Kevin McCarthy: Master of Strategery

Amanda Carpenter on Liz Cheney, 2022, and the referendum on Trumpism.

Leading The Bulwark…

Kevin McCarthy: Master of Strategery

AMANDA CARPENTER: Pushing out Liz Cheney makes it easier to turn 2022 into another referendum on Trumpism.

🎧 On the Pods… 🎧

Sarah Longwell: Why Courage is Contagious

On today’s Bulwark podcast, Sarah Longwell joins Charlie Sykes to discuss the McCarthy / Cheney beef, Tucker’s weird obsession with Frank Luntz, and post-truth nihilism.

ATMA: 'Without Remorse' Inspires Viewer Remorse

Plus: Lucy Liu talks representation and progress in Hollywood.

ATMA BONUS: Can the MCU Save Theaters? 🔐

Disney announced a whole bunch of Marvel stuff this week—and, most importantly, reaffirmed its commitment to theatrical moviegoing.

From The Bulwark Aggregator…

• Josh Mandel Slams Big Tech Companies That Made Him Tens of Thousands – Roger Sollenberger, The Daily Beast

• When Politics Makes It Impossible To Plan – Katherine Mangu-Ward, Reason

• Meet the people deciding Trump’s fate on Facebook – Cristiano Lima, Politico

• Biden administration taps Richard Cordray as student loan chief – Liz Stark and Katie Lobosco, CNN

• Romney and Cheney were once quintessential conservative names. Then ‘conservative’ changed. – Philip Bump, The Washington Post

• Biden administration to reunite first group of migrant families – Suzanne Monyak, Roll Call

• Census Bureau: 70% of voters cast ballots early or by mail – Nicholas Riccardi, The Associated Press

In Today’s Bulwark & Bulwark+…

MORNING SHOTS: The Right Sours On Freedom 🔐

CHARLIE SYKES on why Liz Cheney won't shut up.

THE TRIAD: Is Vaccine Bribery a Good Idea? 🔓

JVL: Paying people to get the vaccine is . . . weird.

Sohrab Ahmari and the Price of “Liberalism”

ROBERT TRACINSKI: What we lost when we gave up the semantic battle over "classical liberalism."

🚨OVERTIME 🚨

It’s hailing. As I type, the twins are watching Sesame Street and waiting for me to make dinner and the walls and windows sound like a hockey rink during a Bantam practice. What do I have to look forward to in the coming days? Door to door salesmen and women trying to sell me on a new roof. Winds are 35 knots. The wife and kids have decamped to the basement, but there’s no risk of a tornado, so I am staying here to finish this newsletter.

James O’Keefe dance party. I regret to inform you this is real.

Right Wing Watch @RightWingWatch

If we have to watch this James O'Keefe/Project Veritas music video, well, then so do you.

Welcome to Good Faith… Our friend Ben Dreyfuss has a new Substack newsletter, and before I try to tell you why it’s good, let’s defer to him:

Welcome to Good Faith, a Substack about how social media has supercharged the culture war and driven everyone insane. The popular line is that the internet is rife with people acting in bad faith. For eight years, I was in charge of audience development at Mother Jones, which means I’ve spent a lot of time getting people hooked on politics. What I learned was that there are definitely people who do act in bad faith, but I’m going to go out on a limb and say that it’s actually a pretty small minority of people. Most people are acting in good faith—they’re just stupid and busy and tired and human.

Do give a look. Ben is good people.

WWW.CREEDTHOUGHTS.GOV/CREEDTHOUGHTS… Facebook is giving that former guy a… blog?

From Chemtrails to Forensic Audits. Quite the journey for Kelli Ward!

Andrew Donaldson @four4thefire

You have to be so broke in the head to not see the ridiculousness of this "audit" theater that means nothing and will amount to even less except for the people making bank off it.

Arizona Republican Party @AZGOP

There's a lot of thought and planning that's gone into making America's Audit secure, safe and fair. Take a look as AZGOP Chairwoman @kelliwardaz gives us a rundown of the process and the security in place. #AmericasAudit #FinishTheAudit #ElectionIntegrity https://t.co/RXbXFj1zzW

Check out this thread as to why what the AZ GOP is doing is so damaging.

Bombs at the CIA… Unless you’re local, you may have missed this story.

RIP JIT. The transformational supply chain theory that defined large swaths of business school for me, at least for some, is out. Time to horde!

Fair…

Matt Fuller @MEPFuller

Truly living up to the Confederate traditions.

Scott MacFarlane @MacFarlaneNews

Man accused of carrying Confederate flag into US Capitol on Jan. 6 might be among the first to fold. Plea negotiations are underway, per hearing underway in DC federal court https://t.co/zYuX7BNjnl

Inside COVID Hell in India. Some commentators got this spectacularly wrong, like Candace Owens of Ben Shapiro’s Daily Wire website. Here’s what it’s like right now:

Owens, who despite being a truther in early 2020, even suggesting that hospitals and medical providers were inflating COVID deaths to make money, can see: they’re burning bodies in fields.

She once said “Flu and pneumonia deaths also went off a cliff. Turns out everyone is only dying of coronavirus now. Gee, I wonder why.”

Maybe Owens should fly to India after she becomes a medical doctor (or a holder of any advanced degree of any kind) and do some tests.

But, would she wear a mask?

Candace Owens @RealCandaceO

WOW. Just had a police officer called over to me and my husband at Whole Foods bc we were not wearing masks. We come to this @WholeFoods EVERY DAY. Apparently beginning yesterday, it is now illegal to come in without a mask. Total deaths in D.C from Covid? 69. WTF if going on?

Why anyone would hire this lunatic is beyond me.

#TeamDog. Not everyone here is on board, but how can you not be Team Dog after this?

Is recycling worth it anymore? It’s complicated.

Irony is dead. Josh Hawley, on a privately hosted chat with a media organization is… Censored, Canceled, and Silenced? This guy has a law degree from Yale? Fooled me.

The Recount @therecount

Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO): "Don't try to censor, cancel, and silence me here." @Cat_Zakrzewski: "Senator, we're hosting you here."

But Hawley has no regrets about 1/6.

That’s it for me, see you tomorrow. Drop me a line if you want: swift@thebulwark.com. Remember, you can always adjust what emails you get by hitting “unsubscribe” below and picking and choosing what you do or don’t want. (No, it doesn’t automatically unsubscribe you with one click.)

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