The Crossed Pond

I don’t think it’s possible to let this weekend slip away without acknowledgement of an event that, I suspect, is important to all of the blogosphere.

Sometime over the next couple of weeks, Andrew Sullivan and his longtime companion are getting married in Massachusetts. Sullivan has elected not to publicly release the precise the details of the ceremony, which is understandable with people like the Phelps family around, but it stands to reason, based upon the timing of his league of absence, that he’s either now a married man or on the verge of becoming one.

Andrew Sullivan has been important to me, and I suspect he’s been important to all of us here at TCP. When I came out of college a little over a decade ago, I sought a career in editorial writing, and when my journalistic career collapsed (very justifiably), I resigned myself to the fact that I would never have an outlet for my opinions. Only when I started reading Sullivan’s blog on a regular basis did I realize that there might still be hope for an unorthodox conservative to find a market for his opinions outside of the mainstream media. That, in short, there was a point in continuing to express myself politically. That there was still a chance for the writings of a Kansas schoolteacher to find a niche, however humble.

Not only has Sullivan been an inspiration to me personally, he would have to be considered a true friend of this blog, as his links to our work–both serious discussions such as Adam’s queries about Mark Steyn’s work to ludicrous drivel like my rant about bees–have been instrumental in growing our audience. He sure as hell didn’t HAVE to give us a hand up, but damned if he didn’t do so anyway.

So: congratulations, Sully, and may you and your partner enjoy a lifetime of happiness together. And may the voters of every state have the wisdom to extend the blessings of gay marriage to their own citizens, as you have so eloquently advocated.