Markos, the owner of Daily Kos, has recently chosen to reduce his blog roll significantly. Booman Tribune was one of the blogs drooped from the Kos blogroll.
Frankly I don’t know the reason why he did this. I’ve heard that he wants to limit his blog roll to only those blogs he reads on a daily basis. I’m not here to speculate about whatever other reason he might have left unstated. I’ll take Markos at his word.
It’s just that after looking at his new blog roll it seems a little skimpy to me. So I thought I’d provide Daily Kos readers with a list of blogs I highly recommend you read daily, even if they didn’t make the cut here. Follow me below the jump for links to those blogs, and my comments on each one …
Here’s my list, in no particular order:
One name alone would make this a recommended blog on anyone’s list: Mary Scott O’Connor. If you’ve read her you know why she’s a must read. If you haven’t than you should be reading her work. In addition, there are lot’s of other gifted writers at MLW, both on the front page and among the regular diarists, many of whom do not usually post to Daily Kos, so you probably won’t read their work here. The general slant of the community is more focused on progressive issues and the advocacy of progressive causes, rather than insider baseball regarding the Democratic party (though they certainly discuss that as well).
ET is another community blog, whose founder is Jerome a paris. This is a great blog to obtain a European perspective on American politics, European politics, the middle east, global warming, etc. Full disclosure: ET is affiliated with Booman Tribune.
David Neiwert, the funder of Orcinus, is hands down, simply one of the best writers on the internet, and I say that with a great deal of envy. He focuses primarily on issues regarding the Radical Right in America, such as hate speech, hate crimes, white supremacist groups, right wing Christian organizations, and the mainstreaming of issues and tactics into the Republican Party that originated with the far right. His series on The Rise of Pseudo-Fascism (caution: pdf file link) is an absolute must read for anyone who wants to understand what’s been happening to our country over the last 25 years. In fact, almost everything he writes is a must read. His new partner, Sara Robinson, is also a damn fine read.
This is the blog of Steve Clemons, a long time DC insider, with a career as a foreign policy analyst at a variety of think tanks. He also formerly served as a member of Senator Jeff Bingaman’s staff. His politics is probably more centrist than mine, but he knows his stuff, and he still keeps in touch with a large number of past and present US government officials on issues related to US foreign policy. His blog can get a bit wonky at times, but I guarantee you’ll learn things about the way Washington really works that you won’t find anywhere elses if you read him regularly. A very valuable source of information and analysis.
This is Glenn Greenwald‘s blog. Enough said.
Their motto says it all: We watch FOX so you don’t have to.
Not sure if this qualifies as a blog, but it is definitely a site you should check on a daily basis. In addition to all the news feeds from mainstream outlets on issues that concern progressives, they also provide links to stories in the foreign press and alternative media, as well as offering their own exclusive reporting and op-ed pieces.
This is Eric Alterman‘s blog at Media Matters. He’s the author of What Liberal Media? and When Presidents Lie among other books. A frequent contributor to The Nation, he is also a fellow at the Center for American Progress, a progressive think-tank. Sharp, biting wit and incisive political and policy analysis are his forte. A frequent critic of the DLC and the current Democratic Party establishment (other than Howard Dean) he is one of the best intellectuals and writers the American Left has produced in the last 20 years.
A blog by Riverbend, a self described girl blogger from Iraq. Admittedly you can’t read this blog everyday because her posts are so infrequent these days, but you can read her archived posts to get a sense on how Bush’s glorious liberation of Iraq appeared to one Iraqi woman over the past 4 years. An absolute must read, if you’ve never come across her writing before. Articulate, sincere, heartbreaking stories of what life in Baghdad has been like, along with her own take of Iraqi and American politics.
With Tbogg, you get snark, and lots of it, as well as some of the best smackdowns of the rightwingnutosphere’s leading (and lesser) lights on the net.
Another masterfully snarky affair. Worth reading, if only for their comic series, the Keyboard Kommandos.
You want female bloggers? I’ve got a progressive female blogger for you: Avedon Carol. Anti-censorship activist, feminist and she writes science fiction too! What more could you ask for?
You probably haven’t heard about Arthur Silber before, but you should have. Another wonderful writer and essayist. Writes long, but very worthwhile blog posts that are never boring and always deliver the goods. Smarter, much smarter than your average lefty blogger (we won’t even discuss how mnuch smarter he is compared to righty bloggers — it wouldn’t be fair).
Another blogger who deserves a bigger audience. Echidne is one of those female bloggers certain male bloggers can’t seem to find whenever they go searching their internets for signs of intelligent women writing intelligent thoughts about really important stuff. Perhaps they haven’t been looking hard enough, because this woman has been there and done that more times than most male chauvinist boy bloggers can count. Oh, and she’s a minor Greek goddess too.
Laura Rozen’s blog. Enough said.
Okay, you want more? Laura reports on national security and foreign policy from inside the beltway for The American Prospect. She knows her stuff. Just read about her career as a journalist, world traveler and really smart person who understands the world about 100,000 times better than George W. Bush at this link.
The place to go for “election integrity” and election reform news.
just because he’s skippy. and a bush kangaroo. and types in all lowercase. and rambles and stuff. and says what you’ve been thinking better than you can. so there. oh, and he invented the term “blogtopia” too.
Yes, that Margaret Cho. She has a blog, and it’s funny as hell, along with being outrageous, authentic and very, very progressive. Not to mention the cool videos she posts to the site.
The bog of the indomitable Larry Johnson (with Susanhu, too). Larry is a former CIA agent, former Republican, counter-terrorism expert and Daily Kos poster of note. And an email friend of mine (Susan too, for that matter). But don’t let that stop you from reading his blog.
Yeah, a plug for the blog where I post. But hey, I get no money from BooMan for doing it, so this is purely done out of my love of the community and the many good writers there. Plus clammyc front pages there. And that BooMan guy, too.
I know, I know. I left a lot of great blogs off my list, but even I can’t read all of them. So feel free to list your own recommended blogs in the comments. Maybe I’ll learn of a great new writer (new to me anyway) thanks to you.
And please, go give these blogs I’ve listed here a look-see. You won’t be disappointed (fingers crossed).
