Open thread (and an anniversary)

Just wanted to quickly note that his weekend marks my one year anniversary here at AMERICAblog.

Looking back at some of my initial posts, it’s sad how many of them are still applicable today. Iraq was a debacle then; it’s a debacle now – and for mostly the same reasons. U.S. foreign policy was a mess then; it's a mess now. Homeland security is overlooked a year ago; nothing has changed today.

As regular readers know, when I joined the blog I had just left the Department of Defense, where I was an Intelligence Officer working on Iraq. I departed because I felt I could no longer be part of a profoundly broken, politicized process (more on that in the coming months), and I wanted to be part of making things better, not worse. John was kind enough to take me on, taking a chance on me with one of the best, most popular blogs on the internets, and since then it’s been a pleasure and a privilege to work in (and get to know) the various progressive communities.

Our readers welcomed me from the beginning, and I enjoy every day on this site as much as the first. I think I’ve been able to provide some commentary and insight that you can’t find anywhere else, and I certainly intend to keep it up. We have fantastic readers and an unparalleled team of contributors, and I look forward to my second year being even better than the first.

So . . . chat away!