257 Comments

"My best buddy and constant companion passed away last night. Pete was 17 1/2 years old."

Blessings come in so many shapes and sizes - they never cease to amaze me regardless of what is going on in our country and the world! My sincere condolences to you and your wife, and all who loved Pete.

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founding

RIP, Pete. May he be forever at Charlie's feet while he is recording the pods. <3

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Charlie, this is entirely correct but also has me preemptively peeved because I will bet the farm that within the next week or two there is going to be a guest on a Bulwark podcast spouting Pundit Brained nonsense about how "both parties are catering to their fringe" and nobody is going to call them on it being a load of garbage.

The Democrats are recalling Chesa Boudin. The Democrats are beating Nina Turner in multiple elections. The Democrats took the Progressive Final Boss, Bernie Sanders, and kicked his ass all across the country. There is absolutely *nothing* like this happening on the right, where Trump is endorsing Senate candidates opposed to birth control and - as you point out in this very newsletter - conspiracy theorists are being given a glide path to public office. There is no "both" happening. These are not remotely the same.

If anybody finds themselves saying "yeah but Cori Bush", at this point - on June 8, 2022 - the only possible explanation is because your only language is Horse Race Narrative and you can't break this muscle memory. And you might say "it doesn't matter, because Tucker and friends will attempt to drill everything The Squad says into the heads of the median GOP voter as being indicative of the Democratic Party." Again, you would be entirely correct! That means it is even *more* incumbent on you to break this cycle.

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I'm so sorry to hear about Pete. What amazing dog parents he must have had to make it to such a ripe old age. Dogs are so wonderful; we usually have about 3, and have lost our share. They bring so much joy, and it would be wonderful if they could be our companions for longer. But over 17 years is just incredible.

As for this LaPierre quote: “We know there can be no freedom, no security, no safety without the right of the law-abiding to bear arms for self-defense,” this is why the NRA is so maddening. This is a statement with which, if you were to anonymize it, I think almost anyone would agree. But somehow the NRA extrapolates this into people must be able to buy assault rifles and 300 rounds of ammo on their 18th birthday without any reasonable oversight in the process. Do I think law-abiding citizens should be able procure weapons for self-defense? Yes! Almost no Democratic politician is arguing otherwise! But somehow, any regulation on guns amounts to tyranny. This is why it's so obvious none of this is about principle or philosophy. It's not even about the Second Amendment; it's about money and power.

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RIP Pete! He's now in doggie heaven running with all our furry friends who give us so more than we can ever give them.

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Sorry to hear about your loss of Pete. He had a good life with loving owners, and he was loved (and pampered) at the end.

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Can we hold off in pretending that we understand the increase in crime in cities like SF (or anywhere). This is not a defense of the specific prosecutor but can someone report on the bail issue? Are those not on bail the cause of the increase in crime? (I suggest not). Nor is the spate of shop lifting a result of policies - these are organized crimes. It turns out we don't track nationally so we did not find relationships that were there to be found.

So removing the prosecutor won't solve homelessness. Nor will it stop drive by shop lifting (a fairly new matter). Nor will increasing bail serve to solve crimes (police solve very few).

We still don't know why crime dropped after the 1980s. Republicans (who rarely are mayors of large cities) get to use crime as a cudgel to beat dems.

So please have someone do some digging.

The crime narrative is a broken record.

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I am so sorry to hear about Pete!

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It's interesting to see what right-wingers believe when rights are in conflict. They believe in freedom of religion, but they think it's an acceptable tradeoff that worshipers are mass-murdered by people making use of the Second Amendment.

On the other hand, it's a monstrous affront to religious freedom to expect to buy a wedding cake from a business that sells wedding cakes.

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So sorry about Sweet Pete, but I hope we all have as good a last day as he had.

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All Good Dogs Go to Heaven (1989). The dog angel was named...Charlie.

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I lost an almost 19-yr-old cat back in 1999, and his older brother a few months later - he was 20.5. At odd moments, a sudden memory, and a tear can still fall. Now, I have a 17-yr-old (I think) dachshund with 4 teeth and potty pad issues that I inherited when my next door neighbor died 3 years ago, and a chihuahua (Tewlee) who will be 11 at the end of June (he still hasn't forgiven me for taking Jackson in!). I lost Tewlee's predecessor, who was 11.5 years, unexpectedly as I was rubbing his tummy ten years ago. <sigh> Sometimes it feels like it was yesterday.

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I would like to know which family members, friends or themselves, perhaps, these Republicans are OK with being killed in a mass shooting. Are they willing to BE the price of freedom?

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So sorry to hear about Pete. I still think about my dear Leon all the time even though he passed away 1 1/2 years ago

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I wouldn't make too much out of the California elections.

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"Those words will ring hollow to the Trumpified GOP who have lost the capacity to love their country more than their party. But for many of us, they rekindle a spark of hope that some leaders will serve as a saving remnant."

In the Biblical story, God pledges to spare the wicked city if ten righteous can be found. Not seeing ten righteous in the GOP.

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