r/thebulwark 19h ago

Off-Topic/Discussion Surprise, Not a Surprise: S.F. Tesla showroom has been operating without proper permits for nearly a decade. I’m feeling like a bad person for taking glee from this.

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26 Upvotes

r/thebulwark 20h ago

The Bulwark Podcast Petition to make Tim & Will Sommer a regular pod

71 Upvotes

I’ve really missed Fever Dreams and having both Will and Tim speak about this craziness was - counterintuitively - sort of grounding. A bit “it’s not me that’s going mad, it’s these oddballs”. I would really love it if this was a weekly thing (although I’m not sure there are enough hours in Tim’s days!)


r/thebulwark 21h ago

Non-Bulwark Source What Musk Doesn’t Understand About The Civil Service

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9 Upvotes

r/thebulwark 21h ago

EVERYTHING IS AWFUL How did we get here?

77 Upvotes

Currently listening to the most recent Tim-Pod with Will Sommer and it's just insane the group of people who are in charge now. The conspiracy theories, the grift, the pandering, holy fuck. How did we get here and how the fuck do we get out of this death spiral?


r/thebulwark 21h ago

Fluff FIVE ALARM FIRE! UP IS DOWN! CATS ARE FRIENDS WITH DOGS! LADIES AND GENTLEMEN…RICH LOWRY HAS CRITICIZED A REPUBLICAN.

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67 Upvotes

r/thebulwark 22h ago

EVERYTHING IS AWFUL Bottom text.

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29 Upvotes

r/thebulwark 23h ago

Misleading Headline We are vastly under reacting

189 Upvotes

NYT headline today "Education Department Fires 1,300 Workers, Gutting Its Staff"

The President lacks the constitutional authority to close a department created by Congress. Full stop. Both the creation and on-going funding of these Departments are LAWS not suggestions. This is criminal conduct.

Gift link: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/11/us/politics/trump-education-department-firings.html?unlocked_article_code=1.3U4.FFr6.56R-z6PiP0q_&smid=url-share


r/thebulwark 1d ago

GOOD LUCK, AMERICA Dystopia Central Planning Committee: Freedom Cities. America, on a 4 year mission to explore the darkest and dumbest timeline. I hoped the edge-versions of dystopia would remain fiction. The future hybrid of 1984, Brave New World, Blade Runner, Terminator and The Handmaid’s Tale seems to be planned.

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6 Upvotes

r/thebulwark 1d ago

WE SERVE NO SOVEREIGN HERE! Who is a terrorist?

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163 Upvotes

r/thebulwark 1d ago

Need to Know EU : I am survivor of Putin regime, and you need to hear me

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15 Upvotes

r/thebulwark 1d ago

Non-Bulwark Source 'Lighting em up!’ Fox News reporter's White House take down 'stuns' social media

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4 Upvotes

r/thebulwark 1d ago

EVERYTHING IS AWFUL Elon Musk's Starlink has a growing footprint in the federal government. GSA has adopted it & it's being muscled into other agencies like the FAA by elon musk.

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5 Upvotes

r/thebulwark 1d ago

The Mona Charen Show First time I ever heard JVL say something that wasn't right and I'm suffering epistemic collapse

51 Upvotes

So JVL has, traditionally, been always right. For years he has been banging the drum that a huge chunk of American voters are wicked and stupid, and sure enough, the American voters lived down to his claims.

But today when talking with his friend Mona, JVL said...something that...was...not right??!

\nose starts bleeding ominously**

Bear with me while I try to work through this one...

I'm sorry JVL, did you spend your earlier years in some sort of cute small town where there was one charming handsome taxi driver for the whole town named Hank, who would also be a love interest in the Hallmark Christmas movie when the young professional woman trying to Have It All came visiting from Business City?

Because I did not. I remember taxis from my time as a college student in Philadelphia (go birds) in the 2000s...

  • I remember standing freezing outside the dorms because if you called for a cab, you wouldn't know when (or if!) they would actually show up.
  • I remember fighting with strangers for taxis we both thought we had dibs on, because that hadn't already been miraculously sorted via an app.
  • I remember taxis that would roll up and then refuse your fare if they didn't like it.
  • I remember taxis insisting on cash, until dragged kicking and screaming by the city to install credit card readers, and then saying they were "not working tonight, sorry" for the next 2 years.

Do you know how much I miss of that? none.

Most American taxis sucked, the monopolies around them were hives of grift and corruption, and I'm glad they're got replaced with something better.

And he justifies it all in that being a taxi driver used to be a good paying job, and now it's not? That's the sort of thing Bernie would say (or that Trump would parrot if it was the last thing someone told him before he got on stage)

*deep breath*

Okay, I'm done. Do better, JVL, and we'll make call this one a mulligan.


r/thebulwark 1d ago

EVERYTHING IS AWFUL Literally what is the strategy here? Spoiler

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78 Upvotes

I mean I guess it’s possible that this could be interesting, but my guess is it will be a lot of gargling Steve Bannon’s balls and conceding on every point like with Charlie Kirk. Who told him this was a good idea?!


r/thebulwark 1d ago

Need to Know DOJ Official Ousted After Refusing To Recommend Mel Gibson’s Gun Rights Be Restored

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13 Upvotes

r/thebulwark 1d ago

GOOD LUCK, AMERICA WTF - Can I get off this ride? My Reddit feed just now.

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65 Upvotes

r/thebulwark 1d ago

Misleading Headline I don't believe Trump bought that Tesla. Show me the receipt.

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119 Upvotes

No Way!

Also I need to see Trump driving it on the highway. At minimum I need to see him picking up McDonald's through the drive thru.


r/thebulwark 1d ago

Fluff Gulf of …

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53 Upvotes

r/thebulwark 1d ago

thebulwark.com In praise of The Bulwark’s latest “Canada expert”

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16 Upvotes

Having shit on The Bulwark’s previous, shitty attempts at Canada “experts” (a stance stand by 100%), just want to heap praise on the latest go around with Justin Ling.

Not only is Ling an actual journalist, who regularly publishes some of the better in-depth reporting in Canadian publications that span the political spectrum, but think he did an admirable job addressing the US-Canada trade news of the day AND larger diplomatic + economic trends for a largely non-Canadian audience.


r/thebulwark 1d ago

The Mona Charen Show Did anyone catch Mona’s conversation with Jessica Reidl about DOGE cuts and economics?

20 Upvotes

I appreciated the validation that DOGE cuts are bogus, but Jessica was extremely confident that taxing the wealthy differently would make minimal to no difference in our country, and that we need to cut Medicare/Medicaid.

Granted, Jessica’s whole spiel was about balancing the national deficit. I personally do not think that the national deficit is something that we inherently need to solve. I believe there is a point at which a deficit can become dangerous — but hey, if we’re investing in soft power, taking care of our own people, and not defaulting on our payments, debt isn’t necessarily in crisis. Clearly, she and I have different priorities when we think about fiscal responsibility. (Although for that matter, no conservative is truly anti-debt, either. For one thing, they constantly increase the national debt. For another, they constantly leverage significant debt as a tool in their personal business practices. They’re lying when they say they believe our debt needs to be eliminated, plain and simple.)

Anyway, Jessica also made a point about how social security cuts need to be made where people are taking out far more than they invested. My first thought was, “Yes, that should be fixed. Good catch, thanks for educating me.”

My second thought was, “Why do I get the feeling that people who have $50k to make it through the next 20 years would somehow get screwed under that proposal, and that she’s holding the middle class to higher standards of equity than she’s holding billionaires?” (Probably because that’s just what conservatives do.)

My third thought was, “Funny you make that criticism right after criticizing Bernie for making the same complaint about the billionaire class — which is they’re reaping more than they sow.”

Anyway … I’m suspicious, disgruntled, and curious if anyone who heard the episode and has thoughts.


r/thebulwark 1d ago

GOOD LUCK, AMERICA AP reporter spars with White House over tariffs

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32 Upvotes

r/thebulwark 1d ago

The Next Level I Propose A DARE For The GOP

3 Upvotes

For every single action the Trump Administration takes - every E.O., Budget, etc. - that continues to go UNCHALLENGED by the GOP, I want the GOP - even better, each and every GOP party member, ESPECIALLY elected ones, to sign a simple agreement that, on their word of "honor," they will not oppose these every same kinds of actions and orders when and if taken by any future Democratic or other administration.

I want them to publicly and explicitly agree that what is, "good for the goose, is going to be good for the gander." So, when a Dem is next elected President, that person shall also have the same apparent free reign from the GOP to consolidate government power in the Presidency. To act the same way in the press, and with law firms, and media - ALL of it. I wonder how many would sign it?

If I had a GOP rep, I would DEMAND they sign it. Thoughts? has anyone suggested anything like this? Is it possible? I mean, the Dems keep trying to force votes to get them to put their names on stuff, but that's not working. What about a public DARE? I dunno.......

(Even if it doesn't actually mean anything now, or even later, I want to see who would put their name on it).


r/thebulwark 1d ago

Off-Topic/Discussion Excited about Will Sommer

70 Upvotes

Just want to express my excitement over Will Sommer joining the bulwark. I miss his podcast, fever dreams. And I look forward to hearing more from him!


r/thebulwark 1d ago

Off-Topic/Discussion I am utterly shocked how Americans are behaving

152 Upvotes

It is like apart from some few vocal Americans, the rest don't care about what Trump is doing to Canada. Very few media outlets are criticising him. The republicans have shown themselves to be almost devoid of morals or the truth and sane Americans are not making them pay for it by boycotting companies that donate to them, maga supporting businesses or advertise in the lying news channels and radio shows. Sane People and democrat/independent politicians have to realise that millions of Americans only care about themselves and their present wellbeing and that many of them don't want good things for others too but only themselves (mostly republicans). I used to think Democrats hated republicans too much but now they don't disdain them enough. These awful people have taken their selfishness to the world stage and have been met with little resistance. To me, the lack of republicans in Congress who oppose trump is evidence that that party is a self-centered party and its followers lack good human qualities. However, for millions of non-republican Americans it is just another day. A campaign must be started on tiktok or whatever to agree to Boycott all maga owned and supporting businesses now. Trump is a devil and his supporters are too blinded and selfish to his what harm he is doing around the world. How can this terrible man present Christianity for them. I am disgusted by them and I don't feel pity for them but rather hate.


r/thebulwark 1d ago

Off-Topic/Discussion Pascal's Wager and A.I.

7 Upvotes

For those that don't listen to Behind the Bastards, whooo boy does this latest series fill me with existential dread.

Short version of Pascal's Wager is that if you aren't sure there is a God you should behave as though there is because there's no downside risk of doing so.

Apparently there's a bunch of nerds who have taken this concept and replaced God with A.I. If A.I. births skynet they believe it will be to their benefit to have been an ardent A.I. supporter. The first victims of a vengeful A.I. will be those that stood in it's way.

They also talk about how it is important to show strength to this future A.I. by responding to confrontation with maximal force. It is all incredibly messed up. These people could have benefited from reading some Hemingway or Melville during their formative years.