Susan Collins, Lindsey Graham, and a Changed Senate
Plus: What You Missed This Week From The Bulwark
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Susan Collins Is Beatable No Matter Who Replaces Platner
I LIVE WITH A DOOMSAYER HUSBAND who thinks of Maine Sen. Susan Collins as a political Harry Houdini—an escape artist who can slither to a win no matter who or what she’s up against. I could not disagree more.
He admits he has Eeyore syndrome, and maybe he’s just trying to gird himself for disappointment, but that doesn’t stop me from sputtering and ranting about why he’s wrong. I could spout it off in my sleep at this point—an endless highlight reel of all the reasons Collins could and should lose.
Democrats tend to defend the institutions that Trump is tearing apart, but Pete Buttigieg says the party should be focusing on the bigger, deeper structural problems the country is facing and the need for political reform. The kind of radical institutional changes he’d like to see include: expanding SCOTUS and the House of Representatives, statehood for Washington, D.C., and directly electing the president by popular vote. Plus, Pete gets candid about the “most fucked-up thing” that’s ever happened to his family, the big opportunity for Dems in Iowa in November, and Pete’s stumping for candidates in places where Fox News reigns.
As America Is Losing Friends, China Is Courting Them
WATCHING THE NATO SUMMIT IN ANKARA last week, I found that one question kept returning to me: What was China seeing? What were analysts inside the Chines…
In the Grim Darkness of the Far Future, There Is Only Culture War
IN FEBRUARY 2019, Italian artist Fabrizio Galli debuted an animatronic papier-mâché statue of Donald Trump. The 65-foot-tall Trump likeness was bedecked with golden armor and wielded a fiery sword with Twitter’s blue bird logo floating around the hilt. Galli had crafted the statue fo…
Sam Neill, 1947–2026
SAM NEILL, WHO DIED AT AGE 78 this morning following a years-long battle with cancer, was an unlikely A-lister. Hailing from New Zealand and possessing the very British quality of appearing in just about anything that would keep him working, Neill had a sort of receding everyman quality …
Are We Reading the Odyssey Wrong?
Two new books try to tame Homer’s hero. Neither succeeds.
NO MAJOR MOVIE CAN MAKE IT to theaters today without a train of tie-in and tag-along merchandise, both official and unofficial, trailing behind it.
‘The Odyssey’ Review
CHRISTOPHER NOLAN HAS ONLY ONE official trilogy under his belt. His Dark Knight Trilogy involves a masked man waging war on crime bosses, yes, but it doubles as a comment on the post-9/11 age and the collision of liberty and order that occurred as a result.
🚨OVERTIME🚨
Greetings from the Big Island of Hawaii. It’s a rare vacation for me, and as I checked in, news of Lindsey Graham’s sudden passing came across the wire.
One of my earliest memories of Graham was when, fresh out of college as a Senate aide, Graham barged beyond my desk with Joe Lieberman in tow to see my boss. They were, along with the late John McCain, the “three amigos.1” For many of us who knew him or were friends with him in “the before times” it can be complicated, as Adam Kinzinger explains. Ultimately, as Charles Krauthammer observed, decline is a choice, and for the most part, Graham chose decline and then some. As I knew him, he mostly followed and rarely led.
If you’re yet to read Will Saletan’s award-winning work, The Corruption of Lindsey Graham, it’s something we offer folks for free because that’s the kind of place this is. Go read it if you haven’t. (Or listen!) And do also read our friend and my former colleague Matt Labash on speaking ill of the dead.
I am not a big vacation person, nor am I an island or beach person. But this has been a restorative trip. (I do enjoy golf, good food2, and a clear view of the stars.)
As we left Cincinnati, I picked up a copy of Ted Koppel’s 2000 book Off Camera from the airport’s free library, one of the best quirks of CVG. I haven’t been able to put it down.
It’s been fascinating to read about the news media and political world as they existed a quarter century ago. Which was also the first time I visited here. Some things about our business have changed dramatically; many others haven’t changed at all.
At one point, Koppel quotes H.L. Mencken:
“No one in this world... has ever lost money by underestimating the intelligence of the great masses of the plain people.”
While I've been working at odd hours, knowing we aren't those kinds of people here at The Bulwark, and seeing how hard everyone works to help make our members smarter about the world, will make leaving this island paradise quite easy. I'm eager to get back to full speed. Being here has also made me think a lot about the Haitians in Springfield who love their own island home but don't want to return to suffer or die. I don’t exactly look forward to writing more about the cruelty of the Trump administration towards these fine people, but it’s a story we absolutely must continue to cover and not look away from.
Worried about smart glasses? There’s an app for that. (Wired)
Father and Daughter, Political Prisoners in Cuba… At The Next Move, Jay Nordlinger writes about the cases of Félix and Saylí Navarro.
Vance’s security detail ‘fed up’… with hastily arranged personal and family travel requests. (MS NOW)
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Editorial photos provided by Getty Images. For full credits, please consult the article.
My then-boss, Jon Kyl, was sort of a less well known “fourth amigo” who didn’t seek the spotlight like the other three did.
The Paniolo BBQ Dinner is a must. Look at this view.
Jim: Do yourself a big favor: don’t be anxious to return to the mainland. It will happen soon enough. Not just because you’ll regret not totally immersing yourself in the beauty and peace of Hawaii, but because you will need every ounce of restorative power the island gives you to face the next 2 1/2 years.
Safe travels.
Aloha—enjoy while you can and know that recharging is a good thing. You’ll need all your strength to continue the Bulwark mission when you get back! (And let’s hope Jill Lawrence is right about Susan Collins …) Gratefully yours.