As an infrequent poster but frequent lurker, I thought a break was needed from the overheated primary wars. BTW I am referring to blogs which are primarily political and/or media oriented. If you are interested in climate change research (RealClimate) or pushing back the evolution deniers (Talk Origins, Pandas Thumb) you will have your own favs, and Juan Cole is a must for understanding the latest Middle East developments, but for politics and the hash that the media makes of it, where do you find the best commentary on the internets? Of course I do not include DKos in the discussion, we are here and we post or lurk because this is an incredible resource for folks like us, seeking intelligent, reasoned and progressive perspectives on the issues of the day, nuff said. More below...
There are innumerable blogs to choose from, Kos has about 40 in his blogroll (and remember what it looked like before the purge) but if you are like me you find some favorites that you learn to trust, or figure out the biases well enough to account for them. You might follow a link or hear of a new blog and check it out, but usually you will return to your old standbys. If I had a blogroll, it would probably look a lot like the poll below, but if you have a favorite progressive political or media criticism blog that is not in the poll and you want to share, put it in the comments and I’ll check it out (if I haven’t already done so). If your favorite is HuffPo, don’t bother, just not to my taste. If some of the blogs in the poll emphasize media criticism that is because the SCLM is a top issue for me, until progressives can get equal time then trying to change the direction of this country will be a very uphill climb.
Billmon (Whiskey Bar) has been gone for just less than a year (it seems longer than that) but I long for the day he returns, his commentary was about as incisive as it gets. I know the Daily Howler can turn a lot of people off (sometimes myself included) but Bob Somerby is a national treasure IMO, if you want chapter and verse on ‘the war on Gore’ or proof positive that Chris Matthews is a deeply disturbed individual, he is the man. Digby and Glenn are both geniuses as far as I am concerned, I am deeply grateful they continue to do what they do. I rarely go to firedoglake but it seems to be one of the big favorites around here. Krugman's blog is fairly new but I think it is a great addition to his must-read column (especially now that the firewall is down). I included Atrios for old time’s sake. Ezra, now moved to TAP, is a fresh voice and a go-to guy on health care; with his appearances on Hardball it will be interesting to see if he gets co-opted by the so-called MSM, his latest tiff with Greenwald over abortion rights and Ron Paul made for an interesting exchange (if you could call it that). Speaking of Hardball, I am so glad Media Matters keeps track of those blowhards and documents the atrocities, it is a dirty job and I respect them for doing it. I did not include BuzzFlash because I consider it more of a news repository rather than a blog per se, but they seem to have changed their direction lately. In any case, please tell me what gems I am missing. Take the poll and all the best for the holidays. Wassail!