This is not a GBCK or a GBCW diary, it is a thank you and a promise — or threat if you prefer.
I came to dKos in the spring of 2004. As a Brit living in Germany I was completely ignorant of who was who in the run-up to the Democrat Party primaries. From a friends blog I learnt of Billmon and following a link from his blog-roll I came here.
Here I learnt more about American politics here in 6 months from May to November than in the previous fifty years of my life.
Obligatory pootie pic.
I was captivated by the writing of the front-pagers and the regular diarists. I was also enthralled by the breadth of writing here, from the simple and some times not too coherent diary from an ordinary member to the professional writings of the dedicated. I will name no names, but you all know who they are.
I even love the trolls, well most of them, because they give us an outlet for snark, recipes and ranting. There are occasions though when threads remind me of the "30 Minute Argument" sketch in Monty Python.
There have been days that I even liked Armando.
On Election Day I sensed the excitement of you all as we waited with bated breath for the results to come in and like you I raged at the denouement.
In the aftermath I have tried to live up to my blog name in the area of American domestic politics and to participate where I felt I could contribute.
During 2005 I became involved with a spin off from Cheers and Jeers, first the Yahoo group, then the online chat. There we talked a little about politics, but mostly we talked about our lives, our hobbies, our families, our highs and lows and mostly a lot of what many would consider silly nonsense. In other words we are true to the ethos of C & J.
Most importantly those of who chat became friends. We hugged each other when times were bad, cheered when things went right, and snarked the hell out of each other the rest of the time.
The best analogy I have to our online Café is it is a lot like Cheers the TV bar. We even have the personality clashes and romances.
This year I was so disappointed that I could not be in Las Vegas in June, not for the politics but for the opportunity to meet the people behind the names and to hand out some liquid mojo.
What has this community meant to me — a lot!
For the past four years I have been going through the agonies of unemployment. I had worked for a major IT company for 16 years when in 2002 I was made redundant as a consequence of the dot-com bust. This being Europe I had a good redundancy package, a month's salary for each year of service. I also benefited from the social system here in Germany, almost two years of unemployment benefit including medical insurance and state pension contributions.
When that ran out I was too proud to ask for social security, but I still had my redundancy money. Last year that ran out and I had to cash a life insurance policy. Three months ago my bank account hit zero and I started running up debts. Finally at the end of last month I had to admit to my situation to my family in England.
We are a close family and they rallied round with enough money to pay my debts and to return to England, my brother-in-law is even driving a van out this next weekend to take me and a few of my possessions home.
I blame nobody other than myself for my situation, I have a tendency to stick my head in the sand and let things occur rather than grabbing myself by the scruff of the neck and trying to change things. Now I am leaving Germany for England with less materially than I had when I came here 22 years ago. It is a sobering lesson.
During the last two years and especially over the last twelve months the thing that has kept me sane is DailyKos. Every morning I read the diaries and stories of interest that have been posted whilst I slept. Every afternoon during the week I have Cheered and Jeered and at weekends waited with impatience for Monday to come around again.
I look forward to diaries from my favourite writers, no matter what the topic. I have also looked forward to the surprises, a new writer, a new topic or the really kick-ass diary from someone totally unexpected.
Most of all I have valued daily contact with my friends in the Café.
On Saturday I return to England and a life, in the short term, without daily access to the Internet, neither my brother nor my parents have access.
I will try to catch up with what is going on via the local Library or an Internet Café, but I will be very busy trying to find some sort of employment and returning a semblance of normality (ain't that a boring word) to my life.
In the meantime, organize, be active, be dedicated, be angry, be proud and be snarky so that this November America can give the Republicans the first sign that their time in power is at an end.
So thank you Kos for giving us this place.
Thank you Kossacks all for bulding a community.
Special thanks to my lunatic friends in the Café . Ooohk!
I make you all a promise — I shall return.