I’ve enjoyed Reality Checking the Bulwark, an ongoing project by Steward Beckham and Evan Stern. As Steward says, “We believe that institutions matter, but when institutions fail, democracy falters. And institutions that are built to counter Trump should not repeat the same mistakes that laid the groundwork for Trump. We respect and value the The Bulwark, but when it becomes a central pillar of our pro-democracy movement, it also needs to be interrogated for narrating our political stories in the same frames that may have produced the problem and also may not be the medicine for that problem. So that’s why we want to identify its failures in the best faith possible.”
I was fortunate enough to speak about this in depth with Steward and Evan. Watch and/or listen to Part One here, and come back next week for Part Two. Also, go check out Steward and Evan’s substacks, Stew on This and Certain Thoughts.
Some Highlights From Our Conversation
Evan warns about political “analysis” that simply launders bigotry.
Steward: The Bulwark has grown from just being a niche conservative publication where you have a bunch of conservative exiles, essentially debating over whether Trump is true conservatism, what they missed or what they couldn’t see when they were supporting conservative campaigns or reiterating conservative talking points on TV, which they still kind of do. And it has grown into one of the integral narrative forces within the larger Democratic Party machinery and the pro-democracy movement representing this kind of mythical middle voter or this reformed Republican or ex-Republican who wants to vote for Democrats but gets a little bit too scared by the Starbucks barista talking about trans rights and talking about Black Lives Matter.
Steward explains how Republicans co-opted patriotism and how this messaging continues to caricture liberals as inherently “anti-American.”
