Reconstructing Erna, Radicalizing the Center, and Fighting vs. Chilling Speech

Plus: Why Hope Hicks’s Testimony Matters

May 06, 2024

BILL KRISTOL & ANDREW EGGER: For Hamas, Survival Is Victory
BENJAMIN PARKER: Putin Should Be More Afraid of Us Than We Are of Him

Overtime is for everyone. If you’re a subscriber: thank you. If you’re not, there’s no better time to subscribe to Bulwark+ than today. If you like today’s issue, you can share this newsletter with someone you think would value it.

(Composite / Images courtesy of the author)

THERE WAS A TIME WHEN Erna Baiersdorf Engel-Jánosi was known for her way with men. A talented and creative sculptor who lived from 1889 to 1970, she found a special niche in creating busts to represent our species’ genealogical forebears. Partnering with a German scientist, she was among the first to reconstruct the Neanderthal man; the plaster busts they created together in the 1920s were distributed and studied in museums, galleries, and schools throughout Europe before the Second World War. Her work shaped many of our ideas of what early humans looked like.

READ THE REST.

A.B. STODDARD: Biden Risks Radicalizing the Center

ON TUESDAY PRESIDENT BIDEN will speak on antisemitism at the Holocaust Remembrance Day ceremony at the U.S. Capitol. He better lean in hard—like his re-election, and the future of American democracy, depend on it.
He must speak to the young liberal father in Georgia, a proud and observant Jew who can’t stand Donald Trump but doesn’t know how he will bring himself to vote for Biden this year. It’s the vote of this disheartened Peach State Democrat that Biden must salvage.

READ THE REST.

🎥 PODCASTS AND VIDEOS 🎧

Bulwark Podcast with Tim Miller: Bill Kristol and Andrew Egger: Lying Is the Price of Admission
The Bulwark Live from Philly: Watch the entire show! 🔐
The Focus Group: Trump's 'F U' Strategy (with Marc Caputo)
Shield of the Republic: The Original America first Movement
George Conway Explains it All (to Sarah Longwell): Trump WILL be convicted in the New York Case

Did you know? Bulwark+ members can listen to an ad-free version of these podcasts on the player of their choice.

Learn more at Bulwark+ Podcast FAQ.

KIM WEHLE: Why Hope Hicks’s Testimony Matters

THE CRIMINAL TRIAL IN MANHATTAN on 34 counts charging Donald J. Trump with falsifying business records in order to conceal another crime isn’t going well for Trump. His former aide and confidante, Hope Hicks, helped establish some key pillars of the government’s case. Testifying pursuant to a subpoena, she was obviously telling the truth on Friday—as indicated by the fact that she broke down in tears after the first question was posed on cross-examination. The judge called a recess for several minutes.

READ THE REST.

CATHY YOUNG: Fighting Antisemitism or Chilling Speech?

AS PRO-PALESTINIAN, ANTI-ISRAEL PROTESTS escalated on college campuses across the United States last week and reports proliferated of hostility toward Jewish students, Congress responded with a new bill, the Antisemitism Awareness Act, which passed the House by an overwhelming margin of 320–91 last Wednesday. While the legislation is a Republican project—the lead sponsor is New York Republican Michael Lawler, and most of the cosponsors were Republicans—Democrats also rallied behind it; of 212 House Democrats, 133 voted for the bill. And yet critics across the political spectrum, from the American Civil Liberties Union to libertarian Reason magazine columnist Robby Soave to right-wing pundit Matt Walsh to anti-woke education crusader Christopher Rufo to left-wing populist (and strong Israel supporter) Batya Ungar-Sargon, have denounced the bill as not only a terrible idea, but an unconstitutional one.

READ THE REST.

🚨OVERTIME🚨

I asked AI to show me what Johnny Cash might look like in Statuary Hall…

Happy Monday! The Cavaliers #LetEmKnow, and now are facing the Celtics in the NBA playoffs. It’s the first time the Cavs have advanced without LeBron in the playoffs since 1993. Let’s Go Cavs!

Johnny Cash to the Capitol… The musician joins civil rights leader Daisy Bates in a swap of Arkansas’s two statues. (Each state gets two.)

Happy Birthday, JVL… Holly Berkley-Fletcher has this birthday mega-collection of Bulwark impressions.

How to Survive… the Forever Election. Molly Jong-Fast at Vanity Fair.

Don't Sleep On Justice… Matt Labash on “Giving Trump the punishment he deserves, and not a lick more.” 🔐

A tribute… to Penne Alla Vodka (SNL).

Maybe the kids are going to be alright? At least some of them… Nikki Haley’s son has some advice for Senator Mike Lee.

Bankrupt Rudy Giuliani’s Spending… $43,000 a Month and a Lot of Credit Card Bills (NYT).

The Collapse of the News Industry… Is Taking Its Soul Down With It (Politico). Here, Shafer goes Col. Frank Slade.

L. Brent Bozell Jr. and L. Brent Bozell III shaped the conservative movement… And now a Bozell child is looking at a dozen years in the slammer. Some history from Ryan J. Reilly. Good. I hope he is made an example of.

America’s Colleges Are Reaping What They Sowed… Tyler Austin Harper writes at The Atlantic: “Universities spent years saying that activism is not just welcome but encouraged on their campuses. Students took them at their word.”

Ten things Jerry Seinfeld can’t live without… Bic Crystal pens, legal pads, good bookbag, sneakers… He’s a man who likes quintessence.