Mark Charest

Angry attorney

[Krystal Ball @krystalball]

Pretty revealing that what galvanized “centrist” Dems was losing to a couple DSA candidates not for example, losing to a bunch of corrupt fascists who want to end Democracy.

[Anish Moonka @anishmoonka]

A grizzly sprints at 35 miles an hour. The fastest human who ever lived, Usain Bolt, peaked at 27.8. No person alive can outrun one, which is why every wildlife agency gives the same instruction: do not run.

Running also flips a switch in the animal. Bears evolved to chase things that flee, so a sprinting human starts to look like prey. The thing that actually stops a charge is bear spray. Two researchers, Tom Smith and Stephen Herrero, went through every recorded Alaska bear encounter from 1985 to 2006. Spray stopped an aggressive brown bear 92 percent of the time. Out of everyone who used it, 98 in 100 walked away with no injury at all. The three who got hurt had minor scratches, and none needed a hospital.

The same researchers checked the numbers on guns. People carrying firearms were injured in more than half of their close bear encounters, whether or not they fired. A charging bear closes the gap too fast to aim at, and a wounded bear is more dangerous than a sprayed one. No bear has ever been reported killed by bear spray. That is the case for carrying a spray canister instead of a gun.

If a bear makes contact, the right response depends on which bear and why. A grizzly that charges because you surprised it is defending itself rather than hunting you, so the Park Service says to lie flat on your stomach, hands behind your neck, legs spread so it cannot flip you, and wait it out. A black bear, or any bear that stalks you like food, calls for the reverse: fight back and aim for the face. Yellowstone has tracked these outcomes since 1970. People who played dead in a surprise grizzly attack came away with only minor injuries 75 percent of the time. People who fought back in the same situation were severely hurt 80 percent of the time. One choice, opposite result.

Even so, a deadly grizzly encounter is close to the rarest thing that can happen to you outdoors. Brown bears killed 24 people across North America between 2000 and 2015, fewer than two a year, against millions of hikers and campers in that span. The danger is real at ten feet and almost gone at a distance.

The people who walk away from these moments tend to do the same few things. They keep their distance and their spray within reach, and they stay put when every nerve says sprint. Staying calm is what buys the seconds to get any of that right. The composure the original post praises is the part that makes the rest work, and the rest is what actually moves a bear along.

[Mark Charest @mark_charest]

@tomshattuck @ultimoDANK 12,000 followers and zero likes. Oof

[Mark Charest @mark_charest]

@AnthonyMEmerson Maybe if she held a town hall in the last 20 years, she would have met him by now.

[Mark Charest @mark_charest]

Maybe if you held a town hall in the last 20 years, you would have met him by now.

[Susan Collins for Senator @SenSusanCollins]

Today, a man I have never met held a press conference and accused me of criminal conduct. That is outrageous and false.

[Hunter Biden @HunterBiden]

I'm not running for office. But if I were, these are some of the lessons I'd take away from what happened in NY yesterday.

1. Authenticity is measurable. Voters can smell a focus group from a mile away.

2. Endorsements from the current Democratic leadership now read like warnings. The establishment wing of the party is no longer a sword. It's a question mark.

3. Conviction beats caution. The candidates who said hard things about rent, about who pays for what, about Gaza, they won. The triangulators lost.

4. Cost of living is everything. Everything else is wallpaper.

5. The middle is not a strategy. It's an empty room. Voters reached past the establishment to grab someone who actually believes something.

6. Don't fear the base. Court it. The Democrats who ran from their own voters lost. The ones who ran toward them won.

7. If you want to lead a party you have to be willing to fight inside it. Mamdani didn't ask permission. He took the field.

The lesson under the lessons: the country is tired of being managed. People want to be led.

[Mark Charest @mark_charest]

@cahil @grahamformaine Can I get one of these? Campaign merch is hard to come by.

[Mark Charest @mark_charest]

@AnimasOutlaw @Yuri6Actual @6Voodoo

[Graham Platner for Senate @grahamformaine]

Why do we treat the Supreme Court as if it’s the only branch of government without any checks or balances on its power?

There's already a compelling case to impeach and remove at least two justices.

[Mark Charest @mark_charest]

@SteveRob Finally, the hard-hitting investigative journalism Maine needs.

[Mark Charest @mark_charest]

@MoniFunGirl @Krisco7791 Is he a communist or a Nazi? Make up your mind.

[Matt Stoller @matthewstoller]

The Democratic establishment is not afraid of Platner losing, they are afraid of Platner winning.

[Progressives Cat🌹 @ProgressivesCat]

I'm not just defending Graham Platner; I also want to give future progressive leaders the chance to redeem themselves.

Unless you're looking for a perfect liar, it's hard not to say something stupid when you're young.

[Graham Platner for Senate @grahamformaine]

Benjamin Netanyahu is an international fugitive.

He is charged with the war crimes of starvation as a method of warfare and of intentionally directing an attack against the civilian population; and the crimes against humanity of murder, persecution, and other inhumane acts.

[Graham Platner for Senate @grahamformaine]

Their plan: Spend $300 million to buy Susan Collins a sixth term.

My plan: Defeat them, then ban billionaires from buying elections.

[Mark Charest @mark_charest]

@LarryOConnor “And the media obediently swoon” motherfucker have you been in a coma for the last two months?

[Mark Charest @mark_charest]

@juliush34 Shut the fuck up dork

[Mark Charest @mark_charest]

@SenSusanCollins Hold a town hall you fucking coward

[nylaWHO @nylawho1]

I’m actually crying this is so fkn funny

[Graham Platner for Senate @grahamformaine]

Being called a thug and the worst person ever to run for office by Donald Trump might be the highest compliment I have ever received.