Sunday, June 03, 2007

Truly Sad News

Rest in peace, Steve Gilliard. I guess you couldn't call it unexpected, because he'd been scary sick for a while, but this is still a gut-punch. Someone (Kos?) once called him "the best ranter on the Internet," and the News Blog was one I read every day for his take on current events, as well as food, beer and technology reviews; I might also point out that he absolutely nailed it, three or four years ago, calling out the exact shape the Iraq war would take (I heard of the Mahdi Army from the News Blog, long before they were on anyone else's radar) and illustrating his points with history lessons from WWII and colonial wars. His interests and outlook were very close to my own, and his was a voice I trusted to tell it like he saw it, and also to get it right.

I'm kind of upset, so I don't think I'll say any more, but Jane Hamsher has something to say worth reading, and so does Lindsay Beyerstein.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Steve was quite a loss as I understand after reading up on him through your leads.
He leaves a big void.
What Newsblog did he write?
Do you have to have a blog address to access it?

Want to come down Fr's Day?

Don said...

If you click on his name (or here) you will go to The News Blog, but it's pretty much shut down right now.

Don said...

One more thing: here's a NY Times article on Steve -- the comments there are also very good.