Days, Not Weeks
Plus: Disgust and Exaltation Together
Recently in The Bulwark:
WILLIAM KRISTOL, JOE PERTICONE, SAM STEIN, AND BENJAMIN PARKER: Will Biden Hear the People Sing?
JVL: The Democratic Party Will Decide If Biden Steps Aside 🔐
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JILL D. LAWRENCE: Harris vs. Trump—The Race America Needs
YOU KNOW YOU’RE READY TO MOVE ON when you start envisioning a Kamala vs. Donald campaign and it makes you smile. At least I know that’s when I’m ready.
For more than two years, I’ve been on a Joe Biden rollercoaster. Now, amid a national outbreak of debate PTSD, there are signs that change may come. Daily polling trauma. Donors hitting pause. One report after another about Biden’s limited energy and cognitive lapses, past and present. Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) trying to assess support for asking him to leave the race.
PHILIP ALLEN LACOVARA: I Argued ‘U.S. v. Nixon.’ The Supreme Court’s New Ruling on Presidential Immunity Appalled Me.
WHAT A DIFFERENCE FIFTY YEARS MAKES: Half a century ago, a unanimous Supreme Court ruled that the president was subject to the laws of the United States that apply to every other citizen. But a week ago, a splintered Court voted 6–3 to create a unique prerogative for presidents to commit federal crimes with impunity.
A.B. STODDARD: To Win, Dems Must Move Against Biden in Days, Not Weeks
IT WAS SAD TO WATCH PRESIDENT BIDEN lost in his ego Friday night, the oldest-ever president failing visibly for all the world to see, telling us his record and his good intentions are enough—even if Donald Trump wins in November.
Biden’s rescue effort—in a televised interview with ABC News Friday—failed miserably, not because he lost his train of thought but because of what he said clearly: that this is, essentially, about him.
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Bulwark Podcast with Tim Miller: Bill Kristol: The Joe Biden Survival Plan
The Dark Side: The Waiting Game 🔐
The Bulwark Goes to Hollywood: Nielsen's Ratings Evolution
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EVE TUSHNET: Disgust and Exaltation Together
THERE ARE NIGHTS IN MY YOUTH whose memory seems lit by the glow of reckless conversation. Late into the night, usually over alcohol, I’d rant and volley with my friends as we crafted our personae, trying to say things so interesting they just had to be true. This kind of talk isn’t elegant or syllogistic; it galumphs, it’s catty and clumsy, glib and unfair and sometimes infuriating. And yet it can also uncover insights so powerful and perfect that they change a life. In the excesses of my youth, there are many acts and omissions I regret. But there are also joys and truths I encountered by going too far.
That’s my best attempt to both describe Becca Rothfeld’s new book, All Things Are Too Small, and summarize its thesis. (Full disclosure: I know and like Rothfeld.) All of these essays craft Rothfeld’s persona as a defender of glut, of unslakable thirsts and wants so strong they become needs. Even when I was unconvinced by them, the vivacious confidence of Rothfeld’s arguments forced me to clarify my own thoughts. And when she swept me along, she showed me new insights into psychology and mysticism, her strongest suits.
MONA CHAREN: It’s Time for Biden to Put Country First
PRESIDENT BIDEN, WHO EARNED OUR RESPECT and affection over the past four years, is now trying our souls. In an interview on a Philadelphia radio show, he mumbled that he was proud to be “the first black woman to serve with a black president.” Later, word leaked that campaign aides had submitted proposed questions to the radio hosts in advance. Was that a vote of no confidence from the staff?
🚨OVERTIME🚨
Happy Monday! It’s a scorcher here in the D.C. area, but I hope you had a safe and fun holiday weekend.
ur caps r on, btw1… The all-caps RNC platform.
Downtown St. Louis… is a casualty of the do-gooder war. An old-school take from Bill McClellan.
MAGA Republicans get the vapors… as Stephen Richer says he'll vote for Biden (AZ Central).
The Censorship-Industrial Complex:…The Right’s New Boogeywoman, explains Jonathan Rauch at The UnPopulist.
If Petting Others' Dogs Is Wrong… I Don't Want to Be Right, writes Matt Labash.
More evidence that the far-right justices have renounced… their beloved originalism. Kim Wehle brings the receipts.
Boeing will plead guilty to fraud… related to fatal 737 Max crashes (WaPo). Does this mean Boeing will have to check the box on its next federal contract application?
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Yes, this is a Shaq reference.