About

The gold brooch Nancy Pelosi placed on her white blazer the night of the State of the Union Address earlier this year was a miniaturized version of the Mace of the United States House of Representatives. The actual Mace is nearly four feet tall and made of silver and ebony.

It represents the authority of the Speaker. It is a symbol.

And for so many years, Speaker Pelosi, in her own right, has been a symbol: one of power, divisiveness, and #resistance.

As she was tearing up a copy of the President’s speech that night, a San Francisco progressive activist named Shahid Buttar was firing off tweets about the shallowness of her performative politics.

He and his team of political misfits have spent months building up a campaign to challenge her seat in Congress. It is a long shot but has been billed as the second most important race to watch in this country.

Shahid is the first serious Democratic contender to Nancy Pelosi in years. Or at least, he was.

Show Notes: 

1. [00:30] “The Layers of Heaven” by Jovica

2. [01:10] “Coulis Coulis” by The Blue Dot Sessions

3. [03:45] On Senator Amy Klobuchar, sporks combs and salads 

4. [04:00] “Grizzlies” by Mary Riddle

5. [04:30] “The second most important race” to watch

6. [06:30] Full results of San Francisco’s 2020 Primary elections

7. [06:45] h/t Dorris Burke

   • Respect to Craig Sager 

8. [07:30] Follow Jasper Wilde

9. [08:50] Read Jasper’s 4,300-word essay here

10. [09:20] “Vik Fenceta” by The Blue Dot Sessions

11. [10:30] Recent progressive wave in San Francisco

12. [11:30] Light reading on:

    • San Francisco’s problem with needles

    • Light reading on San Francisco’s homeless problem

    • More on the Bay Area housing crisis

13. [12:35] “Dusting” by The Blue Dot Sessions

14. [13:00] Related: AOC’s shoes and sneakers

15. [17:05] Follow Otto Pippenger

16. [19:20] A past read on Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez

    • And a recent interview on the split within the Democratic party

17. [22:10] Liz Croydon’s sexual harrasment allegations against Shahid Buttar

    • Shahid’s reply

18. [23:10] Coverage of the allegation:

    • from The Intercept

    • from Mission Local

    • from The San Francisco Chronicle and it’s earlier reporting

    • from The Humanist Report

    • from Rolling Stone’s Useful Idiots Podcast

    • a counter-narrative to Elizabeth Croydon’s Medium essay

    • a response from the Shahid campaign

19. [23:45] More from The Intercept’s Akela Lacy on the allegations and its impact on the Shahid Buttar campaign

20. [36:45] “Tarte Tarin” by The Blue Dot Sessions 

21. [37:15] Gloria Berry’s defense of Shahid Buttar

22. [42:00] Follow Akela Lacy for more political coverage

23. [44:30] Amy Klobuchar didn’t eat a salad with a spork, it was actually a comb

24. [54:20] “Swing That Horn” by Mary Riddle