I'm looking over Markos Moulitsa's shoulder as he is either live-blogging things, or, more likely, answering email. He's also reading, reading, reading...

Hugh Hewitt just asked Markos about what the Progressive side of the 'sphere was doing to grow their own bloggers... and Markos said, "We've got something working - but I'm not going to tell you what it is... " which is a fair enough answer.

I even stood next to Markos last night as he was hanging with his posse at the party at the Hard Rock last night - and I didn't feel any urge to spontaneously combust...

We managed to mix last night with no fireworks. This isn't to say we *truly* mixed, like any large group we were clustered in friendly clan-septs, but there was nobody out trying to provoke, proselytize, or pander to anyone, either. We were all just crashing the open bar, gnoshing on the prime rib, the exotic potato dishes (hey, Peruvian Purple mashed potatoes topped with carmelized onions with apple-smoked bacon stuck in it... or the new potatoes with caviar. *That* was an acquired taste, and I'm not managed to find it. Did I mention the chocolate fountain?

The political panels have been pretty good, too, with people mostly managing to stay on topic and not get into politics. It's really been a civil gathering, with people just here to have a convention, network, catch up on tech, and catch up with friends.

The military panels have been excellent - and while also sparsely attended - are at least as well attended as the political sessions. Again - most of the people here seem to be interested in the tech stuff.

I've been asked to do some name-dropping. Okay. People I've met, renewed acquaintances, swapped stories and cards with...

Matty O'Blackfive, Uncle Jimbo, Hugh Hewitt, LaShawn Barber, Markos Moulitsas (okay, I met him, we didn't chat - hey, the only thing we have in common aside from we love our children is that we were both artillerymen), Jerome Armstrong, Rachelle Jones, Andi Hurley, Carla Lois, Ward Carroll, Tim Boggs, Thomas Nichols, Chuck Ziegenfuss, John Hinderaker, Dean Barnett, Mary Ham, Ravi Singh, Steven Schippert, Michael Medved just to name a few, and I'll drop other names later.... Gina I mentioned yesterday...

For me, this was worth the expense of getting here (I booked *late* because I wasn't sure I could here at all...) and I plan to come again next year.

Update: Interesting, Hugh just asked the panel if they thought that bloggers would find themselves in appointed political positions after the next election?

Most of the panel doesn't think so. Hugh brought up the possiblity that one reason why there won't be many is that many young bloggers have written with such passion, and sometimes lack of judgement, that they'll be anathema for appointed positions - and several panelists brought up that it might not be what they wrote, but what others wrote... both in terms honest comments/writings, and "black ops" commenting designed to get the blogger in hot water.

Update: Politics finally showed up with Markos joining in from the floor. The subject that triggered it- Iraq. We're no longer on the topic of the impact and effect of the left and right blogs, but... simply politics.

The Progressives posited that the only definition of success in Iraq is - troops home. No other definition is possible.

I asked the question of Afghanistan, how did that fit into that frame - and I clearly wasn't clear - no one answered my question on the substance, and took it instead as an accusation of isolationism on the part of Democrats.

I just wanted them to state a position in re the war on terror, vice the Iraq campaign in the war. But the political filters were to strong for me to get through. Heh.

Jeralyn Merrit did state that if someone attacks us, we should fight back. But she doesn't believe in preventative war, regime change, much less societal change. As she see's it - there's more than enough societal change she wants to effect in the US that we don't need to be spending that effort elsewhere.

Joe Sudbay said something interesting - the Progressive bloggers see themselves, just as we on the Conservative side do - a conduit *around* the MSM and a way to get stories out that the MSM won't carry. And they have the same problem interacting with their side of political power structure as we do.

Interesting indeed.

Updating again, this time with more name-dropping. Lessee, NZBear, some guy named Instapundit (okay, I simply basked in his passing glow, he was talking to some very serious looking woman and it didn't look like a good time to play groupie), Steve Eggleston, Ano Kohnsen, Sarah Walters, Jill Army...

...and last, but not least, I really do know Kos' last name is Zuniga, but for whatever reason, it wasn't reaching my fingers when I was typing during the panel. My inexplicable bad.