Quote · The Bulwark Podcast
John Dickerson: When the Media Helps Rewrite Reality
Where this was said
An Ambassador's Melancholy and the Loss of American Values Abroad
At 1:02:11 · chapter starts 1:01:00
Tim Miller admits he sometimes struggles with the panel culture at Aspen — the detachment from real people and real city halls — but allows that it produces genuine moments. One came after the show: an older man whose wife revealed he'd been an ambassador for 35 years, spanning Reagan to Obama. He told Miller that what gave him the most pride was arguing for human rights, free people, and open markets across administrations with different politics — because the underlying values endured. Now, he said, he couldn't do that job. The person in that role has no values to argue for. And even if someone different wins in 2029, the fear of reversal in 2032 has drained the values of any durable weight. You need both parties to hold them. That, Miller says with evident emotion, is the CBS parallel: once the structural integrity is gone, rebuilding trust takes far longer than losing it.
Frederick Douglass maintained hope in American democracy after the Dred Scott decision declared him a non-person. If he could cite the Declaration and the Constitution as 'glorious liberty documents' under absolute oppression, the current moment has nourishment to draw from — the values have survived 250 years.
