I was reading BiPM's Cheers and Jeers quote from James Carville and Paul Begala, and I realized I had only just recently understood that `vibrant, strong sense of community' thing. Last week my publisher got me hooked up over at the Huffington Post, which I originally though was cool, but now I'm not so sure. It's been a long time since I was the `new kid on the blog.' About a year, actually. And I wasn't entirely sure how to introduce myself. Should I just do a rewrite of my first ever Daily Kos post? Or should I skip that and just try to cover what's been going on over the last 12 months.
I won't lie, I was kind of intimidated for a couple of reasons. First, the comfortable anonymity of the advisorjim moniker was about to give way to my actual name, photo, and bio being `out there' on the blogosphere. Second, I didn't know very much about the Huffington Post audience, and I wasn't sure what to expect from their reaction. And finally, a quick look around at the other bloggers revealed that I was the least credentialed person on the blog roll. I was kind of intimidated.
Ultimately I decided on this. Kind of a hybrid between my first post and a recap of the last 12 months. I gather from the comments that I sound kind of smug, which I am, so that's a fair comment. Also that I'm a shameless self-promoter. Also not news. Truth be told, my Huffington Post blog was a little extra self-aggrandizing because, like I mentioned, everyone else there's actually DONE something. Compared to a Katrina vanden Heuvel, or a Harry Shearer, or a Eric Alterman...I mean, what am I? Just some random guy who changed his mind, right?
Feelings of inferiority aside, it was weird being the `new guy' all over again. I never realized how much I take the sense of community here for granted! I'm not gonna say I've never had any disagreements with anyone here (I'm not naming any names... Armando !8) ), but even the most disagreeable folks I've found here made me feel welcome regardless. I've never even been freeped here! I've had some (rather lengthy) conversations with some well intentioned conservatives who completely disagreed with what I had to say, and even THEY were respectful (if snarky, but hey, I can handle snark so long as we're having an honest discussion). Clearly this is not the norm in the blog universe.
So I begin this new chapter of the `advisorjim' experience by trying to retell my story to a new audience. It's frustrating because 1) I hate repeating myself, and 2) because I hate starting over. If at the end of the day this helps in the struggle against dittiots then it's a good thing.
If Democracy has a home in the blogosphere, it's Daily Kos. Honest disagreement, respectful discourse, funny shit (I love the Scotty Show so much I find myself HOPING for a White House press conference...how wrong is that!?). I was once asked by an emailer if I was going to start my own blog somewhere. My answer then, as it is now, was "Why? This is home!"
While I'm grateful for the opportunity, and while it may be good to help get the message out, it will never be `home.' This is home, and I guess I just wanted to say thanks for having me. The Daily Kos is a unique thing in the blogoshpere. I'm lucky to be part of it.