Well, shoot Rich, you beat me to announcing that Today Is It. My thanks go to you and the whole gang here at NR. I sincerely mean it when I say this has been the best job I’ve ever had. It took guts for you to run the Catholic scandal coverage, but as we’ve seen, your faith in me and that story was vindicated. You, Jay, K-Lo and everyone have let me write about the things I really care about, and that’s just about the greatest gift a journalist can be given. I’ll miss you all.

And I’ll miss NRO readers. I’ve been cleaning out my e-mail file today, and I’ve been pleasantly reminded of how many smart, thoughtful, kind-hearted readers we have. So many of you have helped me on stories, even if you only wrote in to say, “Good job.” I don’t think readers can possibly understand how much honest praise means to a writer. Thanks to those of you who supported me here, and to those of you who wrote to criticize me when I needed it. You helped too.

I’ll miss New York City like I don’t know what. I can’t think about it now. The best years of my life were spent here. I began my marriage here, and my son was born here. I’ve made dear friends here, and lived through what will likely be the most important day for America in the 21st century, right here at Ground Zero. I love New York, and always will. And that’s all I can say about that right now.

Starting April 10, I’ll be a columnist and editorial writer at the Dallas Morning News. This is a homecoming for my family, in a way. My wife Julie is a Dallasite, and Dallas is Southern enough to feel like home for this Louisiana boy. Matthew, our little boy, loves it there, and the best reason for this move was so he can grow up knowing his grandparents and cousins. He’s pretty thrilled to be getting a backyard, to be within a day’s drive of the Alamo, and he’s decided it’s better to be where “Prezbush” is from rather than live in Derek Jeter’s city. Kid’s got the conscience of a conservative, ah reckon. Onward, through the fog!