Our own Joshua Micah Marshall has been named the twelfth most influential Liberal in America today.  No big deal? Hey, Rachel Maddow is only 11th on that list. And she has a full hour every night on MSNBC.

Some may say, well who the hell cares anyway? The Daily Beast is a commie publication anyway. And look who is NUMERO UNO anyway!!!

Jon Stewart is number one and he is just a comedian. But so was Al Franken and we all know that comedianing is not that funny anyway, at least anymore.

And Lady Huff is number three, by the way.

But DB notes that Josh finds his own news, that he is a real journalist. DB  underlines the fact that Mr. Marshall was the first to break the story that broke Gonzo's hold on the Department of Justice.

And no joke, look what the Daily Beast says about our Josh:

Marshall ensconced himself in the national cerebrum when he was the first to report on the firings of eight U.S. attorneys in the Bush administration, which led to the ignominious departure of Alberto Gonzales, the attorney general. Unlike most bloggers, he and his doughty team do a lot of reporting themselves, invariably from a liberal point of view, and are capable of driving the news cycle (as opposed, merely, to chasing it)  thedailybeast

There has even been a song written about all this:

Joshua fought the battle of Old Gonzo

Old Gonzo

Old Gonzo

 

Joshua fought the battle of Old Gonzo

And the DOJ came tumblin down

I think this is a big frickin deal folks. I really do. I mean this puts Mr. Marshall right up there with the likes of Frank Rich and Paul Krugman and more than just a few who work for the New York Times.

Okay so he is not number one in their book. But he is in mine and I will tell you why. First I try to keep up with the news. I will hit the Beast, Huffpo, NYT, Crooks & Liars, Slate, Salon and several other outlets throughout the week; especially when I am sick of the prevailing story of the day and wish to come up with something else. I cannot tell you how many times the outside source sends me back to TPM. Just as an aside, it almost always sends me to Muckraker or the front page.

So TPM is many times, a primary source of information. And cable news sends me to TPM all the time. KeithO who is a personal hero of mine, cites TPM every week. And reporters from TPM will be interviewed at places like MSNBC.

Now at last count there were 12,678,932* active blogs on the internet. But TPM IS THE PLACE TO BE.

I don't care if it is Reich or a number of other regular reporters and pundits who add to this site, we can make a comment and not end up being #453 on the list.

I know TPM gets almost two million hits a month, but I really feel my comments count here. My favorite bloggers at Café oft times have good discussions under one of these articles written by nationally known journalists.  And the writer will descend down from the heavens and reply at times.

I also know that we have rules here; either as commenters at the paid blogs or at Café. But I know you can almost say anything without fear of reprisal.

I also get a kick out of the fact that when he is in the mood, Josh will descend from the heavens and mix it up on a Café Blog. Sometimes he is tongue in cheek. I have actually seen him make a comment like this as a reply to a commenter:

So how long have you been trolling?

I don't know, I get a kick out of it. One of the most important and recognized blog sites in the country, and he will show proof that he cares about our little Café.  And he has paid-staff who work with us on issues like spam or technical issues. People tell me anyway, that when they have a bitch about something, they get a reply.

About once a month I get sentimental about this place. And today, even though I still have an open blog, I could not resist bringing this Daily Beast article to the fore.

Recently, my friend JEP got an itch and started something here. He is from Indiana and Evan Bayh decided he no longer wished to serve in the U.S. Senate. Well JEP  is one of those political zealots who puts his time where his mouth is. He has worked on campaigns in the past. And he is a musician who has traveled with some of the bands of old. (You know Grouch and Ducky and some others traveled with some bands. Sometimes I feel I really missed out on something) 

Anyhow, JEP gets this itch that John Mellencamp would make a good candidate for that open Senate seat. He starts his little movement here and moves over to Face Book and now has over 6,000 people excited over the idea. JEP  has been interviewed on this subject and has even hit a few radio outlets.

Joshua Micah Marshall built this site and he should be celebrated for his accomplishments. And how many people with a talking bird as a middle name have ever made it this far?

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