Thinking Blogger Award

As I mentioned before, I'm humbled by Leonidas adding me to his Thinking Blogger list. One of the reasons I've been slow to fulfill my duties as an award winner is I'm having a hard time coming up with five blogs that show more dynamic thinking than usual or actually make me think.

After some deliberation, i think I finally came up with four, although I'm not sure all really meet the criteria, at least technically. After all, don't most of the blogs we visit usually tell us things we already know? Lefties go to the Daily Kos and righties go to Little Green Footballs(?). I'm just guessing on that as I don't have either of those blogs on my daily list.

So here's almost five blogs- at least mostly politically oriented ones- I've chosen. Most don't actually make me think any more than normal but do exhibit some serious thinking, at least most of the time:

#1. Fighting In The Shade.

Yep, our very own Leonidas' blog. Sure, it's a payback, but deserved. His is actually one that generates thought with me as he often deals with subjects I don't and might often have a different take on an issue than I might- The Iraq Invasion and WOT, for example.

#2. Classically Liberal.

This guy (and, yes, it does seem to be a guy) does a great job of articulating libertarian thought. When I first visited his blog I was wishing I was the one that wrote some of the stuff he puts out.

Not all subjects are ones that I find of interest. For instance, the one today about the violinist in the subway...where'd that come from?

A few constructive criticisms of his writing, which I believe I've made here before:

Lots of typos like missing letters, wrong verb tenses and such.

Lengthy and redundant. He tends to go on and on, often writing more than enough to make his point and then starting the same argument over again. Doing so, he often only has one or two posts on his main page simply because of the length of his posts.

Nonetheless, I think he usually puts out some great stuff.

#3. Eric's Blog.

Oh sure, he beats some things to death, like this Reggae On The River and Mateel stuff. Still, he's one lefty that I think at least tries to see both sides. The main thing that gets me thinking, reading his blog, is how anyone can seem to have some common sense and be fairly reasonable, yet come up with some of the conclusions he comes to.

Phil Angelides for Governor??? That was out there.

#4. The Agitator.

I've liked Radley Balko's writings since before I knew he had a blog. He doesn't allow comments on his blog, although he has responded to my occasional e- mails. I've always said a blog that doesn't allow comments is only half a blog and I'll stand by that.

I've run into a number of issues and various links from his blog I might not have found elsewhere. He does tend to beat the police "brutality"/ SWAT mentality thing to death. Hey, I might agree with him but don't want to read about it day after day after day.

Like I said, he does more than just blog. He's also a columnist for FOX News and works with the CATO Institute. Sharp guy.

#5. Blue Flypaper.

I ran out of blogs for my top 5 Thinking blogs. Sure, I probably have a couple dozen on my daily blog list, but most aren't what I consider Thinking blogs. Most are more light commentary and discussion (kinda like mine).

I list Blue Flypaper as a memorial. It was my favorite leftie blog until she quit posting over half a year ago. Her hard- hitting commentary was a must- read for all sides of the political spectrum. I'll miss her commentaries.

Please come back to us, Blue.