Heads Up!

by hilzoy

Starting on Friday, I'll be blogging both here and at the Washington Monthly. (Generally, cross-posting things, though I can imagine the odd open thread that won't appear there.) I'm really honored to have been asked by the Monthly, and excited to be working with Steve Benen, not least because I might finally be able to figure out the answer to one of life's burning questions: how does he manage to write so many really good posts every single day?

Filling even a tiny part of Kevin Drum's shoes, though, is a bit daunting. Luckily, having had to take over from Katherine, I have practice in replacing the irreplaceable.

I will, however, still be here. I love ObWi, and especially the community here, too much to leave.

Comments

[Adam]

Congrats, hilzoy.

[Ben Alpers]

Congrats, hilzoy! It looks to me as if Washington Monthly is trading up!

On the other hand, Kevin Drum seems like an odd choice for Mother Jones.

[Model 62]

@Ben Alpers: Kevin Drum has an audience.

[Gary Farber]

"Filling even a tiny part of Kevin Drum's shoes, though, is a bit daunting."

Go for the big toe; you're not suited to the role of a heel.

We always knew you had sole, though.

And remember: wherever you go, there you are.

[Meditative_Zebra]

Good work Hilzoy, and congratulations. I'm sure this is a sign of impending bloggerly riches. Soon you'll be a shining star of the blogerati whose words will sway the masses. Though it will be a bit odd to see your posts taking down McCain with his banner ads featured all over the site.

[cleek]

"Filling even a tiny part of Kevin Drum's shoes, though, is a bit daunting."

wear a good activated charcoal mask.

[Adam]

wear a good activated charcoal mask.

and pick up some holy water.

[ThatLeftTurnInABQ]

Does this means that hilzoy is now a [shudder] celebrity?

Say hi to Paris and Britney and Barack for us, huh?

More seriously, congrats and well done!

[Ben Alpers]

@Model 62: Yes, Kevin Drum has an audience. But it seems fundamentally unlike Mother Jones's audience.

Then again, twenty years ago it would be impossible to imagine someone like Megan McArdle (who also has an audience, fwiw) in a major position with The Atlantic.

[Eric Martin]

What few realize is that this is part of my elaborate plot to take over Obsidian Wings...wait, did I just type that out loud?

[Ugh]

Congrats, hilzoy. Now, about that comment section at the Monthly...

[socratic_me]

Congrats!

[John Thullen]

Great news, Hilzoy!

You deserve the recognition.

This is good news for Obama, too.

[A.L.]

Congratulations on the new gig. It's nice to see great writing rewarded. The bigger your readership, the more intelligent the world.

[Stephen Frug]

"Filling even a tiny part of Kevin Drum's shoes, though, is a bit daunting"

Bah -- the Washington Monthly is really lucky to be publishing your work.

And Steve Benen's, too. That'll be amazing: two of my favorite bloggers at one url...

SF

[Jesurgislac]

Congratulations!

Filling even a tiny part of Kevin Drum's shoes, though, is a bit daunting.

Buy a big bag of peat from a garden center and mix well with fresh coffee grounds. Sow with perennials for early flowering next year.

[AndrewBW]

Congratulations. Keep up the fine work.

[matttbastard]

Sigh.

Suppose this means I'll have to add Political Animal to the blogroll. :-P

(Congrats, Hil. Conversely, assuming Drum doesn't take all the trolls--genuine or parody---with him, my sympathies.)

[bedtimeforbonzo]

Congratulations, hilzoy.

I've marveled at your ability to write as many posts as you do here.

Nice to see recognition -- and a wider audience -- finding someone who writes with such sincerity, devotion and heart.

[Ugh]

Why no paycheck?

[hilzoy]

Ugh: I dunno.

[hilzoy]

And thanks, everyone. ;)

[publius]

how does he manage to write so many really good posts every single day?

he's not carbon-based.

congrats!! great choices for wash monthly.

[Dulcie]

Congrats, Hilzoy! First time poster, but I read you every day. I'm thrilled that you'll be blogging for WM. Keep up the great work!

[publius]

more substantively, I think hilz and steve are two of the hardest-working bloggers in the business. They really put a lot of time into the "research" end of the posts. it's easy not to appreciate how much work goes into one of hilzoy's post on say, obama's record, or mccain's past statements. but it's a lot. and steve's industriousness is infamous. and they do it day in and day out.

it's good to see this effort getting the reward and the wider audience it deserves.

[Eric Martin]

what publius said.

hilzoy deserves this and much more. Not to take anything away from Steve, obviously, but hilzoy is one of my heroes.

[Nell]

Congratulations, Hilzoy! You're one of the very best, and deserve a wider readership.

But there should be a paycheck, too.

Mother Jones is a good and interesting mag, but it's not your mother's MoJo. Left writers still appear, but the political span is much wider and weighted toward straight-up liberals.

The clearest example of that was their issue last year devoted to "how to get out of Iraq", most of which could have appeared in the pages of, um, the Washington Monthly.

[wtf over]

kevin drum sucks and i cannot belive that mother jones would want him.

bleah.

[Jeff]

More readership for hiolzoy: Good thing
Less hilzoy here: Bad thing

"The Good of the Many outweighs the Good of the Few."

Sigh.

(Srsly, Good luck and congrats!)

[Ben Alpers]

Mother Jones is a good and interesting mag, but it's not your mother's MoJo. Left writers still appear, but the political span is much wider and weighted toward straight-up liberals.

Of course Kevin Drum is not even your mother's straight-up liberal.

Just another small step in the apparently eternal rightward journey of the Overton Window.

[Prodigal]

Great gardening tip, Jes. :)

[Harald Korneliussen]

Will you post as hilzoy, or under that other name? You know, the one your parents gave you ... While I certainly can understand your desire for pseudonymousness, I wonder if it won't become an impediment eventually as you rise through the punditocracy.

[hilzoy]

Still hilzoy. I don't imagine any further rising. On the other hand, I never really imagined any of this, so what do I know?

[liberal japonicus]

Congrats, hilzoy. Who is going to pick up the friday catblogging?

[bedtimeforbonzo]

Since more than one person brought up a paycheck, I've always wondered why ObWi has no advertising (which is great -- I mean, the look of this site is very clean) and how does it sustain itself?

[hilzoy]

bedtime: It only costs, oh, $14.95 a month, I think.

[Warren Terra]

I think the main reason so many people brought up the paycheck is that Kevin Drum is leaving a salaried blogger position at the Washington Monthly, and his blog will now feature Hilzoy and Benen instead.

Now, it may well be that the Washington Monthly is doing this specifically to eliminate an expensive salaried position, and as a subscriber to several not-for-profit political magazines (though not that one), I can fully understand. But it would be nice if the magazine were able to save some money, while still spending something so that Hilzoy could get some money or other maybe some genuinely nice perks, something better than a free magazine subscription and maybe the annual staff retreat at some Holiday Inn in Maryland.

[hilzoy]

My impression is that Steve is the anchor. I have not inquired into his arrangements, nor do I plan to, but it would not at all surprise me (or bother me) if they were different from mine.

[ral]

My congratulations too.

I abandoned the Washington Monthly comment threads after discovering ObWi. I guess I'll have to give them another try now.

[bedtimeforbonzo]

"bedtime: It only costs, oh, $14.95 a month, I think."

Wow.

[Gregory]

My heartiest congratulation, hilzoy. IMO the WaMo is trading up.

[javelina]

I shall follow you faithfully over to the Washington Monthly (as well as lurking around here as per usual).

[Ara]

Congratulations, hilzoy.

[JanieM]

Nice to see your good work recognized. And -- I'm glad you're sticking around here, too.

[Gary Farber]

Ugh: "Why no paycheck?"

Hilzoy: "Ugh: I dunno."

It helps to ask.

publius: "They really put a lot of time into the 'research' end of the posts."

On behalf of the Committee To Stamp Out Misuse Of Quotation Marks, there's absolutely no reason to put "research" into quotes unless you're mocking it. Which I don't take you to be doing.

"I abandoned the Washington Monthly comment threads after discovering ObWi. I guess I'll have to give them another try now."

Two reactions: 1) since Hilzoy will still cross-post here, why?

2) Without moderation and rules, any widely read blog's comments will remain a cesspool. Always. I suggest not wasting your time and energy unless the Political Animal (or any other widely read blog) adopts moderation and some rules.

[Gary Farber]

"bedtime: It only costs, oh, $14.95 a month, I think."

Wow.

What's wow?

Blogger and Blogspot remain free, for that matter.

"I shall follow you faithfully over to the Washington Monthly"

To read the same post twice? (Reading Steve Benen is a good reason, if you haven't already been reading the Carpetbagger Report.)

[ral]

Gary, good points, thanks. I will think about it.

[The Crafty Trilobite]

Congrats, Hilzoy! I have been recommending your posts to friends & family for years, so I am delighted that you will now have a much larger audience. I hope you still find time to glance at the comment threads here, it won't be the same without you.

Yay!

[kindness]

Congradulations. You've earned it.

Does this mean you are now part of the Good MSM or the evil MSM?

[JakeB]

congratulations, hilzoy.

[kindness]

Congradulations. You've earned it.

Does this mean you are now part of the Good MSM or the evil MSM?

[wonkie]

Congratulations Hilzoy!

I'm trying to imagine the shock Kevin's commenters are going to experience when unrestrained rudeness is no longer the expected rewsonse to a post...

[ThatLeftTurnInABQ]

Does this mean you are now part of the Good MSM or the evil MSM?

Slightly O/T, but not entirely since we are talking about upgrading our news media: I just read that Rachel Maddow is getting her own show on MSNBC, the 9 pm EST slot currently occupied by Dan Abrams' "Verdict". I believe she is due to start right after the party conventions are over.

So keep it up, we may just have the evil b*stards on the run!

[now_what]

Of course Kevin Drum is not even your mother's straight-up liberal.

If there's anything about Drum's writing that isn't my mother's straight-up liberal, it would only be his healthy skepticism of any source of information he runs into. A skepticism born of being burned one too many times, I'd guess, but that's just a guess. Other than that, he is a garden variety liberal, with a talent for expressing exactly why he's a liberal and what that means. I'm a smarter person for having read him, and he deserves a wider audience.

Wider than he's gonna get at Mother Jones, but that's another story.

Good for Hilzoy too, obviously. It will be interesting to see how the comment thing plays out. As vicious as the comment threads on Drum's blog were, you could learn something if you read through them. I'd rather learn something and be insulted than politely learn nothing, but that's just me, maybe.

[Patty]

What A.L. said:

"Congratulations on the new gig. It's nice to see great writing rewarded. The bigger your readership, the more intelligent the world."

And to TLTIABQ: From your keyboard to god's ears.

[Jesurgislac]

now_what: As vicious as the comment threads on Drum's blog were, you could learn something if you read through them.

Only if you ignored the rabid trolls - and the people who thought it was funny to imitate rabid trolls.

[SqueakyRat]

We love you too, Hilz.

[russell]

hilzoy -

mazel tov! I look forward to your posts there.

Will the kitty be joining you there on Fridays? :)

Thanks -

[bc]

Congrats, Hilzoy. Glad I'm not going to be missing my daily pro-McCain talking points since you're cross-posting! ;)

[bedtimeforbonzo]

LeftTurn,

Maddow's show -- she/MSNBC don't have a name for it yet -- starts Monday, Sept. 8., at 9 pm EST.

I am not sure someone so intelligent (not to mention liberal) -- Maddow is a Rhodes Scholar -- will make it on cable TV. So kudos to MSNBC for giving her a shot.

[Batocchio]

Benen is actually a group of clones.

In any case, I'm very happy for both of you. Congratulations! Well deserved.