Swift Reads 4: Weblog Awards Discoveries

Some, like Pia Zadora and Milli Vanilli, achieve recognition in their lifetimes, while others, like President Bush and, apparently, this modest blogger, will only be judged by history when "we'll all be dead." But as I come to terms with the likelihood of being a three-time Weblog Award loser, (though there is still time to vote for me and prevent this dire fate), I prefer to think of the positive aspects of this emotionally wrenching experience: the new readers who graced my blog with their presence and the new blogs I discovered. But first, help out these bloggers who are a little behind and could especially use your votes: skippy, Blue Girl, Diary of a Heretic, Simply Left Behind or Connecting.the.Dots, Zuky, Hot Potato Mash, Bitch Ph.D., Informed Comment, Wet Machine, Field Negro, Barataria, Pharyngula, Bilerico Project or Susie Bright or Pam's House Blend, Woman Honor Thyself, Ollie's Onions, TBogg and The Sideshow, Suburban Guerilla or Scholars and Rogues. (See my full slate of endorsements here.)

Are you back already? Don't try to fool me. I won't continue until you really go and vote. I'm not kidding. That's better.

Although I am grateful for every one of the new readers who visited this blog in the last week, I am especially surprised and delighted with one new reader in particular who finally decided to drop in. For years she adamantly refused to read my blog or even mention my pseudonym even as she said the most scurrilous things about me. I'm not sure why she resisted coming here for so long unless it was because she was afraid that my writing was so persuasive and reasonable it would shake the very foundations of her carefully constructed world view and set off a dangerous logic loop in her brain that would cause it to short circuit. For many years she remained steadfast in her refusal to let one word of my prose sully the purity of her thoughts. But perhaps the evenings in Madison, Wisconsin, are particularly cold and lonely this time of year and perhaps she had had one too many glasses of wine by 5:30 p.m. on January 8, 2009. And so that evening, as a bitter wind howled outside her window, she checked her Sitemeter to see how many visitors Instapundit had sent her that day and saw yet another link from my site, just sitting there enticingly, beckoning, whispering, "Click me. Click me." Imagine the inner turmoil she experienced as she tried with all her might to resist clicking on the link. Must. Not. Read. Jon. Swift. Then her will power failed her and she could no longer resist, and throwing all caution to the wind, she finally succumbed and clicked that fateful link that whisked her away to my blog. And soon she was reading, feeling that first rush as my prose entered her veins. Who knew it could be so good, she said to herself as one by one the words swept away the cobwebs and the dust in the attic of her cranium, cluttered with crazy theories about breast-bearing feminists, the plots of unfinished books that bored her, deep insights into American Idol episodes and even that dark corner where Bill Clinton waits, crouched lasciviously, ready to betray her all over again. And imagine that moment when her giddy anticipation was finally fulfilled and she came to the first mention of her name, right there, right there in black and light brown, her name in all its glory!: Ann Althouse. So welcome to my modest blog, Ms. Althouse. I wish you had told me you were coming and I would have tidied up the place a bit. I hope you finally found what you were looking for.

But while it was exciting to have Ms. Althouse finally drop by after so many years, it was even more thrilling to discover so many wonderful blogs I had never read before that were nominated for Weblog Awards. And so I thought I would share some of my discoveries with you. Please go and check them out. I hope you enjoy them as much as I did.

NuVision for a New Day
The diary of a lovely blind African-American woman who sees things others don't see. In this post she talks about being flirted with at a friend's birthday party and confesses, "I can be a little shallow at times when it comes to looks." By the way, are we still allowed to use the word "blind"?

Grace the Spot
A very witty blog that was an unfortunate casualty of the Wonkette juggernaut. Here she talks about the importance of being boring in a relationship. I'm beginning to suspect, however, I may have been mistaken about its being a Lebanese blog.

Army of Dude
A military blog by an Iraq veteran. In a recent five-part series, he tries to describe to those who haven't been there what it's like to hear, see, smell, touch and taste combat in Iraq.

F--- You, Penguin
Who knew that existential despair could be so irresistibly, so heart-breakingly cute?

Curious Expedition
A beautifully designed travelogue that describes such wonders as the remarkably bear-free forests of Carpathia and other places you are glad you've never been to.

Medium Large
The blog of a comic strip artist, who in the helpful animation in this post, explains "What Is Comedy?"

Ashin Mettacara
This Burmese blog has a lot of posts about people being sentenced to long prison terms there. Apparently, they are very tough on crime in Burma.

Blabbeando
I owe a big thanks to this blog, which provided me with the very useful information that plucking your eyebrows is a sign of homosexual tendencies, which has saved me from some possibly embarrassing misunderstandings.

Buckdog
Reading this Canadian blog I learned about subtle racist backlashes in Saskatchewan and that Canada actually has its own unique culture, something I was not aware of before.

Foodie at Fifteen (Now 16)
A food blog by a high school student who really should be spending less time in the kitchen fantasizing about pork bellies and more time playing video games like others his age.

Dr. Wizard's Advice for College Students
This blog explains the world in ways even a student on a rugby scholarship can understand. Here, for example, we learn why drugs are bad through illustrative metaphors.

Madam Miaow says…
Although this is a culture blog with a decidedly left-wing slant, the writer is from "across the pond," as she charmingly puts it, where they don't have as much access to fair and balanced media as we do, and she's not afraid to take on her fellow lefties on occasion.

And if that is not enough reading for you, then check out some of the other worthy blogs that were also nominated for Best Humor Blog (i am bossy, The Bloggess, YesButNoButYes, IMAO, Mattress Police, Mother May I Sleep With Treacher, The Comics Curmudgeon, My Mom is a Fob, and Boobs, Injuries and Dr Pepper), even though some of them could not resist dragging my pseudonym through the mud in their desperation to win. I forgive you all. And I even forgive you, Comics Curmudgeon, despite the fact that you took away my dream and crumpled it up like that piece of looseleaf notebook paper with the love poem to the cheerleader written on it, laughing tauntingly as you swept the long blonde hair from your face and tossed the wad of paper disgustedly into the garbage can.

Update: A coalition of two conservative blogs, who have apparently forgotten Ronald Reagan's Eleventh Commandment, is trying to wrest second place from me armed with an endorsement from The Corner. Don't let that happen. Show them that we conservatives have learned that negative campaigning doesn't work anymore. Vote for Jon Swift here.

Update 2: Ann Althouse responds by email, "That post was awfully needy. Not that I read more than the parts right around my name," and later taunts me on her site: "No wonder he's losing the Weblog Awards voting. Man up, Swift, you pussy."

Update 3: As voting winds to a close I try to impart some valuable lessons to my fellow conservatives: "If we learned anything from the last two elections, it’s that negative campaigning doesn’t work anymore. Conservatives need to come up with a positive vision for the future if we are going to win again, which is what I have tried to do. I think the voters see that my blog is about change and the future and not about just tearing my opponents down and that is why I appear to be trouncing you."

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President Bush's Legacy: One of Our Greatest Presidents

As I recently predicted, in few months, with the benefit of hindsight, historians will look back on the Bush presidency as an unalloyed success and consider President Bush to be one of our greatest presidents. Although the White House has sent around its own talking points highlighting the President's accomplishments, I don't think they go far enough. So I have put together my own list of talking points, which should convince anyone why George W. Bush belongs on Mount Rushmore, along with Washington, Lincoln, Jefferson and the other guy.

After Hurricane Katrina President Bush kept our cities safe.

In the three years and a half years since Hurricane Katrina not a single American city has been destroyed or partially destroyed. There are more than 10,000 cities in the United States and because of George Bush every single one of them, except for New Orleans, is still largely intact. Of course, no one could have predicted Hurricane Katrina, and if President Clinton had not left us so woefully unprepared, New Orleans would probably be in a lot better shape than it is now. But since Katrina, there have been numerous hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, blizzards, fires and earthquakes and none of them has gotten out of hand and wiped out an entire city because of the disaster preparedness policies President Bush put in place. For national security reasons we may not know until records are declassified how many other potential disasters, like epidemics or nuclear power plant meltdowns or alien invasions, were averted because of the work that government agencies did behind the scenes. Unfortunately, Presidents don't usually get credit for all the disasters that don't happen. But I think we should congratulate the President for doing a heckuva job on keeping America safe in the years since Katrina.

After the October 2008 stock market correction there have been no Great Depressions.

Although the excesses of the Clinton administration's failed economic policies finally caught up with us in October 2008, in the seven years before this economic downturn the economy was doing really well. Not every President can boast of seven years of prosperity. What's more, even since October there have been no Great Depressions, which means President Bush has given us eight completely depressionless years. Although some credit Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson's swift and bold moves after the market tanked for staving off a depression, I think most economists will come to agree that it was Bush's 2001 tax cuts that really kept the economy afloat. Bush's prescient tax cuts lifted up the economy to such a level that any economic downfall just brought us back to where we were before instead plunging us into depression. Meanwhile, because of easy credit during the Bush years, more people had the opportunity to buy the homes of their dreams and live in them for a few years before they had to give them back. If Obama's economic policies do plunge us into a Great Depression, Americans will look back on the relative economic prosperity of the Bush years wistfully and have only themselves to blame.

After Iraq and Afghanistan took a turn for the worse, President Bush kept us from losing any wars.

Although some presidents can claim that they did not lose a war during their administrations, not many presidents can claim that they did not lose two wars. President Bush is leaving office with wars in Iraq and Afghanistan still going strong and not lost. In 2007 Iraq almost broke out into civil war because we did not have enough troops in there. Another President might have decided that the War in Iraq was lost and pulled American troops out of there. Not President Bush. By instituting the surge he prevented Iraq from breaking out into civil war and scoring a loss for the U.S. for the first time in our history. What is even more remarkable was that he was able to stave off defeat in Iraq and at the same time keep just enough troops in Afghanistan to prevent the Taliban from completely retaking the entire country. Quibblers might say that he didn't actually win either conflict outright or that Afghanistan would be in better shape if we had kept more troops there and not invaded Iraq or offer all sorts of other coulda shoulda woulda arguments but the fact is that we didn't lose any wars and Bush deserves credit for that.

After the District Attorney firing scandal, the outing of Valerie Plame and other scandals, President Bush restored integrity to government.

After a few overzealous Justice Department officials trying to restore balance to our justice system, which had been tainted by the partisanship of the Clinton years, went a little overboard in trying to clean house, President Bush immediately took action and patiently convinced those who were responsible to resign eventually. Since that time no district attorneys have been fired for political reasons. In 2003 when CIA agent Valerie Plame's identity was compromised, President Bush vowed to get to the bottom of it and eventually Scooter Libby was prosecuted and threatened with jail time until President Bush mercifully decided he had suffered enough and commuted his sentence. Everyone else who was involved was either persuaded to resign or given a very severe talking to. Because of President Bush's bold stand against compromising the identities of members of our intelligence community, for the last five years not a single undercover CIA agent has been outted. There were a number of other scandals, too numerous to mention here, that President Bush took strong and immediate measures to clean up, such as the level of care veterans were receiving at Walter Reed Hospital. As soon as President Bush found out about it, he fixed it and now veterans receive better care there than they have in years. But perhaps President Bush's most remarkable achievement when it comes to restoring honor and dignity to his office is something he didn't do. Many Americans were understandably disillusioned with government after President Clinton violated the sacred trust that had existed for more than 200 years between presidents and their interns. But in the entire eight years President Bush has been in office he did not have sex with a single intern that we know about, which is an extraordinary accomplishment considering how young and pretty and undoubtedly tempting some of those interns are. It is a testament to President Bush's discipline and character that he did not succumb to temptation and history will certainly remember him for that.

After divisive elections President Bush united our country.

When President Bush took office we were a nation starkly divided between blue states and red states, Vice President Al Gore's attempt to steal the election had left many Democrats bitter and unable to get over it and Washington was a city riven by the political partisanship fostered by Clinton's divisive leadership. But by the end of Bush's first year in office this country was united as it never had been before and the President had a 90% approval rating. Although Democrats continued to try to divide this country and exploit every issue for partisan gain, President Bush continued to rise above the fray and worked with Democrats like Sen. Ted Kennedy to pass No Child Left Behind and probably some other bills, too, though I can't think of any off the top of my head. He encouraged Democrats to join him in fighting terrorism although some continued to resist and preferred instead to coddle the terrorists. And yet President Bush was able to persuade the American people to elect him to office again over an elitist, French, latte-swilling, wind-surfing, traitorous, terrorist coddling, Iraq War-losing, Genghis Khan-mispronouncing, lesbian-outting, gay marriage-loving, Anti-American liberal. And when Democrats took over both houses of Congress in 2006, he even won them over to his side with his gentle powers of persuasion. In the end Democrats didn't have the heart to really oppose Bush on anything significant at all, going along with him on such issues as whether to end the war in Iraq and whether to allow the NSA to wiretap our phones. It was hard, apparently, for the Democratic leadership to resist President Bush's charms. And so Obama will take office with the country a lot less divided than it was when Bush came in and divisions between red and blue states much less stark than they once were. President Bush promised that he would be a uniter instead of a divider and if you look at the polls, which show Americans more united than they have been in many years, it is clear that President Bush kept his promise.

After Abu Ghraib, President Bush reaffirmed America's adherence to the Geneva Conventions and against torture.

After Abu Ghraib, some America haters used the photographs that soldiers stupidly took of harsh interrogations of prisoners as evidence in their propaganda that the Bush Administration did not care about upholding the Geneva Conventions. But President Bush took decisive action to prosecute the bad apples, mostly soldiers and low-level commanders, who were solely responsible for what went on there to show the world that we take the Geneva Conventions very seriously even though it is just a treaty and not technically binding especially when we are trying to fight an enemy that does not follow its rules. In the wake of 9/11 some presidents might have been tempted to ignore the Geneva Conventions completely and do whatever was necessary to protect us, but President Bush knew that we couldn't totally abandon all of our ideals in the War on Terror and so he followed the Geneva Conventions to the letter, applying its rules to every soldier who was not an enemy combatant outside the treaty's jurisdiction. And he strongly reaffirmed this nation's stance against torture, preferring instead to waterboard suspected terrorists instead of torturing them, and sending particularly difficult cases to countries where they unfortunately don't have our strong ideals. And even at Guantanamo, which technically is outside the jurisdiction of our laws, President Bush made sure that every prisoner was given due process even if it is understandably taking a while to decide what process they are due. During his entire term of office President Bush never wavered once in maintaining publicly that America does not torture. In fact, I think President Bush may have said, "We do not torture" more than any President in American history.

After 9/11 President Bush kept America safe from terrorist attacks on American soil.

Surely, President Bush's greatest accomplishment, and the one achievement he will most be remembered for in history, was that he kept America safe from terrorist attacks after 9/11. Seven years without a single terrorist attack on American soil is certainly a remarkable accomplishment. The fact that the Clinton Administration's foreign policy blunders left America vulnerable to the worst terrorist act in our nation's history will always be a black mark against President Clinton in the history books, while President Bush's quick and decisive action to correct those mistakes after 9/11 is what he will always be remembered for. And we will probably not know for many years until records are declassified how many shoe bombers and wannabe jihadists were stopped in their tracks. Unfortunately, seven years was just not enough time to capture those responsible for the attacks, but he certainly has Osama Bin Laden and Al Qaeda on the run. I'm sure Obama will try to take credit if he does capture Bin Laden, but no one can take away from President Bush the credit he is due for keeping America completely safe from terrorist attacks for seven years, eight if you don't count 9/11, which wasn't really his fault. Based on that accomplishment alone, can anyone doubt that George W. Bush was one of our greatest presidents?

Vote for Jon Swift here in the 2008 Weblog Awards.

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Epic Fail

Sixth place. Sixth place! Have I not done enough for you people? Have I not done enough reporting for you, at least by Michelle Malkin's standards? Are my posts not long enough? Have I not posted semi-regularly enough? Has my conservatism not been reasonable enough? Have I not not read enough books for you? Is it really too much to ask, to ask you to Go Here and push a little button to vote for me once a day for a week? How hard could that be? And who is this Comics Curmudgeon? The answer to that last question is a very sad tale that involves not only my impending ignoble defeat but also larger issues and much more vulnerable blogs than this one who have unjustly suffered in this year's Weblog Awards.

When President Bush won two elections it restored my faith in the sanctity of the voting process. Then I met the Weblog Awards. Last year, my category was used as the staging ground for a pissing contest between liberals and conservatives, not unlike Berlin in 1948, while the other blogs in the category, including this one, were caught in the crossfire. This year the Weblog Awards have been taken hostage by a lopsided interliberal battle with equally tragic results. In the end one liberal blog has taken ceiling cat-like powers upon itself to determine who shall win and who shall lose, turning what was supposed to be a friendly competition into a mud-slinging contest so unlike the way campaigns are usually conducted in America. And while this one liberal blog stomps around the Weblog Awards like a clumsy giant, the other major liberal blogs remain pathetically silent. Well, if they won't speak up, then I will: J'accuse, Wonkette!

Wonkette's original goal was to defeat The Confluence, which was winning in its category of Best Liberal Blog. The Confluence is a PUMA blog, which are blogs written by bitter and angry former Hillary Clinton supporters who are still getting used to the idea of having a black man in the White House. (PUMA either stands for "Party Unity My Ass" or "People Unable to Mitigate their Anger," depending on whom you ask.) Now I understand that there are many people who disagree with PUMAs, but haven't they suffered enough? Hillary lost and one day they are going to figure that out. I think we should give them a little time to adjust. Just as my grandmother learned to say "colored," they'll come around. And who knows, maybe Larry Johnson at No Quarter will find that "whitey" tape he seems to have mislaid, at least in time for the next election. Who will be laughing then?

But as Wonkette soared past the other blogs in its category, it became tipsy with power and began targeting other PUMA blogs in other categories and it didn't care who got hurt in the process. Soon other categories had its carpets dirtied by Wonkette's mud-splattered wretches. In Best New Blog, the Wonketeers randomly selected a blog, ~synthesis~, which I must say is a very fine blog, and got their legions of readers, who apparently have a lot of time on their hands, to vote for it, in order to defeat UppityWoman08, but at the same time making it virtually impossible for other blogs to win. Can you imagine how these young blogs must have felt, still gaining their sea-legs in the blogosphere, happy to be recognized for their efforts with a nomination, only to have their hopes dashed and get a sad lesson in nasty blogospheric politics? My friend Blue Gal tells me, for example, that Grace the Spot, which I think is a Lebanese blog, is a very deserving blog in that category, and it was doing quite well until Wonkette struck. Grace is understandably not happy with what she called Wonkette's "spiteful shenanigans."

In Best Small Blog, by chance, Wonkette selected Rumproast, which happens to be a great blog that I have also endorsed, but does he really want to win that way? OK, maybe he does, but there are other fine blogs in that category who now don't even have a fighting chance, such as Woman Honor Thyself, who is on my blogroll and has always been very supportive and sweet to me though I know some of my liberal readers (yes, believe it or not, I do have a few!) might disagree with her politics, just as I disagree with theirs but tolerate them anyway because that's the kind of blogger I am.

Because, like Obama, I try to be friendly with those I disagree with, it is especially painful when bloggers I thought were my friends (in an Internet sort of way) send out their vast hordes to humiliate me and other bloggers who never did anything to deserve such treatment. Yes, even this modest blogger who has always considered Wonkette to be a friend of this blog, most recently when they contributed to my year-end roundup, has been a victim of their tactics. Et tu, Wonkette? When they endorsed Comics Curmudgeon, who seems to be nice enough, as Obama might say, though somewhat irascible, in the Best Humor Blog category just because he happens to write for them occasionally, it seemed like an eerie repeat of what happened last year. As I wrote to them, "You was my brother, Wonkette, you shoulda looked out for me a little bit. You broke my heart! Get the butter!" Sure, I regretted that last Brando movie reference as going over the line, but in my defense, I was angry and writing in haste.

I don't blame the bloggers of indeterminate sex at Wonkette for getting a little carried away and pushing around a few little blogs. I've been tempted to push around a few little blogs myself. And they must be feeling just a little embarrassed because they are now telling their minions to stop voting for them and vote for another liberal blog. So which one do they choose? Talking Points Memo, which hardly needs more recognition.

Even John Yon and John Bolton who once believed passionately in the Unitary Executive Theory of presidential power, are suddenly having second thoughts about whether it's a good idea to give so much power to one man, now that they have had about eight years to think about it. Wonkette needs to learn to wield its power with the same discretion that President Bush has shown. And someone has to speak up and say that in America voting is sacred and shouldn't be allowed to be hijacked by an unruly mob. Imagine if that happened in a Presidential election. I must say the reaction of the other major liberal blogs in Wonkette's category has been pitiful. But even if they are too wimpy to fight for themselves and have abdicated to Wonkette in their own category, why don't they use their vast powers of linkage to help other worthy blogs in other categories and demonstrate to Wonkette by example that power can also be used for good? Perhaps the problem is that some of them are really not that much different from Wonkette when it comes to power wielding.

Sadly, I don't have vast powers of linkage but nevertheless I will do what I can to get my lazy, apathetic, good-for-nothing readers to help out a few other blogs that would just like to emerge from this competition with a shred of their dignity intact. For a full slate of my endorsements go here, but please give the blogs below your special attention (as in my full slate of endorsements, if they contributed to my year-end roundup, links go to the post they considered to be their best of the year):

Best Hidden Gem: Pajama Pundit is doing well and is certainly deserving, but Zuky could use your help. Pajama Pundit is also competing in Best Political Coverage, where it is doing less well, as is Foreign Policy Watch and they could both use some votes.

Best Up and Coming Blog: Both Simply Left Behind and Connecting.the.Dots are good friends of this blog and both have been sadly left behind so far.

Best Midsize Blog: The Sideshow is way behind despite all that she has done for the blogosphere, you bunch of ingrates. And Scholars and Rogues deserves more votes as well.

Best Large Blog: Although several great blogs from my blogroll, including the incomparable Miss Cellania, are competing, skippy the bush kangaroo has done more for the blogosphere than any blog around and he is being trounced by Jammie Wearing Fool, who was quite rude to me when I so graciously linked to him.

Best Very Large Blog: Bitch Ph.D. is one of the few blogs I have endorsed who is actually winning so please send some votes her way so that I can claim it was all because of me.

Best Middle East or Africa: Informed Comment is in third place. C'mon.

Best UK Blog: Olly's Onions' vote total is in the two digits. I am embarrassed for all of you.

Best Technology Blog: Wetmachine deserves to make a dignified showing amidst the megablogs.

Best Video Blog: Hot Potato Mash is near the bottom despite having created all of these amazing videos.

Best Diarist: Are you going to allow Blue Girl to be Dooced?

Best Literature Blog: Diary of a Heretic, the only blogger in the category whose blog consists of her fiction, and Maud Newton are way behind a guy who writes science fiction. Is science fiction even literature?

Best Culture Blog: Barataria is second to last and I am hanging my head in shame.

Best Science Blog: Greg Laden is dead last. Now I am angry.

Best LGBT Blog: Susie Bright is holding up the rear, which would probably have a different meaning on her blog. Help her out.

Best Individual Blogger: Driftglass is in third place and needs a good push to get into first and Field Negro should be doing much better.

Best Liberal Blog: Shakesville has always been very kind about letting me crosspost there and expose its liberal readers to new ideas and Blue Gal has done yeoman's work for smaller blogs in the blogosphere. Both deserve to lose to Wonkette in style.

And, finally, because miracles do happen, vote for Jon Swift here.

Update: Wonkette has now endorsed this modest blog in a fiendishly clever attempt to subvert my righteous indignation.

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Kennedy for New York Senate

According to the New York Times, an aide to New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo is questioning the credentials of Caroline Kennedy to replace Hillary Clinton as Senator from New York if she is confirmed as Secretary of State in the Obama Administration. Cuomo believes he is qualified to be New York's Senator because he was once married to a Kennedy. But that is not enough. New York's next Senator must actually be named Kennedy. The Kennedy name has a "special magic capital," as Maureen Dowd so poetically calls it. But there are other Kennedys who are just as qualified, if not more so, than Caroline. If we really want the best Kennedy to fill Robert Kennedy's old seat, New York Gov. David Patterson should choose conservative former MTV VJ Kennedy.

Those who are lobbying for Caroline Kennedy, such as New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, have their hearts in the right place. They want to find the candidate who will most annoy and embarrass Hillary to replace her. And appointing Caroline would certainly accomplish that. Although she hasn't voted much or been that involved in politics or even studied the issues, she did make Hillary angry when she and her uncle Sen. Ted Kennedy endorsed Obama over Hillary in the Democratic primary. As I explained at the time, "It is not just that Obama reminds them of Kennedy, it is also that the Clintons remind them of Lyndon Johnson. And if there is anything that the Kennedys don't like, it's a bunch of hillbillies in the White House, which is being kept in trust until a competent Kennedy can be groomed to take it back for its rightful owners. Until that time Obama will do." The Clintons, like Johnson, think of politics as mud wrestling or the roller derby, while the Kennedys see it as a friendly game of touch football. So it must have irked them to see Hillary, the Sandra Day O'Clobber of American politics, besmirching the Senate seat that by rights belongs to the Kennedys.

Appointing Caroline Kennedy to the Senate would make the Hillary-haters happy, but I'm afraid it won't annoy Hillary enough. The few abbreviated press conferences Caroline has had, before her aides cut them off, showed that she isn't the most articulate Kennedy in the world. In a Senate committee hearing, Hillary would make mincemeat of her. But former MTV VJ Kennedy has had quite a lot of experience in the spotlight and is quite articulate. The woman who once simulated fellatio with her microphone while interviewing former New York mayor Rudolph Giuliani would have no problem taking Hillary on. Who knows what she might do with a Senate microphone. In comparison, Caroline Kennedy seems just too nice and polite and would wilt in Hillary's glare.

Kennedy does not currently live in New York and probably doesn't know much about the issues affecting the state, but as far as I know, actually living in New York has never been a requirement to represent the state in the Senate, and she probably knows as much about New York issues as Caroline does. She has also formulated strong stances on other political issues she would have to deal with as a Senator, something Caroline hasn't gotten around to doing yet. And while appointing Caroline has a certain nostalgic appeal for those who want to bring back Camelot and the 1960s, appointing former MTV VJ Kennedy would hearken back to a time more people remember with fondness, the 1990s, when the stock market was doing well and MTV actually played music videos instead of running endless reruns of badly written "reality" shows.

I'm sure appointing Caroline Kennedy would make Hillary grit her teeth, but appointing a Republican washed-up former MTV VJ with even fewer credentials than Caroline would be a more satisfying slap in the face at Hillary. I agree that insulting Hillary by appointing a Kennedy is important, but we need to make sure it's the right Kennedy.

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Jon Swift's Predictions for 2009

Although I made some eerily prescient predictions for 2007 and 2006, I never got around to foretelling what 2008 had in store for us. Considering how spot-on my election coverage was, especially in such pieces as "Why McCain Will Win," "Barack Obama Should Concede the Nomination to Hillary," "Barack Obama's Achilles Heel," "The Iowa Caucus Results Explained" and "When Giuliani Is President, Every Day Will Be 9/11," all of which proved to be more true than not, it's too bad I did not venture to make predictions for 2008, which certainly would have put me on a par with such perspicacious prognosticators as William Kristol and Dick Morris. So I decided not to make that mistake again and give my dear readers another peek into my crystal ball. I ask only that you use my frighteningly accurate psychic powers for good and not evil.

• President Barack Obama decides that on second thought things are just fine the way they are and he doesn't want to change a thing.
• Axl Rose withdraws Guns N Roses' Chinese Democracy, saying he needs just a little more time to work on it. Sources close to the artist reveal that he especially regretted the lack of cowbell.
• Twitter invents a device that can be implanted users' brains allowing them to tweet every random thought to their followers.
• When Google's stock price plummets, the company announces that it will no longer not be evil, which gets a thumbs up from Wall Street analysts.
• In a desperate bid for attention, Britney Spears does something really embarrassing.
• President Obama paints the White House black realizing the worst fears of some Americans.
• As production costs skyrocket, Hollywood begins outsourcing all of its productions to Bollywood. A three-hour feel-good musical sequel to The Dark Knight starring Amitabh Bachchan is the year's biggest hit.
• YouTube begins a crackdown on really crappy videos.
• A tasty and nutritious new snack food imported from China called Soylent Green becomes wildly popular though no one is quite sure what's in it and the FDA says it doesn't have the resources to find out but trusts the Chinese government's safeguards.
• After crunching the numbers, NBC executives decide that in addition to giving Jay Leno the 10 to 11 p.m. slot, they will replace the rest of the schedule with homemade cable access programming, saving the network millions of dollars in production costs.
• With the benefit of hindsight historians conclude that President Bush really was one of our greatest presidents after all.
• As in-fighting among his cabinet members threatens to derail his Presidency, Obama fires his entire cabinet and replaces them with yes-men.
• With the Minnesota Senate election hopelessly deadlocked, the Minnesota legislature rejects both Norm Coleman and Al Franken and instead appoints Tom Davis.
• Andrew Sullivan breaks with Obama, calling him the Worst President Ever, announces he is supporting Sarah Palin for President in 2012, converts to Islam and urges his readers to wage jihad, divorces his husband and denounces homosexuality as an "abomination."
• Despite losing millions of dollars in a series of high-profile memoirs that turn out to be hoaxes the publishing industry rejects calls to hire fact-checkers to read manuscripts as economically unfeasible and instead institutes a policy to make authors swear on a stack of Bibles and cross-their-hearts-hope-to-die that their books are true.
• Rod Blagojevich's plan to sell his position as a jail-yard bitch to the highest bidder is foiled by a prison stooge.
• Steve Jobs announces that he will resign as CEO of Apple and replaces himself with his little-known brother Raul Jobs.
• After a Pentagon study group recommends changes in the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy on gays in the military, Obama replaces it with a new policy called "Don't Even Ask, Don't Even Tell, I'm Warning You," a compromise that makes no one happy.
• Wii introduces a popular new remote that allows you to play its games sitting down and moving only your fingers.
• Joe the Plumber submits a bill for his time in the spotlight to the American people, who are shocked to discover how high it is. A report by the Congressional Accounting Office reveals that more than half of the charges are for time spent sitting around and waiting for parts.
• Gay marriage activism fizzles as gays decide they would rather just live together instead of getting married, shocking and embarrassing their parents.
• Sarah Palin is ridiculed when a man she has just pardoned is mistakenly executed right behind her as she is giving an interview about the pardon to local news media.
• After weeks of rumors President Obama confirms in a press conference that he's got a basketball jones, which he has had ever since he was a little baby, and will be seeking treatment.
• A shark-jumping contest on an episode of Lost has fans finally giving up on the show for good.
• Jon Swift loses the Weblog Award for Best Humor Blog by just one vote when one of his readers decides that voting is pointless because "everything is controlled by multinational corporations anyway." Vote here to make sure this is one prediction that doesn't come true.

Carnivals: Carnival of Satire

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Jon Swift Nominated for a 2008 Weblog Award for Best Humor Blog

The nominations for the 2008 Weblog Awards have just been released, and I am proud and humble to discover that this modest blog is among the nominees this year for Best Humor Blog. This is the third year in a row that this blog has been nominated in this category, and like three-time Grammy Album of the Year nominee Kanye West, I feel it’s just an honor to be nominated whether I win or not. While a third loss in a row would be humiliating and personally devastating, it’s especially gratifying to be nominated in a category that includes such fine nominees as i am bossy, The Bloggess, YesButNoButYes, IMAO, Mattress Police, Mother May I Sleep With Treacher, The Comics Curmudgeon, My Mom is a Fob, Boobs, Injuries and Dr Pepper. Let me extend my congratulations to all of you. Your year will come some day, I’m sure.

This nomination is especially surprising because I left a message with Gov. Rod Blagojevich that while I know a Weblog Award is an “f---ing valuable thing,” I could not promise to do anything in exchange for a nomination. I can’t vouch for the other nominees, but I’m sure they did the right thing as well and I would hate to think their nominations are tainted by their silence.

This is a time of crisis for humor blogs. The next four years promise to be the unfunniest in our nation’s history. I am sure some people may be thinking that as a three-time nominee, this blog has too much experience, and it would be too risky to put the Weblog Award in the hands of a blog knows what it is doing when America is clamoring for a fresh young face. But while this blog has been around since way back when Barack Obama was just a freshman senator from Illinois, what this blog is really about is change. Not the scary kind of change, but reasonable change. The kind of change where the more things change, the more they stay the same, which is the kind of change you can believe in. So I hope you will keep that in mind when voting begins on Monday, January 5 in what is probably the most important Weblog Awards of our lifetimes. You can vote here once a day until January 12.

While much of the nation’s focus will understandably be on the competition for Best Humor Blog, there are also other categories, and I want to congratulate those nominees as well. I am especially pleased to note the nominees that are on my esteemed blogroll and I hope you will consider giving them your vote. Here are my endorsements in the other categories, which you can print out and take into the voting booth with you. Many of them contributed to my compilation of the best posts of the year. I urge you to visit them all. If I’ve left off anyone on my blogroll who is nominated, please let me know. And if you are wondering how on earth this blog got nominated, "The Best of Jon Swift" may, or may not, give you a clue. Update: The links below now go to the piece each blogger nominated as his or her best of the year for my roundup, if they submitted one, so that you can see the bloggers at their best. Each category link goes to the poll for that category. You can vote once a day until January 12.

Best Individual Blogger
field negro
Driftglass
Lindsay Beyerstein - Majikthise

Best Liberal Blog
Shakesville
Hullabaloo
Sadly, No!
Blue Gal
Orcinus
Wonkette
Taylor Marsh
Crooks & Liars
Glenn Greenwald's Unclaimed Territory

Best Conservative Blog
Right Wing Nut House

Best Political Coverage
Pajama Pundit
Foreign Policy Watch

Best LGBT Blog
The Bilerico Project
Pam's House Blend
Susie Bright's Journal

Best Science Blog
Greg Laden
Pharyngula


Best Culture Blog
Barataria

Best Literature Blog
Diary of a Heretic
Maud Newton

Best Diarist
Blue Girl in a Red State (Blue State)

Best Video Blog
Hot Potato Mash

Best Technology Blog
Wetmachine

Best Canadian Blog
We Move to Canada
Abandoned Stuff

Best UK Blog
Olly's Onions

Best Middle East or Africa Blog
Informed Comment

Best Major Blog (Authority over 1001)
The Moderate Voice
TBogg
Balloon Juice

Best Very Large Blog (Authority between 501 and 1,000)
Bitch PHD
Pandagon
Jesus General

Best Large Blog (Authority between 301 and 500)
Miss Cellania
Bloggasm
skippy the bush kangaroo
The Agonist
Fafblog
Fausta's Blog

Best Midsize Blog (Authority between 201 and 300)
Betsy's Page
The Sideshow
Scholars And Rogues
Suburban Guerilla
Hoyden About Town

Best Small Blog (Authority between 101 and 200)
Woman Honor Thyself
Rumproast

Best Up And Coming Blog (Authority between 51 and 100)
Simply Left Behind
Connecting the Dots

Best Hidden Gem (Authority between 0 and 50)
Zuky
The Pajama Pundit

Best Blog Posts of 2008 (Chosen by the Bloggers Themselves)

Last year my compilation of what bloggers chose as their own best posts of the year proved so popular, at least with the participating bloggers' mothers, that I have decided to make it an annual affair. But enjoy it while you can. When the Obama Administration institutes its secret plan to extend the Fairness Doctrine to the Internet, this blog, and many others listed here that express one particular point of view, will no doubt be shut down. Democrats, of course, will be exempt because if you are looking for an opposing point of view from them, all you have to do is wait a day or two: one day they love Obama, the next day they're denouncing him.... Let's just say it's going to be a very long four years.

Last year I limited participation to bloggers on my very eclectic blogroll (which was not too onerous a requirement since under this conservative blog's Liberal Blogrolling Policy I will blogroll anyone who blogrolls me, with the exception of spam, porn or other egregiously offensive blogs). But this year I have also thrown open the doors to some surprise special guests who have not yet seen the wisdom of adding me to their blogroll, but have some interesting things to say. (If you're already on my blogroll, however, and you somehow missed my email or holiday obligations prevented you from sending in your entry on time, please email me rather than leaving poor excuses or bitter remonstrances in the comments, and I'll see if I can squeeze you in if I haven't yet succumbed to complete exhaustion.)

It's no surprise that there are quite a few posts about the election this year and perhaps when the history of this campaign is written, historians will look at these posts to get an idea of what people were thinking as it was taking place. They may conclude that the Chinese were right about living in interesting times. The bloggers represented below run the political gamut, from conservative to anti-America, but in addition to politics, they also write about movies, music, television, books, dance, education, fashion, travel, food, economics, health care, science, technology, religion and history and share personal stories, poetry and fiction. There is surely something here that will interest you and probably something to offend you, as well, but that at least might make you think. I'm afraid if I were to invite everyone in this roundup to sit together at a dinner party, I would have to hide the good china, and even then the evening might end with a visit from the police. And as we have seen when Obama has tried to reach across the aisle, it is a thankless task, so I am sure a few slings and arrows will be directed my way. But just in case you find your blood pressure rising as you read some of these entries, I have created an original series of soothing lolcats, which have been scientifically proven to induce a calming effect, to look at as you scroll down.

These posts aren't ranked by quality or traffic statistics and there are no winners and losers. They weren't selected by a committee of experts or voted on in a popularity contest. They represent only what each blog or blogger believes was his or her blog's best work of the year. Last year, I listed them in alphabetical order, which required constantly consulting the alphabet. This year I made things easier on myself and listed them in the order they were received. So you could say they are ranked in reverse order of laziness and procrastination. I'm sure you'll be interested in seeing what your favorite bloggers think were their best posts of the year, but be sure to also visit some blogs you've never read before and leave a nice comment if you like what you see or, if you must, a polite demurral if you do not. So without further ado, here are the self-nominated best blog posts of 2008. Let the clicking begin.

Greg Laden's Blog

The Zodiac

Greg Laden evades hippos and pirates in the Congo. The horror! The horror!

Sisyphus Shrugged
Is Anyone Else Just the Tiniest Bit Tired of Getting Played?
Julia gets to the bottom of all those Hillary supporters who refused to support Obama. It turns out they were all the same person.

Paul Levinson's Infinite Regress
I'm a Progressive Libertarian
If Paul Levinson is a “progressive libertarian,” I must be a "regressive authoritarian."

Clark’s Picks
Frankie and Johnny
Clark’s Picks recounts the history of “Frankie and Johnny,” a song that might have appeared on Guns N Roses' Chinese Democracy if only Axl Rose had had a little more time.

Ken Levine
My Tenth Annual Oscars Review
Ken Levine reviews the Oscars and asks, "We ended the writers strike for THIS?" I think it's meant to be a rhetorical question.

Pine View Farm
Bushonomics and Original Sin
Frank blames Bush for the bad economy when we all know it was the fault of that infernal, dad-burned Roosevelt.

Tom Watson
Barack Oboomer
Tom Watson, author of the recent book CauseWired: Plugging In, Getting Involved, Changing the World, reminds us that Barack Obama is a baby boomer even though he seems much younger and doesn't claim he tried to go to Woodstock or can't remember large chunks of his youth because he was having so much fun.

David Ehrenstein’s Fablog
“And We Won’t Come Home. . .”
After watching WALL-E, David Ehrenstein is reminded of Hello, Dolly! and the tragic death of one of its stars, which is probably what a lot of people were thinking when they saw WALL-E.

Welcome Back To Pottersville
They Want to Do Bad Things to You
Mike Flannigan likens Republicans to the vampires in True Blood. I'm sure he means that in a good way.

Stumpplane
The Nihilists are Revolting
Montag explains David Brooks and sub-prime mortgages, neither of which makes much sense.

Unspeak
Saying Nothing
Steven Poole sicks the thought police on those who make make cheap references to Orwell.

Whiskey Fire
A Contest Featuring Human Beings
Thers tries to elevate the political dialogue by informing us, “Your favorite candidate sucks.”

Chuck For…

Warfare Is What It Is

Chuck Butcher says that war isn’t really a glorious adventure but is actually full of violence and horror. I don't remember the media reporting on this.

A Blog Around the Clock
The Nobel Prize Conundrum
Coturnix explains the negative side of the Nobel Prizes, besides the fact that there isn’t one for blogging.

Informed Comment
Barack Hussein Obama, Omar Bradley, Benjamin Franklin and other Semitically Named American Heroes
Juan Cole says that Barack Hussein Obama should be as proud of his name as Abraham Hussein Lincoln and John Hussein Adams were.

Rightwing Snarkle
Songbird's Swan Song
Rightwingsnarkle claims that George Bush says that John McCain wasn't tortured in Vietnam.

Ambivalog
We Vote
Amba's heart and head mud wrestle over whether to vote for Obama or McCain.

Man Eegee
Man Eegee's Guide to Meaningful Latino Outreach
Man Eegee offers free advice on how to reach out to Latinos. Apparently, hiring a mariachi band and serving tamales is not enough.

Woman Honor Thyself
That’s HoT!..NOT
Don't say that Angel's post about gender differences is "hot." I'm warning you.

Dan Leo
Post-Mortem
Dan Leo shares an excerpt from the sprawling memoirs of Arnold Schnabel, Philadelphia's famous "Rhyming Brakeman."

Tbogg
Your Mumia Sweatshirt Won't Get You Into Heaven Anymore

Tbogg visits some Ralph Nader voters in Happy Gumdrop Fairy-Tale Land and kills them.

Total Dickhead
Next Stop Pottersville
Ragle Gumm writes about the eerie similarities betweeen Frank Capra's It's A Wonderful Life and Philip K. Dick's novels. I had forgotten about the scene where Jimmy Stewart kills the replicant.

Dinosaur Trader
Another Lesson in Perspective
DT takes a break from accumulating mass quantities of wealth to catch an epic wave and have an epiphany. He has also done a roundup similar to this one for stock market bloggers.

Barking Rabbits
Professor Harold Hill, Prototypical Republican?
Zeppo informs us that President Bush's foreign and domestic policy are based on a system first described in The Music Man.

Genuine Ideas
Always Remembered, Never Forgotten
Jaesoreal will never forget how everything changed on August 24, 2006, the day we lost Pluto.

Simply Left Behind
Remembrances
On the 40th anniversary of Robert Kennedy's assassination Carl remembers what the Senator did for his family.

Bug Girl's Blog
I Have Pubic Lice in My Mailbox
Entomologist Bug Girl writes a blog post that has finally left me speechless.

Drifting Through the Grift
The In Between
Obama's "race speech" inspires Griftdrift to think about how race has impacted his "very typical" southern family.

Talking Dog
The Empire Republic Strikes Back?
Andy Worthington explains what a great job we are doing living up to the ideals expressed in a really old document written in 1776.

Cinema Viewfinder
Seventies Cinema Revival: The Godfather
As a relatively new father Tony Dayoub reflects on the relationship between Don Corleone and his son. We all hope and pray that his child doesn't get pulled into the world of blogging the way Michael Corleone ended up in the Mafia.

Barataria
Barking at the 'Net
Erik Hare says there are two types of writing on the Internet: talking and barking, which must be why some of my commenters treat me as a chew toy.

Kingsom of Chaos
Anniversary of the Entente Cordiale
Jefe Maximo writes about the 1904 treaty of friendship between Great Britain and France, which led to the destruction of old Europe, though it apparently had no effect on British cuisine or French manners.

Michael Bérubé
More on Peter Singer and Jamie Bérubé
"Sometimes, the internet really is an amazing thing," writes Michael Bérubé, "in which you write a blog post that takes issue with Peter Singer’s characterization of the capabilities of people with Down syndrome, and then find, a few weeks later, an email from Peter Singer in your inbox."

Robin Slick
On Tour with The Adrian Belew Power Trio
Robin Slick goes on tour with her kids, who make up 2/3 of the Adrian Belew Power Trio, and watches them play in front of 100,000 people with two members of King Crimson and Les Claypool from Primus. "Can you imagine what it was like for a lifelong rocker like me?" she says.

Autism News Beat
Developmental Delay
The father of an autistic child finds that World Autism Awareness Day "exposes some of the more enduring misconceptions that reporters still hold about autism."

Graphic Truth
Science, Ethics and Truth-Testing
Bob King invokes the ghost of William Buckley in the debate over whether science should be abolished.

Darrel Plant
The Audacity of OPE or: How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love Obama
Darrel Plant discusses repeated attempts to declare the death of satire, from the Kennedy assassination to Obama's election, and has bad news for those of us who hoped that this comedy menace can finally be stamped out for good.

Velvet Blog
William Carlos Williams Mad-Libs
Jim Donahue shows you how to create your own William [Spanish proper name] Williams poem.

Creek Running North
Letter from the Desert: The Cronise Cat
Chris Clarke has a conversation with a 700-foot-tall Mojave cat and his readers slowly back away shaking their heads sadly.

Rude Pundit
Time to Rub Their F---ing Faces in It
Rude Pundit reaches across the aisle in his own special way.

Liberal Veteran
Goodbye and Good Luck
WTN describes what it was like to say goodbye to his wife when he was deployed to Iraq.

Kiko’s House
The Saga of the Cedars: When Bad Things Happen to Good Christian Conservatives
Times are tough for good Christian families like the Cedars, says Shaun Mullen.

Publius Endures
The Myth of the Moderate -- Why the "Political Center" Is Meaningless
Mark believes the political center cannot hold.

NYC Educator
The American Center
NYC Educator says, "Let's have more thoroughly uncritical coverage of [DC Schools Chancellor Michelle] Rhee and her utter lack of accomplishment." OK, let's.

Well Informed Citizenry
Reaganomics
Thunter thinks this little glitch we are having in the economy means we have to get rid of Reaganomics.

C3Fun
Jerome Corsi Deported from Kenya -- The (Real) True Story!
Micgar has the real story behind Obama Nation author Jerome Corsi's getting thrown out of Kenya.

Wallstreet Jackass
Higher taxes and Investment Advice
Wallstreet Jackass, who says he "called 20 of the last 2 recessions," has some advice for weathering this economic downturn.

J-TWO-O
Whatever Happened to Spandex?
J misses her old purple Fiorucci dress made out of spandex, which her mother told her was "God's gift to men."

123Beta
2009 Investment Tips
Butch Morgan has some inside information on upcoming mergers. Don't tell Martha Stewart.

Well-Timed Period
Leslee Unruh Is a Closeted Communist
Ema, whose blog, I think, is usually about punctuation, writes about legislation to protect the health of women, which she apparently opposes.

Bobo Files
Why?
BoBo asks why African-Americans and Hispanic-Americans continue to vote Democrat even though history shows it has been the Democrats who have been the racists. Can anyone answer his question?

The Whited Sephulcre
How To Teach Creationism
Allen wonders why teachers don't simply give in and start teaching Creationism, but with their own slant on the topic. "Doing so would quickly take the debate off the table," he says.

Olly’s Onions
Republicans Urge Drilling for Snake Oil
Chive Turkey comes out in favor of offshore snake oil drilling.

The Agonist
Who Got It Right
Numerian points out modestly that The Agonist predicted what would happen to the economy long before many of the experts did. OK, smart guy, what's going to happen next?

James Governor's Monkchips
Asymmetrical Follow: A Core Web 2.0 Pattern
James Governor ponders the nature of social networks built around blogs and twitters. "Are we just just a new kind of broadcaster, or have we stumbled on a more conversational means of communication for large social networks?" he asks.

Divided We Stand
The Hero and the Queen of Darkness - A Fairy Tale for Our Time
MW predicts the primary results in parable form. "The casual reader might incorrectly assume the prediction implicit in this tale to be somewhat at variance with the actual events as they transpired," he explains. "In fact, this post was written while I was residing in a nearby parallel universe. In that universe the events played out exactly as predicted here."

Peter Martinovic
US Missile Shield Is Vital for Us
Peter Martinovic tells his fellow Europeans that there has been too much hatred toward the U.S. Yeah, stop hating us or you'll be sorry.

Foreign Policy Watch
The Long, Unfortunate Shadow of Munich
Matt Eckel is tired of people invoking the Munich analogy and comes out in favor of appeasing dictators just like they did with Hitler.

Social Services for Feral Children
Bettie Page
An appreciation of the "sometimes sad and awful life" of model Bettie Page and her "unwanted legacy as a martyr for free expression." The post includes a picture that should probably be censored.

Micro Persuasion
The End of Tangible Media is Clearly in Sight
Steve Rubel predicts that by 2014 "almost all forms of tangible media will either be in sharp decline or completely extinct." You might want to print this post out and save it.

SayNoToCrack
SayNoToCrack's Guide To Summer, Chapter 1
Chapter 1 of SayNoToCrack's indispensable guide to enjoying the summer considers the joy of berries. Something to look forward to during these long winter months.

They Gave Us A Republic
For the Record, Some of Us Never Ran Away from the Word "Liberal"
Blue Girl tells us why she's proud to call herself the "L-word."

Distributorcap NY
All the World's a Stage
Distributorcap discovers a new Shakespeare tragedy called McQane, which I must say does not sound like one of his better works.

Often Right, Rarely Correct
Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness
James F. Elliott tells us why he opposes California's Proposition 8, even though it was necessary to prevent the decline Western Civilization.

Between the Hammer and the Anvil
Monopoly, Iraq Edition
Flyingrodent plays Iraq Monopoly. Do not pass Go. Do not collect three trillion dollars.

BLCKDGRD
Obamadominance: Once More And Then I'll Drop It Until Next Time
Is Obama the "best gameplayer of this generation"?

Vagabond Scholar
John "100 Years" McCain
Batocchio says John McCain's "100 years" line was taken out of context, and then goes on to do a very thorough analysis of statements McCain has made about Iraq, which he believes were even worse. For those of you who may have forgotten, McCain once ran for President.

Mad Kane's Political Madness
Sarah Palin's Barracuda Blog
Mad Kane discovers Sarah Palin's secret blog.

Daily Kos
Three Times Is Enemy Action
Markos Moulitsas Zúniga nominates Devilstower's post, which links our economic woes to deregulation that began in the 1980s. But just because something doesn't work out the first few times doesn't mean we shouldn't try it again.

Rip Coco
Is David Petraeus Dirty? Ted Westhusing Said So, and Then He Shot Himself...Why Has This Been Kept Quiet?
Melina says that General David Petreaeus had some very unsavory associations, which could get her arrested, or worse, if she's not careful.

ProBlogger
How to Craft a Blog Post - 10 Crucial Points to Pause
Darren Rowse crafts a killer blog post about crafting a killer blog post. "I took more time than normal in writing (which is really what the point of it was)," he says. "I actually enjoyed the 'crafting' of those posts rather than just 'pumping them out.'" I much prefer "pumping them out," but to each his own.

Jobsanger
Racist Reaction To The Election
Jobsanger writes about a number of disturbing racist incidents that occurred after Obama's election, which is puzzling because I thought his election ended racism.

At the Hillocks of Hysteria
Code Monkey Like Tab And Mountain Dew
Discordianstooge runs down a video game reviewer who dared to criticize Grand Theft Auto IV. I think he gets extra points for that.

Rob Singleton
Up on the Roof
Rob Singleton compares the biblical story of friends of a paralyzed man who cut a whole in a roof to get him to Jesus to be healed and some Christians today who complain about having to sit in the video café when church is full. Hopefully, this post did not start a rash of people cutting holes in the roof of his church.

Booze Cabinet
Unity, Sanctity, and Bigotry
Danny Doom doesn't so much mind unifying with Rick Warren, he just doesn't want to marry the guy.

Blue Girl in a Red Blue State
The Skimmer and I Are So Dated
Blue Girl laments the death of romance when she learns from her son that dating has become outdated. Sigh.

Saying yes...
A Question for Dan Leo
"It may not be my best post, but it shows what I love best about blogging, the conversation, the flow of ideas, the thoughts," explains the writer.

Fannie’s Room
Above the Hate: Below the Propaganda
Fannie discusses the terrible discrimination Christians face from powerful, intolerant gays in the wake of the Proposition 8 battle.

Phuck Politics
Tell Me Again How People Take Sean Hannity Serious?
Ron McKie is still not worried about vampires even after seeing Sean Hannity's very convincing investigative report on the frightening menace of the undead for Fox News. You won't see reporting like this in the mainstream media.

Poll Track
Why Obama Won--Part 1: The First Debate
In this first post of a seven-part series, Maurice Berger analyzes Barack Obama's victory from the perspective of where he thinks things matter most in elections: with voters on the ground. To see the rest of his incisive analysis, check out the November archives.

Pajama Pundit
John McCain's Losing Strategy
The Pajama Pundit begs John McCain to throw him in the briar patch.

Cocktail Party Physics
Tit for Tat
Jennifer Ouellette compares theories of physics to the men one might date. Steer clear of "Quantum Field Theory" if you don't want your heart broken, she says.

Fausta
Will Puerto Rico Make or Break Hillary?
Fausta Wertz discusses the impact on the Democratic primary of Puerto Ricans, who, unlike dead Chicagoans, can't actually vote in the general election.

skippy the bush kangaroo
8-8-88: it was 20 years ago today...everything changed - a skippy musing
skippy remembers a day that will in infamy.

World o' Crap
My Abortion Made Me Impotent
Scott Clevenger looks at the real victims of abortion: Men.

Kirmalak
Checking Capitalism's Premises
Khaled Shaheen believes there may be a flaw in capitalist theory but warns against overreaching to correct it.

Masonic Traveler
Steampunk Freemasonry
Masonic Traveler wonders if Traditional Observance Lodges are a “Steampunk” response to modern Freemasonry.

Reid Report
We Are All Katie Couric Now
Joy-Ann Reid writes about Sarah Palin's performance in the vice-presidential debate, which she claims was not the triumph everyone else thought it was.

Bildungblog
Pope Benedict Holding Private Audience with Roger the Shrubber
Fearguth calls his work "an offspring of the civil union of Roger Price's Droodles with Monty Python's Flying Circus" which I believe is now illegal in California with the passage of Propostition 8.

Phil Nugent Experience
Those Satisfactions Are Permanent
Phil Nugent writes about the movie Two Lane Blacktop and says he was shocked to discover "how much what I'd written was really about me," though I bet his car isn't quite as cool.

Sustainable Middle Class
Will Bill Ayers’ College Students Be Blacklisted?
John Freeland worries that Bill Ayers' college students will be blacklisted though I don't think that will happen because who's going to hire them?

Streak’s Blog
Why Susan Eisenhower Matters
Streak compares Susan Eisenhower and Sarah Palin. Guess who he likes better.

Sarcasmo’s Corner
Not Your Mother's Neil Diamond
Sarcasmom writes: "The person who started this blog, Sarcasmo, passed away in December 2006. She is my daughter. I have been posting to her blog since then, just to keep it out there. Her writing was brilliant, if I do say so, and it should not be lost. I am sending you the post I liked best this year. It is a memory I have of her."

Self-Styled Siren
The Titanic in Three Movies
Campaspe watches three movies about the Titanic, and proves why she is Queen of the (Blogging) World. Apparently, all three movies have the exact same ending.

Tikun Olam
In Blood, Fire and Hatred Shall Judea Rise
Richard Silverstein notes the presence of anti-Arab racism among Israeli Jews and the impact it could have on delaying or derailing the peace process between Israel and its Arab neighbors.

Seeing the Forest
SEIU's Accountability Project - Making Politicians Do The Right Thing
Dave Johnson attends the Service Employees International Union's convention and writes about its "Accountability Project," which he says is "a big, big deal for progressives."

eatbees
Obama, Opportunist?
Marcel says Obama is a "realist, not a dreamer." Someone better tell his supporters.

The Sideshow
The Supreme Court Was Right About This
Avedon Carol is glad no one was executed on her behalf. "That would only have added to the burden," she says.

Gun Toting Liberal
BUSTED!!! “President-Elect” (INDEED!) Barack Hussein Obama’s Non-Qualified Citizenship Status Finally Gets Day In Court — The Supreme Court Of The United States!
Gun-Toting Liberal reveals that Obama is not really from Chicago but was "actually born in HAWAII — millions of miles away from Chicago and even America, for that matter."

Bitty’s Back Porch
Wealth, Redistributed
Bitty wonders what's so bad about wealth redistribution, besides being against the Bible, the Constitution and the Alien-Sedition Acts of 1798, I guess.

Griper Blade
Powell, McCain, Division and Hate
Wisco calls Colin Powell "a politician in rehab." I wonder if he's run into Amy Winehouse.

Diary of a Heretic
Howler Monkeys
In this episode from one of Kathleen Maher's riveting novella-length blog fictions, Scott Summers takes his girlfriend Emma Frost on a romantic getaway to Costa Rica and gets bit.

Bark Bark Woof Woof
Joined Together
Mustang Bobby says he doesn't "care whether or not the case can be made that the bible supports the concept of same-sex marriage," but then again, he's a Quaker, which I don't think is even Christian.

MA Peel
George Knows, Some Things You Just Can't Control
M.A. Peel has something in common with George Clooney that I wouldn't wish on anyone.

No More Mr. Nice Blog
The Other "Damn, This Feels Good" Guy
Steve M. says President Bush has no doubts and no regrets, which is what we love about him.

Lighthouse Patriot Journal
In Obama Watch: After-Election Report, Issue #001
Keith Lehman tells us what true conservatives are saying about the election of Barack Obama.

Ahistoricality
Time to Settle Up!
An Ahistoricality considers the often overlooked effect of Obama's election on gamblers.

Yazoo Street Scandal
Of Parisian Igloos, etc.
Anthony Cartouche finds a sentence that has never been uttered before and then writes a few more of his own.

Newshoggers
Fair Use And The Associated Press
Cernig decides to fight back when the AP declares war on bloggers.

driftglass
Bush Administration Unveils
driftglass reports on the unveling of "The Large Badloan Collider," which some experts believe could unleash a dangerous black hole that will suck up the economy.

Bilerico Project
Calm Down: Rick Warren Is Not a Big Deal
Bil Browning says some people need to save their outrage for issues that actually matter, which has outraged some of his readers.

Media Bloodhound
Jesus Denounces McCain, Endorses Obama
Brad Jacobson claims that Jesus endorsed Obama, when we all know he was supporting McCain.

Writhe Safely
I Will Be a Good Girl
Flawedplan writes about the deceptive marketing of powerful anti-psychotics to women. I just tell Mrs. Swift they're vitamins.

Dawg’s Blawg
The Wrath of God: Transcript
Dr. Dawg gets ahold of God's message to Fundamentalists. I don't know where he got it and he's not saying.

Roxie’s World
Hillary: A Valediction
Roxie's World meditates on the significance of Hillary Clinton's run for the White House.

Bloggasm
The Politics of Digg
Simon Owens interviews more than 50 top users of Digg and uncovers the mysterious process that catapults stories to its front page. This might be a good time to remind you of that Digg submission link at the bottom of this post.

Ed Morrissey at Hot Air
We Have Walked in the Palins’ Shoes
Captain Ed says that many families have had to deal with situations like the Palins are in with their daughter, including his own.

Shakesville
Good Riddance to Bad Rubbish
Melissa McEwan says she is "so over Bush, it's not even funny." Already?

Don Surber
Bailout
Don Surber says the government has a bad track record running brothels, which is not a good sign of things to come if it starts buying up banks and automobile companies. Maybe they could hire Eliot Spitzer to run them.

Sadly, No!
The Global Race To Confederate Yankee’s Bottom
Gavin M. claims that red states are actually red in that other, better-dead way.

Blue Gal
A Video Valentine for David Plouffe
Blue Gal sends a video mash-up note to Obama's campaign manager.

Will Not Be Televised
Coda
The Dark Knight has Nick thinking about childhood and its heroes and the way those beliefs die hard, not to mention the bruises received from trying to fly with a towel cape. He has also put together his own roundup.

Lance Mannion
All the Mad Men and All the Mad Women Are Having Epiphanies
Lance Mannion tells us that "Mad Men, like MASH, isn't a novel for television. It's a short story collection for television."

The Field Negro
Relax Folks, It's Just an "Off Color" Remark
The Field Negro explains to Lindsay Lohan that white is a color, too.

Comrade PhysioProf
Unclear On The F---ing Concept
Comrade PhysioProf welcomes a teacher to the exciting new world of blogging, and learns him a thing or two in language not usually heard at PTA meetings.

Connecting.the.Dots
A Walk in the Park, 40 Years Ago
Obama's election night celebration in Chicago's Grant Park reminds Robert Stein of a momentous stroll he took through that park in 1968 when he was a delegate to the Democratic National Convention.

Taylor Marsh
Keith Olbermann Is No Edward R. Murrow
Taylor Marsh declares the MSNBC host the "Worst Person in the World" for his hatred of Hillary Clinton. Take that, sir!

Nourishing Obscurity
Socialism and the Myths We're Fed
James Higham says there are "two kinds of socialists - the dangerous type" and "good people at heart," who "just cannot see, in those hearts, that the ideal they aspire to is an impossibility." I'm not sure which one Barack Obama is.

Blue Wren
Mystery Solv-ed
Wren can't figure out the Wall Street bailout but she has solved the mystery of where missing socks go.

William K. Wolfrum
African-Americans Are Dying for Bone Marrow Donors - A Call To Action
William K. Wolfrum alerts us to a problem few probably know about: the shortage of African-American bone marrow donors. Who knew that you could use the Internet to promote worthy causes, too?

Feministe
Wombs for Rent
Jill takes on the complicated issue of surrogacy and her response is, well . . . complicated.

James Fallows
My Prediction About Sarah Palin
James Fallows makes a prediction about Sarah Palin 45 minutes after her nomination is announced. Luckily, it turned out so much better than he thought it would.

Alicublog
A Hollywood Bomb
Roy Edroso gives us a sneak preview of the penetrating film criticism you'll be able to find at Andrew Breitbart's new site Big Hollywood. Rush Limbaugh is apparently not a big fan of Citizen Kane.

Lotus - Surviving a Dark Time
For Veterans' Day
LarryE explains "how and why I'm disturbed at the increasing tendency of progressives to routinely refer to soldiers as 'heroes.'" This is sure to be a popular piece on both sides of the aisle.

The Nose on Your Face
The Chronicles Of The Obamessiah, Volume I: The Adulteress
"And the scribes and Pharisees brought unto the Obamessiah a woman taken in adultery..."

konagod
One Toke Over the Line
konagod wonders what would happen if they moved the International Date Line. For one thing, Sarah Palin could no longer see the future from her house.

WTF Is It Now
Goats -- no, uhhh, tax credits -- for small -- a lot -- many -- huge number
George Stephanopoulos sits down with John McCain to talk about the candidate's health care plan and onions.

Republic of T
Held Suspect
"I looked up and into the anger-twisted face of a large, angry white woman," writes Terrance. "It wasn’t until we were out of the store that our mother explained."

By Neddie Jingo!
Three Hundred Sixty-Four Days Filled with Doubt and Fear
Neddie collaborates with Blue Girl on their annual Christmas song. Check out some of their past year's offerings in the links, including a heart-rending rendition of "Christmas Time Is Here."

The Anchoress
The Humbling: “The One” Goes to Don Clinton
The One has a sit-down with Don Clinton, who makes him an offer he can't refuse.

Three O'Clock in the Morning
Merry Bloody Christmas
Last year Eawkc's supermodel wife sliced off her thumb with a cheese slicer on Christmas Eve. I hope Christmas went better this year.

Only Sayin’
ALWAYS Write a Thank You Note
Only Sayin' writes a thank-you note to the Bush Administration. If only all liberals were so polite.

Liberal Values
The Republican Party and Ideas
Ron Chusid looks at the long-term repercussions of the religious right and forces of anti-intellectualism becoming dominant in the Republican Party, which he seems to think is a bad thing.

Abandoned Stuff
Canada 2008 Debate Dead Blogging
Saskboy "dead blogs" the Canadian leaders debate in the October federal election. There was an election in Canada?

Mike the Mad Biologist
Another Fight About Framing and Evolution: Can I Play?
Mike says evolutionists must make a positive case for evolution instead of just against creationism and offers an example. Lolcats! Oh, and something about medical genomics, too.

Liberty Street
Personal Fortune Trumps Personal Responsibility
Kathy defines "accountability" in 20 words.

oocRadio
To The Slaughterhouse
OutofContext writes a 100-word prose poem about an archeologist named Mao and a very lucky pig.

45s and Under
The Banners Way: Oppressed White Male Bachelor Auction
Dag Banners believes that opressed white males need love, too.

bjkeefe
Corpus Crikey
Brendan tells some stories from his Catholic boyhood in response to the furor provoked by PZ Myers' desecration of a communion wafer.

A Slant Truth
We Are Witnessing Ourselves
"Be warned," says Kevin. "I make some claims that will most likely piss some people off; but I'm sure you're used to that."

The Midpoint
Upstairs/Downstairs
Cangrejero reviews of one of his favorite albums, Upstairs/Downstairs, by The Ergs!, which he says "explores country, jazz, hardcore, pop, and the duality of emotional and rational reasoning," but is apparently woefully lacking in sea shanties, Tuvan throat music and Kantian nihilism.

Bastard.Logic
The -777.68 Point Plunge
Matttbastard is just a tiny bit angry about the slight stock market correction.

Zuky
The Palin’ Identity
Kai believes that the McCain campaign made a "strategic calculation that a raw smashface appeal to white identity politics, against a black opponent, would outweigh and overwhelm any dainty intellectual nitpicking or idealistic rhetoric." Well, maybe it will work out better next time.

The Flying Dutchman
I Am Become My Father (and Hillary Clinton Is, Too)
The Flying Dutchman comes to terms with the turning of the generational wheel and looks forward to the day when the "soothing melodies of Jay-Z" seem quaint and old-fashioned.

The Greenbelt
Beyond Good and Evil
The Ridger, FCD analyzes Obama's and McCain's two different approaches to the problem of good and evil, one good and one evil.

Circle Jerk at the Square Dance
Ten Simple Rules for Graduate Students in the Evil Sciences
Brando has some advice for students of evil, including how to find a passion for evil, cope with the stigma of being a diabolical figure, and get the most out of a mentor before vanquishing him.

Some of Nothing
Throw Away Society
Slag tells us what the Rev. Jeremiah Wright controversy has in common with his recalcitrant laptop.

The Impolitic

Happier Times

Libby remembers "one of the top ten coolest things that ever happened to me" and comes out from behind the curtain.

Axis of Evel Knievel
January 23
"In the early morning light of 23 January 1870, calvalrymen from the 2nd US Regiment attacked an encampment of South Piegan Indians along the Marias River in northern Montana...," Davenoon writes in this history lesson about an important American victory.

D-Day
Obama's Big Bet: The Power Of The Ground Game
Dday says he wrote this post "when everyone thought Obama was blowing the race, and I think it holds up pretty well."

Maud Newton
Practical City Living #12: Your Cell on the Subway Tracks
Maud Newton discovers what happens when Mark Twain falls on the subway tracks.

A Poetic Justice
Two...One...Forty
Some verse from thepoetryman, the poet laureate of the blogosphere.

Suburban Guerrilla
The Tao of Rocky
Susie Madrak says some Hillary-bashing bloggers didn't get Clinton's reference to Rocky because they thought he lost.

An Average American Patriot
Living a Lie: Against a Worsening Manufactured Financial Crisis That Is Just Beginning
Jim is “sick of hearing the Great Depression can not be repeated.” Aren’t we all?

This Is Like So Gay
The Wolves Guarding the Sheepfold
The Promiscuous Reader writes about a subject he thinks didn't get enough coverage in the U.S. this past year, the pro-democracy protests in South Korea. For me, it was the coverage of Joe the Plumber that left me wanting more.

Thrilling Days of Yesteryear
The Perfect Storm
Ivan G. Shreve, Jr. reviews a long forgotten sitcom, The Gale Storm Show: Oh! Susanna, which boasted a "fairly impressive writing staff" and enough familiar faces to "fill up an autograph book."

News From the Underground
Why They Chose Sarah Palin--and What To Do About It
Mark Crispin Miller tells us that McCain's "plan for stealing this contest has everything to do with the ostensibly surprising choice of Sarah Palin." That plan went really well.

Really Small Fish
Advice: Don't Go Out in the Rain in Your Socks
Fish explains "why teenagers think adults are stupid."

Betsy’s Page
The Most Important Election Ever
"As a history teacher," says Betsy Newmark, "I enjoy it when I can bring some discussion of history into a discussion of today's events." In this post she considers whether the election of 2008 was the most important election ever by comparing it with the election of 1864.

RH Reality Check
A Wish List for Young Parents
"Like Gov. Sarah Palin's daughter," writes Lauren Bruce, "I was once a teen mom."

Right Wing Wiz Kid
Can Someone Please Help Me Figure This Out?
A Right Wing Conservative is confused about what makes someone a Republican or a Democrat, and it's giving him a complex.

Phillybits
Cult of O?
Phillybits rolls his eyes when asked if he finds the "Cult of O" troubling and then has a lot more to say.

O’Reilly Radar
Fermi's Paradox and the End of Cheap Oil
Tim O'Reilly says it was the topic of this post that "was the beginning of my current wave of activism urging people to work on stuff that matters." Someday maybe I'll work on stuff that matters.

We Move to Canada
Involuntary Military Service Is a Form of Slavery
L-girl asks "if slavery is not only about being paid for one's labour, what is it about?" I guess now that she's moved to Canada, she's required by law to spell "labor" that way. I'm sorry, what was the question again?

The Heretik
Traitors
The Heretik has a list of Republican traitors, though he says he chose this post for the graphic.

I Am Trex
They Kilt It at the Press Club Today
TRex thinks "it’s a good thing" that the National Press Club didn’t stop Obama accuser Larry Sinclair from appearing there.

Phillip L. Velez
The Cub Scouts
Growing up in the South Bronx in the 1970s, Phil Velez didn’t realize he was poor until he joined the Cub Scouts.

Tangled Up in Blue Guy
Who is Running the McCain Campaign?
"We don’t know who is running the McCain campaign," Tangled Up in Blue Guy wrote in October. "But it is obvious that the way he is running the campaign shows either one of two things."

Where’s the Outrage?
Supply-side Economics Never Made Sense
"Maybe this 'Me First, Everything Else Second' mentality helped cause the craziness that we’re seeing on Wall Street," writes Errington Thompson. Personally, I think it's the "Me first, Jon Swift second" mentality that's the problem.

Orcinus
Responding to Jonah
David Neiwert's epic response to Jonah Goldberg's response to Neiwert's review of Goldberg's book Liberal Fascism could be a book itself.

Reno and Its Discontents
2004 Will Not Be 2008 All Over Again
After returning from this year's Democratic National Convention in Denver, Myrna the Minx reflected on how 2008 was different from 2004.

Robert’s Stochastic Thoughts
Banking Regulation Illustrated
Robert discovers a shocking and incriminating photograph in an old FDIC bulletin and wonders "What is the smell of one invisible hand clapping?"

Nuke Gingrich
The Club for Growth: Slouching Toward Irrelevance
Nuke Gingrich takes us back to the days when conservatives were all one big happy family.

Unruly Duckling
Pro Choice?
Unruly Duckling says she would be "more happy staying home and cleaning, gardening, and cooking." Me, too, except for the cleaning, gardening, and cooking part.

Attytood
Palin’s Speech to Nowhere
Will Bunch says Sarah Palin's address to the Republican National Convention "was a great speech -- written for someone else."

Moue Magazine
Georgian President Wants the West’s Help: We Shouldn’t Give It
BrandyBetz explains why we shouldn't have Georgia on our minds.

Miriam’s Ideas
Bigot
“It's typical of my mean-spirited world view,” explains Miriam.

Dohiyi Mir
Bam In PDX!
In a 46-photo essay Ntodd documents the frenzied excitement surrounding MSNBC reporter Richard Wolfe's visit to Portland, Oregon. Oh, and Obama showed up, too.

Stark Reporter
What Made 2008 An Interesting Year In My Little World
It was the best of times and the worst of times for Anthony this year.

Play On!
Tea Time In The Wildwood: Lou Dobbs' Red Herring Stew
Myrtle June’s co-blogger finds an email about illegal immigrants from one of his relatives in his inbox, composes a response and hits Reply All.

The Woodshed
Door2door Insanity
The Rev. Paperboy has a suggestion for how to deal with Jehovah's Witnesses who come to your door, though it sounds a bit impractical.

Buck Naked Politics
Cleaning up Political & Corporate Culture Could Help our Economy

Deb Cupples looks at how major corporations underpay their CEOs, giving them little incentive to do a good job.

Susie Bright
"Clitoris" on Google's Banned Word List
Susie Bright conspires to get my blog banned in Google SafeSearch. Thank you, Ms. Bright. I'm sure it would be on my banned word list, too, if I knew what it meant.

Wonkette
Your Lengthy Guide To The Insane McCain-Palin Cold War

Wonkette details the inside story of the brilliant, hard-fought campaign McCain and Palin aides waged against each other.

Talking in Circles

Stop Blaming the Internet

Probabilityzero is tired of parents blaming the Internet for getting their kids hopped up on dope and encouraging them to dodge the draft and join hippie communes where they practice free love.

The Spitting Vessel
Freedom From Fantasy
Durano Lawayan thinks "Americans need to re-evaluate the enormous disparity between what they profess as their ideals, and what they actually practice." It may be true that we haven't pursued happiness enough but I think we're doing fine with the other ideals.

Barefoot Bum
Revolution and Reform
The Barefoot Bum says that "Obama is no friend, no friend at all, of true progressivism."

Daily Referendum
26 Point Lead - Cameron Must Be Given the Credit
Steve Green thinks that U.K. Conservative Party leader David Cameron should get the credit for the Tories' success. I guess that's another thing people don't think George Bush should get credit for.

Brilliant at Breakfast
A Letter to Young Feminists
"I realize that this post is going to get me blacklisted from the feminist blogosphere in perpetuity," writes Jill. There is someone who still hasn't been blacklisted from the feminist blogosphere yet?

The Apostate
Women, Power and Feminism
"The election of Benazir Bhutto to the Prime Ministership of Pakistan didn’t do nuthin’ for the rights of women in Pakistan," according to The Apostate.

Firedoglake
Iqbal And The Question Of Accountability For Torture Decision-Makers At The Top
Christy Hardin Smith says that one question the Iqbal case will answer is "What is justice here -- and is it even possible to accomplish?" I agree with President Nixon: "When the president's men do it, that means that it is not illegal."

People Are Idiots
United in Dryness
Jenée kicked her lip balm addiction and now she want to help others live a Chapstick-free life.

Three Wise Men
What's Wrong with Free Trade? Everything!
"Free trade aint free!" says Nat-W, or as Robert Heinlein might put it, TANSTAAFT.

Mad As Hell
The Same Small Politics, Yes...
"Today the Republican curtain has been pulled away and many of us can clearly see who's behind it," writes Fred W., by which he means, I think, a kindly old man who will help us get home.

The Sidetrack
Old Vs. New: Bloggers on the Inside
Jason the AT attends the Democratic convention where old media eyes new media warily. But "resistance," he says, "is futile."

Scholars and Rogues
Emigration 1 - Little Drops of Decision
Whythawk says that countries are like drug addicts and his native South Africa has been in rehab once too often.

Swan Lake Samba Girl
Peep Show In Central Park
Tonya Plank voyeurizes an Israeli dance company doing a striptease in the park and takes pictures.

Miss Cellania
Star Trek Sex
Miss Cellania looks at the TV series whose characters had more sex than its fans.

Pajamas Media: Roger L. Simon
‘Barack, I Didn’t Do It for This’: An Homage to Andrew Goodman
Roger Simon, whose new book, Blacklisting Myself: Memoir of a Hollywood Apostate in the Age of Terror, is coming out in January 2009, is moved to write poetry "for the first time since high school" by Obama's "race speech."

The Moderate Voice
Obama's Election: A Sea Of Shattered Assumptions
Joe Gandelman lists 12 assumptions shattered by Obama's election, not to mention the assumption he couldn't win, and provides an exhaustive roundup of news media and weblog reaction on the day he won.

Pam’s House Blend
Thoughts on Barack Obama's 'A More Perfect Union'
Pam Spaulding muses about the impact of Obama's speech "in terms of the relief it gave me to hear someone articulate so clearly the need to have a discussion about race because I felt like I was screaming into a void." Conservatives are just happy we never have to talk about race again.

Making Light
Cloverfield, With Spoilers
Jim Macdonald uses the movie Cloverfield as a teaching moment about emergency preparedness. "This is a movie about six young New Yorkers who have not read Making Light." he writes.

News N Economics
Is Zambia the next China?
Rebecca Wilder says that some African economies, such as Zambia's, are similar statistically to those of certain Asian countries in the 1980s. There is also a chance that the U.S. will be the next Zambia.

Zaius Nation
The Adventures of Barack Obama Across the 8th Dimension!
Dr. Zaius presents the story of Lord Whorfin, the leader of the Lectroids, a race of alien neocons from Planet 10 in the 8th dimension.

Comedy Central's Indecision 2008
Breakfast with Jon Stewart, Part One
Dennis DiClaudio experiences "second most fascinating, most I-can't-believe-I'm experiencing-this, thing I have ever witnessed in my admittedly very unfascinating and inexperienced life."

Rumproast
The Truth about PUMA Conference 08 … You Can’t Spell “Conference” Without “C-O-N”
Kevin K. attends a conference of disenfranchised Democrats and beholds the “PUMAwesomeness of it all.”

Blonder and Thinnerrrr
Teddy Roosevelt: America's Most Cartoonish President to Date
Lauren gathers copiously researched facts from Wikipedia and discusses the life and times of our nation's 26th president.

That’s Right Nate
Apology over Flag Flap
It takes a big man to admit when he makes a mistake and Nate shows just how big he is when he apologizes for a post accusing Obama of creating his own flag at a campaign stop in Ohio.

Chawed Rosin
Fun with Grammar
"Buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo, buffalo," writes Lolarusa. Indeed.

My Left Wing
A Little Bit Pregnant: Freedom of Speech in America
Maryscott O'Connor find herself in agreement with … Jonah Goldberg!

Precious Cargo
Ron Paul, Andrew Sullivan and the Unreliability of Pundits
Peter Winkler says that Andrew Sullivan "reveals a great deal about not just himself, but pundits as a class" by his reaction to an article on Ron Paul's newsletter.

Buzz Twang
Will Hunger for Celebrity Kill Britney Spears?
“H.L. Mencken is spinning in his grave,” says DJ Lanphier. Leave H.L. Mencken alone!

Kindly Póg Mo Thóin
Dreaming Big
Zuzu remains skeptical about Obama and she’s “not going to settle for some crumbs.”

Litbrit
To Those Who Muse About "Spreading Democracy" on This Day of Fidel Castro's Retirement
“It consists of a single compound sentence (okay, it's a long single compound sentence) followed by a Pablo Neruda poem,” explains Deborah Newell Tornello.

The Osterley Times
Lieberman’s Treachery
Kel is not one of Sen. Joseph Lieberman’s biggest fans.

Coyote Mercury
Every Day Is a Gift
James Brush “will miss watching Daphne tree the midnight possums and snap June bugs from the air as they swarm around the porch lights.”

PoliGazette
The Moderate Muslims of Kosovo
“As a Muslim,” writes Michael van der Galien, “I am starting to detest the term ‘moderate Muslim.’”

Bitch Ph.D.
Legacy
Bitch Ph.D. discusses statistics on education, wage and homeownership disparities between blacks and whites, which have all been wiped away by electing an African-American President.

Badtux the Snarky Penguin
A Penguin's Guide to Bay Area Wildlife
Badtux's attempts to obtain a date with certain female penguin species garners "a sneer of disdain." Maybe it's his approach.

Hot Potato Mash
Video Exclusive: Karl Rove - Free Don Siegelman
Alan Breslauer has exclusive video of his meeting with Karl Rove.

Balloon Juice
And When Things Get Really Bad, I Can Eat My Cat and Craft Arrows From His Bones
John Cole explains that "Republican rule has not been a disaster, but a blessing in disguise."

The Aristocrats
The Appeaser
Mark Hoback imagines the terrible consequences of a meeting without preconditions between President Obama and Iranian President Ahmadinejad and his monkey, Bobo. Look who he predicts will be Secretary of State in this post written in May.

The Debate Link
Black Conservatives in Large and Small Caps
David Schraub explains why the Rev. Jeremiah Wright is actually a Black Conservative.

Fafblog
Everything Depends on the Getaway
The world's only source of Fafblog makes a triumphant return after a long hibernation, which made many of us fear we would never hear from Fafnir and Giblets again.

Wetmachine
The FCC Holds a Hearing on Net Neutrality, and YOU! ARE! THERE!
John Sundman attends an FCC hearing on net neutrality and has a chat with the chairman of the FCC himself.

And finally...

Jon Swift
Great Moments in Election-Year Blogging
In which this modest blogger once again puts the spotlight on others, celebrating Pulitzer-worthy journalism by conservative bloggers who dug up stories about election the liberal mainstream media conspired to suppress.

Carnivals: Scribes Blog Carnival, Fuel My Blog Carnival, Carnival of the Vanities

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