Last Post

by hilzoy

I had all kinds of ideas for things I wanted to write before I left, but between last-minute packing and phone calls from friends and family, it didn't happen. So I'll just say a few things quickly.

As I said before, one of the things that led me to start blogging in the first place was the fact that I thought the country had gone crazy, and one of the things that particularly bothered me was the sheer level of invective and hatred that people seemed to feel comfortable directing at one another. I hated this, not just in itself, but because I thought: this harms us all. 

A democracy is essentially about determining the course of our nation together. To do that, it helps a lot to have a good citizenry. A good citizenry is informed, serious about things that are worth taking seriously, and not liable to be led off course by demagogues. (Everyone doesn't have to be like this, but you need a critical mass of people who are.) But I've always thought that a good citizenry is also composed of people who assume, until proven wrong, that many of the people who disagree with them are acting in good faith. 

This matters for policy: you're unlikely to choose sound policies if you assume that anyone who disagrees with you is a depraved, corrupt imbecile. It's hard to learn anything from people you have completely written off. But it's also corrosive to any kind of community or dialogue to assume the worst about large numbers of people you've never met. It makes you less willing to try to take their problems seriously, and to try to figure out how they might be solved, or to try to understand what's driving them. 

I hate it when people do this to me. I never wanted to do it to them.

The thing is, it's hard to see how to try to help create a better citizenry. It's not something that can be accomplished by enacting a policy, the way covering the uninsured is. It's a matter of individual moral choices, and as far as I can see, the only way in which we can have a better citizenry is to make the best choices we can, and to try to help other people when it's in our power to do so. I once had a friend who decided that she would research all the down-ticket offices, candidates for judgeships, etc. -- the races we all vote on without having a clue who we're voting for -- and distribute the information she found to anyone who wanted it. She was helping out in the way I have in mind.

When I started blogging, I thought: with all the craziness and vitriol that's flying around, it's worth at least trying to do something like that. I wanted to make it as easy as possible for people to be informed, by covering stories that weren't being covered, and by always linking to my primary sources, so that only one of us had to spend time figuring out how to find some bill or GAO report, for instance; and to fact-check claims that struck me as dubious, and that were being accepted.

But I also wanted to try, if at all possible, to treat people, and most especially my political opponents, with respect, except where respect had been clearly forfeited. (Donald Rumsfeld and Dick Cheney, I'm thinking of you.) Because, as I said, I think it's just corrosive to democracy if people are not willing to extend the benefit of the doubt to one another. Besides, it's uncharitable and wrong, and besides that, perhaps some people would survive in a world in which no one was ever more generous to them than they deserve, but I am quite sure that I would not.

That was one of the things I wanted to try to do. I wasn't particularly confident that I'd succeed at all, but I thought: the least I can do is try. It might be a complete failure. It might be that the idea of me trying to do this is just laughable, and that if I had the self-awareness God gave an oyster, I'd be rolling on the floor laughing. Still, I thought, if it doesn't work, the fault will probably be mine, and I'll learn something. (One thing about blogging: you have to be willing to regard criticism as a learning experience, because your shortcomings, including the ones you don't know about and will be mortified to discover, are always in plain view.)

I think that democracy, like any kind of community, takes effort. It needs to be maintained. People need to work at it. And the last five years have made me realize, yet again, that even when things seem really bad, they are not hopeless. There is always something you can do. Even when you're not expecting it, you'll get an email from Moe Lane asking: would you like to join our blog?

All you can do is try. And as my grandmother used to say to us: it is not worthy of humanity to give up.

***

I also want to thank everyone who commented on the various goodbye threads at ObWi, the Monthly, and elsewhere, my wonderful co-bloggers, and all the people who have commented over the years. It means more to me than I can tell you. But I've always felt that I got much more than I gave from the communities at both blogs, and I'm more grateful than I can say. 

Thank you.

Comments

[ral]

Bless you, hilzoy.

[Warren Terra]

I am an Atheist, and I have no idea what theological beliefs you may possess, if any, but I think that the most apt word I've been able to find for these circumstances is:
Godspeed, Hilzoy

[Rodolfo]

I can't believe this is happening....

But thank you. God bless and wish you all the best.

[Oyster Tea]

"...self awareness of an oyster" What kind of respect is that?

[hilzoy]

*giggles*

(I'm an atheist. I was Christian from the ages of 13-22, then agnostic, and then while working on my book, I realized that while I thought there was a conception of moral responsibility that worked fine for our earthly purposes, I couldn't see how to justify one that was strong enough to justify eternal damnation or beatitude. Since Christianity is the version of religion I'm drawn to, that seemed to scotch the idea of a just God -- absent a belief in universal salvation, which I've never figured out how to believe in.)

[Vance Maverick]

Be it noted that Prof. Dr. Hilzoy has a real-world career. This is the end of something for her and the blogosphere, but life goes on.

That said, from a blogosphere consumer: many thanks.

[Tom]

sadness...

hilzoy, if you think you might have one further post in you after you get back from Africa, it really would be cool if you'd write in some more specific detail about your approach to blogging. Pretty much everyone else on the internet has got stuff to learn from you, and you won't be around to teach by example any more.

[Edmund in Tokyo]

Come back, dammit! Don't go! Don't go! Don't -

[Gary Farber]

I refuse to say "goodbye." I shall say fare thee well in all your travels and in the words of Patrick O'Brian, I wish for you joy of it, for all love.

I will also leave you with some other Patrick O'Brian quotes, just because.

One, completely out of context, but therefore fitting, because it is my hope for the future: From The Surgeon's Mate, page 176:

'It shall be as you wish,' said Stephen. 'Yet before the consultation proper begins, I beg leave to observe, that the spectacle of a swimmer who has reached the edge of the Maelstrom, who can leave the vexed waters, the whirling turbulence, and who voluntarily plunges back again, is one that would have made my philosopher cry out in wonder.'

From The Mauritius Command, page 346:

[At a the Governor's dinner celebrating yesterday's triumph.]

Something, reflected Jack, something came over officers who reached flag-rank or the equivalent, something that made them love to get up on their hind legs and produce long measured periods with even longer pauses between them. Several gentlemen had already risen to utter slow compliments to themselves, their fellows, and their nation, and now General Abercrombie was struggling to his feet, with a sheaf of notes in his hand. 'Your Excellency, my lords, Admiral Bertie, and gentlemen. We are met here together,' two bars of silence, 'on this happy, eh, occasion,' two more bars, 'to celebrate what I may perhaps be permitted to call, an unparalleled feat, of combined operations, of combination, valour, organization, and I may say, of indomitable will.' Pause. 'I take no credit to myself.' Cries of No, no; and cheers. 'No. It is all due,' pause, 'to a young lady in Madras.'

'Sir, sir,' hissed his aide-de-camp, 'you have turned over two pages. You have come to the joke.'

And now the appropriate farewell joke for Hilzoy: From The Letter of Marque, page 215:

[Jack is the honored guest at an exclusive dinner party.]

'Mr Aubrey,' murmured Blaine, interrupting the flow [of Jack's story] just where the Surprise was sinking a Turk in the Ionian, 'I believe the Bishop means to drink to you.'

Jack looked down the table and there indeed was the Bishop smiling at him and holding up his glass. 'A glass of wine with you, Mr Aubrey,' he called.

'With the utmost pleasure, my lord,' replied Jack, bowing. 'I drink to your very great happiness.'

This was followed by several more glasses with other gentlemen, and Stephen, half way down the table on the other side, observed that the colour was coming back into Jack's face: perhaps rather more colour than he could have wished. A little later he also observed that his friend had launched into anecdote. Jack Aubrey's anecdotes were rarely successful - his talent did not lie that way - but he knew his role as a guest and now with a candid look of pleasure at his immediate neighbours he began, 'There was a bishop in our part of the country when I was a boy, the bishop before Dr Taylor; and when he was first appointed he made a tour of his command - of his diocese. He went everywhere, and when he came to Trotton he could hardly make out that such a scattered place - just a few fishermen's huts along the shore, you know - could be a parish. He said to Parson West, an excellent fisherman himself, by the way; he taught me to sniggle for eels. He asked Parson West . . .' Jack frowned slightly and Stephen clasped his hands. This was the point where the anecdote might so easily break down again, an unhappy echo of the word place appearing as plaice in the bishop's question. 'He asked Parson West, "Have you many souls here?"' Stephen relaxed. 'And Parson West replied, "No, my lord; only flounders, I am afraid."'

Source. If you find the time, Hilzoy, you will find there, and in O'Brian, a very great deal about birds, amongst other topics.

And, again, I wish you, of your travels and life, joy of it.

And to the rest of the Obsidian Wings community, a quote from another British writer:

[...] I am sorry: sorry you have come in for this burden: sorry about everything. Don't adventures ever have an end? I suppose not. Someone else always has to carry on the story.

And another, from the same source:

[...] Though I do not ask for aid, we need it. It would comfort us to know that others fought also with all the means that they have.

And yet I cannot help but think:

[...] If all the fair folk take to the Havens, it will be a duller world for those who are doomed to stay.

And yet:

[...] I will not say: do not weep; for not all tears are an evil.

And finally, the words I shall live to hope to hear from Hilzoy, sooner or later, as a front-page blogger:

[...] Well, I'm back.

Fare thee well.

[Ken Lovell]

I've written on four blogs now, the only one having any substantial readership being Tim Dunlop's 'Road to Surfdom'. Tim used to link to you from time to time and I have been a committed reader here ever since.

I don't blog much now, for the broad reasons that caused you and Tim to give it away. The sheer lunacy that followed September 11 seems to have dissipated in favour of a surly partisan argument that leaves little room for discussion in good faith based on evidence and logic. The hopes I once had that the internet could lead to a new era of informed citizen participation in public policy vanished years ago.

Like everyone else I wish you well and thank you for your contributions over the years. I disagree with what several people have predicted; I doubt that you will return. The brief days of rational, independent commentary are over.

[kid bitzer]

i too shall wish you an atheist's blessing, although the god i don't believe in is not exactly the god that you don't believe in. still, i wish you all the blessings of all the gods that have never existed.

which reminds me, by the way, that your final message distorts your legacy in one small point.

you are and always were an excellent dispenser of charity and mercy. you were generally a let-him-who-is-without-sin type, and a suffer-the-little-children type.

but every now and then you did a first-rate line in smiting hip and thigh. every now and then you strode out with a sling-stone, or with the jaw-bone of an ass, and laid low your adversaries in the most direct way.

and it was pleasing in the sight of the lord; and the cherubim said rofl, and the seraphim said roflmao.

this is part of your legacy, too: some very witty eviscerations of some very witless fools.

finally: when you have spoken several times of this nation's descent into madness, and its slow climb out, can there be any mystery why rwanda beckons?

theirs was more extreme than ours, and cost them more of their own blood, even than our madness caused the blood of others.

but there are simliarities. and they do not flattery our vanity.

i hope you learn something there about how a nation regains sanity, and how it can find, after a period of madness, both truth and reconciliation.

come back and share what you learn.

[von]

Thank you, Hilzoy. Have a great vacation.

[DecidedFenceSitter]

Thank you for all of your efforts, and it'll be one my regrets that I missed all the meet-ups that happened in DC over the years.

Be well, and travel safe.

[Gary Farber]

"The brief days of rational, independent commentary are over."

Respectfully, and I hope quite rationally, I don't understand this at all. The most irrational and heated debates on the political internet took place from 2003-2006, in my view, after which more and more people -- though obviously by no means all -- came to agree that the George W. Bush Administration had hardly been the paragon of wonderful conservatism many had once touted it as (viewing this as highly desirable), nor the exemplar of effective government these same people had largely regarded it as, at least for its first couple of years, after which a set of diminishing excuses tended to start to set in among the less irrational of such folks.

Those years, as I witnessed them, were the years of the most widespread vitriol and lack of listening on either side.

Nowadays, there's certainly still plenty of vitriol, and plenty of viewing of the noisy extremes of the other side as quite lunatic -- but, by my observations, the numbers of said extremists have actually proportionally dwindled, although this condition is likely masked by:
a) the vast increase of people on the internet in general; and:
b) the truly extreme lunacy of those on the farthest out wings (Michelle Malkin, Pam Gellar, StopTheACLU, the usual noisy suspects you can reliably count on to produce truly insane claims, and their supporting cast).

Mind, I don't remotely agree with Hilzoy's assertion that the general madness has past. I think we have a tremendous way to go to accomplish absolutely necessary changes in American policy and America to improve America to be the America it was promised to me in my childhood that it was supposed to be, rather than the actual America that has not lived up to its ideals that all too often it has been in reality.

And I'm perfectly willing to grant that my views that there are some unbeliveably lunatic folks blogging on the extreme right may somehow prevent me from noticing an equivalent number of similarly noticeable extremists on the left. There are far more leftist blogs I don't read than ones I do, after all. And by nature I tend to avoid blogs and writers that tend towards extremist vitriol and extreme over-statement, even if I'm inclined to agree with some or many of their basic views. Even Glenn Greenwald, whom I have great respect for, gets a little wearing on me at times, and he's a relatively mild example of someone I generally agree with, but whose tone is a bit overmuch for me at time. But this is a matter of personal taste, and I firmly believe that the role of people much more extreme and loud than me is absolutely necessary, so as to push the Overton Window, and, after all, help people like me be recognized as the terribly reasonable moderate and sensible folks that we are. ;-)

But even if I stipulate to all that, my view remains that political discourse on the internet has been improving since the 2006 election, and much improved since the 2008 election.

Why do you believe that such matters were better in previous years? Please do elaborate, if you would be so kind.

[Gary Farber]

"The brief days of rational, independent commentary are over."

Shorter me: what months of what years were these days in, exactly, please?

[chmood]

I'm glad I found this place.
I'm glad you were still here when I did.

You have taught me about he kind of blogger I would like to be - and have shown me how unlikely it is that I become such.

Thank you.

[phg]

godspeed to you. if it makes you feel better to know you have helped just a little, then you should know that discourse has improved. for my part, i have linked your last discussion here to a note i have left to an acquaintance of mine who blogs nothing but vitriol from the right in the hope that he may learn something from you as well.

[Nombrilisme Vide]

All the best!

[russell]

thanks hilzoy! safe travels and safe home.

[cleek]

best of luck, Hilzoy.

you will be missed.

[S.G.E.W.]

You've helped us become better people.

I can't think of any higher praise, nor anything more deserving of our deepest gratitude.

Joy in your travels, and peace in your heart.

[Doug T.]

Thank you. You've been a civil and intelligent citizen (as the Greeks would define the term). Your posts on Andrew Olmstead, in particular, moved me. Enjoy your day job. Good fortune, Hilzoy.

[R. Porrofatto]

Just a frequent lurker, but I refuse to believe that someone as knowledgeable, insightful, and eloquent as yourself will be able to resist the urge to say something when something needs to be said. So I hope you keep the curtains open here so we can occasionally peek through the window to see if a light is on. Even if it is a rarity.

Meanwhile, thanks and good luck.

[Ben Alpers]

Thanks, hilzoy! Travel well. I look forward to your return as a commenter on this blog (you did promise that!).

[Adam]

Best wishes.

[jonnybutter]

It's hard to learn anything from people you have completely written off.

What brought me to this blog is the idea that some sort of new political and cultural consensus will have to be formed eventually - perhaps not like the one in the 50's - 70's, but some sort of working one, and that requires honest, respectful argument. Either that consensus starts to gel, or it's the end of the country as we know it. Publius and Eric grasped this, as evidenced by their earlier blogs, and I am so glad to have followed them here and had the opportunity to read a lot of Hil posts I might otherwise have missed. I certainly don't agree with the poster who says that the days of 'rational independent' commentary are over. But you are leaving a pretty big hole, Hilzoy!

There is a big difference between 'writing off' someone's policy or political views as either unserious or irrational or even disingenuous, and writing someone off as a person: the first is not only hard to avoid at times (like recently!), but can even be essential to Clarity itself; the second, however, is inhumane and to be avoided like the moral disease it is.

Thanks for being sane and diligent, Hilzoy. We're going to miss you, but you have definitely made a mark which won't vanish when you aren't blogging anymore.

safe travels

[hilzoy]

I didn't mean for this to become sort of like a wake; I just got kind of emotional last night. Now I'm off for the airport. Buh-buh-bye!

*more giggles*

*and more thanks*

[Nate]

Clear skies, hilzoy.

[Enrak]

I wish you all the best Hilzoy in whatever you do.

Good luck.

[Patrick]

GodSpeed. Used to read you all the time, when I was left of center.

I've chosen another course. But I still am a human being.

God Bless You Hilzoy.

-Patrick

[Jersey]

This is my first ever comment at ObWi after 2+ years reading regularly. Hilzoy: thanks for keeping it real.

[John Thullen]

Hilzoy: "Thank you."

It was our pleasure.

No, I don't ask Hilzoy to return, anymore than bikers at the bar wonder where that waitress went and hopes she has second thoughts and decides not to move on.

I don't like reunion tours either.

Hilzoy started blogging at the perfect time -- for us -- and she now stops, with impeccable timing.

Her blogging days were of a piece -- perfect.

She's headed for something bigger and better.

Have a great vacation, Hil.

Have a great journey, too.

See ya in the funny papers.

[Tony Dismukes]

Thank you for being a roll model for myself in my own writing.

Au revoir, hilzoy.

[Awesom0]

It's funny...although I've never met you Hilzoy, I feel as if a friend is moving away. I am sad to see you go, but happy to hear you're off on the adventure of a lifetime.

Please do stop by from time to time.

[farmgirl]

well, I do hope you'll continue commenting here, as Ben Alpers mentioned (I've been mostly offline for the last couple weeks, so have missed earlier announcements). I always think the comment threads are the best thing about ObWi anyway.

[nnyhav]

Last post! brings to mind (or is it conscience) Svevo's Zeno ... anyway, just sayin' kthx. Just sayin'.

[wj]

A parent gets rated (however unfairly sometimes) by the children that they raise. So I hope that the bloggers you leave here will make you proud of them when you are no longer here. (Or, one hopes, merely no longer here regularly.)

[matttbastard]

I'm cynically confident that the ongoing (if currently muted)insanity will once again manifest itself in a manner that jolts you out of retirement and back into the trenches with the rest of us, Hil.

Until then, enjoy your vacation[s].

<3

[Mitch]

My first post, and it's to say goodbye.

Thank you for the brilliance and the sanity.

[emberasa]

(another long-time reader, first-time member of the chorus here.)

bon voyage, hilzoy.

thank you for being an oasis of sanity, clarity, and principled generosity of spirit. it's been an enormous privilege and pleasure to watch your mind at work.

namaste

[sujal]

It's been a while since I've commented, but to be sure, I never missed a Hilzoy post. You'll be missed. Have fun on your trip, and if I ever visit my alma mater, maybe I'll find your office and ask for an autograph.

take care. Hope to read you again in the comments when you get back.

Sujal

[Prup (aka Jim Benton)]

Hilzoy:
Of course, as i have said elsewhere, how much I regret -- bu respect -- your decision, and how much I hope it eventually changes (our side needs some of your sanity and clarity as well, even if the Republicans are driving themselves into irrelevancy).

But the best comment I could make is to say that I have copied your 2nd to 5th paragraph -- with credit of course -- and posted it on every blog I regularly visit where it would be at all applicable, and where I could shoe horn it in. It is something we all need to read, think about, and use to deflect ourselves from the mindless anger that can so often show up -- as some of us seem stuck in 2005 when all we could do was shout defiantly as it looked like we were going down to defeat yet again.

[Bernard Yomtov]

Good bye, good luck, thanks.

[Erik]

Thank you for all the thoughtful posts!

[MatthewH]

Another long-time lurker here. In 2006 my brother linked me to a blog post about Barack Obama (this one, to be exact:
http://obsidianwings.blogs.com/obsidian_wings/2006/10/barack_obama.html)

I was blown away by the sheer amount of thoughtfulness and research that went into just one post, and I've been reading ObiWi ever since. Thank you, Hilzoy, for providing a sane, intelligent voice for all these years.

[El Cid]

Eduardo Galeano, in the Book of Embraces:

The Function of Art / 1

Diego had never seen the sea. His father, Santiago Kovadloff, took him to discover it.
They went south.
The ocean lay beyond high sand dunes, waiting.
When the child and his father finally reached the dunes
after much walking, the ocean exploded before their eyes.
And so immense was the sea and its sparkle that the child
was struck dumb by the beauty of it.
And when he finally managed to speak, trembling, stuttering,
he asked his father:
"Help me to see!"

[Jared Tester]

Goodbye and thanks.

[RogueDem]

Add me to the list, you will be missed and looking forward to your future comments is small consolation.

And thanks to John Thullen for reminding me that hilzoy was once a waitress in a biker bar, for some the reason that image makes me smile.

All the best.

[sv]

sorry to see you go. i didnt comment here much but, ever since i started reading 'the blogs' you have been one of my favorites. I wish you the best of luck.

[Gary Farber]

"Your posts on Andrew Olmstead, in particular, moved me."

Olmsted.

[Gary Farber]

"...I've been mostly offline for the last couple weeks, so have missed earlier announcements...."

Previously on the Hilzoy Farewell Tour: Hilzoy's announcement, July 13th, Bare-Faced Go-Away Bird.

Von also said farewell on July 16th, in Of Distances and Passings. Publius did the same on July 17th, with Godspeed Hilzoy.

[NB]

Farewell, and thanks! It's been a pleasure reading you (and your fellow ObWi writers) over the years.

[thebewilderness]

Farewell.

May the light
always find you
on a dreary day.
When you need to be home,
may you find your way.
May you always have courage
to take a chance,
And never find frogs in your
underpants.

[Free Lunch]

I am only adding to the farewells and the thanks that others have offered. I've enjoyed your posts tremendously.

[gil mann]

it is not worthy of humanity to give up.

Hey, guys, I found a quote we can throw back in hilzoy's face to keep her from going through with this!

[Kate]

Goodnight and Good luck. Not just safe home but also safe travelling (a wish needed when negotiating narrow winding Irish backroads in the dark). I hope you see your birds.

And thanks.

[David Acton]

hilzoy,

I've never posted before, but I've been reading you for many years. Thank you for elevating the conversation all this time - you will certainly be missed. I hope your life adventures are fulfilling, and maybe someday you'll come back to us. :)

[NoMoreBlatherDotCom]

I have no idea what the backstory is, but regarding civility I haven't exactly received it from other commenters at sites like WaMo. I also haven't received it from the admins there; whether it was Hilzoy, Benen, Drum, or an anonymous coward isn't known but in any case I stopped visiting the site after every comment I left was quickly deleted. Read some of those comments here:

http://24ahead.com/s/washington-monthly

Even as they deleted my on-topic, non-abusive comments, their past entries were clogged with the worst kinds of spam imaginable. Regarding civility towards my usual opposing views at other "liberal" and "libertarian" sites, let me know if you find any.

[Gary Farber]

"I have no idea what the backstory is, but regarding civility I haven't exactly received it from other commenters at sites like WaMo."

Beg pardon, but what does some other blog have to do with, well, anything? Your comment seems to be a complete non-sequitur to anything in this thread. This isn't the Washington Monthly.

Personally, I've never read the comments at Washington Monthly, and couldn't give a flying leap what their policy about comments is or isn't: why, exactly, should I, or anyone here? What's the relevance here?

I had a dispute with a restaurant the other week over an order I made: want to hear about it?

[Gary Farber]

By the way, "Regarding civility" isn't compatible with referring to "an anonymous coward." You may not be aware of this.

Neither does anyone have a right to post comments at a blog.

[Tony P.]

By now, Hilzoy is probably on a plane. Her vacation has started. I suspect she will have internet access in Rwanda, but it's likely she won't use it much. So, we have to get along entirely without her for at least a couple of weeks. Now's our chance to show that she has fostered an enduring community here, which is as big a part of her legacy as her actual posts have been.

Judging by all the long-time-readers, first-time-commenters this week, the community is bigger than I thought -- and thus all the more worth preserving. I hope all the active commenters will stick around to keep publius, Eric, von, and Sebastian on their toes. But I hope even more that some of the lurkers will start chiming in. I hope that when hilzoy returns from vacation, she will find this place livelier than ever.

Hilzoy has said she plans to make comments here in the future. That means she will probably be reading comments. Not that she hasn't done so all along, but if she managed to read all the comments on ObWi all these years, she must not have slept a wink since 2005 or so. Relieved of the burden of posting, hilzoy the commenter will have the time to read more comments from more people. Let's make it enjoyable for her.

Lurkers of the world, de-lurk! You have nothing to lose but your bashfulness.

--TP

[matoko kusanagi]

This 'minds meh of when Our Beloved Phaelia left Azeroth forever.
We can only hope that a wonderful and auspicious event such as Phaelia's is taking you away from us and from Known Blogspace.
Blizzard even made a commemorative piece of armor for Phaelia's Sprouting Seed, with uberleet stats.

In a way, the memetic armor and meme-weapons you gave us all will help us win our battles here, at least until the Next Upgrade Patch.
Thanks for the stats!

Good journey, hilzoy.

[NoMoreBlatherDotCom]

Gary Farber: Oops! I completely forgot that the Hilzoy that runs this site is the identical twin cousin of the Hilzoy that used to contribute to the blog at the Washington Monthly. What a crazy pair they are! One pair of matching bookends, different as night and day.

Anywhoo, referring to the person who deletes comments at WaMo as an "anonymous coward" isn't really uncivil since that's an apt description of the person; I asked them to reveal who they are and they refused.

Perhaps if Hilzoy is willing to burn her bridges she can let me know the full name of that person or persons so I can write about them.

[Jesurgislac]

Five years is a stint. Thanks for all your work, and for many excellent blog posts. Hope you have (had) a splendid trip to Rwanda.

[Anarch]

I refuse to say goodbye. So instead: à bientôt.

[antrumf]

Did Hilzoy mention how long she'll be in Rwanda for? Tony mentioned above about getting along a few weeks without her. Is it weeks, months...?

[Bill Kaminsky]

Thank you and all the best!

Laconically yours,

Bill Kaminsky

[John Spragge]

I don't consider blogging the highest of all callings, but I note that it tests the intellectual integrity and toughness of those who do it. And Hilzoy, clearly, has passed that test with flying colours. Not everyone has ended a five year run at blogging during a politically poisonous time and left on a high note. So congratulations to Hilzoy, and good luck.

[Gary Farber]

"Anywhoo, referring to the person who deletes comments at WaMo as an 'anonymous coward' isn't really uncivil since that's an apt description of the person"

Describing someone as a "coward" is not civil, no matter how sincerely you mean it.

If you don't understand this, you don't understand what "civility" means. It does not mean "I really believe my insult is justified."

"Uncivility" also does not mean "it's not uncivil because I'm the one doing it."

And, finally, if you have a problem with the Washington Monthly, I suggest taking it up with The Washington Monthly.

[mattH]

Good Luck.

Be safe.

Thank You.

[Batocchio]

Oh, you succeeded, Hilzoy, and were a master of the thorough, clear and polite debunk, which made you fun to cite as well as fun to read. I appreciated your genuinely thoughtful posts, splendid analogies and fair-minded approach. Best wishes once again.

[Enrak]

Couple more things.

First of all, thanks so much Hilzoy. Both for all you have done, and for who you are. You are, IMHO, what some people really wanted the blogosphere to be. That includes me, but other important people as well. ;) I can never thank you enough.

Thanks as well to all the commenters that I have enjoyed reading. Starting with Gary Farber, but not ending there. Even you Jes, who I don't think I have agreed with except one very important time. But I actually think this site has one of the best commenting crews on the web. Despite all of your efforts, with Hilzoy gone, this is probably it for me here at ObWi (y'all are like "wait, when were you here exactly?"). I'm what I like to call a power-lurker.

But I very much appreciate all of you. More than you will ever know.

So while I primarily would like to thank Hilzoy. I also wanted to say "good-bye" to those of you that I've read for a few years now. Without your knowledge of course. But the web is a weird and wondrous thing.

Best wishes to you all!

P.S. Gary, you magnificent b******, you keep correcting that spelling. That "a" is the most annoying thing in the world to all of us! :)

[Gary Farber]

" Despite all of your efforts, with Hilzoy gone, this is probably it for me here at ObWi (y'all are like "wait, when were you here exactly?'). I'm what I like to call a power-lurker."

I very much hope that you, too, will be drawn to return, whether sooner or later. And remember, Hilzoy will be returning to commenting! And I'm willing to bet some of her comments will be indistinguishable from posts!

We're like potato chips, you know. And, yet, also like heroin!

We may not have known you were lurking -- I certainly didn't know -- but it pleases me far more than you'll know, or I can say, to find out that you have been. It would be an equally good thing to have happen in the future, whether I ever find out, or not.

One thing I am always aware of is that you just never know who is lurking and reading, and often they're damned interesting people, whom you wish very much would comment, no matter how shy they are, or how little they wrongly deem themselves to have to offer, or of how little interest they think their perspective would be. They're always always wrong.

Aside from one or two.

So, yes, lurkers of the world: gather your courage, and venture to speak up, at least now and again! Remember, at worst, sticks and stones may break your bones, but at least you'll have the honor of being disagreed with smartly!

"That 'a' is the most annoying thing in the world to all of us."

I wish I could do more. If you or your family ever have any future publishing ideas or plans of any sort, please make contact with me via email, as I'd have very important business advice to give you, and help to offer.

Otherwise, I wish you all the best.

You've been identified here before by your "real" identity and under the name of "Enrak," but since you didn't in this comment, I'm hesitant to explicitly point it out to others. Let's just say that you're the brother of a very special citizen of Narn.

Your thanks and contact mean a very great deal to me, and I know they will to Hilzoy when she reads your words. Be well, please never be a stranger, and may all your family be well.

[rosie]

<...3
(heart, breaking)
Can't bear to see "last post".
Best wishes to you, hilzoy. Be safe and come back soon.

[Eats Wombats]

I don't think I've posted before. I'm not a regular visitor, but I have been here on and off and found it worthwhile (though the armed kitten is disturbing/funny). I can relate to the country going mad idea, having voted with my feet in leaving mine and stayed away from America from 2000-2009.

Best of luck. I like to think America's back on a better track.

[Gregory]

hilzoy, it's been a pleasure and an honor reading you work here and elsewhere. Please forgive me for hoping you won't be away too long.

[Fraud Guy]

bonne chance!

[jwo]

Happy trekking. You will indeed be missed! Come back on your own terms, as we will be delighted in any case.

[e julius drivingstorm]

Famous phrase in the blogoshpere:

"Hilzoy's all over this one."

Surely an hundred will stand up in her stead.

[gwangung]

And remember, Hilzoy will be returning to commenting! And I'm willing to bet some of her comments will be indistinguishable from posts!

From your lips to the Goddess' ear....

[ThirdGorchBro]

Fair journeys, hilzoy. We'll miss you.

[opit]

e julius drivingstorm
Quality, not quantity.

I recall both Gary Farber and Hilzoy referring to physical problems which interfered with their enjoyment of life in the past. If she's up to an adventure, then the best of luck to a known plucky person with good sense.
And while I make no predictions...it's remarkable how many compulsive bloggers find they just need a break.

[Sean M. Brooks]

Dear Hilzoy: I'm sorry you are "retiring" from blogging. You have often been interesting despite the many times I've disagreed with you. Have fun and be careful while you are in Africa.

Think of me the next time you play chess!

Sincerely,

[Meditative_Zebra]

Thanks, and good luck.

[Priest]

I started reading this blog about three years ago. In that time there were numerous occasions when hilzoy posted on some evil or injustice that was not being covered meaningfully in major media reports. I would find myself simultaneously depressed at the examples of human depravity, but impressed with hilzoy's efforts to bring attention, in a thoughtful way, to incidents and issues which many of us might otherwise have missed.

I confess I am a slacker, so I am not exactly the best person to make this suggestion, but the thought occurs to me that one way for those of us who greatly appreciate all that hilzoy has done to honor her contributions, and to further the humane ideals that inspire them, would be to make similar efforts to find and share such stories.

Perhaps there could be a regular thread that could begin "If hilzoy was here..." for folks to comment on and post links to items that deserve a wider audience.

Leaving that suggestion aside, I will say that although I don't think it's a wise standard for judging candidates for political office, when it comes to bloggers, hilzoy's one I would have liked to have had a beer with. I'm reminded of the end of the intro from Bill Cosby's Saturday morning animated show - "and if you're not careful, you might learn something."

[Priest]

I didn't mean to screw up my tenses; even if hilzoy's blogging is past tense, my interest in sharing a pint is present (and future). If you ever find yourself at the EAYC. . .

[metricpenny]

I'll miss your voice. If not for people like you, I would having certainly gone insane during the "Bush 43" years.

All the best and safe travels, on whatever road you find youself.

[Ugh]

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaahhh! I thought this was just a nightmare from early in the week!

Take care hilzoy, I look forward to your active and substantial participation in the comments!

Ugh

[ecthompson]

The more voices, the mo' better. you will be missed.

http://www.whereistheoutrage.net

[dmac]

Your writing is so very, very good. Thank you from a loyal, but silent reader for the last few months.

[John Spragge]

"To be whole is to be part; true journey is return"

Laia Asieo Odo (from The Dispossessed, by Ursula K. LeGuin)

"Sometimes the best map will not guide you; you can't see what's round the bend." Sometimes the road leads through dark places; sometimes the darkness is your friend."

Bruce Cockburn, "Pacing the Cage" from The Charity of Night

[denali]

I cry. We are all crying; each in his/her own way. A voice in the wilderness has gone silent, but only for a moment. There will be other venues. The force is too compelling. Great souls and great communicators are not born every day. Have a joyful holiday dear hilzoy. When you are ready to speak again, we will find you, and be there.

[Porcupine_Pal]

thank you

[3legcat]

thank you hilzoy, and to your commenters thank you also, i've learned here.

[Zoe]

I'm still in denial so I won't say "goodbye", I'll say "see you later" as I hope that you return to blogging one day...