They say that the only thing in the world that's constant is change, and oh, how right they are.

Over two hundred years ago, we had a group of patriots who were willing to sacrifice everything for the cause of freedom. Many did just that. Today, there are very few willing to take that stand. Sad enough, but that's not what I sat down today to lament.

This weekend, as I was thinking about those who have given their lives to protect my freedom from foreign adversaries (while those funding the effort systematically and ironically work to dismantle that same freedom from within), I realized that the blogosphere as I know it has changed drastically in the two-and-a-half years since I joined the chorus.

The RWRepublic officially came into being February 1, 2005. I had been cruising around cooperforpresident.com (no longer around), Little Green Footballs (which I stopped visiting in the early going), and the Rottie (still the most powerful voice around ... you go, Emperor!), and was inspired to add my voice.

Some really great minds found their way here in the early going, and many stayed as regulars. Sadly, many of these great voices have either fallen silent or have scaled back their involvement considerably. This isn't a complaint. People have to do what they have to do. It's just sad when a friend has to move on. Paul has a new baby, who is surely keeping him busy. TripleNeckSteel has found bigger things with his new business. Delfts has had major health problems and can't post as often as he used to. Mama had gone silent as well, but has posted recently about the horrors being wrought upon the world by the Chinese government. Even RantingFox went silent for a while, and seems to be taking another (much-deserved) vacation.

The right loses power when voices like these go quiet. CooperForPresident was some seriously awesome comic relief. Thank God Misha is still around, though I wish I could be more active in my commenting there.

Thank God also for those voices that have stuck around, and the new voices that carry us still. Van Helsing still posts a great site, though his comments around here are missed. Sage has been pretty quiet at R&S, but has kept the fires burning with his commentary here. Ol' BC still pats me on the back quite often, and for that I'm grateful. Moonbat Monitor's rants are on point and rival those of the great Emperor himself. RWN is still a great place to go for serious discussion of the issues of the day, even though I disagree with Hawk's choice of candidate, and MrMinority will always be a favorite of mine as well.

I guess I've just been missing the people that inspired me to keep going back in the beginning. I wish everyone well, and hope to enjoy everyone's commentary here for the long haul.

RWR