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Political Commentary
Joe's Top 10 Political Blogs / Magazines
These are the sites outside of the MSM I read everyday to mine for news. My basic deal is a search for the unvarnished truth with a view toward the greater good. I call this POV "progressive" as, for me, political parties always have a self-interest that rarely aligns with the greater good of the nation. The selection criterion used in compiling this list are completely subjective but, hey, maybe you get jazzed by the same sort of muck as I. Without further ado, here are Joe's Top 10 Political Blogs / Online Magazines:
- Think Progress. This is the first site I go to in the morning, it's primo. Yeah, they've got the headlines us lefties want to munch on for breakfast like the other sites but their analysis is superior. IMHO, they do the best job of making sense out of the universal mess wrought upon the planet by the administration of one George W. Bush. Also, there are frequent updates throughout the day. I don't know what kind of staff this organization has but kudos for the end product.
- TP Muckraker. These guys run a close second in my book. Just check out the in-depth coverage of the Monica Goodling testimony yesterday up on the Hill for an indication of how they jump into a story. I gave the edge to Think Progress as that site has a greater breadth to their reporting but TP Muckraker is right there when it comes to analysis of an issue they choose to focus upon.
- AlterNet. This is a magazine style site as opposed to news headlines format as with the first two cited above. Longer, more in depth articles on current events topics are posted from a large array of contributing authors. The site also covers a refreshing breadth of topics. On needs a break now and again from bludgeoning the neocons.
- Crooks & Liars. President Nixon famously said during a press conference in 1973, "[P]eople have got to know whether or not their President is a crook. Well, I'm not a crook." Of course Nixon was lying through his teeth and later resigned from office to avoid impeachment. John Amato has cleverly played off of this Nixon quote for the theme of his site. Crooks & Liars is quick hitting with bits of interesting info and quotes culled out of the daily news. The site also has lots of video links which I appreciate.
- Huffington Post. The brain child of former right-winger Arianna Huffington. When conservatives go left, they go big (see John Dean for an example). Huffington Post is an interesting mix of politics and Hollywood gossip. Probably a bit too much Hollywood for my tastes, thus the #5 ranking. On the plus side, Arianna has put together an impressive stable of contributing authors (except for the token right-winger--Christopher Hitchens--whom I detest).
- Raw Story. This is a sensationalist, muckracker type news site ... which ain't a bad thing in my book. The guys who run the site do occasionally get tips on political stories not found on other sites. It's worth checking in just to see if anything interesting pops up.
- Salon. This is a commercial news magazine site and probably my favorite of the genre. IMHO, it's much better than Slate which gives voice to select blathering righty propagandists in a misguided attempt at being "balanced". Glenn Greenwald (creator of movie "Outfoxed") is a Salon contributing author so it's worth checking in for Greenwald articles alone; however, the site has quirky human interest type articles which I also enjoy.
- Wayne Madsen Report. I'll admit it, I love reading this guy's shtick. Wayne takes wild swings at the powers that be while publicly basing same almost exclusively on "unnamed sources". Wonkette loves to quote his stuff but never without a condescending jab, such as, "Wayne Madsen and his occasionally semi-accurate unsourced website". A typical Wayne Madsen scoop is that Dick Cheney was a customer of the DC Madame appearing in her business phone records from the time he served as CEO of Haliburton. I wouldn't necessarily laugh Madsen off (Cheney is too evil to laugh away). "Madsen is a former U.S. Naval officer who was assigned to the National Security Agency during the Reagan administration." Link.
- Talk Left, the politics of crime. This news blog focuses mainly on criminal justice issues; however, given that the administration of George W. Bush is, at it's roots, a criminal enterprise, the topics open for discussion are quite broad. These guys do a good job giving legal analysis to the stories in the news.
- Counterpunch. Last but not least is the current affairs magazine Counterpunch. The Counterpunchers are against every power structure in the world and, basically, everyone in the world for that matter. These guys swing at everything. Gotta love the spunk but it's a tad depressing reading the vitriol page after page. The articles are generally well done so I recommend checking it out.
Best of the rest. Gotta give a shout out to afromusing. She's the solar / Africa girl but when she does US politics, it's good work. Check out this post on the Democratic Presidential debate. Of course, I'm a Wonkette fan too but her deal is more gossip about Washington as opposed to straight up politics. Nothing wrong with that but falls outside of the selection criterion for the above list.
JJR
5-24-2007
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