The Jan. 6th Committee Starts With “Just the Facts, Ma’am”
Plus, have your steak and eat it, too.
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BILL KRISTOL: The Jan. 6th Committee Starts With “Just the Facts, Ma’am”
Liz Cheney did her job tonight. Her remarks, and the hearing as a whole, gave me confidence the Jan. 6th Committee will do its job well over the next two weeks. We all complain, often justifiably, about the failures of our leaders, the failures in particular of members of Congress. But the Jan. 6th Committee, I will venture to say, will do its job. The question is whether we the people will do our duty in drawing the conclusions we need to draw. Will we make these hearings an inflection point in strengthening our democracy, not just a blip in politics as usual?
Liz Cheney and company rekindled our rage at Republicans: They knew Trump was lying, subverting the law, and inciting the mob — and 147 of them went along anyway. Bulwark all-stars Sarah Longwell, Tim Miller, and Bill Kristol join Charlie Sykes for the weekend podcast.
On this week’s episode of The Bulwark Goes to Hollywood, Sonny talks to the CEO of Creative Future, Ruth Vitale, about the costs of piracy.
Third Way’s Matt Bennett help dissect the primaries so far, the January 6 hearings, and the question of who will be the Democrats’ 2024 nominee.
Bulwark+ members can listen to an ad-free version of these podcasts on the player of their choice. Learn more at Bulwark+ Podcast FAQ.
ADDISON DEL MASTRO: Have Your Steak and Eat It Too.
One night in Croatia, during our stay in the venerable port city of Split, my wife and I were feeling something different from the ubiquitous seafood-heavy Mediterranean fare. We both enjoy steak a lot, and so when we found a steakhouse that offered Croatian dry-aged ribeye, we decided to give it a try.
Usually, I don’t do steakhouses; back home, I can buy a very nice red wine and a very nice steak, and for a pretty minimal amount of work make the same dinner for half the price. Sometimes I like ordering familiar food I can cook myself, but a steak is so easy to cook up, and the supermarket offerings have gotten so good, that I can’t justify the price tag.
Here in Croatia, I could. And I’m glad I did.
BILL LEUDERS: Ron Johnson, Gun Reform Advocate?
Following the school shooting in Texas that left 19 children and two adults dead, Wisconsin Senator Ron Johnson offered up some incisive analysis of the root causes of gun violence.
“There’s a sickness in our society,” he told Fox Business host Neil Cavuto on May 26. “I’ve always said, overall the solution is renewed faith, stronger families, more supportive communities. I don’t think it’s helpful that kids are spending so much time in front of a computer screen, playing these games, being alienated, bullying on social media platforms.”
After brushing off Cavuto’s inquiries about whether it might make sense to bar teenagers from buying assault weapons or conduct “stiffer” background checks (“You know, no matter what you do, people fall through the cracks”), Johnson zeroed in on the real culprit: wokeness.
“We stopped teaching values in so many of our schools,” he lectured. “Now we’re teaching wokeness. We’re indoctrinating our children with things like CRT—telling some children they’re not equal to others, and they’re the cause of other people’s problems.”
🚨OVERTIME 🚨
Happy Friday! I was finally able to see Top Gun: Maverick earlier this week, and the new score is great, as was the movie.
Is “Truth” social banning people who are talking about the insurrection? That’s what one user claims.
Ginni Thomas.. 29 Arizona lawmakers… Let me know if you can guess how it ends.
Why Britt Lower is joining the circus… In Saint Louis. Which, given her filmography and her mom (a face painter) it makes sense!
Hello Cleveland! The summer of road trips with kids and dogs continues, this time to Forest City, where area girls will run the bases of Cleveland Guardians for their first season. (They’ve gotten some practice in at Camden Yards!) While I’ve seen my parents during the pandemic, I have not been back to Cleveland in nearly two years!
Where’s your webby? Dying at how funny this is.
Police sniper saves baby… For all the bad news, it’s occasionally needed to read some good news.
More good news… This guy lost. Thankfully.
Guess that campaign is over!
Did Garland drop the ball here? This guy’s response to Pulse nightclub, among other things, does not suggest he’s the best choice to oversee what went wrong in Uvalde.
That’s it for me. Tech support questions? Email members@thebulwark.com. Questions for me? Respond to this message.
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Editorial photos provided by Getty Images. For full credits, please consult the article.