Friday, October 05, 2007

Council Winners

[posted by Callimachus]

Watchers Council winners for the week of Oct. 5 have been posted.

First place in the council went to Gratefully Not Dead: Iraq Civilian and US Military Deaths Plummet by Big Lizards.

Votes also went to Man Without a Party, a jeremiad against the current shabby state of the GOP by Right Wing Nut House; Reporter-God Sy Hersh's Dixie Chick Moment by Cheat Seeking Missiles; and Carrots, Sticks, Poisoned Apples from right here.

Outside the council, the top vote-getter was That's Propa-tainment! by Jules Crittenden at Pajamas Media, closely followed by The Hollywood Surge Is Failing by Seraphic Secret.

Both took as their starting points the current crop of Hollywood movies. Crittenden points out that the more Hollywood makes war movies, the less it manages to capture the realities of life for soldiers. That's because the moralizing gets in the way. Seraphic Secret notes that Hollywood executives "love to congratulate themselves on how brave they are for making films that are cutting edge and anti-establishment. Conveniently forgetting that they are the establishment."

Votes also went to Traitors and Liberals by Israel Matzav and Hillary 1993: Nationalize Health Care Through the Kids by Captain's Quarters.

Meanwhile, here are the winners from the week of Sept. 28.

First place in the council went to Cosmic Ironies by Bookworm Room, a tale from the family tree she was inspired to tell by Ken Burns' "The War."

Votes also went to The Human Touch, a thoughtful post from Big Lizards on the topic of immigrants to the U.S. from nations that sponsor terrorism; Gates' Iraq Agenda Short On Democracy by Cheat Seeking Missiles; A Big Hole in the Desert (and in the story) by Soccer Dad; Point of Inflection by The Glittering Eye; How The Arab Lobby Works by Joshuapundit; and Columbia Dhimmis Get Ahmedinejad Earful! Some Applaud, Some Laugh -- We All Should Just Cry... by ‘Okie’ on the Lam.

Outside the council, the winner was Rafael Medoff: Columbia "Invites Hitler to Campus" -- As it Did in 1933, a telling walk down lack-of-memory lane at History News Network.

Votes also went to Islam and Marxism -- A Marriage Made In Allah's Socialist Paradise by Dr. Sanity, a remarkable piece that either proves jihadism is the natural outcome of Marxism or that you can prove anything with a psychology degree and charts.

Also getting votes were The Next Iranian Revolution, a Michael J. Totten piece in Reason Magazine; and The Ugly Side of Bob Herbert by The QandO Blog. If Herbert has a pretty side, I've yet to see it. He is the most relentlessly America-bashing MSM columnist out there. I wrote about him here.

I would also call attention to Acting On Principle Rather Than On Policy at The Paragraph Farmer, which got a vote and is worth a read by anyone who wants to get down past the partisan flotsam and watch where the currents flow.