The Birth of the Biden Doctrine?

William Kristol on Biden's pivot.

Leading The Bulwark…

The Birth of the Biden Doctrine?

WILLIAM KRISTOL: His statement yesterday suggested a troubling pivot—turning away from the foreign policies of Truman, Reagan, even Clinton.

🎧 On the Pods… 🎧

David Jolly on the GOP's Gangster Politics

On today's podcast, former congressman David Jolly joins host Charlie Sykes to discuss Kevin McCarthy's threat against telecom companies; SCOTUS and the future of abortion, Biden's Afghanistan speech; and how the Dems could take down Ron DeSantis.

For Bulwark+ Members… 🔐

MORNING SHOTS: They All Know It's A Fraud. 🔓

CHARLIE SYKES: The GOP's Gangster Politics.

THE TRIAD: The Sum of All Fears: How Democrats Could Lose Everything 🔐

JVL: Let’s go dark, real dark.

From The Bulwark Aggregator…

• GOP Rep. Attempts Rogue Trip to Rescue Americans in Afghanistan: Report - Matt Stieb, Intelligencer

• House Republicans Privately Beg Trump to Help Them Impeach Biden - Asawin Suebsaeng and Matt Fuller, The Daily Beast

• Ida’s sweltering aftermath: No power, no water, no gasoline - Kevin McGill, Chevel Johnson, and Melinda Deslatte, Associated Press

• The Two Blows America Is Dealing to the Taliban - David Frum, The Atlantic

• Taliban to Unveil Government in Days After U.S. Troops Leave Afghanistan - Eltaf Najafizada, Bloomberg Businessweek

• Fact-checking Biden’s speech on the end of the Afghan war - Glenn Kessler, The Washington Post

• Idaho governor activates National Guard to combat surge in COVID-19 hospitalizations - Celine Castronuovo, The Hill

• McCarthy threatens companies that comply with Jan. 6 probe’s phone records requests - Myah Ward, Politico

In Today’s Bulwark...

What Happened to the Babylon Bee?

JIM SWIFT: “The Onion for Evangelicals” is now into anti-vax lib-owning.

The Party of Violence

MONA CHAREN: Across the country, Republicans are threatening to use force.

Skirting Ida

MARGARET MCMULLAN: We’re exhausted with the weather. Our backs ache from lugging sandbags and moving furniture. Why do we live in this crazy place?

An Open Letter to Tucker Carlson from a Hungarian Conservative

BALÁZS GULYÁS: Viktor Orbán isn’t building the Christian conservative Disneyland in Hungary you think he is, but a Chinese and Russian Trojan Horse in the EU and NATO.

🚨OVERTIME 🚨

Happy Wednesday! As Hurricane Ida moves through the area, we’re expecting a lot of rain. Though, in the south where I am of town, not too much.

#Pupdate… Rusty and Gus are somewhat getting along better, but Gus still isn’t fully on board. Rusty, who heretofore, has been largely good, did chew on a bit of furniture.

Bishop Sycamore… A friend of mine sent me a meme suggesting that Cam Newton, recently departed from the New England Patriots, had signed with Bishop Sycamore. I had to confess I didn’t get it. And hoo boy, I missed out on how the fake Ohio high school duped ESPN into filming one of their games. It’s the Fyre Festival of Football.

And it turns out, last year, they played my alma mater, Cleveland football powerhouse St. Ignatius in a preseason matchup, losing 33-6. But listen to what legendary coach Chuck Kyle has to say here. “That quarterback… he’s a man.”

I played hockey, not football, but Kyle was my English teacher, and I think he was, in an understated midwestern way, suggesting something was amiss.

Speaking of Ohio… Did you guys see the story about the bizarre man running up and accosting an NBC reporter in Mississippi? Turns out there’s more to the story as Cleveland.com reports. In reading this older story I realized, holy cow, this guy tried to turn his former place of employment into a cyanide trap, and the owner is somebody from my childhood church.

And yet…. More Ohio… The redistricting commission is going to miss its first deadline over partisan gridlock.

Last Ohio item… Let’s roll tape on Jim Jordan.

Mehdi Hasan @mehdirhasan

GOP Congressman @Jim_Jordan, again, last week claimed he'd never gone on television and suggested the election was stolen. So my team and I, at the @MehdiHasanShow, put together some receipts. Play the tape! (Enjoy!)

You hate to see it…

Manuel Bonder @manuel_bonder

Act 1: @SebGorka attacks @GlennYoungkin for being a RINO Act 2: @TeamYoungkin calls into his show to try and “anonymously” push back as “Josh” Act 3: “Josh” gets outed as @devin_omalley Call your office, Glenn! #VAGov

Deworming the Intellectual Dark Web…

Zach Schwartz @zachzachzach

Joe Rogan got Covid and decided to take Ivermectin Jfc Stop taking horse dewormer and get vaccinated

The 2020 GOP Lee Atwater play did not work… And now the guy they accused of being a “would be cop killer” was acquitted. I’m sure apologies from the Trump War Room and the Federalist are forthcoming…

CJ Ciaramella @cjciaramella

A side-note: Stallings' bond was paid for by a bail fund, leading to attacks from conservative media and Republicans that it had sprung a "would-be cop killer." He's now been acquitted.

Minnesota Reformer @MNReformer

Jaleel Stallings thought he was being shot at from an unmarked van by white supremacists. Only after he returned fire did he learn they were MPD officers. He was charged with attempted murder, but police body cameras helped exonerate him: https://t.co/oMouea3He4 @deenafaywinter

What happened to Rax? If you’re from the midwest, you may remember the fast food chain, Rax. Here’s what happened to them. (h/t Tom Firey.) Some Rax locations still exist in Ohio, Kentucky, and Illinois. But Mr. D. is no longer part of the ad campaign.

How the Cubs rebuilt Wrigley. Let me preface this by saying I hate the Chicago Cubs. I haven’t always, until I became a Saint Louisan, and this was later reinforced by the 2016 World Series. But I respect the Cubs, and I think Wrigley is a gem and I am glad that they preserved it. Here’s how they did it.

Madison Cawthorn is leading us towards more bloodshed.

The Republican Accountability Project @AccountableGOP

.@CawthornforNC YOU are leading us toward "bloodshed"

Your #LongRead of the day… This 9/11 story in The Atlantic about how a family and his would-be fiancee coped over the course of 20 years is well worth your time.

That’s it for me for today. We’ll see you back here tomorrow. Tech support questions? Email support@substack.com. Questions for me? Drop me a line: swift@thebulwark.com

—30—

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