And now, a word...

Now that I have my obligatory tribute post made, let me explain who the &%^* I am and what the *&(^&^% I think I'm doing. I'm an occasional commenter on Eschaton , Pandagon, Orcinus, Adventus, and a few other bastions of left blogistan using the nom de net of "Scott the Obscure." I'm a resident of southeast Texas, where I reside with a wife who's far too god for me and an absolutely wonderful, fabulous, and practically perfect in every way six-month-old daughter. I'm a lifelong liberal, loudmouthed blowhard. This makes watching Texas politics an exercise in frustration, but I'm too much of the obsessive idealist to stop.

As for what I'm up to with this, well, I seem to have bored the local papers' editorial staff to death with my occasional guest columns, and I feel the need to speak. I've been treated for several years for clinical depression, and hopefully, taking on a daily task that's freely chosen will help me fight that. Plus, it lets me get some of the thoughts out of my head without boring my wife to tears with them. So look for at least one comment, or possibly a rant, about politics, media, philosophy, theology, or the occasional bit of geekery, each day.

Hello, pleased to meet you, hope you've guessed my name.

A sad note to start things on

Molly Ivins, greatest political columnist in the history of everything, has passed away. It was reading her columns as a child (found by looking at that one more cartoon after the funny pages), that turned me into the political junkie I am today. I credit her with much of the fire in my belly, and my tendency to express it via guest columns for the Port Arthur News. She's been a huge influence on my writing style, as well, even if I'm just a pale imitation.

And I think that's what got me off my gluteus maximus, figuratively, at least, to start this blog, instead of just talking about it. Miss Molly's gone, and it's up to the rest of us to do the best we can.