For those of you who were unaware, Crasstalk has a group that regularly discusses the political issues of the day. As part of a series, we hope to bring a forum for discussions on hot political topics.
Allow me to introduce the Crasstalk Politics Team!
– The Grand Inquisitor, our moderator
– MonkeyBiz, liberal troll
– Momof3wildkids, resident conservative
– AchillesElbow, cynical and misanthropic, with nothing but contempt for all things PC
– KnightOfTheBurningRiver (KotBR), socialist
– Thunderclees, banner carrier of all things statistical
– BaldwinP, foreign correspondent
– Cletar, international man of mystery and mad image skills
For our first post, we wanted to post a few sites that we enjoy.
Momof3:
My fave blog is www.dailydirtnap.com. While not a political blog per se, Jared Dillian has much to say about the political economic climate. It is a paid subscription.
There are also a few from The Economist.
Achilles:
Of all political blogs, Exiled Online comes closest to reaching resonant frequency with my personal worldview: unapologetically old-school left-wing in a cynical and misanthropic sort of way, holding nothing but contempt for political correctness, identity politics, or manufactured establishment consensus. Started as the eXile by Mark Ames and Matt Taibbi, the English-language paper covered the chaos of post-Communist Russia with a mix of vulgar satire and devastating intellectual rigor for over ten years until its physical offices were shut down after a raid by Putin’s thugs. Its internet incarnation is, alas, a pale shadow of its former self, but still features some of the best contrarian political writing this side of Hitchens. Particularly of note is the anonymous War Nerd column, which marshals an acerbic wit and an encyclopedic level of historical knowledge for its merciless analysis of current global conflicts. Prepare to be offended, but also enlightened. Here are two of my favorite pieces:
The Rally to Restore Vanity
Conscience of a Radical: The Reactionary MindAside from that, there are the usual suspects: The Atlantic occasionally provides an interesting perspective that rises above the rest of the media cycle. Glenn Greenwald can always be counted on for the most detailed and precise (if somewhat repetitive and predictable) fact-based analysis of civil liberties and media issues.
On the more obscure side, Kevin Carson’s Mutualist Blog is another one with which I feel a particular affinity. Lately I’ve also been reading The Archdruid Report in an attempt to cut through the imaginary concepts that dominate current economic discussion and see the concrete realities of where our global system is headed.
KotBR:
Glenn Greenwald over at Salon and Ted Rall, who actually has had the guts to go into Afghanistan more than once in the last decade.
Thunderclees:
Krugman’s blog tickles my fancy, as does 538. The Atlantic and The Atlantic Wire are awesome, as are Drezner, Rothkopf, and Ricks at Foreign Policy. I also dig FP.com’s Shadow Government and The Cable.
GI:
I like Atlantic Wire as well. I also really like Africa is a Country for African politics. I always enjoy Crooks and Liars and I like Balloon Juice as well. I am actually a fan of Radley Baliko’s The Agitator, which covers civil rights and police issues (yes, he’s a libertarian, sue me). I really also like the upsater Your Anon News for coverage of OWS, SOPA, The NDAA, etc.
Links:
http://africasacountry.com/
http://crooksandliars.com/
http://www.balloon-juice.com/
http://www.theagitator.com/
http://youranonnews.tumblr.com/
Cletar:
I really like Roy Edroso’s alicublog. It’s really some of the best writing and some of the best commenters. I also like Doghouse Riley.
Biz:
Gin and Tacos is a personal favorite, written by a former professor of mine from undergrad.
“Rick Santorum, who is likely to disappear shortly after his 15 minutes of being Not Mitt Romney, takes Bush’s unwavering social conservatism and combines it with a total lack of intellectual curiosity on domestic issues – where his policy position is essentially “Steer it as far to the right as possible, then go a little further” on any given issue – and hard neocon foreign policy (Israel! Israel! Israel! Also fuck Iran!)”
Esquire’s Charles P. Pierce is the gold standard for snark and cynicism in this troubled political climate. His blog’s motto: “Fk The Deficit. People Got No Jobs. People Got No Money.”
“I’d forgotten what a favor Good Catholic Boy Rick Santorum did for his pal, John Ensign, when it was about to be discovered just how much constituent service Ensign would provide as long as he got to service a constituent on a regular basis. Not for Rick to allow sexy-time to be interrupted inadvertently. There’s a job for him as a bouncer at the front desk of the Moonlight Bunny Ranch if this president thing doesn’t work out.”
Matt Taibbi’s Taibblog is another good one.
“Nobody minds banks and creditors being greedy. But we can’t live with big firms simply taking money out of bank accounts for no reason, and daring people to sue to get the money back. That’s theft by bureaucratic force, not mere greed.”
I’ll second Thunderclees’ selection of the NY Times’ Paul Krugman’s blog, Conscience of a Liberal, and GI’s selection of Balloon-Juice, both of which are excellent.
For some local flavor, Doghouse Riley’s Bats Left/Throws Right is also good.
“Look, if you just want to help the Republican party, let alone the Republic all Republicans seems to imagine tottering on the Edge, it’s time to stop pretending this stuff is normal, explicable, and chockablock with historical precedent. Our politics have always been screwy; this doesn’t mean the kid eating paste in third grade is indistinguishable from the serial arsonist jerking off at a fire. Self-identified and phone-answering Republicans did not hem and haw among a list of United States Senators, Representatives, and a sitting governor. They’ve backed–in a dizzying display that makes preteen pop culture look sedate–a moronic self-promoter with a reality show, a half-witted Jebus fanatic, another half-witted Jebus fanatic, an even-dumber pizza magnate, possibly the slimiest and most disingenuous politician in living memory, and the remaining Jebus fanatic.”
Feel free to post any of your personal favorites in the comments.
