The Republican Party’s Motivated Reasoning

Chris Deaton on persuasion when people don't want to listen.

Leading The Bulwark…

The Republican Party’s Motivated Reasoning

CHRIS DEATON: How do you persuade people who won’t believe anything except for what they want to hear?

🎧 On the Pods… 🎧

Tim Miller: It Was Worse Than We Thought

Tim and Charlie Sykes discuss new reports about the military's fear of a Trumpist Coup; the Bucks' playoff run; Olivia Rodrigo's White House visit; and why we should care about Ethiopia.

BGTH: Ryan Faughnder on How Valuable You Are

(To streaming companies.)

For Bulwark+ Members… 🔐

MORNING SHOTS: Secession, Coups, Lies, and Grift 🔐

THE TRIAD: Ross Douthat's Populist Dream World 🔓

JVL: True nationalist populism has never been tried!

From The Bulwark Aggregator…

• Kremlin papers appear to show Putin’s plot to put Trump in White House – Luke Harding, Julian Borger and Dan Sabbagh, The Guardian

• Trump Wishes He’d Lowered the Flag for Slain Rioter – Asawin Suebsaeng and Will Sommer, The Daily Beast

• The Truth Behind the Amazon Mystery Seeds – Chris Heath, The Atlantic

• ‘If You Take to the Sea, You Will Not Come to the United States,’ Cuban Refugee DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas Tells Other Cuban Refugees – Billy Binion, Reason

• Activist Shareholders Score Wins on Election Spending After Riot – Andrew Ramonas and Lydia Beyoud, BloombergLaw

• The future of work has arrived, and it’s messy. – Ben White and Eleanor Mueller, Politico

• Biden discovers the limits of the bully pulpit – George E. Condon, Jr., National Journal

In Today’s Bulwark...

Not My Party: What’s Going on in Ethiopia (And Why You Should Care)

TIM MILLER: The world seems indifferent to the war, famine, and ethnic cleansing in Ethiopia. The United States shouldn't be.

What’s Missing from Biden’s Antitrust Executive Order

BRIAN KAREM: “Rather than competing for consumers,” big companies “are consuming their competitors.”

The Loki Finale and the MCU’s Glorious Purpose

SONNY BUNCH: On the trickster god’s cosmic penance.

Texas’s Voting Restrictions Are a Multi-Level Grift

OLIVIA TROYE: It's not about “election integrity”—here’s how you can tell.

🚨OVERTIME 🚨

Inflation, cars, and chips. An interesting read at the NY Times. We rented a minivan a few weeks back for our family trip to Columbus and St. Louis, and the cost to rent for 10 days was literally 1/10th of its MSRP. We were lucky to get a family discount because a relative works for a rental car company, but that is just a glimpse into how insane things are. People are renting U-Hauls in Hawaii instead of cars. It’s nuts.

Instant Classic…

A.J. Ladwig @Young_Ladwig23

When @Greene21Riley goes deep and you need to get your sunglasses on quick to see it 😎 @erie_seawolves @MiLB

Shot / Chaser / Chaser

Philip Melanchthon Wegmann @PhilipWegmann

.@PressSec: "Communism is a failed ideology, and we certainly believe that it has failed the people of Cuba. They deserve freedom."

Stephen L. Miller @redsteeze

@PhilipWegmann @PressSec Going to need video of this to believe it. Thanks.

Kathryn Watson @kathrynw5

BIDEN: "Communism is a failed system. A universally failed system. And I don't see socialism as a very useful substitute, but that's another story." (In response to a Q from our very own @stevenportnoy.)

It’s like they’re good at staying consistent on messaging or something. Is this competency?

Inside the White House Press Corps.

Check out Brian Karem, frequent Bulwark contributor’s new video blog.

See you tonight!

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.