I don't want to see TB leave, not at all, for lots of reasons. He's habit-forming, for one, and I don't know what I'd do if I didn't have Tom to argue with. For another, if Tom left, the ecology would require that he be replaced by somebody just like him, to represent his particular brand of stubborn pig-headed close-minded RightWingerism...so driving him off would be an exercize in futility, and it would artificially skew the mix of beliefs here. There are millions more out there just like Tom, and believe me, many more who are one hell of a lot more annoying.

How would you like to replace Tom with whoever dreamed up the smear campaign against Obama and Clinton?

And, leaving aside differences with his crackpot beliefs, everyone can see that Tom's very good at defending them. I'm in awe at times to see Tom battling half a dozen people simultaneously, maintaining a dozen arguments on a dozen different threads, almost like somebody playing a dozen games of chess simultaneously. The word "ninja" comes to mind, but whatever the label, Tom does put in a bravura performance as Defender of the Faith and Grand Ayatollah of the RightWing Jihad.

Nah, I'm not trying to drive Tom away, and I just don't think anybody else seriously wants to either. Sure, people may bitch and moan about beating their heads against Tom's brick wall of belief, but there's a certain irony in the way that they're paying homage to his own complaint that nobody ever listens to him. Sauce, goose, gander, etc.

I'm perpetually baffled by Tech1 and often baffled by gbaikie. They both take vectors on a very different heading from Tom, and sometimes it's not clear whether they're actually assisting him or not. But to paraphrase Tom's comment below, "If there's anything that makes this fun...", "It's having people like SDAI-Tech1, gbaikie, and one or two others lecture me on 'reality.'"

While it may be true that unholy trinity of TB, Tech1, and gb are hogging the spotlight, I don't think that they represent the entire spectrum of Conservative belief, by any means. I would respectfully suggest that you stop "sitting on the sidelines" and be a little more agressive about contributing your own personal beliefs to the Conservative mix. And where's Phil been? There've been a few ScottEvil sightings, but not like the glory days. And RNE was absent for a long time, but he's gradually easing back into the fray, and if you've read our recent conversations, you'll know that you can expect a strong Conservative voice to reassert itself.

Republicans got their asses kicked in the last election, and it's disorienting and the Right is in disarray...and that's a good thing. It means that all relationships on the Right are in flux, and entrenched power and stale ideology can be overturned by fresh faces and reinvigorated (if not new, because after all, we are talking Conservative here) ideas. This is a time of opportunity for the Right, and I hope y'all don't waste it.

Don't just start moping about and constructing those epic yet petty myths about liberal media bias and "we wuz robbed" and anti-American Liberals, because those will be meager warmth in the winter of your discontent. If you want some useful warmth, get angry, get angry at the politicians that took over the Republican Party and ran it into the ground. Get angry at the manipulation that's resulted in vicious polarization. Get angry enough to take back the country from the politicians.