I'm afraid I have to be the bearer of some very bad news about The Magistrate

[Pinback]

197. Oh, no -- sad and shocking news.

The Magistrate (or James, as he’s now been revealed to us) has been a DU stalwart for almost 23 years. He’s always been a part of my DU, since I joined the group three months after he. What a force he has been within this community!

His prose was impeccable, his passion and intellect formidable in equal measure, his sly sense of humor devious and occasionally devastating. He certainly kept us on our toes by setting a consistently high bar for those of us who strive to think and write as well as he did.

I would be lying if I said I always agreed with him — and I know he would not want any of us to pretend otherwise — but I can honestly say that his arguments were always bolstered with a deep knowledge of history and culture, thoughtfully reasoned, and quite artfully expressed. No one could accuse him of anything less than 100 percent loyalty to the Democratic Party and the profoundly human values it represents.

I had very few direct interactions with him, although I always read his posts, because I considered him one of the DU members whose ideas and opinions were consequential. As much as it pains me to admit it, he caused me to change my mind a few times, or at least to soften some of my perspectives.

I remember when The Magistrate reported that he’d be away for a while after his son unexpectedly keeled over dead. The father of two myself, I have some sense of the anguish that such a loss brings — although only the parent who’s lost a beloved child can truly know that kind of grief. And now James’s family has to find the strength to bear another unbearable loss.

I hope his family and friends will find some solace in knowing that he had much love and respect from this cantankerous community of unlikely allies, and his influence will long linger.