Reading Andrew Sullivan today as I do every day, I can’t help but wonder what’s happened to him. His Daily Dish inspired me about a year ago to start my own blog, and as tiresome as I found his continuous and cloying praise of George W. Bush, I always felt his site was the best read in town. It’s no accident that his is the first in my list of Favorite Blog links.

But I’m quickly losing my patience as Sullivan’s site deteriorates into a broken record, devoted almost exclusively to scolding, ridiculing and belittling any person or media expressing doubts about the need to invade Iraq.

I used to study his site. Now I glance at it, and usually I see it’s just more of the the same, and I leave as fast as I can. Begala Awards, Sontag Awards, Fisked Journalists — Sullivan is appearing more and more like a megalomaniacal hall monitor gleefully handing out demerits to those who disagree with him. It was funny at first, then it got a little silly, and now it’s plain irritating. And has he no idea how shrill he’s become?

It’s painful for me to write this, because I’m always going to be in Andrew Sullivan’s debt. It was he who “launched” this site when he linked one of my posts on January 18, and that’s probably why, directly or indirectly, you’re reading this now. (Gweilo Diaries and Dave Winer were also big helps in this regard.) This debt has never stopped me from criticizing Sullivan, but it’s always been balanced with a healthy dose of respect. Now, as I read his cranky, near-infantile grumblings, I find it more difficult to maintain this respect.

I have to get to work now, but there’s more I have to say about the decline of Andrew Sullivan’s site. I’ll be back.

[Edits made at 9:19 a.m. China time]