Mine are at the moment, "x," always erudite, always fair, who has a deep knowledge of American history and culture, Whiskeypapa, who has an encylopdedic knowledge of the Civil War, and is an excellent internecine debater, which debates have taught me much, Jwalsh07, a special friend, fair minded, and a superb debater and researcher about matters he cares about, Sinkspur for his skill at cut and thrust that I don't have, and don't have the inclination to acquire, but enjoy, Sabertooth for his ability to debate civilly, and superb research skills and hard work on issues that he cares about, even though we disagree a fair amount of the time, Dales for his hard work on political horse race issues, Deport for his unfailing civility and common sense, KQQL for his continual monitoring of all those noisome polls, Ambrose for being informed and fair, and for being tough minded on political and legal matters, and Luis Gonzalez when I want to watch some real action on a thread, even if it makes me wince. Some of the heavyweights on economic issues have departed, and I miss them. I am embarrassed I can't remember their names exactly, but one was miteconomist or some such.
Thanks to all of you.
Yikes, I left off the Tator, that sui generis genius, who is provocatively outrageous at times, but is always a good read (the guy knows how to write a story which has a beginning, middle and and an ending punch line which is skillfully built up to), and has a hands on knowledge and memory of politics that seemingly goes back to near the creation. I suspect he attended George Washington's inaugural. To miss his posts, is to miss a lot of fun, and often a lot of wisdom.