Thanks, Josh!

Back when I started blogging I was hoping to do what Josh Marshall does: mostly take a lot of news and information that's already out there, combine it with analysis and other information, some of which might come from my unique perspective, and see what meaning I can gather.

In those early years I was also amazed that Josh seemed to keep the same kind of hours that I keep, putting up great posts late at night.

Fortunately for the world, Josh is better at it than I am. He's also done a tremendous amount of original reporting, and made and kept alive stories that never would have gone anywhere without him. Among the chief examples are his work on the long-running Duke Cunningham bribery scandal, Bush's plans to kill off Social Security (including the umbrage the Bushies took when critics started using the term, privatization, that the Bushies had started out with), and the Bush administration's purge of inconvenient U.S. Attorneys.

Talking Points Memo just celebrated its tenth anniversary in operation. I don't know exactly when I started reading it, but it was almost immediately that I concluded that it was essential reading to understand politics and public life in the United States.

Congratulations, Josh, and thanks!