The Upside-Down Election
Plus: Harris Is Right to Run on Democracy
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NICHOLAS GROSSMAN: The Upside-Down Election
WAS THE 2016 ELECTION A WATERSHED or an outlier? At the time, it seemed like the latter: Donald Trump lost the popular vote by nearly 3 million but squeaked out an Electoral College win when every variable broke his way, including foreign interference. He then led Republicans to three disappointing national elections in a row.
But Trump’s 2016 victory made a lot of political observers go “on tilt,” as poker players call it. A gambler goes on tilt after betting big on a strong favorite and losing, especially when the loss comes to someone playing erratically and getting lucky. It can feel like nothing makes sense, the rules don’t apply anymore, and maybe the best thing to do is the opposite of what you feel you should do.
🎥 PODCASTS AND VIDEOS 🎧
Bulwark Podcast with Tim Miller: Mitch Landrieu and Will Saletan: Trump Lives in the Mud [YouTube]
Just Between Us: Boys to Men 🔐
Across the Movie Aisle: The Sprawling History of Neal Stephenson's 'Polostan'
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MATT JOHNSON: Harris Is Right to Run on Democracy
WHEN PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN WAS STILL RUNNING for a second term, the defense of democracy was the central focus of his campaign.
He delivered speeches about how Donald Trump had “placed a dagger at the throat of American democracy” on January 6th. During his final State of the Union address, he declared: “Not since President Lincoln and the Civil War have freedom and democracy been under assault at home as they are today.” He believed the urgency of this threat would once again mobilize voters against Trump—that they just needed to be reminded of all the ways he had trampled their democratic values and institutions, as well as the ways he would continue to do so.
BILL COBERLY: Scream for Absolution
IT HAS BEEN TEN YEARS SINCE LAST we saw Area X. (Or six, if you count the movie, which I do not, not because it is not a good movie, but because it is not exactly Area X.) Ten years since Jeff VanderMeer took us to that haunted patch of Gulf Coastline; ten years since The Southern Reach Trilogy (all published in 2014), VanderMeer’s Weird Fiction magnum opus; ten years since we first saw, with the biologist, “the tower, which was not supposed to be there, plung[ing] into the earth in a place just before the black pine forest begins to give way to swamp and then the reeds and wind-gnarled trees of the marsh flats.” Returning there now is at times revelatory, at times frustrating and necessarily anticlimactic, at times like a journey to holy ground; a rhizomatic pilgrimage to some subterranean and fungal Santiago de Compostela, slimy with mold and home to many crawling things.
🚨OVERTIME🚨
Happy Tuesday! With just two weeks ago, a reminder to take some time to enjoy something that brings you joy. For me, that was Swenson’s with the family and a bike ride!
‘I Need the Kind of Generals That Hitler Had’… “The Republican nominee’s preoccupation with dictators, and his disdain for the American military, is deepening.” The Atlantic has a must-read that confirms earlier NYT reporting. 🎁 And there’s this interview (with audio!) at the NYT where he answers the fascism question. 🎁
Cage Match…. Matt Labash on Trump Derangement Syndrome vs. Trump Deflection Syndrome.
Years in passing cannot sever, ties of new days from the old… Nick Restifo was a true Ignatian, and a “Man for Others” who died doing what he loved. He leaves not just a legacy with former students like me, but with the many he coached. RIP.
From the land of the ice and snow… Bulwark reader Joseph Gervasi tells us about his new Icelandic treasure. ⌚️
In local news… Americans for Prosperity Action sent a mailer to Cincinnati households. It got the name of the Congressman, Greg Landsman, wrong. They named him Tim. Whoops!
Meanwhile, in Missouri… A woman whose Harris sign was stolen tracked it down… to find dozens of signs in the trunk of a car. 20 years ago, yard signs from campaigns were “free” but now they’re donations-based, which makes their value easy to determine regarding crime. Ironically, it was conservatives calling my office to complain about their Bush signs being stolen and two decades later… well, read the story. Not a model parent.
Stop threatening me with a good time…
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Editorial photos provided by Getty Images. For full credits, please consult the article.