74 Comments

Guys, long time listener and love you all and your quirky sayings. But I’m tired of the “strap it on” debate. The phrase is “strap in” as in strap your seatbelt, it’s going to be a bumpy ride.

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Each of JVL, TM and AB dissects, distills, enlarges upon, and elevates every single point of discussion. I need frequent fixes of Tim’s insight and wit, but the crit/self-crit here was refreshing and candid. AB: you’re invaluable for the same reasons. Just sorry you had to get played off at the end.

Thanks to all for a worthy way to spend 50 minutes.

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Of all the times for Mr. Douthat to try and criticize JVL as being too alarmist on Trump, I would think that an article written just after January 6th, 2020, might not hold up very well.

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Apr 19·edited Apr 19

Huh . . . Maybe I'm just gullible because I have donated to a lot more campaigns than the Next Level Hosts

Those apocalyptic texts/ emails that Tim used to write work all too well in me.

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I've now watched this entire thing twice, and it's definitely one of my favorite pods ever (anywhere). I'm esp. appreciative of AB's insights about Johnson; I was NOT reading any of that b/t the lines at all. I'd been feeling really hopeful, but b/t AB's and Joe's (earlier) takes I guess I was naive once again.

I didn't even try to watch Tim's interview w/ RD, but really enjoyed the discussion the three of you had about it. And Tim's policy of not dissing him here is a perfect example of why I love The Bulwark.

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founding

AB, my information went from my support of Mitt Romney in 2012! I haven't donated to a single Republican since that time, and now I am getting bombarded many times per day by DJT, Lara, Don Jr., Ted Cruz, Rubio, Matt Gaetz, MTG, and on and on and on and on..... Oh, if only I could make it stop!!

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Yeah the Republicans don't seem to have very good list Management.

I donated to every Republican that voted to impeach Trump . . . And somehow ended up on like 10 Trump lists.

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I also donated to some of those Republicans who voted to impeach Trump. Some of them had their fundraising routed through WinRed, the GOP fundraising operation. So, if you donated to them, the party has your contact info.

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JVL, I can't believe you actually suggested we go to Geno's for a steak after the event. Every Philadelphian knows Geno's and Pat's are complete crap. Maybe Jim's or Max's or Dalessandro's (probably too far from center city) would be a good choice.

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This guy Massie looks like he had those low flow showerheads from Seinfeld installed in his DC apartment building.

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I deeply dislike Ronny Jackson. He’s a Trump toady and disrespectful to Obama. When I learned he was running for Congress two years ago I tracked down the name of his opponent and made a campaign contribution.

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I thought RD was an odd duck. I appreciate Tim remaining calm and collected throughout but RD's responses were awkward and it was like he had rehearsed his answers before the interview and then used them to answer questions that didn't quite match up with what was asked.

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Douthat was so hard to listen to. He prevaricated, rationalized and ducked - so sad. How danced around the failures of Trumpism by blaming Democrats???

I am pleading with the entire Bulwark staff to do the right thing by calling out the fact that Trump is obviously suffering from some form of dementia. He’s a very sick man, more unfit every week. I’m not a doctor, psychiatrist or psychologist. But I was a leader of a K9 Search and Recovery team for 18 years, with deep knowledge of the conditions that often lead to a missing person - dementia and autism spectrum disorder. I have personal experience with dementia, sadly. Several of our members have dozens of hours of training in the complexities of these common disorders. I have certs for 30+ hours of training in dementia and autism symptoms and in effective safety methods in lost person incidents. We located a missing mental patient with dementia who had been missing for 5+ days by applying proper techniques. The Sheriff called for our Human Remains K9s, but I explained that we should start the tracking dog first. Even if she had passed away, a highly skilled tracking dog would still locate her. She was found alive!

When I observe DJT I clearly see symptoms of advancing dementia - likely frontotemporal dementia or Alzheimer’s disease. This is terrifying for someone who has even a small chance of becoming the leader of the Western world.

Stop dancing around this supersized elephant and call out the professionals. They know, and will tell us the truth.

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There is a clear reason the right wing machine has been accusing Biden of dementia for quite some time: projection.

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in re: Douthat. I thought the end of that interview was very telling. He was at his most animated when he was saying it was Democrats' fault for moving left. His tribe may or may not be MAGA but his tribe is DEFINITELY anti-Democrat. I was hoping you'd ask him for three policy decisions at the national level that were his examples of Democrats "looking at Trump and deciding to move left".

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When JVL brought up how he literally started yelling "The Left," I was like, thank you JVL. AB was spot on with her general take on the anti-anti's, but JVL cut through the BS. I also expected, had it gone on any longer, we would have veered into 'lizard people eating babies' territory. And big kudos to Tim for holding the line in that interview. It just shows how un-serious these people are. tRump is freaking dangerous, like really dangerous. He's a narcissistic sociopath and has syphilitic dementia. People need to stop trying to soften the insanity.

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Thank y’all for the work you do on sharing your oh so thoughtful ideas and knowledge about the situation our country in. I’m glad I got the post show analysis instead of listening to the real thing. I have total confidence in Tim’s interviewing skills, but I knew I wouldn’t be able to take the smoke and jello. I’m a wimp—what can I say?

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Please don’t play outtro music over the hosts while the conversation is still happening.

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great show

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founding

Tim, your lead-in to your Douthat interview was great. First, you are correct in not dumping on those guests after they appear. But more important, your observation of the crazy rationalizing (evasion?, lies?) people who know see Trump for his danger and yet still can't turn away was spot on.

Keep it up. Imagine if more interviews could have been had with the people at Jonestown before the poisoned kool-aid was drunk

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