Recently at The Bulwark:
CHARLIE SYKES: Elon Musk is Putin's (and China's) Useful Idiot.
JVL: Things Fall Apart 🔐
ATMA: Why Does Kanye Want Parler? 🔐
You can support The Bulwark by subscribing to Bulwark+ or just by sharing this newsletter with someone you think would value it.
A.B. STODDARD: Mike Lee’s Golden Rule.
Beseeching Mitt Romney for help—on Tucker Carlson’s show of all places—would have been unthinkable to Sen. Mike Lee, even recently. Yet there he was last week, demeaning himself before Fox viewers who loathe Romney, begging not only for Romney’s endorsement, but adding “you can get your entire family to donate to me.”
Over the last six years, Donald Trump has ruined many Republican political careers. Lee is now scrambling to avoid becoming another of them. The two-term senator knows exactly why his campaign is in trouble and what led to his humiliation on Fox News.
Americans are worried about democracy, but not enough to vote about it. Plus, Tim Ryan dusted off the hits against JD Vance, Evan McMullin called out Mike Lee, Tulsi goes MAGA, and surprise, Eric “50 Bucks” Trump is a liar. Will Saletan is back with Charlie Sykes.
Bulwark+ members can listen to an ad-free version of these podcasts on the player of their choice. Learn more at Bulwark+ Podcast FAQ.
CHRISTIAN SCHNEIDER: Twitter’s Biggest Problem Is That It Is Awesome.
Last week, Newt Gingrich provided America—nay, the world—with what might be the greatest tweet of all time.
Gingrich was addressing a tattoo once sported by Democratic Pennsylvania Senate candidate John Fetterman that read “I will make you hurt.” (Fetterman has since had it covered.)
The former speaker posited that it may be a tie to the “crips gang.” Alternately, Gingrich guessed, it could be “a reference to the nine inch nails heroin song ‘Hurt.’”
CATHY YOUNG: Progressive Bigotry and the L.A. City Council Controversy.
A scandal that erupted on the Los Angeles City Council last week following the publication of a recording in which council members made racist or racially charged remarks has prompted a fair amount of gloating on the right. The three council members in the recording, including then-Council President Nury Martinez, are all Latino progressives; they were recorded making comments that, among other things, berated a white politician for siding with “the blacks” and disparaged a white councilman’s adopted black son in racially derogatory Spanish terms. The incident certainly plays into the “Democrats are the real racists” trope pushed by many in the Trumpified GOP as a way to deflect and whatabout charges of racism in the Republican party. It’s a dishonest and self-serving trope. And yet the L.A. City Council scandal does raise uncomfortable questions about progressive racial politics.
🚨OVERTIME 🚨
Hi, everybody! We’re not playing at the corner of Carnegie and Ontario tonight, but I’m all baseball tonight. It’s one of my personal maladies: caring, perhaps too much, about a franchise that has disappointed me, year after year. But it could be the last game of the season. Or it could be the springboard to a season I’ll never forget. So, I’m watching baseball. Today’s Overtime will be a little shorter than usual.
Cross your fingers for the Guards! We’re already in a bad place, and it’s still the first inning!
Hope to see you D.C.-area readers on Thursday at our first live event!
The Harper / Snell series… I’m only so interested in the NLCS insofar as, should the Guardians advance, learning about our opponents. But while the Phillies and the Padres face off, it’s worth remembering that baseball players, even in really bad moments, can act with class.
Josh Shapiro goes after Mastriano’s QAnon ties… It’s a good ad. Dems need to make more of them.
The Romney Martyr Theory… David French, must read, in The Atlantic.
What happened to the NordStream pipeline? This.
Tim Ryan brought the fire. Will it matter or make a difference? We’ll see.
America unfollows democracy… A Jordan Klepper joint.
That’s it for me. Tech support questions? Email members@thebulwark.com. Questions for me? Respond to this message.
—30—
Editorial photos provided by Getty Images. For full credits, please consult the article.