Wednesday, January 07, 2009

 

Breaking Up That Old Gang of Ours

Several years ago over at Pillage Idiot, Attila shared this self-observation:

“Sometimes you have to come to terms with what you accomplish in life. Some people devote their lives to changing the world for the better. Some people start businesses to create products that alter the way in which people live. And then, some people post idiotic stories about naked people.

“Guess which category I fall into.”

Well, as any reader knows, he has been a lot more than that so it was a great disappointment to read that he has announced the end of his formal blogging days.

Damn!!

Attila is one of the most important contacts I’ve made since I began blogging nearly 3 years ago. Less than a month after my first post and following a rigorous on-line interview, I became the third member of the then-fledgling Maryland Blogger Alliance. I know now that Attila initially threw out the concept of the Alliance as a kind-of joke (single member alliances aren’t that common). But happily, Soccer Dad took him up on it and I therefore had a group I could join and pal around with on the ‘net.

However, it’s not just his administrative efforts which deserve recognition. With the ever-growing plethora of web sites available today, Pillage Idiot has remained a Tier 1 stop for me; the man is genuinely funny. Politically, he and I are rather simpatico and I’ve long enjoyed his send-offs of, among others, Bill, Hillary, Harry Reid – it’s all amusing stuff.

But perhaps there is a silver lining. Attila has been most welcoming of opposing viewpoints – the Alliance is truly diverse on that point - but is most intolerant of any fashion deviances. I strongly disagreed with the crew neck shirt edict he issued last September but never had the guts to tell him so…until now.

I just hope our new commissar, Michael Swartz (and thanks, Mike, for agreeing to follow Attila in this position) offers more leeway on this matter.

Good luck, Attila, may the Mets continue to break your heart.

Comments:
You are very kind, MC, too kind (except about the Mets).

For the record, I said this about you some time back (links to you at the original post):

This morning, I skimmed through an uproariously idiotic op-ed in WaPo by Saad Eddin Ibrahim, described at the foot of the piece as "an Egyptian democracy activist, professor of political sociology at the American University in Cairo, and chairman of the Ibn Khaldun Center for Development Studies."

The first thing I thought (and this is actually true) is, I wonder if Maryland Conservatarian is going to take a crack at this. So I'm pleased to report that, after about a two-week absence, he has indeed. His fisking may be found here: "Democracy Activism - Mid East style."
 
Thanks I remember the post well - and how flattered I was by it. Hopefully, you'll at least keep reading.
 
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