Aaronovitch has left the building

David Aaronovitch's final column for the Guardian appeared in G2 today. Fairly predictably, I suppose, he used the opportunity to defend his particular brand of pro-war leftist thought, and in the process manged to smash the hypocrisy of a great swathe of the anti-war movement in one fell swoop. No mean feat, and love him or hate him, his ability to make people sit up and take notice will be sorely missed.

No official word as yet on who - if anyone - his replacement will be, but if the Grauniad knows what's best, it won't fall back on its comfortable cushion of organic food and poorly-typed media recyc; what the man himself terms as being "on the left while paying nothing for the privilege" (actually he said that in reference to swing voters who went Lib Dem, but it works here too).

What the paper needs is another shit-stirrer, someone with the capacity to make people huddle together over coffee and say "Have you read this? He's lost it." Not a reactionary Littlejohn or Kilroy-Silk, but a comfortable, experienced lefty who is confident and intelligent enough to dare to venture out from the fold and put forward opinions that don't conform with what the majority may feel is right.

But who is this person, and where can he or she be found? Well, the person I'd personally like to see given the spot has himself already hinted that he is interested, albeit during the course of a heavy pub session. His journalist and lefty credentials are impeccable, he has a loyal blog following, his opinions are strong and unconventional, and - judging from past experience - he will galvanise the Guardian's letter-writing faithful into generating torrents of abuse faster than you can say "ummm, errrr." Come on, you know who it is.

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Additional:

Had a minor shock yesterday when an ex-boyfriend got back in touch after nearly two years, during which time I thought he'd safely moved out of the country. Turns out he's now back in London, gaining work experience in the film industry. Continuing with the Guardian theme, I mentioned to him that I'd tried out for a few jobs there, and he said how much he hated the paper. Fair enough - but then get this: he says "It's shit, it's like a middle-class tabloid." And then: "You should read the Telegraph."

Ha! Ahahahahaaa! Never ever attempt a relationship with a man picked up at the Walkabout.