A Last Shot of Chinaco for Bartcop. RIP

Shortly after the debacle in Florida in 2000, I was basically one angry liberal. Everything the Bush Administration did seemed on purpose to piss off progressives. It was kind of a low point, but I think finding the Left Blogosphere was one good thing--and one of the very good things about the Left Blogosphere was Bartcop.

The Tequila Treehouse presented an unpretentious and informal shouting down of the BFEE and what they stood for, and was already an institution, having started back in the days when President Clinton was beset by scandal-crazed GOP conspiracy heads and a media more interested in getting viewers than getting at the truth. Those themes persisted, and Bartcop swung a mighty hammer against them with the one thing that seemed necessary and useful--humor. If you can imagine jackboots slipping on a banana peel, forever, you've got a picture of the value I find in political snark.

I think it's safe to say he didn't just influence me as a poliblogger, but probably inspired legions of us. That deserves a shot of the good stuff. He'll be much-remembered and greatly missed.