Biden Caves, Gives Putin Another Pipeline to Europe

David Kramer and Benjamin Parker on Blinken and Biden, well, blinkin'.

Leading The Bulwark…

Biden Caves, Gives Putin Another Pipeline to Europe

DAVID J. KRAMER AND BENJAMIN PARKER: Secretary of State Blinken had promised “to do whatever we can” to stop the completion of Nord Stream 2.

🎧 On the Pods… 🎧

Carol Leonnig and Philip Rucker: Trump's Catastrophic Final Year

On today's podcast, Pulitzer Prize winning authors Philip Rucker and Carol Leonnig talk with Charlie Sykes about their new best-seller: "I Alone Can Fix It."

BGTH: John Mass on the Future of Content

This week Sonny is joined by John Mass, Executive Vice President of Content Partners, LLC, to talk about the business of acquiring intellectual property and figuring out how to make the business side of show business work.

For Bulwark+ Members… 🔐

MORNING SHOTS: Nancy Pelosi Calls BS 🔓

CHARLIE SYKES on why the pundit class clutches its pearls

THE TRIAD: Pick Your Political Poison 🔐

JVL: Minority rule vs. One-party rule.

From The Bulwark Aggregator…

• Cheney’s spot on Jan. 6 select committee reignites rift within GOP – Olivia Beavers, Nicholas Wu, and Heather Caygle, Politico

• Rhetoric escalates between Shelby and Brooks – Matt Holt and Zach C. Cohen, National Journal

• The Matt Gaetz-Marjorie Taylor Greene Fundraising Tour Is Actually a Cash Fire – Roger Sollenberger, The Daily Beast

• The Republicans Have Already Given Biden What He Needs – Russell Berman, The Atlantic

• The Guy Who Spent $30 Million Building Trump’s Wall Is Looking for Buyers – Simon van Zuylen-Wood, Bloomberg Businessweek

• The pandemic drove women out of the workforce. Will they come back? – Megan Cassella, Politico

• Biden pledges to ‘fix that damn bridge’ in Cincinnati town hall – Niels Lesniewski, Roll Call

In Today’s Bulwark...

The Odd Political Fight Over Medicaid Expansion in the Last 12 Holdout States

DANIEL MCGRAW: The parties jockey for position on how to add voters to Medicaid rolls—and claim credit for doing so.

Team Biden vs. COVID Misinformation

BRIAN KAREM: Facebook, Fox, the ‘disinformation dozen’—and the implications for our democracy.

🚨OVERTIME 🚨

What’s ‘the plan’?

George Conway @gtconway3d

I think the plan is to have a clean conscience. https://t.co/qlV5zHNfaM

Chris Vance @Chrisvance123

I greatly admire Liz Cheney, but what's the plan? She has publicly broken completely with the party, and the party has broken with her. Maybe a crowded primary field gets her reelected, but then what? Being anti-Trump and remaining in the GOP seems like a dead end.

A good sign.. Let’s hope that the Speaker allows Rep. Riggleman to help out. (Listen to his podcasts with us here.) We’ve had enough clownish behavior from the GOP, and if folks like Rep. Riggleman, who have the background and seriousness to help can show that at least some Republicans are willing to step up, America benefits.

Ryan Nobles @ryanobles

NEW: Former GOP ⁦@RepRiggleman⁩ emerges from Nancy Pelosi’s office. Riggleman won’t say if he was offered a role on the 1/6 Select Committee but said if he is asked to serve he would do so.

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery… But Senator Graham doesn’t seem to have the numbers. And when it comes to votes, it’s all about the numbers.

Lindsay Wise @lindsaywise

“Probably not,” said Sen. Mike Rounds (R., S.D.), when asked if he would leave Washington to deny Democrats a quorum. “I’m not a big fan of those kinds of things,” said Sen. Marco Rubio (R., Fla.). Sen. Steve Daines (R., Mont.) was unequivocal: “No.”

Lindsay Wise @lindsaywise

GOP Not Sold on Lindsey Graham’s Plan to Leave Washington to Block Budget Bill https://t.co/OsMMiy2Zsr via @WSJ

Graham is suggesting that Senate Republicans follow the lead of Texas state legislature Democrats and flee town to deny quorum. The problem? Quorum is 51. So if one Senator doesn’t go along with Graham’s plan, it fails.

Welcome to Blaseball. How I missed this fun pandemic activity is beyond me, but better late than never, as documented at Ordinary Times and People Make Games. #GoWorms.

Does Rand Paul know what he’s talking about? Yes, this virology professor claims, because he’s distorting what really went on during his viral exchange with Fauci.

Meet the Frenchman who ‘biked’ via boat across the Atlantic eating expired food. It’s a little extreme, but if you’re like me, some household disagreements occur over best by, sell by, and use by dates. (The latter being most clear.)

It’s in French, but it’s fascinating, and YouTube enables you to turn on translated captions. Worth 15 minutes of your time.

Happy Anniversary, Senator Cruz.

Bad COVID-19 Takes @BadCOVID19Takes

One year ago today: Ted Cruz gave his guarantee.

This will be a game-changer… The NFL obviously looked ahead and considered its profits and brought down the hammer.

Tom Pelissero @TomPelissero

The NFL just informed clubs that if a game cannot be rescheduled during the 18-week season in 2021 due to a COVID outbreak among unvaccinated players, the team with the outbreak will FORFEIT and be credited with a loss for playoff seeding, per sources. Massive implications.

REMINDER: THURSDAY NIGHT BULWARK IS ON HIATUS THIS WEEK.

It’ll return next week and we’ll tell you about our fall plans, with some fun new ideas.

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

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