America Is Still Dopesick

Daniel McGraw takes stock of America's opioid crisis in 2021.

🏒 FACEOFF 🏒

Doom and gloom for the holidays…

Seeing as I am going to be away for the holidays, it’s not going to be the typical Christmas where we bring presents in a car for all the kiddos and haul their presents back. We’re flying. That would be stupid. Even if we’re flying Southwest, which we love, and might be a bit of a headache.

You may have seen by now, whether it’s online, a national cable channel, or your local news sources, supply chains are messed up. They’re not lying. They are! COVID messed with everything.

President Biden is trying to show that he is doing something about it. It’s a good start, but really, it’s window dressing. A lot of kids are going to get IOUs in boxes this year. And that’s not his fault. Lots of businesses are cautious, and that’s not Joe Biden’s doing, though you can’t blame people who saw the TFG shitshow run by Jared Kushner and did a little hedging. And some, like Southwest, were perhaps a little too optimistic in booking flights.

We didn’t get what Tim Miller called the “Hot Joe Summer.” Maybe things will be better in a few months, but there isn’t much time left on the clock. And supply chains are often slow to adapt.

Don’t wait for Black Friday. Buy now if you want to be sure. But don’t worry if it doesn’t get there in time. The important thing is making sure people are safe and healthy, and being able to spend time with them.

Presents may arrive on time, or they may not. But if we can make visits contingent on people doing what’s right for society? Maybe it’ll be a happier Christmas after all.

Leading The Bulwark…

America Is Still Dopesick

DANIEL MCGRAW: Take stock of America’s opioid crisis in 2021.

🎧 On the Pods… 🎧

Emma Green: Is the Claremont Institute saying the silent part out loud?

The Claremont Institute is the intellectual home of America's Trumpist right — as well as election theft mastermind John Eastman. The Atlantic's Emma Green joins Charlie Sykes on today's podcast.

THE SECRET PODCAST: Political Squid Games 🔐

Sarah, Tim, and JVL talk about the Texas governor’s race, the reconciliation mess, Stephanie Grisham, and Squid Game in this super-sized episode.

From The Bulwark Aggregator…

• Conservatives Want to Launch Their Own Anti-Vax Airlines - Kelly Weill, The Daily Beast

• Republicans Are Rehabilitating the Participants in Trump’s Attempted Coup - Jonathan Chait, Intelligencer

• America’s Blue and Red Tribes Aren’t So Far Apart - Conor Friedersdorf, The Atlantic

• MAGA Gun Church That Worships With AR-15s Has Bought a Giant Mountain Property in Tennessee - Tess Owen, Vice News

• Biden is going big on testing. It still may not be enough. - David Lim, Politico

• Biden Seeks to Spearhead New Attack on Supply-Chain Delays - Jennifer Epstein, Bloomberg Businessweek

• Federal Court Upholds California's Oppressive Restrictions on Freelance Writers - Scott Shackford, Reason

In Today’s Bulwark...

Jonah Goldberg’s Narcissism of Small Differences

MONA CHAREN: In a world of trouble, why snipe at allies?

THE TRIAD: 5 Reasons Biden Could Do Better Than I Think 🔐

JVL makes the optimist's case.

CHARLIE SYKES’S MORNING SHOTS 🔐

🚨OVERTIME 🚨

A worthwhile COVID stat deep dive…

John Burn-Murdoch @jburnmurdoch

NEW: people obsess over vaccine uptake stats, eagerly comparing one country to others to see which has jabbed the highest share of its population, but what if I told you many — perhaps most — of those stats are wrong? Time for a thread on bad Covid data and how it can cost lives

Texas is gonna Texas.

Jessica Shortall🧂🥴 @jessicashortall

Political Director for TX GOP wants to replace the "goddess of liberty" statue, atop the Capitol since 1888, w/a crucifix. Party platform: "All monuments or markers...shall be protected by law from being removed, defaced, destroyed, or otherwise dishonored." #txlege

Hey Siri, what contributed to Republicans losing control of the Senate in the special elections? Jim, here’s what I’ve found: Telling people the elections are all fraudulent depressed turnout for Republicans.

Will Trump change his tune or make the same mistake twice?

Greg Bluestein @bluestein

Trump is encouraging Republicans to boycott next year’s election if “we don’t solve” his defeat last year. Paging the pro-Trump slate of candidates in Georgia to see if they agree … #gapol

Why CEOs hate slack. (But some like it.) Behind the digital watercooler of the present and future in The Atlantic.

Captain Kirk goes to space. Where no Shatner has gone before… Jump to the end, where Jeff Bezos misses that Shatner wants to give a speech and acts like a college kid. But stay for the speech. Pretty cool stuff.

An update on the Maryland missing Zebras. It’s the best local story in D.C. right now.

That’s it for me for today. We’ll see you back here tomorrow for THURSDAY NIGHT BULWARK. Tech support questions? Email support@substack.com. Questions for me? Drop me a line: swift@thebulwark.com

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Editorial photos provided by Getty Images. For full credits, please consult the article.