Gone Bird Huntin'...But Surfing The Blogosphere

Idle time is a wonderful thing; time for reflection. This Thanksgiving week, everything seems to move in slow motion. Unless, that is, you are Todd Thomsen, Republican winner of the contested Ada House race (two votes!) and you're being sworn in today to join your colleagues and you have some catching up to do. For most, however, politics takes a breather in a holiday week. That provides time to surf the blogosphere, the entity that has, truly, revolutionized political conversation, news coverage and the speed with which information is disseminated.

There are, we know, a bajillion blogs and websites out there in the sphere and since I spend a lot of time checking them all out, I thought I'd share my thoughts on some of the best ones, locally and nationally, that provide solid information, commentary, and news on a regular basis. By "regular basis," I mean those that are updated throughout each day, or at least at the beginning of each day. There are others that are more sporadic in their postings and once you've hit them, there's little reason to revisit on the same day. Some of the blogs specialize in providing links to other news sources and blogs, where you can find out just about anything about just about anyone.

My own list of favorite blogs includes those that (1) offer thoughtful commentary on events and (2) offer news and extensive links to other news sites. In the former category is my friend Cam Edwards, a pioneer blogger who now hosts "Cam and Company" on Sirius Satellite Radio Patriot Channel 144 and at NRANews.com, a show that features me a couple of nights a week. Cam offers thoughts on anything and everything and has an extensive following of folks who have their heads screwed on right. Another is friend Brandon Dutcher of the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs. Cerebral, witty, informative and fun describe Brandon's blog. Mark Shannon offers a daily dose of sometimes-ribald, comic and insightful thoughts on most things in the news and links to the day's top news stories. Ron Black usually posts his thoughts for the day, so a one-time visit per day is in order. At PassionateAmerica, "Wild Bill" usually has something to get the juices flowing. Nationally, my friend Jim Geraghty at National Review covers D. C. politics and conservative thought with multiple daily blog posts on everything under the sun.

In the latter category, those offering hard news and links to other news sites, Michael Bates has climbed to the top of my list of daily "must-reads." Right behind him is News Max, David Arnett's Tulsa Today, Jean Warner's Oklahoma Women and, of course, the blogger king himself, Matt Drudge.

There are many other blogs and news sites worthy of a visit, including the Tailgate Political Hour, Sooner Politics (Dr. Keith Gaddie's long-standing site; he now blogs on the Tailgate Political Hour site), Oklahoma Political News Service, Hasting Wyman's Southern Political Report and Western Wisdom; those of interest to readers of The McCarville Report Online are listed on the right side of the page. If, like me, you're experiencing a bit of holiday "down time" this week, take a few minutes to surf the blogosphere.

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