Just How Authoritarian Are Americans?
Plus: Jack Smith’s Hard Choices
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BILL KRISTOL & ANDREW EGGER: Stop Handwringing, Start Fighting
JVL: is off today.
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WILL SALETAN: Just How Authoritarian Are Americans?
DONALD TRUMP SENT A MOB to overturn the 2020 election. He called for the termination of all constitutional provisions that prevented his immediate reinstatement. He made it clear that if he regained the presidency, he would extend his abuse of the office.
Kamala Harris warned voters repeatedly that Trump would try to rule (as he half-jokingly affirmed) like a dictator. But they re-elected him anyway.
This raises serious questions about our country. Did Trump’s voters back him because of his authoritarian inclinations or in spite of them? To what extent has the United States become hospitable to one-man rule? How many Americans condone or outright prefer an autocratic style of leadership? And how much of Trump’s majority coalition will support him as he expands and abuses his power?
WILL SELBER: Veterans’ Issues Aren’t Just for Veterans
IN JULY, I RETIRED FROM THE AIR FORCE, ending twenty years of service. My days of combat with the Taliban and associated terrorist groups were over; my days of combat with the Department of Veterans Affairs had begun. The way veterans are treated in America is not only a moral abomination but a rotting sore in the body politic. It’s easy to reduce the problems America’s veterans face to statistics (which are alarming). But now I’ve experienced them myself.
🎥 PODCASTS AND VIDEOS 🎧
Bulwark Podcast with Tim Miller:
Bulwark+ Live: MAGA Calls for Unity [YouTube]
The Bulwark Goes to Hollywood: The Christmas Movie Industrial Complex
The Secret Podcast: Where Do We Go From Here? 🔐 [YouTube Preview]
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CATHY YOUNG: Russian Media Lukewarm on the Return of the Trump
DONALD TRUMP’S ELECTION VICTORY has been the subject of days of discussion in both the official Russian media and in the independent media now located almost entirely abroad—and the reactions are sometimes surprising, sometimes thought-provoking and sometimes . . . well, bonkers.
KIM WEHLE: Jack Smith’s Hard Choices
IN JUST OVER TWO MONTHS, Donald J. Trump will control the entire executive branch of the national government. His allies will control at least one house of Congress, likely both. The Supreme Court is tilted in his direction. Aware of this, Special Counsel Jack Smith now must decide how to wind up what is in all likelihood the last (and first) prosecution of a former president for violations of federal criminal law.
🚨OVERTIME🚨
Happy Veterans Day… I hope you’re taking some time to rest up this holiday and reflect on its meaning.
🎵On the Jukebox…🎵 ‘Holes’ by Mercury Rev.
‘I Didn’t Do an About-Face on Pete Buttigieg. Buttigieg Did an About-Face on Me.’… The onetime McKinsey consultant was mocked for his friendliness to corporations. Then he became Transportation secretary. (Politico)
Reddit sleuths… track down the band behind the internet’s most mysterious song (The Verge).
Trump Win… Makes McMahon Pardon Likely (DMV Wrestling News)
What happens next… with the criminal cases against the president-elect? (Kim Wehle’s Simple Politics)
Meanwhile, in Indiana… 19-year-old elected Scott County coroner
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Editorial photos provided by Getty Images. For full credits, please consult the article.