Larry Hogan’s Successor May Be an Insurrectionist
Plus, the Decay at the Claremont Institute Continues...
Recently at The Bulwark:
CHARLIE SYKES: Maybe the Democrats Should Try Popularism
JVL: The New Right Has Told Us Who They Are. Why Don't Americans Believe Them? 🔐
Thanks for your support of The Bulwark by being a member of Bulwark+. If you like today's edition, please share it with someone who you might think would value it.
New from me: Larry Hogan’s Successor May Be an Insurrectionist.
[W]hile Trump has endorsed some pretty fringey candidates, Cox may be the fringiest of them all.
What attracted Trump to Cox? For starters, the fact that Cox sought to impeach Gov. Hogan, a “Never Trumper” whom the former president never liked. The delegate’s impeachment attempt, premised on Hogan’s relatively mild COVID restrictions, lasted a grand total of six minutes.
Incredibly, the governor’s office responded to the proceedings with this: “This guy is known to be a QAnon conspiracy theorist. He’s got this weird obsession with the governor. Surprised it took this long, frankly.”
Indeed, Cox and his running mate, Gordana Schifanelli, have tweeted the QAnon hashtag #WWG1WGA. When asked about his use of the hashtag, Cox responded: “I support President Trump and General Flynn and that’s all my point was about.”
An entirely separate item could be written about Gordana Schiafanelli. It’s frightening she teaches at the Naval Academy.
On this week’s episode, Sonny talks to Eric Hoyt, a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, about his new book on the rise of the Hollywood trade press and how these papers helped shape the movie business as we know it.
Don’t let your last words be, “I’m such an idiot.” Plus, the Biden administration should better explain how we got to this Covid recovery period. Juliette Kayyem joins Charlie Sykes on today’s podcast.
Bulwark+ members can listen to an ad-free version of this podcast on the player of their choice. Learn more at Bulwark+ Podcast FAQ.
LAURA K. FIELD: The Decay at the Claremont Institute Continues.
Last month, the American Mind, the Claremont Institute’s web magazine, published an article called “The Decline is Real.” Brimming with male sexual anxiety, the piece discusses some research suggesting that testosterone levels and sperm levels are falling in Western populations. It edges up close to replacement theory. And it gripes about “clownworld”—“Soy boys. Simps. Plant-based lifestyles. Polyamory. Incels. Furries. Et cetera… honk honk!”—and suggests that the “dissident right” is “unique[ly]” well suited to making men manly.
But the problem with the piece is less its content than the author’s background. The American Mind has made something of a habit of publishing pseudonymous writers: “Peachy Keenan,” “The Huntsman,” “Horatius,” “Rebecca,” “Privata,” and others. So it is, too, with the article worried about Western man’s sperm count—but its pseudonymous author, “Raw Egg Nationalist,” stands apart for having recently published a book with a Nazi publishing house. As in: a publishing house that is infatuated with Adolf Hitler.
I wish I were joking or exaggerating. What Raw Egg Nationalist’s American Mind byline doesn’t tell you is that his Raw Egg Nationalism Cookbook is published by Antelope Hill Publishing. Antelope Hill is a small publishing house that translates and publishes books like A New Nobility of Blood and Soil, by Richard Walther Darré…
BRIAN STEWART: Assange and Trump, Partners.
Assange is just the latest Donald Trump satellite to face criminal charges, after Michael Cohen, Steve Bannon, Roger Stone, Paul Manafort, and others. The question cannot be avoided: What about the ringleader himself? It must be counted an irony of history that a sizable fraction of dyed-in-the-wool leftists, assisted by a few preposterous libertarians, who labored to turn Assange—and later Edward Snowden—into folk heroes during the Obama administration found themselves cheering Trump and lauding his “socialist” principles. It is fitting and proper that Assange answer for his crimes, but Trump presents a larger political problem that mere criminal justice cannot solve.
The Trump-Assange fringe has found its primary cause in the rejection of “American empire” and has been sympathetic to America’s enemies around the world. Bizarrely for a movement proclaiming fidelity to transparent government, it has greeted with enthusiasm and even active support Vladimir Putin’s hostility to free government, sabotage of democracy in the West, subversion of democracy in (and war on) Ukraine, and extinguishing of democracy in Russia. (Little wonder that ever since Snowden quit his country with his ill-gotten goods, he has enjoyed a welcome refuge in Putin’s Russia.)
🚨OVERTIME 🚨
Inside the dangerous math text books banned by Florida. Judd Legum takes a deep dive.
Trump’s Endorsements Might Be the GOP’s Kryptonite… Molly Jong-Fast on the Democrats’ last hope.
Who is Christina Pushaw? Ben Mathis-Lilley has this explainer on Ron DeSantis’s spox.
Mickey Mouse on a Leash. Sarah Rumpf has this detailed history about Disney’s special treatment under Florida law and how DeSantis and the GOP may come to regret targeting Disney.
U.S. healthcare vs. the world. Our friend Lawrence Eppard highlights our strengths, and where we need to improve.
Here’s why they evacuated the Capitol yesterday… Army parachutists going to the Nats game.
Mike Tyson punched a guy… On a plane, and it’s all over the news. I am team Tyson here. My theory is this guy wanted to be punched to say that he was. According to comedian Tom Segura, Iron Mike is very nice on planes.
That’s it for me. Tech support questions? Email members@thebulwark.com. Questions for me? Respond to this message.
—30—
Editorial photos provided by Getty Images. For full credits, please consult the article.