Another great column JVL - and I agree with everything you say about Sarah. Great part of the team. And I am particularly grateful that she recommended the Australian program Fisk on Netflix - hilarious and a great respite from all of our political musings and worries. Keep up the good work Bulwark buddies!
JVL is surely right that things are not looking good for those of us who want to stop Trump. The three ways of doing it are the primaries, the courts, and the general election. Taking him down in the primaries now looks hopeless, and the courts do not look much better. The case in New York is a farce. The one in Georgia is weak and possibly tainted. Smith’s strong cases in Florida and Washington may be delayed until they no longer matter. That leaves the general election. Biden will not defeat Trump in November with the support of only those who want the green new deal, open borders, CRT/ESG preferences and hiring quotas, speech codes, and sympathy for Hamas. He will need to win among the centrists, moderates, independents, and other non-Trumpists who do not care for the left. I have a suggestion on something he can do to accomplish that. He should dump Harris and make Manchin his running mate. The lefties would not like it, but he has them sewn up against Trump regardless of what he does. I doubt if he will, but I think it would go a long way toward guaranteeing the end of Trump, which should be the main objective for all of us.
Huge Sarah Longwell fan! I don't know how she does it, but she is amazing!
I also have always been that political nerd who loves elections and used to get so excited about debates and primaries. Not anymore. The Republican party has shown it is a rabid, anti-democratic political cult. They want to live in delusion and rage. They wanted the hapless conman from Mar-a-Lago to take a dump in his adult diapers in a fit of rage, cake on the orange bronzer, puff up the bird's nest atop his head, wave those tiny hands about and scrunch his face up like an anus as he vomits lies, propaganda, racism, authoritarianism, anti-Americanism, dehumanization, and outright insanity into their gullets like a mother bird does for her babies.
He is their daddy. Their hero. Their savior. Their lord. They aspire to be him. The love everything about him. His decadence, his senility, his rage, his sexual assault, his 91 felonies and counting, his extramarital affairs with porn stars, his bankruptcies. He is their idea of human perfection. He is their lord and savior above all else. It is deeply unsettling and there is little that we can do about it. They can't be reasoned with. They won't accept any facts that challenge their folklore about the heroic adventures of Donald Trump and the MAGA hordes. If he declares Nikki Haley, and not Nancy Pelosi, was the Speaker of the House on Jan 6, 2021, they will reimagine their reality to fit that new data point. Suddenly, it will be a conspiracy of the deep state foisted upon the American people that Nancy Pelosi was ever speaker when everyone knows that it was Nikki Haley, fresh from the basement of a pizza place that was the Speaker. Reality must be contorted to fit dear leader's whims and insanity. They can't bring themselves to allow for or question dear leader for he is god himself.
The only thing we can do is beat them. Joe Biden is older than dirt and super feeble. He's done a decent job as president. As Sarah Longwell says, this isn't about building a pro-Biden coalition but rather an anti-Trump/MAGA coalition. They must be denied political power. It is the only way our free society will survive. To do that, we will have to unite together and stand behind Biden.
Thank you for your touching words about Sarah Longwell. Sarah has done more to help me feel hopeful than anyone over the past few months. Her commitment is inspiring and her insights spot on. We’ll get there together one day at a time.
My dear friend...you do sound discouraged and down here. My inclination is to give you a big hug, and comfort you and tell you it will all be okay.
And I actually think it will be. Trump is such a negative force field that it's difficult not to be caught up in his bad evergy. But Truth, Light and Goodnness are even more powerful and will prevail.
My sense is that the MAGA madness and its perpetrator, are slowly fracturing into a million pieces. He's barely winning these primaries, and a lot of the folks who showed up and voted for someone else say they are unlikely to vote for Trump in November.
We are still a mostly sane and normal country, who value our laws and believe in Democracy. Even though the chaos they, with a willing press create, we still have a very competent and well run government, and I believe it is still strong enough to hold.
JVL, thank you for being you. Before the Bulwark I was always searching for someone temperamentally a conservative but also supportive of a multiracial and multiethnic democracy. I hate that I know who you are because of Trump. We need the best of you for the next 11 months. After that we can figure it out together. For now, everything is about defeating fascism in the US. Nothing else matters. Jamie Dimon might not care because it doesn’t matter.? His children’s children will be privileged. But my children are Black. History tells us that minorities NEVER fair well is fascist society because they always need scapegoats. I pray that your words penetrate enough Republicans of conscience that I no longer have to sleep with fear of Trump. But I thank you for trying whether Biden wins or not. I hope you understand how monumentally important what your words mean to some of us. Appreciate what you do.
Those of us “who are regarded as lunatics by 70% of the country” are in very good company. I feel deep gratitude toward all the people of the Bulwark, writers and commenters alike. This is a strong, fierce, thoughtful, wrenching, and wry place to be. Thanks for keeping me sane and making me laugh, and sometimes cry. Just excellent work.
I was trying to tell a friend at a party we were hosting that but some metrics Biden has been the most effective President in the last 50 years . . . They did in fact look at me like I was crazy
I was thrilled to be able to see the live show in SF last week - you were all outstanding. The biggest message I came away with though was Sarah’s at the end: to not give in to the exhaustion because that’s what authoritarians count on. You are all inspiring and energizing. I’m not giving up on our country and our democracy without a big fight.
JVL - Like you, I'm pleasantly surprised at how successful Joe Biden's presidency has been. I really don't understand why many people (maybe I read too much of the Wall Street Journal) think he has tilted far to the left. Happy to be a fellow lunatic with you!
I wrote earlier about how our isolated lives in the stew of both broadcast and social media that exploits the worst in people has contributed to the exhaustion. I just came across this from Hannah Arendt: "It has frequently been observed that terror can rule absolutely only over men who are isolated against each other and that, therefore, one of the primary concerns of all tyrannical government is to bring this isolation about. Isolation may be the beginning of terror; it is certainly its most fertile ground; it is always its result….Isolation is that impasse into which men are driven when the political sphere of their lives, where they act together in the pursuit of a common concern, is destroyed.
Another great column JVL - and I agree with everything you say about Sarah. Great part of the team. And I am particularly grateful that she recommended the Australian program Fisk on Netflix - hilarious and a great respite from all of our political musings and worries. Keep up the good work Bulwark buddies!
Sarah is always right!
Renewing my request to have the YouTube presentations also available (even if it's not live) as podcasts.
JVL is surely right that things are not looking good for those of us who want to stop Trump. The three ways of doing it are the primaries, the courts, and the general election. Taking him down in the primaries now looks hopeless, and the courts do not look much better. The case in New York is a farce. The one in Georgia is weak and possibly tainted. Smith’s strong cases in Florida and Washington may be delayed until they no longer matter. That leaves the general election. Biden will not defeat Trump in November with the support of only those who want the green new deal, open borders, CRT/ESG preferences and hiring quotas, speech codes, and sympathy for Hamas. He will need to win among the centrists, moderates, independents, and other non-Trumpists who do not care for the left. I have a suggestion on something he can do to accomplish that. He should dump Harris and make Manchin his running mate. The lefties would not like it, but he has them sewn up against Trump regardless of what he does. I doubt if he will, but I think it would go a long way toward guaranteeing the end of Trump, which should be the main objective for all of us.
I wonder what partisans in WWII did to keep their spirits up. Probably as good a model as anyone.
I, too, am grateful for people like Sarah ;)
Huge Sarah Longwell fan! I don't know how she does it, but she is amazing!
I also have always been that political nerd who loves elections and used to get so excited about debates and primaries. Not anymore. The Republican party has shown it is a rabid, anti-democratic political cult. They want to live in delusion and rage. They wanted the hapless conman from Mar-a-Lago to take a dump in his adult diapers in a fit of rage, cake on the orange bronzer, puff up the bird's nest atop his head, wave those tiny hands about and scrunch his face up like an anus as he vomits lies, propaganda, racism, authoritarianism, anti-Americanism, dehumanization, and outright insanity into their gullets like a mother bird does for her babies.
He is their daddy. Their hero. Their savior. Their lord. They aspire to be him. The love everything about him. His decadence, his senility, his rage, his sexual assault, his 91 felonies and counting, his extramarital affairs with porn stars, his bankruptcies. He is their idea of human perfection. He is their lord and savior above all else. It is deeply unsettling and there is little that we can do about it. They can't be reasoned with. They won't accept any facts that challenge their folklore about the heroic adventures of Donald Trump and the MAGA hordes. If he declares Nikki Haley, and not Nancy Pelosi, was the Speaker of the House on Jan 6, 2021, they will reimagine their reality to fit that new data point. Suddenly, it will be a conspiracy of the deep state foisted upon the American people that Nancy Pelosi was ever speaker when everyone knows that it was Nikki Haley, fresh from the basement of a pizza place that was the Speaker. Reality must be contorted to fit dear leader's whims and insanity. They can't bring themselves to allow for or question dear leader for he is god himself.
The only thing we can do is beat them. Joe Biden is older than dirt and super feeble. He's done a decent job as president. As Sarah Longwell says, this isn't about building a pro-Biden coalition but rather an anti-Trump/MAGA coalition. They must be denied political power. It is the only way our free society will survive. To do that, we will have to unite together and stand behind Biden.
Great Triad!
Thank you for your touching words about Sarah Longwell. Sarah has done more to help me feel hopeful than anyone over the past few months. Her commitment is inspiring and her insights spot on. We’ll get there together one day at a time.
My dear friend...you do sound discouraged and down here. My inclination is to give you a big hug, and comfort you and tell you it will all be okay.
And I actually think it will be. Trump is such a negative force field that it's difficult not to be caught up in his bad evergy. But Truth, Light and Goodnness are even more powerful and will prevail.
My sense is that the MAGA madness and its perpetrator, are slowly fracturing into a million pieces. He's barely winning these primaries, and a lot of the folks who showed up and voted for someone else say they are unlikely to vote for Trump in November.
We are still a mostly sane and normal country, who value our laws and believe in Democracy. Even though the chaos they, with a willing press create, we still have a very competent and well run government, and I believe it is still strong enough to hold.
JVL, thank you for being you. Before the Bulwark I was always searching for someone temperamentally a conservative but also supportive of a multiracial and multiethnic democracy. I hate that I know who you are because of Trump. We need the best of you for the next 11 months. After that we can figure it out together. For now, everything is about defeating fascism in the US. Nothing else matters. Jamie Dimon might not care because it doesn’t matter.? His children’s children will be privileged. But my children are Black. History tells us that minorities NEVER fair well is fascist society because they always need scapegoats. I pray that your words penetrate enough Republicans of conscience that I no longer have to sleep with fear of Trump. But I thank you for trying whether Biden wins or not. I hope you understand how monumentally important what your words mean to some of us. Appreciate what you do.
Those of us “who are regarded as lunatics by 70% of the country” are in very good company. I feel deep gratitude toward all the people of the Bulwark, writers and commenters alike. This is a strong, fierce, thoughtful, wrenching, and wry place to be. Thanks for keeping me sane and making me laugh, and sometimes cry. Just excellent work.
I was trying to tell a friend at a party we were hosting that but some metrics Biden has been the most effective President in the last 50 years . . . They did in fact look at me like I was crazy
I was thrilled to be able to see the live show in SF last week - you were all outstanding. The biggest message I came away with though was Sarah’s at the end: to not give in to the exhaustion because that’s what authoritarians count on. You are all inspiring and energizing. I’m not giving up on our country and our democracy without a big fight.
JVL - Like you, I'm pleasantly surprised at how successful Joe Biden's presidency has been. I really don't understand why many people (maybe I read too much of the Wall Street Journal) think he has tilted far to the left. Happy to be a fellow lunatic with you!
I wrote earlier about how our isolated lives in the stew of both broadcast and social media that exploits the worst in people has contributed to the exhaustion. I just came across this from Hannah Arendt: "It has frequently been observed that terror can rule absolutely only over men who are isolated against each other and that, therefore, one of the primary concerns of all tyrannical government is to bring this isolation about. Isolation may be the beginning of terror; it is certainly its most fertile ground; it is always its result….Isolation is that impasse into which men are driven when the political sphere of their lives, where they act together in the pursuit of a common concern, is destroyed.