62 Comments

Charlie, the only thing your missing is DeSantis effort to empanel a grand jury to investigate wrongdoing concerning COVID-19 vaccines. Given that they saved 3.2 U.S. million lives and avoided 18.5 million hospitalizations . . What on Earth would be the charges? Maybe indicting his own Surgeon General for spreading misinformation that diminished Florida’s vaccination rate? One can only hope . .

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“ So don’t pretend you are really surprised. You may be appalled by what you are seeing, but nothing that is happening now — the reckless attacks on constitutional norms, the flood of lies and conspiracy theories, the bullying, insults, or chaos — is inconsistent in any way with what you have known for years.”

And further proof that the above is still true is that the only person beating Trump in Dec, 2022 is RON DESANTIS and he executes even more egregious anti-democracy actions. These morons learned NOTHING from the past 7 years other than hate works.

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I bet the Massie kids roll their eyes every year when they have to pose for this card.

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Re: Orrell, he’s remarkably sanguine about cutting SS benefits.

Perhaps 0.05% of the bloated and absurd military budget could be redirected? We aren’t in Afghanistan anymore.

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I bet the Massie kids roll their eyes every year when they have to pose for this card.

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I bet the Massie kids roll their eyes every year when they have to pose for this card.

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Yes, here were are. And yes, YOU MISERABLE BASTARDS. But you know what? We are going to persevere through this &be smarter, stronger &more aware for it. We won’t become like them &the miserable bastards still won’t take down our democracy … “failure is not an option”.

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Charlie, thank you and your fellow writers at the Bulwark for your insightful, reasoned commentary. You (collectively) are a voice of sanity. Thank you.

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Hey Charlie,

Not sure where in France you are right now, but I'm envious. One of the things I like about France is that despite a massive state apparatus there seems to be an understanding of human nature. Hence, for example, a health care system that is combines a base level of state supplied care with optional insurance that lets citizens make important choices for themselves. Handgun ownership is strictly limited but hunting is supported and you can buy a shotgun in a sporting goods store (with appropriate paperwork, of course). Income taxes are very high (although property taxes aren't), but the country is a democracy, and they are handling the crazies better than we are.

We own property in France, but becoming expats is always a very tough choice. Still, if we saw Trump II on the horizon, maybe taxes wouldn't be a deal breaker. I already speak French; I'd rather not have to learn Hungarian.

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As someone who takes the English languages seriously I wonder whatever happened to the first part out the Second Amendment? What “well regulated militia” does Congressman Massey belong to? The same question can be asked of any of the school shooters. James Madison almost certainly wrote the Second Amendment. Do Justices Alito and Thomas, two proud originalists, actually think the “Father of the Constitution” was incapable of writing a coherent compound sentence?

Gus Seligmann

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BTW I gave up my decades long subscription to the WaPo because they kept Theissen (aka 'that weasel theissen'), Hugh Hewitt and Gary Abernathy -- all of whom repeated and spread BS and lies to support Trump even after January 6th.

If there's an honest bone in theissen's body, don't tell him or he'll have it removed.

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The MSNBC clip where Charlie shocked the host with his unexpectedly candid but totally *spot on* description of Massie’s theatrics was hilarious!

But it does underscore a very serious point about the dangers of treating deadly weapons as meaningless props or hand penises. When people stop having respect for weapons - when they conceptually disassociate guns from death, it becomes easier to use them indiscriminately without deliberation or regard for consequences. Charlie’s analogy to sex is apt because the same thing happens when people stop having respect for marriage and conceptually disassociate sex from love.

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Thank you, Charlie.

Especially for pointing out the difference between Bob Dole and and the posturing ammosexual crowd.

Bob Dole -- whom I did not agree with -- was a goddamn hero. John McCain was a goddamn hero.

Their only mistake was not driving these twits out of their party 40 years ago.

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I just wanted to compliment Bill Lueders column today. I hope it makes people who dismissed all news about Trump as "fake news" wonder about other things they dismissed as fake, and if any of them could be real. The Keystone pipeline, for example, is not just open, it's spewing oil into the water in Kansas. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-12-12/tc-energy-keystone-has-leaked-more-oil-than-any-other-pipeline-in-us-since-2010

Anyway, I always enjoy Bill Lueders' columns and they've become instant reads for me. I'm also loving the "Best of Morning Shots."

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I am really REALLY tired of the whole gun culture thing. It passed ithe bounds of the ludicrous a long time ago.

I grew up in western PA. we had guns around for as long as I can remember. We hunted and engaged in shooting sports (mostly trap and skeet). The first day of deer season was a school holiday!

We reloaded our own ammunition. I was a military history/technology geek growing up. I could tell you more about weapon systems and weapon history than you would ever want to know. We had a family friend that had a class three license and whose entire house was literally filled with his weapon collection (with items going back to the 17th century, but mostly WW1 and WW2--and it also included a lot of things like actual uniforms, decorations etc.). He had fully functional automatic weapons (including an m1919 and a MG42).. and he was extremely knowledgeable.

As part of that whole scene I was rigorously taught firearms safety and respect for these very dangerous implements. In middle school the entire student body (unless their parents opted them out--which was rare) went through hunter safety training. My HS had a rifle team (and were state champs every year) and the range was in the basement of the recently constructed middle school.

Despite all of that (or maybe because of it) I have always taken weapons seriously and treated them with the respect they demand. I have never actually wanted to own any military grade weaponry (unless it was historical) or put it to use or pose with it in a photo. I still own a few weapons, but they are rarely used beyond going to the range once or twice a month... and I do not talk about them or openly carry them.

I am constantly left wondering WTF is wrong with these people.

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Re: "What were you thinking?" In the miniseries "Nuremberg", the Army psychologist assigned to the trial, Cpt. Gustav Gilbert, makes a similar inquiry of Hans Frank, former Governor-General of Nazi-occupied Poland under whose administration millions of Jews were exterminated. His response was "I just wanted to keep my job."

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