I’ve gotten a few emails along these lines in response to Cosmo’s pledge pitch:
Hey, I’ve subscribed for a year …. You had me at the dogs! Good to see Cosmo looking so fit.
Now who is Buckley??? Is he yours and how come I’ve not heard about him?
Me: For the record, Buckley has been mentioned around here before. I’d search for it, but typing “Buckley” into National Review’s search engine isn’t the most efficient use of my time. Regardless, Bucks is Cosmo’s best (canine) friend and “cousin.” He belongs to my brother-and-sister-in-law who live up the block. They — by which I mean the beasts, though my in-laws too – spend a great deal of time together. Buckley is a very sweet dog, who could easily beat Coz in a fight if he only had the requisite killer instinct to go with his superior athleticism. But he’s a lover (and a begger) not a fighter (though the squirrels fear him mightily) and so Coz bullies him too much.