I joined the Great Orange Satan, becoming user number 99894. I had lurked for a while, but finally got up the nerve to take the plunge, although it probably was a while before I actually posted my first comment. I am so glad I signed up when I did—had I hesitated, I would have been saddled with one of those unfashionably large six-digit numbers.
Back in 2006, I didn’t have an iPod, had barely even heard of satellite radio, so one day, on my way home from a meeting, I was moving at a slow crawl down the interstate, impatiently punching buttons on the car radio, searching for a traffic report that would explain the problem. I stumbled upon Rush Limbaugh (ptooey) fulminating about a horrible, communistic website called “Daily Kos.”
Unsurprisingly, the first thing I did when I finally made it home was to find this place and begin reading. Thanks, Rush. I think that first day I must have read a couple dozen diaries, just trying to find my way around, and get a sense of the place. I was hooked.
I watched the Lieberman debacle, and was saddened when he defeated Ned Lamont in the general election. Followed the Scooter Libby trial, and many other events over the years, often coming here for the news even before searching the traditional media sites. Was guilted into phone-banking and canvassing, and found a link to Election Protection and spent a cold, rainy day in November 2008 helping people exercise their right to vote. Came home that night, took a hot shower, and settled down in front of the television, laptop at the ready, to cheer with my virtual friends when Barack Obama took the stage in Chicago.
More drivel on the other side of the fleur-de-kos...
Over the years I have seen a lot of changes here, and not just in the physical appearance of the site. A lot of people I liked have left—some voluntarily, some otherwise. I have seen the best of this community, and the worst of it. I have seen people rally to help a Kossack in need, and watched them circle like sharks at times. I have read some brilliant writing, laughed hysterically, seen epic flame-outs, and shed tears in sympathy with the plight of others. I have learned so much, on a wide variety of subjects--that is one of my favorite things about this place--the number of really smart people who post in areas about which I have very little knowledge.
I have made friends, even met a few of them, and the most important person in my life is a Kossack of long-standing, though we first met on another lefty blog. I have changed a lot in the past six years. I hardly recognize that person who was afraid to make a comment. I have lived a lot of those changes in a very public fashion, blogging some very personal stuff--things I never thought I'd share--and have received support beyond anything I ever could have imagined.
I am still in transition, and I predict that six years from now I’ll be in a very different place than I am today. But no matter where my real life takes me, I plan on living much of my virtual life right here.
Thanks, Markos, thanks, Kossacks.