Thought I might include some of the better blogs that I've come across my time on the interweb, and since I'm not explicitly commentating on politics myself, I've filed under non-political. It's also an exercise in waiting for the Democratic numbers to come through!
The criteria I've tried to judge by are:
- They are not the output or comment blog of a print/tv/radio outlet
- They occasionally morph into newsmakers, rather than newstakers (which this site truly is)
- They have something that distinguishes them from other, and are thought provoking.
Of course, you'd need to rank them across the political spectrum and by country. I've forgone the use of conservative, liberal so as not to confuse the readers from Australia. So:
US Left
Daily Kos: Particularly remembered for comments from Bill O'Reilly who declared that Satan was running the Kos, and that readers of such 'far-left websites' are devil worshippers. If Bill says it's that bad, it must be good.
The Huffington Post: Since its inception in 2005, by Arianna Huffington, this has blossomed into a must stop for left-learners, with many heavy hitters and celebrities, as well as a core group of regulars make it worthwhile reading.
US Right
The Drudge Report: Although missing the punch for big stories that appeared (such as the Newsweek's' withholding of the Lewinsky story), there are still little nuggets of gold on a site that is very 'link heavy', and a little difficult to navigate (Thank god for tabs in browsers, I still keep heading back there).
Power Line:A triumvirate of lawyers press the conservative cause here, with Time Magazine's Blog of The Year award, and there is always interesting content, some which may feature here by link. No long winded personal rants here, it's pretty succinct and crisp. These guys aren't soft on Republicans either, and will call them for working against America and its interests
UK Left
Recess Monkey: Parliamentary Insider's blogs, that always has the who, what, where, and how of apparently anything that moves inside and around the Palace of Westminster. Although previously not allowing comments to focus on their output, they've opened up the blog, and have "interesting" photos of MPs at events.
Newer Labour: Simple blog advocating how a post Blair Labour party should advance, which will be particularly interesting when the election really starts to get on the boil. Interesting links from someone who clearly has an insight inside. Self described as Labour's soft left.
UK Right
Guido Fawkes (Paul Staines): In his younger days, the now unmasked author of this blog described his politics as 'Margaret Thatcher" on steroids. A critic of the cosy relationship between media and politics, he often obtains documents from political insiders, such as Peter Hain's leadership documents.
Conservative Home: Although not official Conservative fodder, this does give coverage of UK politics from a conservative perspective, with lots of extra policy material and updated regularly, you do get a flavour of politics from the right
AU Left
Larvatus Prodeo: I would have put Red Rad in here, had it not retired in 2005. LP is a broad and broadly inclusive and occasionally cutting blog, with many contributors, who all think before posting, which makes a change from other blogs on the interweb. I might fail on that criterion right there.
John Quiggin: An older statesman of the blogosphere, Quiggin's insight into economics is not to be sniffed at. You can find him in the AFR, but the blog is certainly seperate, and it's not always serious, thick and boring (as far as economic commentary goes)
AU Right
Andrew Landeryou: Shaming the nameless, and naming the shameless. Landeryou takes his readers through an American prism of commentary on Oz Politics, never short of patriots, traitors and hacks. Interesting relationships with university pollies haven't stopped his ability to scoop, or his distaste for left MSM.
Tim Blair: What hasn't Tim Blair done over the last few years? Opinion editor for the Telegraph, Bulletin opinion writer. He won't be blogging for a while, as he's going under the knife for abdominal cancer. Maybe the surgery will mellow him out? His painkillers at one stage allowed him "to watch Al Gore's Inconvenient Truth without twitching." I wish him all the best.
|