Since the Primary Wars I mostly read, occasionally comment, and enjoy myself in the Pootie Diaries which I find fun, refreshing and friendly. Until I took a break after those wars and then got over John Edwards' mess I didn't do even that much on this site.
I came back for several reasons which I would like to share after the fold.
My first reason for returning is that I am a Democrat and this is the best site for the latest information regarding the party and its candidates. Say what you will, DailyKos has a wealth of information not found anywhere else to my knowledge. The political junkie in me needs this fix too.
Then there are the wonderful writers who are passionate advocates for a worthy cause like nyceve is for single payer universal healthcare coverage and teacherken is for education, on and on I could go. There are those who understand issues far better than I do like bonddad does financial intricacies and darksyde does science. DailyKos has attorneys who can explain the fine legal points of issues, doctors who are able to clear up medical questions and many who simply express themselves eloquently each and every time they write a diary. Those folks are a pleasure to read and I always open their diaries when I see them.
Probably just as important as any other reason for being here is the news I get that's not covered by the media. As an example my local paper the Wilmington Star News, owned by the NYT, had a picture of a woman sitting on the beach sketching on the front page this morning. A small bit of coverage was given to the pirate story among other small bits of "stuff" but seriously, a woman sketching on the beach is front page news?? Front page news is always covered here like Rimjob's recommended diary right now. (Sorry no link, just got an IMac and am on a learning curve.)
I like the garden diaries, BinPM (LOVE him), the snarky stuff, and I love learning new things, new perspectives, words and phrases and ideas. Some of y'all here are scary smart and I hope a bit of that rubs off on me.
So I've found my spot so to speak. It's a good place and I like it.
Thank you Kos for a place where one can be a flaming idiot or not, where any and every one of us can speak our minds and for the opportunity to continue to learn from each other. I don't always like everything I read but I do like DailyKos so I've learned to take the little bit that isn't so good with the large part that is. It works for me.
Oops, almost forgot. Even though Obama wasn't my Primary candidate I did volunteer for him, obviously voted for him and think he's doing a pretty darn good job. When I disagree with him on an issue I get a mental image of President McCain and that takes care of that. For the first time in eight years I'm proud of my President and that feels soooooo good!