Very sorry to see you go. You gave Salon another readable column. I'll check out your home digs. I'm going to need a new place to go soon.

You'll be missed here, Steve...see you there, Mr. Benen. Thanks for a few great weeks here at War Room.

Steve's posts were both plentiful and enjoyable. He gave us quantity and quality. How often do you get that? I certainly will be visiting his old digs.

You did a fine job hosting War Room. I'll be checking out your work at Carpetbagger Report and when it appears on C&L. Best wishes and I hope Joan brings you back again.

Thanks for your insightful, timely, and thought-provoking posts, Steve.

And quite sorry to see Alex Koppelman return.

Sorry to see Salon plunge downhill.

Sorry to see America do the same.

Oh well. Quod est inferius est sicut quod est superius, I guess.

I book marked your regular site. I look forward to reading you there.

...sorry to see you go. You rocked. I'll check out your blog.

Many thanks and kudos...and a boohoo.

Steve's control of the War Room was the only thing that brought me back to Salon. Now, with Steve's departure I'll probably leave as well.

Well, at least we can always go to the Carpetbagger...

War Room under Steve was starting to take up far too much reading time every day. Under Alex, it seemed like the articles were a lot less frequent and rarely engaged my attention. Now, I guess I'll get more work done -- unless I start reading Steve's blog...

Agree with other posters. I don't plan on visiting the War Room if Alex is going to be the only one posting. Steve's posts were very insightful, and actually focused occasionally on what McCain and the current president (yes, he's still around) are up to instead of this constant, destructive Clinton/Obama chatter.

The world is coming an end, everything sucks, the people who are not exactly like us are Hitler squared on plutonium. Someone's to blame for all of this; the usual suspects.

No disrespect to Alex, but I really enjoyed your posts. They were solid. Nice work, you'll be missed.

You did a great job here. I've always enjoyed your posts at Carpetbagger, and I'll be checking in more often.

Where'd that 'e' come from?

You're clearly better than Koppelman.

Miss you already.

Koppelman lacks insight, lacks background knowledge, lacks resourcefulness, lacks intellectual curiosity and any but the most rudimentary sort of analytical ability.

To be fair, it wasn't fair to him to be replaced by Benen. Never fun to get schooled by the substitute teacher. The kids never do think of you the same way again.

No surprise, though, that Walsh ignored the steady please of her readers to keep Benen around. Koppleman is a perfect fit on the team Walsh has assembled.

I'd appreciate a War Room with you and Alex.

I will miss your participation in the War Room. Your posts and the insight and humor you shared were top notch (and frequent!)- I enjoy your style a great deal. Thanks! I am sorry to see you go! Please....don't!

Ya done good.

Now only Greenwald is worth paying attention to. I would say sorry Alex but it would be untrue, Steve set the bar that Alex has failed to even see.

With Joan's rants, I'll check out Greenwald and that is it. Very diplomatic Steve and will and have been checking out Carpetbagger since you've taken Alex's mantle.

You've been great around here, and I appreciate your approach to covering this stuff. I will definitely be carpetbagging regularly from now on.

I had such high hopes that Salon had listened to its loyal readers. Ah well. I've found Tim Grieve's new home and I'll follow you too. Thanks for a great couple of weeks in the War Room.

Really. Steve. You will be missed. However, since you are just heading back to your regular gig, i hope all of war room's readers come with you. i certainly will.

And welcome back Alex!

It's a shame that Salon isn't keep you around, but I take consolation in knowing I can read you over at the Carpetbaggers Report. Ba bye, War Room!

Thanks for your fine work in War Room, Steve. Like most of the letter writers here, I think you've raised the bar with your thoughtful take on the events of the day. Keep up the fine work, and don't be gone for long.

Salon staff: If there's ever a blogger opening here, I hope Steve Benen tops your wish list.

You should go on back to TPM where (over) reactionary ultra-left meets libertarianism....It will be nice to get Alex back.

Steve was a fantastic War Room blogger. It felt like a return to the original War Room that was one of the major selling points of Salon for me...great analysis and a featuring of items that didn't make it into other news sources.

To the editors at Salon--keep Steve Benen around!

I'm really going to miss you, Steve. Good job.

You've made your mark at Salon for sure. Don't be a stranger!

I preferred Steve's approach to the War Room--more analysis, more irony, less gossipy, and more likely to show deeper background knowledge than Mr. Koppleman.

I've really, really enjoyed your tenure. You offer real analysis in the War Room, something that I hope will continue when Alex returns.

You and Alex K. should tag-team or something.

Koppelman has good blogs, but sometimes he's way off. His long-winded defense of Geraldine Ferraro's comments was a serious low point, and made me really wonder about the guy. I do hope he has gotten a haircut and acquired a razor since last we saw him. (It's fun giving him a hard time...)

maybe you can stay on as a regular contributor - no reason for war room to have only one voice!

Hey Steve,

I really enjoyed your work here at War Room. In the past I had occasionally checked out carpetbagger when links showed up in the posts I read, but I'll be a regular visitor to your posts now after getting to know your work. Take care.