What We Lost When the GOP Lost Itself
MONA CHAREN on why they’re discrediting worthy conservative ideas.
🏒 FACEOFF 🏒
How the Great Chicago Fire haunted the O’Leary’s for generations.
A must read at the Chicago Tribune:
There were children, then grandchildren, then great-grandchildren. The O’Learys became Knights, O’Connors, Neesons, Kopfmans and Fords, among others. They were teachers, carpenters and even a few firefighters.
Many remained in the Chicago area, while others relocated. Some family members keep contact with cousins, but connections between long disparate relatives were lost. To this day, several surviving branches of the family remain estranged.
“I don’t think there’s any animosity, but we have just never connected,” Connolly said. O’Gara said her aunts spoke of at least one visit from their Aunt Ledwell in their childhood.
“They were taken out of the room a lot (when older relatives visited), she said. There was a lot of shame involved when they would come over. There was a lot of secrets and they weren’t sure what was going on, and kids were just sent out of the room,” O’Gara said.
Another O’Leary relative declined to be interviewed by the Tribune, saying she and her cousins would honor an age-old tradition of not speaking publicly about the fire.
Both O’Gara and Connolly, who have never met, said they saw parallels between the treatment of their family and the anger shown toward immigrants today.
“In those days, the papers could print whatever they wanted and you didn’t have to worry about a lawsuit,” Conolly said. “I mean they were immigrants, for God’s sake, and who’s going to stand up for them?”
Knight said she plans to mark the anniversary with family and reflect on what her family endured. “I do think there was shame, but I don’t feel it. I’m very proud to be Irish,” Knight said. “I feel sad for (Catherine O’Leary). I wish she was alive to see all of this, how it all turned out.
Leading The Bulwark…
What We Lost When the GOP Lost Itself
MONA CHAREN on why they’re discrediting worthy conservative ideas.
🎧 On the Pods… 🎧
Tim Miller on Joe Manchin's Moment
On today's podcast, Tim Miller joins host Charlie Sykes to discuss Julie Andrews' birthday, why Dems should be grateful to Joe Manchin, Biden's immigration mess, Liz Cheney's opponent, and why Mike Pence is fawning over Hungary.
Democrats are Divided. Republicans are United -- as a cult. How worried should we be?
A.B. Stoddard joins to discuss why we can't have nice things in America.
For Bulwark+ Members… 🔐
MORNING SHOTS: Manchin's Math Lesson 🔐
CHARLIE SYKES wonders: Is failure an option?
THE TRIAD: The End of All Things 🔐
JVL: Baseball is almost over. But (hopefully) so is COVID.
THE SECRET PODCAST: What Is Sinema's Secret? 🔐
Bad news first. Good news second. Legal advice last.
TNB LIVESTREAM: The Stupid Party and the Evil Party 🔐
Ben Parker, Tim Miller, Amanda Carpenter and JVL discuss the end of the AZ fraudit, and the future of “audits”, the debt ceiling calamity, the VA Governor’s race, and Liz Cheney’s future.
From The Bulwark Aggregator…
Tech Tycoon Dangled a COVID Cure—Then Went Full Anti-Vaxxer - William Bredderman, The Daily Beast
The Democratic Agenda Isn’t Dead Yet - Russell Berman, The Atlantic
Abortion Just the Start as Supreme Court Tackles Guns, Religion - Greg Stohr, Bloomberg Businessweek
Where Breitbart’s False Claim That Democrats Want Republicans To Stay Unvaccinated Came From - Kaleigh Rogers, FiveThirtyEight
House delays infrastructure vote as last-minute talks hit wall - Lindsey McPherson and Jessica Wehrman, Roll Call
Inspector general finds ‘widespread’ problems in FBI’s FISA applications - Devlin Barrett, The Washington Post
GOP lawmaker fined $5K after skipping metal detectors - Cameron Jenkins, The Hill
In Today’s Bulwark...
The Disturbing Precedent for McConnell’s Debt-Ceiling Brinksmanship
LINDSAY M. CHERVINSKY: His tactics echo those perfected by the “Slavocracy” before the Civil War.
Why Was Mike Pence Hobnobbing with a Sanctioned Genocide Denier?
CASEY MICHEL: The former vice president hung out in Hungary—where else?—with a man who wants to destabilize the Balkans.
'The Many Saints of Newark' Review
Plus, SONNY BUNCH on how Hollywood's below-the-line union could up-end the filmmaking business.
🚨OVERTIME 🚨
Birthday weekend.
Let the preparation begin! With the fam in town and a triad of birthdays coming up, the Swift household is cooking. I’m using one of my pandemic panic purchases (a 6 lb can of tomato sauce) to make a bunch of pizza sauce. Because we’re having a lot of pizza for the kids. Perhaps it’s because I am a cheapskate, or because my grandparents grew up in the Great Depression and those sorts of things just got passed down, but I can’t let a gigantic can of tomato sauce go to waste. Even if it cost $3.50 at Sam’s Club.
A nifty little trick for tomato paste? Open both ends, remove one top and use the other as a plunger. It’s way more efficient than using a spoon.
I’ll let you in on my secret ingredient. Or you can use Tony Chachere’s, which is great on everything. But I’m trying to keep it Saint Louis.
One of these days I need to learn how to formulate provel cheese.
But for my birthday, I have a special present for you! A free month of Bulwark+!
The offer expires on Monday, so I hope you’ll cash in. You can tune into 4 episodes of Thursday Night Bulwark and really get a feel for what our members are used to enjoying: Morning Shots, The Triad, The Secret Podcast, and more!
Your mail is about to get slower. Here’s why.
Do we though?
That’s it for me for today. We’ll see you back here on Monday. Tech support questions? Email support@substack.com. Questions for me? Drop me a line: swift@thebulwark.com
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Editorial photos provided by Getty Images. For full credits, please consult the article.
