Three Million

For the benefit of the regular readers and commenters at SST.  We have now had well over three million lifetime page views on SST.  That would be insignificant for one of the big, professionally staffed blogs, but this is just a committee of correspondence.  pl

Comments

[Jim Bouman]

I keep coming back. And recommending that others sample what's here.

Much hard work, Col. Lang. And much appreciated.

[Ormolov]

To celebrate I ordered the Butcher's Cleaver (new, not used, you'll be happy to hear).

There may be a small number of other weblogs or 'committees of correspondence' on the web that are as useful and informative as this one. I just don't know of them. And that begs the question: why not? Not to take anything away from your own pedagogical skills, Colonel, but isn't there an entire army of retired analysts and policy makers who could do us all a world of service by explaining the inner mechanisms of their respective fields? Perhaps they are out there, the former EPA officials and the former HUD officials, the furloughed Ambassadors and the astronauts, who could make better sense to the rest of us the way the world truly works. We may want to make of this posting a roll-call of all the other great weblogs out there. I sure feel the need for them.

Hey! City on the Hill! Shine your light!

[Maureen Lang]

A hearty congratulations!

[b]

That is indeed a lot for three and a half years of blogging.

Datapoint:
My blog is a year older and I am at 1.8 million page views.

Keep going Pat. You are one of the best knowledge sources on the Internets in the FP area.

[RonD]

Congratulations on three million, Colonel. I'm happy to have contributed more than my share of these...I know when I get tired of uninformed hyperbole and need a refuge of nuanced analysis informed by a deep and wide historical context, I come here. Thanks for everything, Colonel.

[Bill W, NH, USA]

Congratulations to you and your readers, most interesting and civil discussion site on the web!!!

[Nathaniel B]

Hi Pat,

As a contributor to those three million page views, I wish to say that I truly appreciate your insights into "what's going on in the world."

So much of the punditry and MSM consists of short sound bites and regurgitation of Conventional Wisdom (i.e. the surge is great, it took balls to go for the surge), and it is very difficult to get objective expert analysis of current events.

I do wonder, given your expertise, do you ever see yourself returning to government service? Or do you believe, you are already able to effectively serve the public interest through expanding "the debate" through your blog, and informing important decision makers through your consulting?

Best

NB

[fanto]

Colonel,
you were about to quit the blog about 2 years ago or so, thank God you did not. The pressure "from below" - of the readers and contributors worked! Good work - and many millions more
fanto

[Anon AF]

As I wrote when you reached the two million mark, it speaks to the quality of the "product."

[Michael Chevalier]

Who would say that the thirst for truth has died or gone wanting? 3 million opportunities to observe speaking truth to power.

MCC

[.Matthew]

The one on the bottom middle may be of a child from Lebanon 2006. Same perpetrator. Different atrocity.

[curious]

there goes national productivity.

[11B40]

Long may this glorious correspondence continue!

[Nancy K]

Congratulations Col Lang. Your site is the first thing I read in the morning. There are very few people whose insights I trust,and you are definitly one of them.
Thank you so much.

[Charles I]

Congratulations Pat. The service you have done us here is tremendous. It goes far beyond the perspectives you and your posters provide while leveraging our searches for information.

I'm particularly struck by the example you offer up - a seasoned warrior, with obvious love of your country, no doubt seen some wonderful and horrific things, whom I would stereotype as right of center in a libertarian sort of way, declaredly religious, yet with a moral structure I don't associate with the right.

I told I was stereotyping.

I note your posting in the fall about coming to a position on the need for accountability of some sort over the torture issue, as difficult for your country that would be. Not just taking a position against it, but calling for a morally - and, I think, constitutionally - imperative reckoning for the good of your country, and I suppose, your soul.

You have principles, which I have come to greatly respect, although a few appall my bleeding heart.

Thank you.

[Judith McGlinn]

Memory fogs too much, but I believe I have been a regular reader of your website for 3 years; is that too long? It's been a long, regular bent, however, and I cannot recommend it highly enough to anyone who will hear me. I am the 70-plus daughter of a WWI veteran who was born in 1893 and I have an enormous sense of history, and an enjoyment and love of history inherited from my father. Col. Lang's website is the most honest and straightforward presentation-- of what is happening, obviously with our military (not my expertise)-- that can be found today. Congratulations to the Col., who seems to care not for any personal appreciation--but he should.

[Sherry Long]

Colonel,

Congratulations. I'm not surprised that you have such a large following. My husband and I both read your blog regularly. Thank you for your intelligent insights and for providing such an interesting forum for all of us.

Sherry

Sherry

[Cieran]

Colonel:

Congratulations!

SST is the only website I read daily, and it's well worth the time spent here, with your committee of correspondence (and your committee of correspondents!).

As far as the three million page views, you are certainly holding up well -- heck, you don't look a day over one million!

[Ben Cronin]

Many hearty congratulations, Colonel. And do keep up the good work.

[Ben Cronin]

Also, as a scholar of the American Revolution, I get a big kick out of your much-needed attempt to recover the idea of committees of correspondence.

[Balint Somkuti]

Congratulations!

[Steve]

Good for you Colonel.

While I don't always agree with your assessments, I think I gain more knowledge of ME events from this blog than any others.

I have noticed as well that your blog is increasingly cited and quoted in other online venues.

Keep up the good work.

[David Habakkuk]

Colonel:

Congratulations.

If there is anywhere else on the web where one can become involved in a civilised debate with so many different people of such diverse backgrounds, expertise, and opinions, I have yet to find it.

[agog]

Many thanks for this blog and congratulations on its success.

I, too, have found none other remotely like it and value it accordingly.

[Serving Patriot]

COL,

I too offer congratulations.

But mostly, I offer thanks for the respite your informed commentary offers. And appreciation for the committee of correspondence that has formed here.

Without this oasis, I would be much, much more pessimistic about our collective future. And much less optimistic about my own ability to speak truth to power, to contribute to our collective security and to keep my sanity in the halls of our government.

SP