My time at TPM is almost up. Instead of leaving with a long post cataloguing how I think the world should be, I leave this little slice of cyberspace by saying thank you: to the more than 1500 readers who responded to my query of Friday; to friends and sources on both sides of the Atlantic; to the scores of readers who e-mailed me with thoughts, corrections, and a few choice criticisms; and -- most of all -- to Josh for entrusting me with this incredible platform.

The hype about blogs is only building in intensity (Exhibit A: the front page of the business section of the New York Times today). While others -- many with big names -- will be jumping on the bandwagon, they will have a high standard to meet. Josh -- and TPM readers -- have set the bar for intelligent, reasoned, and researched discourse. It's been an honor to contribute, and I hope that whether you liked or disliked my thoughts, I provoked you enough to read my column at the New Republic Online, and from there we can continue this conversation.

Josh, over to you...