Mensch tracht, und Gott lacht

Friday, July 21, 2006

My Semi-Retirement from TRC

I'm announcing my semi-retirement from The Reform Club today. I just began blogging over at American Spectator and am planning to consolidate my efforts over there. They gave me my start in the online journalism/punditry world. It is through work for them that I met S.T. Karnick, which has been one of the great privileges of my adult life. He and I started this blog together. Through it, I have met several wonderful people and have actually gained some professional opportunities in the bargain.

Thanks to my co-bloggers Sam, Tom, Kathy, Alan, Ben, Jay, Herb London, and "Michael Simpson."

I'm never going to forget listening to Rush talk about Alan for twenty minutes of million dollar airtime. Mind you, it wasn't for a Reform Club post, but I still felt privileged. Alan continues to have his townhall.com blowtorch.

Kathy had a period several months ago where I thought she was blogging as well as anyone in the game. I couldn't wait to see what she did next. She's been in semi-retirement lately, but maybe she'll reclaim some of the real estate I'm vacating.

Jay came to us after bowling me over with some of the coolest election commentary I've ever seen back in 2004. He also provided an extremely interesting Jewish perspective on the whole Darwin/I.D. question. In fact, he joined the blog via comment box writing on that very topic.

Tom got us mentioned in Newsweek's Blog Watch. Never mind that he was opposing me in my merciless campaign against the Harriet Mier's nomination! We brought Tom in after bravo performance in the comment room. Confidentially, I think he writes the most provocative posts of any of us.

At least one of Ben's accounts of international conferencing with the tragically hip crowd deserves to be anthologized somewhere. Tom Wolfe is calling!

Herb London looks more and more prescient as things in the Middle East continue their spiral into some sort of eschatological scenario.

S.T. Karnick is finally threatening to do more of the work that caused me to repeatedly acknowledge him as "the greatest living film (and television) critic in the English language (TM)." Look for him to break out in the pop culture area in 2006-2007.

And Michael Simpson, we barely know ye, but you are clearly a shrewd analyst of what lurks behind the ivy and what lives in the ivory towers.

I'll be back, but not so often in print here at the Club.

3 comments:

James F. Elliott said...

Congratulations, Hunter. Best of luck to you and your future publishing endeavors.

Hunter Baker said...

James, I wanted to pretend that I was so incensed at being labeled a "Christianist" I was leaving the site, but I couldn't pull it off with a straight face even online.

I am not sure I have ever met anyone so capable of being supremely inflammatory and conciliatory at the same time. And THAT is saying something.

Tell the guys at Kos I said they should make you a featured player.

James F. Elliott said...

Inflammatory, opinionated, and rude though I may be, I left Daily Kos behind a while ago. Believe it or not, I find their form of dogmatism as unappealing as anything on the Right. But I'd love to be taken seriously anywhere. ;] If you're ever jonesin' for a fight, you can come over to here. You'll always be welcome.