So I’ve been dreading this for some time. But this is going to be my last post for FDL, a community I’ve been honored and fucking thrilled to join ever since Jane let me take Attackerman 2.0 here in June 2008. My departure is pretty mundane: the congressional press galleries are wary of giving me permanent credentials while I’m affiliated here, and I don’t want to impede any of my reporting responsibilities at my day job with Wired‘s Danger Room. So off I go.

It’s really hard for me to imagine writing Attackerman without it being a part of FDL. I’ve been incredibly privileged to host it among a community as thoughtful, challenging, provocative and passionate as this one. Thanks to everyone who challenged me in comments: even if I got pissed, you helped me reexamine the weak points in my thinking. I love seeing FDL expand, grow and develop. Now I’ll watch it happen as a commenter, well-wisher and reader.

Just in case you were wondering: this has nothing to do with the Lamo/Manning issue. No one at Wired has ever said anything to me about my affiliation with FDL being remotely problematic; no one at FDL has ever said anything to me about my affiliation with Wired being remotely problematic. Professional circumstance brought me to this point, but it’s my call. You will never hear or read me saying anything about FDL except how awesome it is and will continue to be. (I am, admittedly, guilty of bad timing, as I have been and probably will continue to be for the rest of my life.)

So. Attackerman 3.0 is going to be a stripped-down, no-frills, happily amateurish affair, available for your reading pleasure at http://spencerackerman.typepad.com/attackerman/. I’ll write about the same old national-security stuff, but expect the pace to be more languid, much more like a hobbyblog, while I focus on my day job and take care of stuff like planning my wedding in the new year. I hope you’ll stop by, or at least tweet at me. I’d really hate it if this were really goodbye.