Hi everyone, and welcome back to Wednesday. I’ve been pretty scarce the last few weeks. A lot of it has been work, but it’s also been general exhaustion with politics. It’s been challenging grappling with the news lately. It’s affected my mental health, and also affected my interactions here on the PT, and so I’ve stepped back for a bit.

But even so, I want to try reframing my mindset toward a more positive light and start Thanksgiving early by giving thanks to everyone here. Politics are difficult, and I know everyone has been worn down by events around the world and in our backyards. But the community here has made a space where we can talk, discuss, vent, share, and learn from one another. And while it’s not perfect, it’s still a better place to talk about politics than most other places I’ve seen on the internet.

So even though I’ve been a Grumpy Bear lately, I just want to acknowledge that. Thanks for participating in and fostering this community, thanks for sharing your expertise, thanks for speaking up, thanks for providing laughs, thanks for pushing back on our worst takes, thanks for challenging us to be better, thanks for showing compassion and patience, and thanks for being kind and thoughtful today. Cheers.