One of the things I love most about The Bulwark team is that you all want to share other media with the Bulwark community. You introduce us to so many sources that offer points of view we may not have considered. When I see "read the whole article," I try to do just that, and I am generally grateful I did. So thank you and Overtime and JVL's Triad, and all The Bulwark's newsletters--and all the leads in the comments--for broadening my understanding and making me aware of what other people think. (Of course, Sarah's Focus Groups have the ultimate insights into "what other people think"--but they often scare the bejeezus out of me!)
Before all other things, I'm a reader. As such, I have a tendency to absorb the vibes of whatever I'm reading, so nowadays try to find books that bouy rather than depress me. I don't remember how I came across A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towls, but every dang time I opened the novel, I felt good/better. It seemed the perfect antidote to today. Novels aren't usually my first pick in things to read, but this fiction, fantasy, excursion of optimism did me a world of good. After finishing I did a little internet looking around, and found that that the Hotel Metropol in Moscow, the setting of the novel, is a real place that now offers tours based on the book.
As to nonfiction, anything by Craig Childs, who merges the personal and academic in his ability to bring to life the "prehistoric" past of North America. His high regard for the intelligence and accomplishments of the first, and longest duration, dwellers on our continent is to me fascinating and eye-opening; his love of our grand American landscape helps me to love it as well.
Wow, It has taken 10 years of lies, authoritarian power grabs, of corruption, of having rights taken away, of deconstruction, of plain stupidity… for many to step away from Trumpism, which has recently took a more overtly proNazi wing into the Party.
It’s not really stepping away from Trumpism until there is a stepping away from Republicanism, the Conservative movement that thinks governing does not mean representing, but means ruling by those that have declared themselves as better than most.
This has been such a trying year. I have had to really fight off despair. One book that helped remind me of beauty and warmth to be found is Patrick Bringley's "All the Beauty In The World". I'm not usually into memoirs but I loved this book. Bringley lost his brother a few years past and he ends up leaving his job in the finance world (I'm pretty sure it was finance-I lent my copy out so I can't go check). He became a security guard at the Met in NY. It is sweet, funny, poignant and just wonderful as he describes all the hidden treasures in the Met along with the diverse, fascinating people he worked with there. I was sitting on the porch reading it this summer and my husband came home as I was finishing it. Tears were streaming down my face and he looked scared but I assured him they were happy tears. Happy Holidays to all you Bulwarkians!
Remember how pissed people were at Carville when he suggested this strategy this spring during DOGE days? Whether out of strategy or (more likely) ineptitude, this strategy seems to be working for us in the end of 25.
Here is Tad Stoermer telling us about why Trump can do what he is doing. I think he has the most relevant analysis of how the American Constitution is working right now. He answers the question, "Has Trump Transformed the Presidency?" he tells us "Nope. And the Anti-Federalists Told Us Why"
This is why we need to be working the system to our advantage. All Blue States should be filing a class action lawsuit claiming that we are being taxed without representation and therefore should not be taxed by the federal government. Let the Red States join in if they can make their case, which I believe they can doubly, neither the people they elected from their state nor the people in the federal government are looking out for them.
If the government wants to take away my rights I certainly should not be taxed in order to facilitate that. I also don't want to be taxed in order to provide religious indoctrination to someone's children. I also don't think that I need to carry the tax burden that the very (extremely, obscenely) wealthy do not wish to be burdened with.
I’ll do you one better. I shouldn’t pay taxes to a government that doesn’t seem to be making an attempt to follow its own laws. It’s one thing to lose in a democratic election and have to live with policies you don’t like, it’s a whole other thing to be subject to the whims of a lawless authoritarian regime.
My "must read" that I didn't know about a year ago: books by Chilean author Roberto Bolano. To Bulwark readers I would recommend two short books, both of which I found insightful while being darkly hilarious.
"By Night in Chile" is a novella about a priest on his deathbed attempting to (and failing to) reconcile his experiences with Chile's literary intellegentsia and the Pinochet regime.
"Nazi Literature in the Americas" is the other book, and no explanation I can give of it would possibly do it justice. It's a fictional encyclopedia of right-wing poets in North and South America, briefly describing their lives, works, and ideologic influences. I chortled many times while reading it. The details he chooses to include (or omit) and the choice of words are ...casually devastating. The characters are pitiful, revolting, or both. And they feel familiar after watching so many people in public life undergo ideologic shifts in real time over the past decade. It's not as dark as it sounds, until then it is.
My only critique of Nazi Literature of the Americas is that I don't know how to explain having a book with this title on my bookshelf... so it's been on my nightstand since I first read in back in October.
Losing the room is right. Dictatorships always seem to have a short use-by date (Hitler 1933-1945; Trump 2016-2028). Coincidentally, twelve years apiece. Germany's "Thousand Year Reich", Japan's "Empire of the Sun", England's "The Sun Never Sets on the English Empire", The Roman Empire and "MAGA" all share the same worn-out allusion that they will last forever. It never happens.
Merry Christmas Jim! Thanks for the recommendations. I discovered the books The Chaos Machine and Separated this year. They are must reads that I recommend to everyone.
I have subscribed to a lot of substacks. Miles Taylor’s DEFIANCE is one I’d highly recommend. For the new year I’d encourage people to pick up Suleika Jouad’s The Book of Alchemy. Here’s hoping 26 brings more hope, and action, by reasonable forces. Let the eyes of the deceived be opened.
Anything by Heather Cox Richardson on Substack. Her bi-weekly and American Conversations podcasts are informative and inspiring, and her Letters from an American newsletter is a must-read every morning.
One of the things I love most about The Bulwark team is that you all want to share other media with the Bulwark community. You introduce us to so many sources that offer points of view we may not have considered. When I see "read the whole article," I try to do just that, and I am generally grateful I did. So thank you and Overtime and JVL's Triad, and all The Bulwark's newsletters--and all the leads in the comments--for broadening my understanding and making me aware of what other people think. (Of course, Sarah's Focus Groups have the ultimate insights into "what other people think"--but they often scare the bejeezus out of me!)
Before all other things, I'm a reader. As such, I have a tendency to absorb the vibes of whatever I'm reading, so nowadays try to find books that bouy rather than depress me. I don't remember how I came across A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towls, but every dang time I opened the novel, I felt good/better. It seemed the perfect antidote to today. Novels aren't usually my first pick in things to read, but this fiction, fantasy, excursion of optimism did me a world of good. After finishing I did a little internet looking around, and found that that the Hotel Metropol in Moscow, the setting of the novel, is a real place that now offers tours based on the book.
As to nonfiction, anything by Craig Childs, who merges the personal and academic in his ability to bring to life the "prehistoric" past of North America. His high regard for the intelligence and accomplishments of the first, and longest duration, dwellers on our continent is to me fascinating and eye-opening; his love of our grand American landscape helps me to love it as well.
I am staying home with my cats, reading, and watching FOOTBALL, as God intended.
Also, I am sure everyone wants to talk of yesterday's scintillating Gasparilla Bowl win...
Must read - "The Wall" by John Lanchester (it cheered me up after the election)
Iggles at 5 for Connie, Phil ( cats ) and me ! 🏈
Same agenda - cats (3), dog, (1 with occasional dog visitors), fam, food, football, glittering lights, fire, books. Happy holidays.
Wow, It has taken 10 years of lies, authoritarian power grabs, of corruption, of having rights taken away, of deconstruction, of plain stupidity… for many to step away from Trumpism, which has recently took a more overtly proNazi wing into the Party.
It’s not really stepping away from Trumpism until there is a stepping away from Republicanism, the Conservative movement that thinks governing does not mean representing, but means ruling by those that have declared themselves as better than most.
This has been such a trying year. I have had to really fight off despair. One book that helped remind me of beauty and warmth to be found is Patrick Bringley's "All the Beauty In The World". I'm not usually into memoirs but I loved this book. Bringley lost his brother a few years past and he ends up leaving his job in the finance world (I'm pretty sure it was finance-I lent my copy out so I can't go check). He became a security guard at the Met in NY. It is sweet, funny, poignant and just wonderful as he describes all the hidden treasures in the Met along with the diverse, fascinating people he worked with there. I was sitting on the porch reading it this summer and my husband came home as I was finishing it. Tears were streaming down my face and he looked scared but I assured him they were happy tears. Happy Holidays to all you Bulwarkians!
One year in and Trump has rope-a-doped himself
Remember how pissed people were at Carville when he suggested this strategy this spring during DOGE days? Whether out of strategy or (more likely) ineptitude, this strategy seems to be working for us in the end of 25.
Here is Tad Stoermer telling us about why Trump can do what he is doing. I think he has the most relevant analysis of how the American Constitution is working right now. He answers the question, "Has Trump Transformed the Presidency?" he tells us "Nope. And the Anti-Federalists Told Us Why"
https://youtu.be/444ve4KLSgo?si=N1HwjCTu9DwKChDj
This is why we need to be working the system to our advantage. All Blue States should be filing a class action lawsuit claiming that we are being taxed without representation and therefore should not be taxed by the federal government. Let the Red States join in if they can make their case, which I believe they can doubly, neither the people they elected from their state nor the people in the federal government are looking out for them.
If the government wants to take away my rights I certainly should not be taxed in order to facilitate that. I also don't want to be taxed in order to provide religious indoctrination to someone's children. I also don't think that I need to carry the tax burden that the very (extremely, obscenely) wealthy do not wish to be burdened with.
I’ll do you one better. I shouldn’t pay taxes to a government that doesn’t seem to be making an attempt to follow its own laws. It’s one thing to lose in a democratic election and have to live with policies you don’t like, it’s a whole other thing to be subject to the whims of a lawless authoritarian regime.
My "must read" that I didn't know about a year ago: books by Chilean author Roberto Bolano. To Bulwark readers I would recommend two short books, both of which I found insightful while being darkly hilarious.
"By Night in Chile" is a novella about a priest on his deathbed attempting to (and failing to) reconcile his experiences with Chile's literary intellegentsia and the Pinochet regime.
"Nazi Literature in the Americas" is the other book, and no explanation I can give of it would possibly do it justice. It's a fictional encyclopedia of right-wing poets in North and South America, briefly describing their lives, works, and ideologic influences. I chortled many times while reading it. The details he chooses to include (or omit) and the choice of words are ...casually devastating. The characters are pitiful, revolting, or both. And they feel familiar after watching so many people in public life undergo ideologic shifts in real time over the past decade. It's not as dark as it sounds, until then it is.
My only critique of Nazi Literature of the Americas is that I don't know how to explain having a book with this title on my bookshelf... so it's been on my nightstand since I first read in back in October.
That Nazi Literature novel is great; a unique fiction achievement.
Maggie, thanks for the recommendations. I will put them on my list. We know the Chile just elected a new Pinochet, so it seems very relevant.
Losing the room is right. Dictatorships always seem to have a short use-by date (Hitler 1933-1945; Trump 2016-2028). Coincidentally, twelve years apiece. Germany's "Thousand Year Reich", Japan's "Empire of the Sun", England's "The Sun Never Sets on the English Empire", The Roman Empire and "MAGA" all share the same worn-out allusion that they will last forever. It never happens.
Very true, it can't, nothing does.
Merry Christmas Jim! Thanks for the recommendations. I discovered the books The Chaos Machine and Separated this year. They are must reads that I recommend to everyone.
I have subscribed to a lot of substacks. Miles Taylor’s DEFIANCE is one I’d highly recommend. For the new year I’d encourage people to pick up Suleika Jouad’s The Book of Alchemy. Here’s hoping 26 brings more hope, and action, by reasonable forces. Let the eyes of the deceived be opened.
You ALL keep me sane(ish)! 🤪💜
Anything by Heather Cox Richardson on Substack. Her bi-weekly and American Conversations podcasts are informative and inspiring, and her Letters from an American newsletter is a must-read every morning.
Trump/Epstein Backstory: Essays & VIDEOS
https://open.substack.com/pub/ojaiohana/p/videos-friday-pre-game-files-release?r=5chxge&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true