Mitch McConnell Saw the Insurrection Clearly and Then Decided He Liked It

Tim Miller on why McConnell now considers protecting the insurrectionists a personal favor.

Leading The Bulwark…

Mitch McConnell Saw the Insurrection Clearly and Then Decided He Liked It

TIM MILLER: McConnell now considers protecting the insurrectionists a personal favor.

🎧 On the Pods… 🎧

Bill Kristol on "Boob Bait for the Bubbas"

On today’s Bulwark podcast, Bill Kristol joins Charlie Sykes to discuss how the GOP has resorted to placating its base with tough-sounding rhetoric, despite letting the inmates run the asylum and steal all the attention from the leadership that is seemingly unwilling to govern.

BGTH: Frank Pallotta on the MGM/Amazon Deal, F9 in China, and the Summer Movie Season

CNN Media Reporter Frank Pallotta returns to the show to talk about a huge week in movie business news.

For Bulwark+ Members… 🔐

MORNING SHOTS: Boob Bait For The Bubbas 🔓

CHARLIE SYKES: Maybe it's the GOP that is overreaching

THE TRIAD: The Worst Bush 🔓

JVL: Picking sides in the Lone Star State's Iran-Iraq war.

From The Bulwark Aggregator…

• Trump wanted a quick tax break. His appointees are now stuck with big bills. – Brian Faler and Daniel Lippman, Politico

• John Warner Was the Glamorous Republican Heretic of the Senate – Ed Kilgore, Intelligencer

• The Last Honest Republican Gives In and Kneels Before Trump – Margaret Carlson, The Daily Beast

• Then She Asked Me About Benghazi – Ben Rhodes, The Atlantic

• Biden’s Top Man in Asia Says the Era of Engagement With China Is Over – Peter Martin, Bloomberg Businessweek

• Biden’s infrastructure bill is already moving – Brian Dabbs, Zach C. Cohen and Brendan Bordelon, National Journal

• Steve Wynn May Face Justice Department Action for Role in China’s Push to Expel Businessman – Aruna Viswanatha, The Wall Street Journal

In Today’s Bulwark...

How the Trump Administration Twisted Coronavirus Intelligence

OLIVIA TROYE: Rather than use intelligence to inform the government's response to the pandemic, the Trump administration tried to bend the facts for political ends.

Not My Party: Did COVID Come from a Chinese Lab Leak?

TIM MILLER: The "lab leak" hypothesis might be true, even if the worst people are its biggest boosters.

The Labor Market Needs the ‘Soft’ Skills Older Workers Have

BRENT ORRELL: You’re getting older. But you’re also getting better.

The Culture War Comes for Military Recruitment

SHAY KHATIRI: Sen. Ted Cruz and Tucker Carlson are abusing national security policy to fit their own demagogic ends.

Inflation and Crime Are Democrats’ Biggest Dangers

MONA CHAREN: If Democrats can’t figure out how to confront both issues, voters will punish them.

🚨OVERTIME 🚨

Happy Thursday! You know what that means… Tonight it’s time for some TNB! But you can only tune in at 8 p.m. ET if you’re a member of Bulwark+. JVL, Tim Miller, Mona Charen and Eric Edelman talk about Belarus's problematics, the COVID-19 origins, and the news of the day.

On the jukebox… Is this new track from Bleachers. Here’s some back story on it at Coup de Main.

What the heck is going on in the Senate?

Steve Beynon @StevenBeynon

In a weird and random move, the Senate confirmed Biden's pick for Army Secretary, but then unconfirmed her.

military.comSenate Revokes Confirmation of First Female Army Secretary over Apparent Procedural IssueMajority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., announced the rollback on the Senate’s decision about two hours after the chamber approved her.

(She has now since been re-confirmed.)

Russia steps up to defend Belarus…

Alex Macheras @AlexInAir

Breaking: Russia refused to allow today’s Air France flight from Paris to Moscow to fly into Russian airspace because the flight would have avoided Belarus airspace (— a new escalation in an aviation political war between Europe and Belarus. #Belarus)

Raising money for a bad priest. Read this America Magazine post about Fr. James Altman. Now, consider that people, because it’s 2021 and the Internet is going to be the Internet, are raising money for his defense. We’re talking real money here. And think, if you’re a devout Catholic, what that money could actually accomplish instead of defending.

A town under one roof… CBS Sunday Morning takes you to Whittier, Alaska.

How the changes to our labor market will impact retiree destinations… Like Florida and other places. Bloomberg’s Conor Sen reports. Question is: Where nobody works and everyone is retired, where will people who want to work for retirees choose to live?

More dead in Ohio… This summer I hear the drumming…

Peter A. Shulman 📚 @pashulman

Completely breathtaking. The sadly deluded anti-vaxers are on the precipice of dismantling a century of public health advances in Ohio. And because we have a grossly gerrymandered legislature, we are at the mercy of Republican politics.

Jake Zuckerman @jake_zuckerman

I interviewed three public health experts to ask about Ohio GOP legislation to block vaccine mandates from employers, colleges, hospitals and more. They all said this will suppress vaccination rates and hold the door open for infectious diseases. https://t.co/Q6rXIjwGtk

What is freedom for? Reason’s Stephanie Slade faces off against Sohrab Ahmari.

That’s it for me for today. We’ll see B+ members tonight, and everyone back here tomorrow. Tech support questions? Email support@substack.com. Questions for me? Drop me a line: swift@thebulwark.com

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