I can never take the place of your Instapundit.

Cool as it is to be guestblogging over on Instapundit, there are things people want from the site, things Glenn Reynolds has been willing to provide consistently for a long time, that I'm just not going to give (and that the three of us guestbloggers put together will probably not give). People expect to find acknowledgement of key events -- instantly -- with an apt take by a trusted ... pundit. If a news story exists and not acknowledged, email flows in: hey, why haven't you pointed out yet that the NYT is still running the story about the missing explosives without admitting that the explosives were missing before we invaded??

To do what Glenn does, you have to monitor everything and duly note things of importance along with an appropriate nugget of wisdom. That's quite a different enterprise than keeping a blog like this one where you speak if and when you have something you want to say on whatever subject moves you. People don't expect me to cover everything worth covering, like a one-person newspaper. But the tens of thousands of people who check and recheck Instapundit -- myself included -- have a feeling that by going there, they can see the lay of the land, the general look of the world. Yes, it's a delusion, and yes, Glenn himself has from time-to-time tried to tell readers not to expect that from him, but the fact is he comes close enough to meeting it, a fabulous accomplishment. I'm more writing for the pure pleasure of the moment of self-expression. You can come along and see what Ann Althouse is thinking about today if you like, but you can never email me and say "hey, why aren't you talking about [whatever]?" I don't think you should do it to Glenn either. Maybe one day he'll become The Blogger Formerly Known as Instapundit.