Why Won't Susan Collins Rule Out Trump in '24?
Heck, even Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson did!
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TIM MILLER writes: Ghostface Trump Lives and Susan Collins Keeps Letting Him.
Donald Trump can’t be killed because the rest of the Republican party is unwilling to take on the political pain required to kill him.
This has been the fundamental, painfully obvious political reality for nearly seven years now. And yet some Republicans and conservatives who claim to be professional politicos remain willfully ignorant of it.
The “no pain, no gain” maxim was on display this weekend when Sen. Susan Collins (R-Concerned) was asked on ABC’s This Week whether she would support Donald Trump if he ran in 2024. She demurred, leaving the door open to the possibility of having faith in a Trump resurrection, while providing some perfunctory lip service to the notion that there were other people she might prefer, but whom she—of course—did not name. She was rewarded a few hours later with the former president attacking her for not having given his coup attempt a full-throated endorsement.
Don't only talk to people you agree with politically. Break free from the echo chamber, and help cure our tribalism. Will Saletan officially joins The Bulwark — and Charlie Sykes on today's podcast.
JOE WEBSTER writes: What the Ukraine Crisis Looks Like from Beijing.
Beijing’s muted opposition to an invasion is not grounded in any concern about the potentially catastrophic human costs of warfare in Ukraine. Rather, Beijing fears that its economic, geopolitical, and, most importantly, domestic political interests may be harmed by large-scale war in Europe. In a worst-case scenario for Xi, the knock-on effects would severely complicate his plans for the Party Congress in late 2022, when he will almost surely seek to become party-secretary-for-life.
The most likely outcome for China from an escalation in Ukraine is economic pain. Violence in Europe would send commodity prices higher, increase China’s energy import bill, and pose sanctions risks for Chinese corporations. China is already struggling with its own slow-moving real estate debt crisis and Omicron-related shutdowns, so any more economic turmoil would be extremely unwelcome.
A new offensive in Ukraine would also likely exacerbate geopolitical divides, forcing the CCP into an uncomfortable choice between its preferred security companion—Putin’s Russia—and its trade and investment partners in the United States and Europe. As American diplomats call on China to help resolve the crisis, the CCP’s passivity in the face of mass bloodshed could lead to guilt by association. It is entirely conceivable, perhaps even likely, that the free world will be more unified at the end the crisis than before it began, causing countries across Europe to reevaluate their relationship with China.
KIM WEHLE: Judge Rejects John Eastman’s Effort to Hide Files from the Jan. 6th Committee.
The fake electors scheme is rife with criminal red flags, including possible forgery, conspiracy, and election fraud. Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco stated last week that prosecutors “are looking at” the fake electoral ballots submitted by Republicans from seven states that Biden won. Meanwhile, Eastman’s memos have landed him in trouble with the California Bar for possible violations of legal ethics rules, including counseling his client to violate the law, misstating the facts and the law to his client and to a tribunal, filing a meritless claim, and failing to uphold the Constitution. And in response to the Jan. 6th Committee’s subpoena, Eastman said that he would avail himself of his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination—which he reportedly did 146 times during an interview with the committee.
It is worth noting that Eastman’s Jan. 6th memos weren’t his only attempt to overturn the Electoral College results. He filed on Trump’s behalf a motion in support of an illegitimate lawsuit brought by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton seeking to cancel the Electoral College votes of Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. (The Supreme Court tossed it out on Dec. 11, 2020.) And Eastman pushed the envelope earlier in 2020 as well: He wrote an August 2020 op-ed in Newsweek claiming that Kamala Harris is ineligible to be vice president because she supposedly fails to meet the constitutional requirement of being a “natural born Citizen”—a notion so explosive (not to mention wrong) that the magazine’s editors felt compelled to append an awkward apology atop the article.
🚨OVERTIME 🚨
Go Bengals! As longtime readers know, I’m a lifelong Browns fan. When I was a kid, I’d have a bet with one of my grandpas, a Bengals fan for our yearly games for $1. While they’re AFC North rivals, they have a.) Never won a league championship b.) really only exist because former Browns owner Art Modell was a shortsighted asshole—but we knew that… and c.) haven’t had a playoff win before this year in the last 30.
So, yeah, I feel some Ohio kinship and some shared sorrow. Though, had they played the Buffalo Bills, I would be cheering for the Bills. Great Lakes teams have more in common.
But their win over the Chiefs was great, and consider me on the Bengals bandwagon. Added bonus is that they’re playing Stan Kroenke’s Rams. While my in-laws were Rams fans, and I am not a fan of indoor football, I’ll join them in rooting against anything involved with Kroenke.
Who Dey.
Quite the ethos.
The making of GoldenEye… The game that changed console gaming.
Keep NATO’s Door Open to Ukraine… So argue Eric Edelman and David Kramer at Foreign Affairs.
Was the 15 minutes fame worth it? This now-deceased former LEO who went viral in conservative circles for his refusal to get the vaccine is now dead. Were the kudos from the random gadflies and back bencher Republican Congressman worth it to his family? Genuinely curious. As the writer wonders, what, if anything, will they do for his family to help fill the void other than give him kudos with the hashtag #LetsGoBrandon for owning the libs at the time of his quitting?
Ovechkin is a class act. I love hockey, though I haven’t laced up my skates since 2002, I did buy a stick this weekend to play with the dogs and eventually teach my girls about my beloved sport. I’m a Blues fan, but one guy who is not only a once-in-a-generation talent, but class act, is D.C.’s own Alex Ovechkin. Here’s why.
Live free and/or die… Some people are making quite the gamble to make a point.
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