Jamie Dimon Joins the Trump Normalizers
Jamie Dimon Joins the Trump Normalizers
Plus: Liberalism in Defense of Freedom
Recently in The Bulwark:
CHARLIE SYKES: The Authoritarian Playbook: 2025
JVL is off today.
SONNY BUNCH: Why Not Have ‘True Detective’ *and* ‘Night Country’?
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DENNIS AFTERGUT AND WALTER H. WHITE, JR.: Jamie Dimon Joins the Trump Normalizers
JAMIE DIMON ISSUED WHAT CNN characterized as a “warning to Democrats” this week. During a CNBC interview on Wednesday at the World Economic Forum at Davos, the JPMorgan Chase CEO said that “Donald Trump was right about some critical issues,” so Democrats should not too quickly dismiss Trump’s base as a cult of personality.
The danger in Dimon’s remark lies as much in what he did not say as in what he did. Such a statement from such a powerful and influential business leader is just what a mad doctor ordered to normalize Trump.
BRIAN STEWART: Liberalism in Defense of Freedom
WHEN THE SOVIET UNION COLLAPSED, conservatives claimed credit for relegating communism to the ashbin of history. Ronald Reagan had an honored place in the pantheon of Cold Warriors for ending the policy of détente that accommodated rather than challenged the Soviet empire. In a crucial period when the Soviets were on the march, Reagan initiated (to borrow from Winston Churchill) “a supreme recovery of moral health and martial vigor” in U.S. foreign policy. The revival of American strength and conviction demonstrated the futility of Moscow’s strategic competition with the free world and hastened the demise of the Soviet system.
🎥 PODCASTS AND VIDEOS 🎧
Bulwark Podcast with Charlie Sykes: Amanda Carpenter: The Authoritarian Playbook [Ad-Free🔐]
Secret Podcast: Live from San Francisco! 🌁 🔐
Beg to Differ: Intimidation and the GOP [Ad-Free🔐]
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Learn more at Bulwark+ Podcast FAQ.
SONNY BUNCH: ‘I.S.S.’ Review.
BEFORE WE DISCUSS I.S.S., let’s flashback about six months, to the debut of Oppenheimer. Specifically, the closing shots of Oppenheimer, in which Oppie (Cillian Murphy) confesses to Albert Einstein (Tom Conti) that he thinks his weapon to end all war might have destroyed the world, closes his eyes, and imagines that weapon sitting atop thousands of ICBMs, all of them launching and landing, a wave of fire spreading across the world as the atmosphere burns off.
ADDISON DEL MASTRO: Kmart Elegy.
LAST AUGUST, NorthJersey.com broke a story that was at once a bit of local retail news and a major national development. New Jersey’s last Kmart—in a typical 1970s strip plaza in a densely populated Bergen County community—was closing. Its shuttering last September meant there were only two Kmart stores left in the nation: one on Long Island and one in Miami.
🚨OVERTIME🚨
Greetings from the aggravated, yet friendly, skies! I promised you a later, stranger Overtime, didn’t I? Well, with sporadically connected internet over Colorado on a delayed flight, here it is! I had hoped to tell you more (with lots of pictures) about my brief trip to the Golden City, so mostly text will have to suffice. It was a blast. The Commonwealth Club was a wonderful host, and we had a great show (long show). And I got to put faces with names with a number of you, and a few selfies, too.
People joked about the “dog or human” poop on the street game, but I only saw excrement once: And it was on the Embarcadero where a bougie woman let her dog do it on the street, and then just kept walking. I said “you’re not going to pick that up?” in disbelief, and my apparently stern friendliness (it’s a thing) intimidated her. So I used a grocery bag I had—semper paratus!—and did San Francisco a solid. You’re welcome.
Afterwards, about 40 readers, JVL, Tim, Sarah, and me went to a hotel bar for an after party and chatted the night away… until we got kicked out.
This morning I accidentally got breakfast with one of my longtime best friends—and a Bulwark reader!—at a gluten free bakery and took in the beauty of the foggy bay (see pic above). I knew my croissant tasted weird. But it looked good?
History Argues for Disqualifying Trump… Argues David French in his newsletter.
The crucial U.S. Virgin Islands… The DeSantis campaign lowers the expectations severely.
The Authoritarian Playbook… A focus on the threats to democracy by our friends at Protect Democracy. Download and read. And share!
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Editorial photos provided by Getty Images. For full credits, please consult the article.