Rumours of my death have been greatly exaggerated

I know what you're thinking. Didn't you die at the end, gunned down by a former campaign contributing insurance executive, standing on the nearby roof of a house overlooking Halle Berry's place in South Central?

Well, the truth is, I was injured but have been recuperating. And the re-election of Bush II, along with his Senate cast of cronies, has prompted me to emerge from the shadows and to carry on the progressive fight.

But I know I need a greater justification for initiating this blog than the mere results of election 2004. After all, isn't the Internets too full of bloggerings as it is? So here are some important reasons why I have rejoined the fray:

--I'm twice as old but half as articulate as Jesse and Ezra over at Pandagon

--I'm one-fourth as vitriolic as the Rude Pundit

--I'm one-eighth as good of a writer as Michael Berube

--I'm one-tenth as resourceful as Josh Marshall

--I'm one-fifth as insightful as DailyKos

--Hesiod (Counterspin Central), Media Whores Online, Notes on the Atrocities, and Tristero, have all dropped out of the race, after very successful and inspirational blog-runs.

With this justification behind me, in my next post I plan to offer my take on the state of the Democratic Party and the prospects for progressives in the aftermath of Election 2004 and George W. Bush's "mandate" for America.