I was sitting here reading this miserable excuse for a thread at Unclaimed Territory and it dawned on me that many people who used to contribute to the discussions here are either no longer around or have cut back dramatically on their participation. It wasn't long ago that threads like this one would not degenerate into something resembling a cluster of monkeys fucking a football but would actually provide some information which was not readily available elsewhere.

Below, I've listed some, not all, of those who fall into one of the categories above and invite readers to peruse their posts and make up their own minds regarding the value of their contributions over the time they spent here. Personally, I miss them and I miss the contributions they made here. Some of them can be found elsewhere in the political blogisphere and others have just disappeared. If you run into any of them, invite them to stop by. The http: address under each name will take you to their letters archive and you can read their work for yourself.

prunes

http://letters.salon.com/8c77d83d5021f4f11dda8a4838932923/author/

SomeNYGuy

http://letters.salon.com/a026f62d3188299b4d9042f8cdc92ebc/author/

Paul Dirks

http://letters.salon.com/eb583ee519a5144fde49c0d25a981e61/author/

Desert Son (aka No Kings)

http://letters.salon.com/3d6267645b952015f916f3bc40791ca3/author/

Pow Wow

http://letters.salon.com/6658d541a01688192443edf4d36cf09f/author/

Ktwdawg

http://letters.salon.com/79f0ae297795eb01427415c0b9bac746/author/

William Timberman

http://letters.salon.com/0148de89d8c3dad94e5de32fe1847a91/author/

Paul Rosenberg

http://letters.salon.com/6c43203a5679a7b762eb17a0e2ff158b/author/

bebop-o

http://letters.salon.com/7a27df375699780f6fc8829fb9be743d/author/

Strangely Enough

http://letters.salon.com/a1249ae261d74e55fce5bf2d5541cfc7/author/

Arne Langsetmo

http://letters.salon.com/9dc0edc7d03dbbbf63d342f7de16652e/author/

Scientician

http://letters.salon.com/d911a6ec9c188245f271150de8099dc6/author/

Armagednoutahere

http://letters.salon.com/10cd17edfbf7b25b56bcbecf55edf9cc/author/

kovie

http://letters.salon.com/815929870426af2ccf2d53cc0791be0f/author/

Frankly, My Dear

http://letters.salon.com/1738d4b5b55732513d629c8f97c6fee6/author/

Jordan Orlando

http://letters.salon.com/5d3a13a70448df2c7c74689b554844bf/author/

Jay Ackroyd

http://letters.salon.com/236f16f7afd953fc535a055c34f03afd/author/

j. m. greysky

http://letters.salon.com/f8340db5289911869ce7aeffe0b2e139/author/

swift goat pet for truth

http://letters.salon.com/3771bc8c265748708cf872c0f7d84742/author/

Baldie McEagle

http://letters.salon.com/f39eca5a3ec58c3de2ec071c46c5491a/author/

LWM

http://letters.salon.com/245f1f756059ad85f242a660a1d7ac6b/author/

ondelette

http://letters.salon.com/66f7197afa21c65b48b4bbfc49fa84d9/author/

sysprog

http://letters.salon.com/c48f8cb90d3eee88eb17e88ca8a901c5/author/

Yellow Dog

http://letters.salon.com/3ee9da862cb3fc0b33161738642a8376/author/index59.html

Wabanatta_3

http://letters.mobile.salon.com/7400f989c3f3cb78b6a94e6742b147a8/author/index18.html

Svensker

http://letters.mobile.salon.com/b5388a3ed287df446d692a42b1eedd64/author/index40.html

rollotomasi

http://letters.mobile.salon.com/cdbb09c20fae134473a501455c64eaba/author/

r€nato

http://letters.salon.com/7c995de8f59e26663f5c3a8a141a5f11/author/

bahhummingbug

http://letters.salon.com/72678aa530f953d9b36c78eb5dce1ae1/author/

Michael Harold

http://letters.mobile.salon.com/71cba6f5f0bccc98a9f5966272c55af2/author/index74.html

El_Cid

http://letters.mobile.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2007/02/20/blair/view/index10.html

DCLaw1

http://letters.salon.com/a6168e42b5e8786e52d895deb382a2cd/author/

Jim Montague

http://letters.salon.com/28aa5cbba9b453d38fa3ec271c22093e/author/index30.html

karr(sic)

http://letters.mobile.salon.com/2c601e956ce7442368e32dc25284c191/author/index68.html

susan sunflower

http://letters.mobile.salon.com/4ef5760a58f72dec70ad0e10b07153ce/author/

Canukistan Bob

http://letters.mobile.salon.com/f2e492ed8e2a77b66df7308e741e466d/author/

Paul Daniel Ash

http://letters.mobile.salon.com/b3d0ae0ebdde019718db0832e845204d/author/

Shooter242

http://letters.salon.com/09cd031e370979a2dae94173fb255484/author/

PULL THE PLUG ON RIGHT WING THUGS!

PULL THE PLUG ON PRO-LIFE TERRORISTS!

PULL THE PLUG ON BECK!

PULL MY FINGER!

I continue to be perplexed by those who argue against the obvious and correct meaning of the word, "war". Back in the Vietnam days, when it was asserted that Congress had not authorized war (and therefore we had no legal right to be in Vietnam), obfuscators would say that it wasn't really a "war", only a police action, so Congressional approval was unnecessary. Now the shoe is on the other foot.

Why would you bring this up to me? I've never argued about the meaning of the word 'war'. What I take exception to is your belief that this 'war' can be construed to legitimize any action, however divorced from 9-11, anywhere in the world when it is clear that the only authorization foir that type of activity came not from Congress but from Bush's signing statement which, had be been challenged, would not have held up in court.

You may call it anything you wish but you cannot change facts by merely changing the name.