Tonight: It Begins in Snowy Iowa
Plus: To Honor MLK, Focus on His Actual Work
Recently in The Bulwark:
CHARLIE SYKES: Slouching Towards Iowa
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TONIGHT: Voting Begins in Iowa
Come join JVL and A.B. Stoddard tonight on YouTube as they talk about the Iowa Caucus results. Starts at 10 p.m. Eastern.
MATT JOHNSON: Bad Economy Vibes Are a Threat to Democracy
DESPITE A BRIEF DIP IN ESTABLISHMENT SUPPORT for Donald Trump after the January 6th insurrection, he dominates the Republican party once again. Last October, he ended Minnesota Rep. Tom Emmerās bid to become House speaker with a single Truth Social post. (āThey always bend the knee,ā he said privately.) He has received endorsements from almost one hundred representatives and nineteen senatorsācompared to five and zero for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. But the clearest indicator of Trumpās suffocating grip on the GOP is his massive lead in the pollsāheās up by about 50 points nationally.
š„ PODCASTS AND VIDEOS š§
Bulwark Podcast with Charlie Sykes: Will Saletan: The GOP Surrenders before 1st Vote [Ad-freeš]
The Focus Group: Itās Not That Hard to Win Iowa (with J. Ann Selzer) [Ad-Freeš]
Bulwark Goes to Hollywood: How āThe Family Planā Became a Hit for Apple
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.
PETER C. MEILAENDER: Stories of Black American Courage and Faith
WHEN MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. GAVE his āI Have a Dreamā speech on August 28, 1963, he pulled off a difficult balancing act. On the one hand, he exposed the emptiness of Americaās egalitarian ideals as they applied to its black citizens. Calling the Declaration of Independence a āpromissory note,ā King said that āAmerica has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked āinsufficient funds.āā On the other hand, he did not turn his back on America and its ideals. Instead, he called on the country to live up to its own promises, and he expressed confidence that it could: āWe refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation.ā
JIM SWIFT: To Honor MLK, Focus on His Actual Work. (From the Archives šļø)
Youāll sometimes hear it claimed that, if Martin Luther King Jr. were alive today, he would be a Republican. In part, that claim is based on the notion that King would have opposed affirmative action, since he spoke so eloquently in his āI Have a Dreamā speech of his hope that people would be judged by āthe content of their character rather than the color of their skin.ā But to claim on that basis that MLK would have been a Republican is a gross example of taking someoneās life and ideas out of context.
MS. PATRICIA BROWN: Martin Luther King Jr. Day and āthe Minds and Hearts of Childrenā
In 1979āthe year Martin Luther King Jr. would have turned 50 if he had not been gunned down in 1968ācongressional hearings explored whether to create a federal holiday honoring him. Famous witnesses offered glowing encomiums for and harsh criticism of the late civil rights leader. But from todayās vantage, perhaps the most striking testimony came from a third-grade teacher from Indianapolis, Ms. Patricia Brown, who anticipated what the holiday would mean for future generations.
šØOVERTIMEšØ
SNOWBOWLā¦ As I type, the Bills are facing off against the dreaded Steelers (Go Bills, since my Browns lost over the weekend), and weāre actually getting some snow here in Northern Virginia. Hereās some muzak to enjoy if youāre not watching the game.
Between autocracy and electionsā¦ I joined Michael Starr Hopkins on Political Roots and had a blast. Listen here!
Did a Young Democratic Activist in 1968ā¦ Pave the Way for Donald Trump?
The Post-Neoliberalism Momentā¦ Dan Drezner writes in Reason that āAnyone advocating neoliberal policies is now persona non grata in Washington, D.C.ā
MATT LABASH ALERT: Be This Guy, Instead of the Angry Jerk You're Becoming.
Why Arizonaā¦ Faces an election timeline problem.
The Supreme Court agreed to hear a case pitting Idaho's near-total abortion ban against a federal healthcare protectionā¦ The Court kept the law in force in the interim, putting women's lives at risk, writes Kim Wehle.
Sarah Longwell on PodSaveAmericaā¦ Talking about the primary.
The Case Against Nationalismā¦ A smart read in National Affairs by Alex Nowrasteh & Ilya Somin.
Should you go to a Trump rally? McKay Coppins, one of the very first reporters to get close access to Trump, explains why it might be of use: because the clips donāt do how crazy he is justice.
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