Sinema Bows Out, Blames You
Plus: Was Navalny Killed for Trolling Putin’s Rigged Election?
Recently in The Bulwark:
BILL KRISTOL & ANDREW EGGER: On Super Tuesday, the GOP Gets What It Wants
JVL… Is Always Right
You can support The Bulwark by subscribing to Bulwark+ or just by sharing this newsletter with someone you think would value it.
JILL D. LAWRENCE: Sinema Bows Out, Blames You.
KYRSTEN SINEMA IS ABSOLUTELY one of the most maddening people ever to serve in the Senate. So it is not surprising that her retirement announcement is, well, maddening.
Americans don’t want compromise anymore, it’s “a dirty word,” says the centrist, independent, former Democrat from Arizona in a video released on Tuesday. She has been part of many successful negotiations, she says, ticking through them, and yet “Americans still choose to retreat farther to their partisan corners. These solutions are considered failures either because they are too much, or not nearly enough. It’s all or nothing. The outcome, less important than beating the other guy.”
🎥 PODCASTS AND VIDEOS 🎧
Bulwark Podcast with Tim Miller: Errin Haines: A Not So Super Tuesday [Ad-Free🔐]
The Next Level: Nikki Drops Out! Doesn't Endorse Trump! Super Tuesday Breakdown [Ad-Free🔐]
Thursday Night Bulwark: is off this week.
Did you know? Bulwark+ members can listen to an ad-free version of these podcasts on the player of their choice.
Learn more at Bulwark+ Podcast FAQ.
CATHY YOUNG: Was Navalny Killed for Trolling Putin’s Rigged Election?
BY MONDAY, THREE DAYS AFTER the burial of opposition leader Alexei Navalny at the Borisovsky Cemetery in southeastern Moscow, the mountain of flowers on the grave had grown almost six feet high—and people were still arriving to add to the pile. This display of solidarity and protest comes on the heels of extraordinary scenes at Navalny’s funeral on Friday, almost surreal after two years of draconian repressions: large crowds chanting “Russia will be free,” “No war,” “We are not afraid,” and even “Putin is a killer.”
Navalny, the 47-year-old anti-corruption blogger and political activist who emerged as Vladimir Putin’s principal opponent in the 2010s, died on February 16 in an Arctic penal colony, murdered either by three years of imprisonment in often sadistic conditions or, as many of his supporters believe, by even more immediate means. The Putin regime had labored to prevent Navalny’s memory from reigniting the protests they had ruthlessly extinguished. They failed—and a tragedy that looked like the end of hope to many Russian dissidents may have become the spark of a new hope.
🚨OVERTIME🚨
It’s Wednesday! Nikki’s out and the clock is ticking on how long it’ll take her to make me regret yesterday’s vote. President Biden has a good message for Haley voters, and I hope he keeps the pedal to the floor in that messaging. Oh yeah: Dean Phillips is out, too.
“He doesn’t want you…” And now it’s time to return the favor. A new ad from our friends at RA-PAC. (Please share!) And ICYMI, here’s JVL on MSNBC making the case for Biden as the best bet.
Haley Voters for Biden… A Super PAC rebrands (Semafor)
“Dina’s on the board of Exxon…” He lost last time to Dr. Oz but this time, he might just lose to himself. Oh, and the residency questions? They’re back. (Inquirer)
Biden’s plan for Trump? Bury him in campaign cash (Politico.)
Quote of the Day:
“Folks the party is dead, and if you’re a right of center staffer in campaigns, hill jobs, etc, you’re soon going to wonder why you didn’t get off this bus earlier as you clock into work with your extremely online groyper coworkers to tweet Pepe memes for your boss.”
—Zack Brown, former Comms person for the late Congressman Don Young.
Burn the GOP to the Ground… Damon Linker with his “parting, probably fanciful wish for Nikki Haley as she bows out of the presidential race” (Notes from the Middle Ground)
I know you’re shocked… But the growing consensus within the RNC is that the party should continue paying his legal bills (CNBC).
AppleHOP? A hybrid Applebee’s / IHOP: will it work?
Never go Full Massie… The Kentucky Congressman is bringing Julian Assange’s brother to the SOTU. Tennessee Rep. Andy Ogles is supposedly bringing Daily Wire personality Michael Knowles.
Special visa program for US-affiliated Afghans… faces demise (Reuters).
If you thought Mark Robinson was crazy… Based on what we already knew, don’t worry, more oppo seems to be coming. Likely in droves. Mehdi Hasan writes: “Is this the Most Offensive Republican Candidate in America?” (Zeteo).
GOP Voters Don’t Care About Winning Elections… Just Owning the Libs, a Charlie Sykes(!) joint at The Daily Beast.
Bulwark+ member Lynn Schmidt on her experience… at the Missouri Republican Caucus (Smerconish).
Greg Abbott, Ken Paxton declare victory… in attack on House GOP defectors (Texas Tribune)
This is how you do it… Tip your hand to the Brits for this meltdown of Marjorie Taylor Greene.
Tech support questions? Email members@thebulwark.com. Questions for me? Respond to this message
Editorial photos provided by Getty Images. For full credits, please consult the article.