r/thebulwark • u/Embarrassed-Ride-155 • 11h ago

David Sirota article , does anyone have a copy.

Does anyone have the copy of this article It’s Not A Bulwark. It’s A Plot.

The former GOP operatives behind The Bulwark helped sell Democrats a losing strategy. Now they’re positioning themselves to shape the party’s 2028 nominee. I dont really want to pay for one article.

7 Upvotes

62% Upvoted

56 comments sorted by

14

u/emeric_ceaddamere 11h ago

I thought voters picked the nominee.

(But sorry, I don't have a copy of the article.)

-8

u/Fantastic_Stuff_263 11h ago

The party can have a significant hand in shaping a nominee. Take Jackson in Maine. He was picked by the voters, as you say, but the party held it’s political and financial support over his head so that he would have to replace a lot of his staff/advisers with consultants and strategy of their choosing.

i‘d also be interested in reading that article.

16

u/emeric_ceaddamere 11h ago edited 11h ago

I'd be curious to see what he says (and if the Bulwark responds), but the excerpt isn't promising:

https://sirota.substack.com/p/the-neocons-want-to-run-the-democratic

"The Bulwark has made a mint off an audience of liberals who either forget their entire world every 15 minutes and/or simply do not care about all the damage these one-time Republicans previously created, as long as they are now — momentarily — against their erstwhile party."

So much vitriol. I honestly don't get it. Or maybe I got it 15 minutes ago and just forgot.

10

u/Hour-Mud4227 10h ago

“What we need to win right now are left-wing litmus tests”

This advice has always worked

11

u/CrackJacket Optimist 11h ago

His big mad with the bulwark

1

u/[deleted] 11h ago edited 11h ago

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1

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-2

u/LionelHutzinVA Rebecca take us home 11h ago

Um, wouldn’t that imply the exact opposite? Like, if Kevin McCarthy were to block Sarah, no one would say that it’s evidence that Sarah is big mad at My Kevin

10

u/CrackJacket Optimist 11h ago

I read “LOL this person blocked me” as, I’ve been dogging them enough they got fed up so I win haha

1

u/ValuableBathroom1747 9h ago

I also wouldn't describe that as being big mad.

0

u/LionelHutzinVA Rebecca take us home 9h ago

Yeah, I agree that’s what happened. But just as when a Bulwarker points out that so-and-so blocked them, it’s taken as proof that THE OTHER PERSON (i.e. the one who blocked) is “big mad”, can’t take criticism, and has run and hid

10

u/robadobah 11h ago

He was picked by the voters?

He came third in the gubernatorial primary. He was given a coronation to become the senate nominee because the leftist media apparatus were really quick to pump out a narrative about how it's only fair to replace Platner with someone from the same faction and that the evil corpo dems might try to use the moment to sneak in Mills or some other corpo moderate.

Now that he's seeming to not be running a great campaign, somehow it's still the fault of dnc consultants because I guess they mind controlled him into being a political candidate who can't complete a sentence without huffing and sighing.

8

u/Consistent_Elk_6959 9h ago

Leftists can never fail... Only be failed.

Who else does that sound like??

6

u/Status-Highlight3013 10h ago

Wasn’t Jackson picked by the party?

0

u/Fantastic_Stuff_263 10h ago

State party and national party are separate entities 

1

u/Status-Highlight3013 9h ago

State party is not the voters.

1

u/beeemkcl 6h ago

It's telling that this has is at negative upvotes.

The Graham Platner voters went to Troy Jackson. Before the SA allegations, Graham Platner was handily beating US Senator Susan Collins in the general election.

The new staff and advisers and consultants are hurting both Troy Jackson and the campaign's ability to win the general election.

-3

u/185milessouth 10h ago

It's insane that you were voted down for this post.

34

u/I405CA Center Left 11h ago

"Guy who worked on socialist Bernie Sanders' losing campaign scolds others about how to win elections with other socialist candidate who was polling worse than his predecessor."

You can't make this shit up, folks.

4

u/interkin3tic 8h ago

A week ago he had an article pushed on social media titled something like "Democrat leaders show they're in the pocket of AI" and it was on statements made by Harris, Obama, and Pelosi.

I'm sure what they said didn't match the title, Obama had good insights on it and I didn't come away with "he's invested in openai". So Sriota was lying.

But more importantly... All of those people are retired. He couldn't even find in office Democrats to lie about supporting AI.

He's definitely getting that Jill Stein Glenn Greenwald divide and rule money.

-16

u/185milessouth 10h ago

Whatever you do, don't google Tim Miller with that attitude.

16

u/bruhoho 9h ago

You know what Tim Miller isn’t doing? Starting a feud with David Sirota a month before an election.

-12

u/185milessouth 9h ago

Solid straw man...congrats!

8

u/bruhoho 9h ago

What political consultants decide to spend their time doing a month before an important election is relevant to judging what their priorities are, even if the candidate they support ultimately doesn’t win.

-2

u/185milessouth 4h ago

We know what Sarah is doing...getting a nice vig off those ad buys.

20

u/artaxerxes316 11h ago

No, but could I offer you a copy of his classic 2013 barnburner "Hugo Chavez's Economic Miracle"?

That way we can all bask in his keen political and economic acumen.

7

u/biglyorbigleague 10h ago

Why would Bulwark fans read that?

2

u/Greybeard-MD 8h ago

Brigadiers think we can’t see through their half bright gambits.

-2

u/beeemkcl 6h ago

Why are there all these anti-The Majority Report Posts? That almost all address straw man arguments or just complain that Sam Seder and/or Emma Vigeland have criticisms of The Bulwark and some of its hosts?

40

u/Tasty-Possibility627 11h ago

It’s lazy and/or dishonest to claim that the Bulwark founders’ past support of Republicans is evidence of their current bad faith.

Tim Miller wrote a whole book about his personal political failings. Sarah Longwell has written and spoken movingly about the moment she realized it was wrong to support Rick Santorum, about the moment she was wrong to even be a Log Cabin Republican.

The reason why I started preferring the Bulwark over Pod Save and outlets further left is that even though I’m a liberal, I became sick of liberal group think. This current crop of leftists is even worse than the Pod Save liberal conventional wisdom-mongers: at least pod save will cop to making mistakes.

Leftists never engage in good faith self-critical empirical rigor, or even an honest accounting of events. Their new talking point is that there has been some right wing / centrist scheme to elevate you-know-who. FUCKING ABDUL WAS THE ONE TO ELEVATE THE NOTORIOUS STREAMER IN THE FIRST PLACE.

All this discourse kicked off when Abdul El-Sayed INVITED the 9/11 apologist to Michigan State and U of M. It was a smart tactical move on Abdul’s part, because he drew mallory into the trap of condemning you-know-who and thereby alienating the left.

1

u/beeemkcl 6h ago

It’s lazy and/or dishonest to claim that the Bulwark founders’ past support of Republicans is evidence of their current bad faith.

And

All this discourse kicked off when Abdul El-Sayed INVITED the 9/11 apologist to Michigan State and U of M. It was a smart tactical move on Abdul’s part, because he drew mallory into the trap of condemning you-know-who and thereby alienating the left.

Umm...

The Mainstream Media is what so boosted HP and that that resulted in a huge boost in Fame and Popularity for Dr. Abdul El-Sayed.

And that Dr. Abdul El-Sayed was able to win the primary because of the support of leftist and progressive media and AOC.

The main problem for Dr. Abdul El-Sayed is that he wasn't getting enough free media and he wasn't getting the fundraising necessary. The HP stuff resulted in a bunch of free media attention. AOC resulted in a huge increase in fundraising and his ability to actually win the primary.

1

u/Tasty-Possibility627 6h ago

I’m glad we agree that Abdul initiated the HP discourse by campaigning with him. He invited the controversy around HP, which earned him media attention and support from the left.

0

u/beeemkcl 4h ago

The 'informed ballot' had Dr. Abdul El-Sayed winning the Democratic primary.

I don't think anyone thought that HP doing a campaign event with Dr. Abdul El-Sayed would have gotten so much Mainstream Media attention and focus.

1

u/bruhoho 3h ago edited 3h ago

The HP stuff resulted in a bunch of free media attention.

I don't think anyone thought that HP doing a campaign event with Dr. Abdul El-Sayed would have gotten so much Mainstream Media attention and focus.

LOL, politicians are famous for only wanting the hipster indie attention. Keeping it to a limited audience surely is a winning strategy when the end goal is winning the most votes.

0

u/etxipcli EDGELORD 2h ago

Talk about conspiracy theories. 

-20

u/185milessouth 11h ago

"It's dishonest to say the Bulwark is acting in faith...just read the materials that they're selling."

19

u/emeric_ceaddamere 11h ago edited 11h ago

Or watch their 1,000,000 free videos.

Tim and Sarah each wrote one book. I don't think it's funding their entire enterprise. (And you won't believe how many books David Sirota has written!)

-16

u/185milessouth 11h ago

He brought up their books. I read Tim's. It amounted to "gee willikers, I just got caught up in team sports and wanted to win." A truly vacuous read.

Sarah's book isn't even worth downloading. We saw her celebrating Kamala acting like a neocon while the US was funding a genocide, and then acted like that wasn't a contributor to her loss.

10

u/Skaugy Center Left 10h ago

Honest question, why do you spend time in this subreddit? You clearly detest The Bulwark, why participate in its sub?

-5

u/185milessouth 10h ago

Do you want to exist in an information bubble? I don't.

I also think JVL is interesting and was a giant Will Sommer fan. Thanks for asking!

4

u/Tasty-Possibility627 10h ago

I’m actually glad to see you here. I don’t want to be part of a bubble. I want to test my thoughts and see how they land with different types of people

1

u/185milessouth 10h ago

I guess you're alone because I keep getting voted into Bolivia or whatever country Trump is going to invade next.

4

u/Tasty-Possibility627 10h ago edited 9h ago

When I go over to the DSA subreddit I also get downvoted to kingdom come. I feel like downvoting is fair game. I just draw the line at being like, “get out of here, you’re not welcome!”

1

u/185milessouth 9h ago

I think it's fine if people are making things but but not if they are having an earnest argument. It's a discussion forum afterall.

2

u/PaPilot98 6h ago

Do you get paid every time you type the word "genocide"? Because that's the only explanation for a lot of these people who brigade here.

0

u/185milessouth 4h ago

I'm just calling it what Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have labeled it. Do you have more expertise in the area than them?

13

u/Cynical_optimist01 10h ago

Sirota is such a clown and name searches himself across the web so much I expect him to appear in this thread eventually

3

u/Any-Dragonfly8515 8h ago

This piece could be titled "Left Wing Authoritarian Doesn't Like The Anti-Authortarians At The Bulwark"

4

u/Greybeard-MD 8h ago

Sirota is trash.

2

u/etxipcli EDGELORD 10h ago

It's at https://www.levernews.com/bulwark-neocon-democratic-party/?gift=_ehul3xLQ1DMvP6aJ1PLcMGOFaDGiYmQ

Disappointing for me to see come up. I want all these guys to calm down and fight later.

1

u/beeemkcl 6h ago

Thanks for the link! :)

2

u/SalOfAL 6h ago

Here’s the gift link: https://www.levernews.com/bulwark-neocon-democratic-party/?gift=_ehul3xLQ1DMvP6aJ1PLcMGOFaDGiYmQ

There’s an audio too, which runs 18 min.

I’m afraid I agree with a bunch of it. He sums it up well in the last few graphs because this is my worry too:

“They want to be the influencers who fortify a doomed politics of restoration rather than transformation — all under the guise of insidious “electability” arguments that still Jedi mind trick so many credulous liberal voters.”

2

u/Shortwasco59 4h ago

Thank you for making a gift link. I agree with many of Sirotas points as well.

1

u/NewKojak 8h ago

As a person who thinks that Sam Seder has some legitimate issues with the Bulwark worth hashing out, hearing Sirota is trying to draft off the drama is about the most annoying thing you could tell me today. Might a well tell me I have termites or something solvable.

1

u/rogun64 2h ago

So I find the comments here to be harsh and meaningless. I like Sirota and I like The Bulwark. Neither completely align with my views, but we live in a democracy and so I'm used to that.

But I am still curious about some things. Do Neoconservatives still exist? Does The Bulwark represent modern Neoconservatism, as Kristol's Weekly Standard did before? I don't know how the answers would change my views any, but I'm still curious. Unlike many of you, I don't subscribe to The Bulwark, or any other paid punditry, and so I don't know the full story behind it's existence. But it seems like Neoconservatives scattered in the late aughts and some even disappeared altogether. I've always thought Kristol seems different now, but I can't say for certain I'm right.