Recently in The Bulwark:
BILL KRISTOL & ANDREW EGGER: Biden Cracks Open the Door
SONNY BUNCH: Why Hollywood Turned on Biden First
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JILL LAWRENCE: Joe Biden Is Stuck in Limbo. His Supporters Are, Too.
ASSUMING OR PRETENDING AN OLDER PERSON can’t do a job is ageism. Assessing evidence that’s in plain sight and acknowledging what you see, especially if it is confirmed repeatedly and becomes more pronounced over time—that’s realism.
Democrats pride themselves on residing in “the reality-based community,” as a Republican strategist said mockingly in 2004. They know a deadly attack when they see it, as they did on January 6, 2021, when Donald Trump loyalists stormed the U.S. Capitol. They should know a career-ending debacle when they see it, as they did on June 27, when Joe Biden—in an early debate he himself had sought—folded under pressure before an audience of 51 million.
🎥 PODCASTS AND VIDEOS 🎧
Bulwark Podcast with Tim Miller: Amanda Carpenter: A Life or Death Bet
Beg to Differ: An Open Convention Could be Great for Democracy
Across the Movie Aisle: RIP, Jon Landau
George Conway Explains it All (to Sarah Longwell): Trump Will Still Do Time
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SONNY BUNCH: ‘Longlegs’ Review
THE MOST EFFECTIVE MOMENTS in Longlegs aren’t the bloodiest ones—the gunshots or the bludgeonings or the month-old corpses—but the ones where the camera lingers on a character, alone, in an empty space. Or a space that should be empty, anyway. A space that might not be empty. True terror is the fear that comes with the loss of thinking we’re safe because we’re alone.
🚨OVERTIME🚨
Happy Friday! Ordinarily, I’d be packing up and getting ready to prepare for the Republican Convention, which I was slated to attend. I first went when I was a staffer in the before times, and went as a journalist with The Weekly Standard, and stayed home in 2020 due to the pandemic. Conventions were never really the same after 2016, and I was curious: how much of a departure would they be now?
It used to be a big ordeal: dozens of people from multiple publications setting up a mobile office. Hectic, stressful, but fun. I don’t think either of these conventions will be “fun.” (Sorry Marc, Joe, and Sam!) And not because I won’t be there: The GOP Convention will be depressing. Who knows what the Democrats have in store. Can chaos be fun? Will it be chaotic?
So, why no conventions? Seems as good a time as any to tell you, but my family is moving to Cincinnati, Ohio this summer. Excited to explore a new city in my home state. I’m not going anywhere, but do expect more news from the Buckeye state. The post-DeWine era will be… something. Can’t say I am hopeful about it, but it will be newsy, living on the air in Cincinnati, Cincinnati, WKRP.1
I will help from afar on the convention coverage, and look forward to seeing you guys each night in the chat!
🎵On the Jukebox…🎵 The Verve - Love Is Noise (Official Video Remastered)
Milwaukee’s RNC will highlight the clash between… Donald Trump and his own worst instincts (Will Bunch, Philadelphia Inquirer)
'Another loss for Jeff Clark'… Court denies ex-DOJ official who pushed Trump's 'big lie' (RawStory)
Will it be J.D. Vance… After he said all of these things? The beard? The eye-liner? (I still think it’s Rubio.)
Meanwhile, in Ohio… Meet Michael Pancake, bizarre criminal.
He went viral after signing with the Nats... Now he’s a star for the Savannah Bananas. (WaPo)
Susan Collins won’t be voting for Trump… Here’s who she is writing in.2
Rudy Giuliani is about to Find Out… A plan to use bankruptcy has hit some snags. You hate to see it. I hope Ruby Freeman keeps the Yankees World Series ring as a talisman.
A ‘Simpsons’ Joke Comes True… for Cypress Hill (NYT).
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Had to. Sorry. If you’re from the area, drop me a line! You may see me at Meijer/Kroger/Jungle Jim’s.
At least her choice is alive and eligible. I’m looking at you, Larry Hogan. 👀