You’ll Miss the Pax Americana When It’s Gone
Plus: A veritable Bulwark Thanksgiving Buffet of #Content
Recently in The Bulwark:
BILL KRISTOL & ANDREW EGGER: The Father, the Son, and Kash Patel
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NICHOLAS GROSSMAN: You’ll Miss the Pax Americana When It’s Gone
WITH DONALD TRUMP ABOUT TO RETURN to the White House, potential dark scenarios for the future of America abound. But the most profound, unfortunately plausible, and darkest scenario could take place at the international level.
For nearly eighty years, and especially the last thirty-five, the global system has been arranged atop the bedrock of American power. The United States is “leader of the free world,” the linchpin of a network of voluntary alliances of democracies, whose combined military might dwarfs the rest.
JILL D. LAWRENCE: Advice to Funders: Protect Democracy Defenders Who Stand Up to Trump
SO YOU’RE RICH, VERY RICH. You’re anywhere on the political spectrum, you cannot abide Donald Trump, and you’re looking for ways to make sure this era ends while you’re still alive. Preferably while you have some time left to savor life in a post-MAGA world.
The question is where to put your money. In the spirit of the giving season, how about launching a bipartisan Stand Up to Trump Freedom Fund? While threats are a bipartisan plague these days, and last week saw Trump cabinet and staff picks targeted along with MAGA threats against Democratic lawmakers, the most immediate and straightforward need is money to underwrite legal, physical, and political protection for people who fear breaking with or taking on Trump.
🎥 PODCASTS AND VIDEOS 🎧
Bulwark Podcast with Tim Miller: Bill Kristol and Elaina Plott Calabro: A Sordid Lot [YouTube Bill, Elaina]
The Secret Podcast: Pardon: The Interruption 🔐
Bulwark+ Live:
The Focus Group: “Beyoncé Ain't Paying My Bills, B*tch” (with Astead Herndon) [YouTube]
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.
📣Bulwark+ members can now listen to ad-free podcasts on Spotify! Learn more here.
Our 🎥YouTube offerings are the free-versions of shows, and they do have ads.
✍️Also: Did you know that every podcast has a transcript for B+ members? Yes! If you’re more a reader than a listener/viewer, open any podcast and the transcript button is beneath the player.
THOMAS LECAQUE: Pete Hegseth and What Christian Nationalism Looks Like
YOU DON’T HAVE TO LOOK FAR to find evidence of Pete Hegseth’s interest in Christian nationalism. Donald Trump’s nominee for secretary of defense has it literally inked all over his body, and the books he has written are replete with violent Christian nationalist rhetoric.
KIM WEHLE: In Defense of the Hunter Biden Pardon
ON SUNDAY, IN SWEEPING LANGUAGE, President Joe Biden gave a “Full and Unconditional Pardon” to his son Hunter Biden for all “offenses against the United States which he has committed or may have committed or taken part in during the period from January 1, 2014 through December 1, 2024.” The pardon includes the offenses that gave rise to a conviction after a jury trial in Delaware for Hunter knowingly lying about his drug addiction on federal paperwork when he purchased a gun in a Wilmington store in 2018, and for illegally possessing the gun for eleven days.
The pardon also covers the separate case in Los Angeles in which Hunter pleaded guilty following an indictment for three felonies and six misdemeanors involving “a four-year scheme to not pay at least $1.4 million in self-assessed federal taxes he owed for tax years 2016 through 2019”—also the time period marked by his slide back into severe drug addiction after the death of his brother, Beau, from brain cancer. Hunter Biden paid the IRS back, with interest, and has reportedly been sober for years.
🍗Thanksgiving Cornucopia🦃
(Or what we’ve published since Overtime was off last week…)
🦃YEVGINY SIMKIN: The Uses of Gratitude
🎧 The Michael Steele Show: What Does Freedom Mean in the Age of Trump? (with Timothy Snyder) [YouTube]
🐦🔥SAM B. GIRGUS: America Can Still Renew Itself
🎵DANIEL LELCHUCK: You Need More Puccini in Your Life. Here’s Why.
🪖MARK HERTLING: I Helped the Army Remember Its Values. I Wish I Could Do the Same for the Country.
WILL SALETAN: Calling Trump’s Win a ‘Mandate’ Is Ridiculous. Here’s Why.
📚BILL RYAN: The Stuff of Everyday Life
🎧ACROSS THE MOVIE AISLE: Happy Thanksgiving
SONNY BUNCH: Streaming Churn Guide, Part Two
🚨OVERTIME🚨
Happy Monday! The Cleveland Browns won, the Cavs are still winning, and Ryan Day’s 4th consecutive loss to Michigan will likely led to the end of his career at Ohio State. Other than that depressing OSU loss, Thanksgiving went off without a hitch!
Some early shopping was done, lights at the zoo were seen, a tree was acquired, and decorating for Christmas has begun.
Farewell to Marc Caputo… Our prolific colleague Marc, I am sad to report, has been poached by Axios. We will miss our friend and wish him luck in his next chapter. 🫡
🎵On the Jukebox… 🎵 ‘Me and the Dog’ by Sam Fender
Need a recipe for some of your leftovers? Overtime has you covered.
The Golden At-Bat rule could give MLB a new shine. But is it worth it?
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Editorial photos provided by Getty Images. For full credits, please consult the article.