Dear friend, It’s been a rough few months years for America. And in the midst of the chaos and culture war there’s a temptation to feel down about the future. That’s understandable. Still: We are very lucky. Not just because our country survived four long years with two impeachments and a failed coup attempt that left our democracy damaged and our populace divided and distrustful.
Finished the Book today. Astonishing. Lost the amazon review primer from JVL. Still hellishly fine, an education in cut and thrust. Memorable, The Preibus/Stefanik analyses gobsmack. I gained a greater appreciation of Jeb Bush. Like Truman, underrated. To heck with Trump.
Thank you - all of you - for the spark of sanity you bring to life everyday. Even when I disagree with something being said or written - ESPECIALLY when I disagree with something being said or written :) - it is good to understand that there is a space here to have a healthy debate. To bring all our ideas to the table and to work together to make this two-and-half centuries old experiment stronger. We are none of us perfect and as annoying as it might seem at the time, it is healthy to listen to and try to understand perspectives different from our own. Even when if we don't change our mind, we do become more mindful of soemone else's lived experience. And while that may seem like a small thing - it is progress.
So, thank you and once again, a happy 4th to everyone!
Thank you, Bill Kristol for a scintilla of hope! I hope and pray that you are right. As for Congresswoman Cheney, may her Courage, Integrity and Character begin to rub off of her mostly spineless fellow Republicans
Happy 4th to the Bulwark team. You have kept all of us somewhat sane over the trials of the last few years. Keep up the incredible work and in the long view, we will come out on top. Thanks very much.
So I shouldn't plan to move to Canada if the former guy is re-elected in 2024? Thank you for giving me the impetus to keep hoping that my fellow citizens will wake up and find their love of democracy!
Thank you to all at the Bulwark for providing so many of us with a moderating voice. As an independent voter, I am one of those who likes to think we can work for a better USA as the future unfolds. So many here in our nation have the ability to not only admit errors of the past, but work towards changing those mistakes. I don't believe we can give up. There is nothing else but to try the "adjacent possible”. So happy 4th of July to all of us!
Following is an idea on the topic of what is going on in the Supreme Court today. It happens to be about an old argument, also pointing to what might need to be changed.
Our current majority on the Supreme Court claim to be originalists. However, they are not discussing their own "power" as denounced by both Jefferson and Madison in the case of "Marbury vs Madison", and the very notion of judicial review." Thomas Jefferson would write to Abigail Adams, in 1804: “To consider the judges as the ultimate arbiters of all constitutional questions [is] a very dangerous doctrine indeed, and one which would place us under the despotism of an oligarchy. Our judges are as honest as other men and not more so. They have with others the same passions for party, for power, and the privilege of their corps." Also: "The opinion which gives to the judges the right to decide what laws are constitutional, and what-not, not only for themselves in their own sphere of action, but for the legislature & executive also in their spheres, would make the judiciary a despotic branch." James Madison was a bit more nuanced in his take on judicial review, as well as the protection of precedence, yet it appears he had similar concerns to Jefferson. Madison seemed to have more faith in a non-partisan judicial branch than Jefferson did, but I wonder if he ignore a common issue that Juvenal would write about in the first century AD: "Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?" (Who guards the guards?)
I am not a legal expert, but I am sure someone at the Bulwark is! It would be great if this idea was explored further. Anyway, thank you to all at the Bulwark yet again for providing a sane voice to a person like me.
I have just now finished Tim’s book. Well done, Tim!! I cannot thank you all enough for helping me to navigate these past several years. As a former Republican (now among the “unenrolled”), I so appreciate your honesty, integrity, and soul-searching. Tim, I have a much better understanding of “why you didi it”, and why others continue to roll with Trump, and for this I am deeply appreciative. To all of you at The Bulwark, thank you! Enjoy today’s festivities with family snd friends, and recharge for the days, months, years ahead. As the saying goes, “How do you eat an elephant? Bite by bite.”
One more thing: BUY TIM'S BOOK. it's alarming, touching, funny, shocking, honest, and a bit of a "tell-all" as well as a mea culpa... so now I'm worried Tim might need security for himself and his family. But it's a great read!
I think things are shifting at last: https://michaelmohr.substack.com/p/the-new-york-times-still-has-guts
Thank you. Happy to be part of this community.
Finished the Book today. Astonishing. Lost the amazon review primer from JVL. Still hellishly fine, an education in cut and thrust. Memorable, The Preibus/Stefanik analyses gobsmack. I gained a greater appreciation of Jeb Bush. Like Truman, underrated. To heck with Trump.
Thank you for the great post!
Happy 4th to everyone at The Bulwark!
Thank you - all of you - for the spark of sanity you bring to life everyday. Even when I disagree with something being said or written - ESPECIALLY when I disagree with something being said or written :) - it is good to understand that there is a space here to have a healthy debate. To bring all our ideas to the table and to work together to make this two-and-half centuries old experiment stronger. We are none of us perfect and as annoying as it might seem at the time, it is healthy to listen to and try to understand perspectives different from our own. Even when if we don't change our mind, we do become more mindful of soemone else's lived experience. And while that may seem like a small thing - it is progress.
So, thank you and once again, a happy 4th to everyone!
Thank you, Bill Kristol for a scintilla of hope! I hope and pray that you are right. As for Congresswoman Cheney, may her Courage, Integrity and Character begin to rub off of her mostly spineless fellow Republicans
Happy 4th.
Jerry C.
I second (n-th?) the other comments: thank you and a happy Independence Day to the Bulwark team!
Happy 4th to the Bulwark team. You have kept all of us somewhat sane over the trials of the last few years. Keep up the incredible work and in the long view, we will come out on top. Thanks very much.
So I shouldn't plan to move to Canada if the former guy is re-elected in 2024? Thank you for giving me the impetus to keep hoping that my fellow citizens will wake up and find their love of democracy!
Lillian Wallace
4 min ago
Thank you to all at the Bulwark for providing so many of us with a moderating voice. As an independent voter, I am one of those who likes to think we can work for a better USA as the future unfolds. So many here in our nation have the ability to not only admit errors of the past, but work towards changing those mistakes. I don't believe we can give up. There is nothing else but to try the "adjacent possible”. So happy 4th of July to all of us!
Following is an idea on the topic of what is going on in the Supreme Court today. It happens to be about an old argument, also pointing to what might need to be changed.
Our current majority on the Supreme Court claim to be originalists. However, they are not discussing their own "power" as denounced by both Jefferson and Madison in the case of "Marbury vs Madison", and the very notion of judicial review." Thomas Jefferson would write to Abigail Adams, in 1804: “To consider the judges as the ultimate arbiters of all constitutional questions [is] a very dangerous doctrine indeed, and one which would place us under the despotism of an oligarchy. Our judges are as honest as other men and not more so. They have with others the same passions for party, for power, and the privilege of their corps." Also: "The opinion which gives to the judges the right to decide what laws are constitutional, and what-not, not only for themselves in their own sphere of action, but for the legislature & executive also in their spheres, would make the judiciary a despotic branch." James Madison was a bit more nuanced in his take on judicial review, as well as the protection of precedence, yet it appears he had similar concerns to Jefferson. Madison seemed to have more faith in a non-partisan judicial branch than Jefferson did, but I wonder if he ignore a common issue that Juvenal would write about in the first century AD: "Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?" (Who guards the guards?)
I am not a legal expert, but I am sure someone at the Bulwark is! It would be great if this idea was explored further. Anyway, thank you to all at the Bulwark yet again for providing a sane voice to a person like me.
I have just now finished Tim’s book. Well done, Tim!! I cannot thank you all enough for helping me to navigate these past several years. As a former Republican (now among the “unenrolled”), I so appreciate your honesty, integrity, and soul-searching. Tim, I have a much better understanding of “why you didi it”, and why others continue to roll with Trump, and for this I am deeply appreciative. To all of you at The Bulwark, thank you! Enjoy today’s festivities with family snd friends, and recharge for the days, months, years ahead. As the saying goes, “How do you eat an elephant? Bite by bite.”
Happy Independence Day to the Bulwark team and the Bulwark + community. I appreciate the diverse perspectives and civil conversations every day.
One more thing: BUY TIM'S BOOK. it's alarming, touching, funny, shocking, honest, and a bit of a "tell-all" as well as a mea culpa... so now I'm worried Tim might need security for himself and his family. But it's a great read!
That was very nice, thank you
Sorry, but as a woman I do not feel lucky to be an American today. I just don’t.
Thank you for the thoughtful words and offering a sense of community.