Texas GOP Wants to Restrict Voting
Kimberly Wehle on the GOP and voting laws.
Leading The Bulwark…
Here’s How the Texas GOP Wants to Restrict Voting
KIMBERLY WEHLE: Plus, an under appreciated aspect of the troubling new Georgia elections law.
🎧 On the Pods… 🎧
Editor’s Note: Charlie is on vacation this week, enjoying the vaxxed life. He’ll return soon. In the meantime, we’ll have guest hosts each day.
Dems ❤️ Corporations
On today’s Bulwark podcast, Mona Charen and Bill Kristol talk about the new money chase in campaign funding, the COVID-19 response, police shootings, and whether there are green shoots in Never Trump GOP candidates.
THE NEXT LEVEL: Can Republicans and Biden Compromise? 🔐
TIM, SARAH, and JVL wonder: How are we going to govern in the next phase of rebuilding?
From The Bulwark Aggregator…
NRSC’s hands-off approach to primaries will backfire – Josh Kraushaar, National Journal
I Forged New York’s Digital Vaccine Passport in 11 Minutes Flat – Albert Fox Cahn, The Daily Beast
Vaccine Hesitancy Could Create COVID Islands – Elaine Godfrey, The Atlantic
Hawley’s antitrust bill focuses on market cap, ignoring consumers – Tim DeChant, Ars Technica
New details shed light on Gaetz’s Bahamas trip – Marc Caputo and Matt Dixon, Politico
Senate GOP signal they won’t filibuster debate of hate crimes bill – Jordain Carney, The Hill
Georgia’s Voting Law Will Make Elections Easier to Hack – Lawrence Norden and Gowri Ramachandran, Slate
In Today’s Bulwark...
Not Every Tragedy Is a Racial Lesson
MONA CHAREN: And not every irresponsible cop is a murderer.
THE TRIAD: The Rajun Cajun Is Back! 🔐
JVL: Back and better than ever.
🚨OVERTIME 🚨
I’m going to feel this tomorrow, aren’t I? Which is great for me because not only do we record two podcasts, I have a newsletter and our livestream tomorrow night.
I may cut the newsletter short tomorrow, but the show will go on. Be sure to tune in at 8 pm ET, and if you’re not a member, there’s still time to join.
I’m listening to John Boehner’s book right now… And it’s wonderful, though I have nearly 6 hours to go. Hopefully we can get him on the pod soon. I’m trying.
Here’s an interview he did with Stephen Colbert:
Eleven Foot Eight. This documentary on a train bridge in North Carolina is well worth your time. (And it’s free.)
Flying after COVID… Our friend Molly Jong-Fast in Vogue.
Introducing Symposium… Bulwark contributor Robert Tracinski has a new substack you should check out. Here’s their mission statement, and a taste:
Symposium is a journal of liberalism, but we don't mean "liberalism" in a narrow or partisan sense, where it stands (particularly in American politics) as shorthand for a left-wing agenda or for voting for a particular party. We mean liberalism in a sense that is both more precise and more profound: liberalism as the political philosophers use it, meaning advocacy of a free society.
This deeper and more ecumenical meaning of liberalism is particularly needed today because advocates of a free society find ourselves surrounded by resurgent movements on both the left and the right that are increasingly open about their illiberalism. We can no longer afford to remain fragmented by the old barriers that divide the various compartments of a liberal outlook.
I have spent the past few years advocating for a new ideological coalition in which the main political alternatives are no longer left versus right but liberal versus illiberal—that is, advocacy of a free society versus advocacy of some form of left-wing or right-wing authoritarianism. The idea is to gather together traditional 20th-Century center-left "liberals," more market-friendly "neoliberals," "classical liberals" on the right, and libertarians, and work together to defend a free society against the pro-censorship left and the nationalist right.
I've made this argument to conservatives and to liberals, and I have seen the idea echoed many other places (a trend we will be tracking in this journal).
Symposium is an effort to explore this idea and see how far we can take it.
Our goal is to bring these various strains of liberals together to debate what a free society means, what is required for it, and how that applies to a whole range of specific issues.
The Insurrectionary Ideology of National Conservatism… A worthwhile read at Libertarianism.org on the embrace of today’s nationalist conservatives of the “herrenvolk democracy.”
When your ex outs you to the feds… A great listen at The Daily Beast on how insurrectionists are getting turned in.
You’d think… John Boehner wouldn’t have sent a book with a pasted in autograph card, instead writing “Go Fuck Yourself.” Unless…
Is this so hard? Liz Cheney shows it’s not.
What happens in Florida when you turn over COVID-19 data to the press… The state… cuts you off?
A California town tries to right a wrong… But the legislature needs to step in.
They don’t make them like Jon Kyl anymore… Check out this livestream with my old boss, Senator Jon Kyl. He talks for the first 25 minutes or so. (For those of us who worked for him, it’s kind of funny to see him on a Zoom call when he was not big on using a computer.) You may agree or disagree with Kyl on missile defense or nuclear modernization. Fine by me if you don’t agree. It’s been one of his big areas of influence since I’ve known him, but whether or not you agree, I think you would agree that we need more Republicans like him.
Informed, smart, polite, and respectful.
Try finding anyone in the GOP today that embodies all of these qualities. There aren’t many. As I asked a young friend, asking advice about working in Congress: for whom would you want to work? I was lucky that my time up there offered me serious options, as opposed to showboating nut-jobs.
That’s it for me for today. We’ll see you back here tomorrow. And remember, we have the livestream! Questions, comments, thoughts on nuclear deterrence? Drop me a line at: swift@thebulwark.com. I try to get back to people ASAP but I may be slow to respond if shot #2 hits me like it hit others.
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Editorial photos provided by Getty Images. For full credits, please consult the article.
