Watcher's Council Nominations..Individual Mandate Edition

Welcome to the Watcher's Council, a blogging group consisting of some of the most incisive blogs in the 'sphere, and the longest running group of its kind in existence. Every week, the members nominate two posts each, one written by themselves and one written by someone from outside the group for consideration by the whole Council.Then we vote on the best two posts, with the results appearing on Friday.

Council News:

This week, Ask Marion , The Grouch, Modern Sojourners and Liberty's Spirit took advantage of my generous offer of link whorage and earned honorable mention status.

You can, too! Want to see your work appear on the Watcher’s Council homepage in our weekly contest listing? Didn’t get nominated by a Council member? No worries.

Simply head over to Joshuapundit and post the title a link to the piece you want considered along with an e-mail address ( which won't be published) in the comments section no later than Monday 6PM PST in order to be considered for our honorable mention category, and return the favor by creating a post on your site linking to the Watcher’s Council contest for the week.

It's a great way of exposing your best work to Watcher’s Council readers and Council members. while grabbing the increased traffic and notoriety. And how good is that, eh?

So, let's see what we have this week....

Council Submissions

• The Colossus of Rhodey – As the Trayvon Martin case proceeds ...



• The Noisy Room – Leveraging Racism for Chaos – Gateway to Communism



• The Political Commentator – While all politicians suck this unscientific study shows that on a percentage basis Republicans suck less!



• VA Right!- Democrats on ObamaCare "I meant to do that!"



• Joshuapundit-The Supreme Court Begins Hearing Arguments On ObamaCare



• Rhymes With Right – Trayvon Martin, George Zimmerman, Barack Obama, And Me



• The Independent Sentinel – Interview With A Tea Party Leader About A RINO'S Views on NPV



• The Mellow Jihadi – Wasting Nassau, Cedar, and Water Streets



• Simply Jews – From purveyors of hate to Mohamed Merah



• GrEaT sAtAn”S gIrLfRiEnD – Madame Sec



• Bookworm Room – “Alien Encounters” — The subtle propaganda of a pseudo-documentary



• The Right Planet – Race Pimps



• The Razor – Crown Romney and Be Done With It



• Gay Patriot – In the current crisis, Santorum would be a lousy nominee



• The Glittering Eye -Not To Use But To Sell
  

Honorable Mentions

• The Grouch - Critical Medicines in Short Supply



• Modern Sojourners - Raising Girls



• Ask Marion - March 23rd Second Anniversary of ObamaCare… March 26th a Future Day in American Infamy?



• Liberty's Spirit - Peter Beinart's Offense Against Liberalism
  

Non-Council Submissions

• The New Statesman – The G-d Wars submitted by The Colossus of Rhodey



• Sultan Knish –It Doesn't Matter If You're Black or White submitted by The Noisy Room



• Mychal Massie -Sharpton and Obama Prostituting Martin Shooting submitted by The Political Commentator



• The Mental Recession – Why is the U.S. Charging Robert Bales With the Murder of an Unborn Child, But Didn't Charge Nidal Hasan? submitted by VA Right!



• Ralph Peters – Soldiers Murder Afghans, Generals Murder Soldiers submitted by Joshuapundit



• Doug Ross @ Journal – Top 15 Signs at the #RallyForReligiousFreedom You'll Never See in Legacy Media submitted by Rhymes with Right



• Townhall – Video: Obama Argues Against Obamacare submitted by The The Independent Sentinel



• Heels And Handguns –One Bad Apple: George Zimmerman submitted by The Mellow Jihadi



• Nick Cohen – Playing Politics With Murder submitted by Simply Jews



• TPM Barnett's Globlogization – In Tough Times, America's 'Dirty Harry' Streak Re-Emerges submitted by GrEaT sAtAn”S gIrLfRiEnD



• White House Dossier- Michelle Hosts 'Biggest Loser' Workout in the East Roomsubmitted by Bookworm Room



• Breitbart.com – The Crane Chronicles, Part I: How and Why Ed Crane Pushed the Koch Brothers Conspiracy Theory submitted by The Right Planet



• Via Meadia –Top Saudi Cleric Issues Fatwa: Destroy Churches submitted by The Razor



• Right Turn -Imagine Obama with no electoral restraints submitted by Gay Patriot



• Lyle Denniston./SCOTUSBlog – Argument preview: Health care, Part I — The power to decide? submitted by The Glittering Eye



• The Weekly Standard Blog – Is the IRS Grinding an Axe for Teachers' Unions? submitted by The Watcher



• Frida Ghittis – Europe's Blind Spot On Anti-Semitism submitted by The Watcher

Enjoy! And don't forget to follow us on Facebook and Twitter..'cause we're cool like that!

Watcher's Council Nominations..Individual Mandate Edition

Welcome to the Watcher's Council, a blogging group consisting of some of the most incisive blogs in the 'sphere, and the longest running group of its kind in existence. Every week, the members nominate two posts each, one written by themselves and one written by someone from outside the group for consideration by the whole Council.Then we vote on the best two posts, with the results appearing on Friday.

Council News:

This week, Ask Marion , The Grouch, Modern Sojourners and Liberty's Spirit took advantage of my generous offer of link whorage and earned honorable mention status.

You can, too! Want to see your work appear on the Watcher’s Council homepage in our weekly contest listing? Didn’t get nominated by a Council member? No worries.

Simply head over to Joshuapundit and post the title a link to the piece you want considered along with an e-mail address ( which won't be published) in the comments section no later than Monday 6PM PST in order to be considered for our honorable mention category, and return the favor by creating a post on your site linking to the Watcher’s Council contest for the week.

It's a great way of exposing your best work to Watcher’s Council readers and Council members. while grabbing the increased traffic and notoriety. And how good is that, eh?

So, let's see what we have this week....

Council Submissions

• The Colossus of Rhodey – As the Trayvon Martin case proceeds ...



• The Noisy Room – Leveraging Racism for Chaos – Gateway to Communism



• The Political Commentator – While all politicians suck this unscientific study shows that on a percentage basis Republicans suck less!



• VA Right!- Democrats on ObamaCare "I meant to do that!"



• Joshuapundit-The Supreme Court Begins Hearing Arguments On ObamaCare



• Rhymes With Right – Trayvon Martin, George Zimmerman, Barack Obama, And Me



• The Independent Sentinel – Interview With A Tea Party Leader About A RINO'S Views on NPV



• The Mellow Jihadi – Wasting Nassau, Cedar, and Water Streets



• Simply Jews – From purveyors of hate to Mohamed Merah



• GrEaT sAtAn”S gIrLfRiEnD – Madame Sec



• Bookworm Room – “Alien Encounters” — The subtle propaganda of a pseudo-documentary



• The Right Planet – Race Pimps



• The Razor – Crown Romney and Be Done With It



• Gay Patriot – In the current crisis, Santorum would be a lousy nominee



• The Glittering Eye -Not To Use But To Sell
  

Honorable Mentions

• The Grouch - Critical Medicines in Short Supply



• Modern Sojourners - Raising Girls



• Ask Marion - March 23rd Second Anniversary of ObamaCare… March 26th a Future Day in American Infamy?



• Liberty's Spirit - Peter Beinart's Offense Against Liberalism
  

Non-Council Submissions

• The New Statesman – The G-d Wars submitted by The Colossus of Rhodey



• Sultan Knish –It Doesn't Matter If You're Black or White submitted by The Noisy Room



• Mychal Massie -Sharpton and Obama Prostituting Martin Shooting submitted by The Political Commentator



• The Mental Recession – Why is the U.S. Charging Robert Bales With the Murder of an Unborn Child, But Didn't Charge Nidal Hasan? submitted by VA Right!



• Ralph Peters – Soldiers Murder Afghans, Generals Murder Soldiers submitted by Joshuapundit



• Doug Ross @ Journal – Top 15 Signs at the #RallyForReligiousFreedom You'll Never See in Legacy Media submitted by Rhymes with Right



• Townhall – Video: Obama Argues Against Obamacare submitted by The The Independent Sentinel



• Heels And Handguns –One Bad Apple: George Zimmerman submitted by The Mellow Jihadi



• Nick Cohen – Playing Politics With Murder submitted by Simply Jews



• TPM Barnett's Globlogization – In Tough Times, America's 'Dirty Harry' Streak Re-Emerges submitted by GrEaT sAtAn”S gIrLfRiEnD



• White House Dossier- Michelle Hosts 'Biggest Loser' Workout in the East Roomsubmitted by Bookworm Room



• Breitbart.com – The Crane Chronicles, Part I: How and Why Ed Crane Pushed the Koch Brothers Conspiracy Theory submitted by The Right Planet



• Via Meadia –Top Saudi Cleric Issues Fatwa: Destroy Churches submitted by The Razor



• Right Turn -Imagine Obama with no electoral restraints submitted by Gay Patriot



• Lyle Denniston./SCOTUSBlog – Argument preview: Health care, Part I — The power to decide? submitted by The Glittering Eye



• The Weekly Standard Blog – Is the IRS Grinding an Axe for Teachers' Unions? submitted by The Watcher



• Frida Ghittis – Europe's Blind Spot On Anti-Semitism submitted by The Watcher

Enjoy! And don't forget to follow us on Facebook and Twitter..'cause we're cool like that!

The Council Has Spoken!! This Week's Watcher's Council Results

The Council has spoken, and another Watcher's Council match is history, carved eternally in the akhasic records of cyberspace.

Hey, what's an election without a little voter fraud? This week's winner, Joshuapundit for AG Holder And The DOJ Strike A Blow To Help Voter Fraud examines what's behind the Obama Administration's war on voter photo ID laws and exactly how and why the Democrats absolutely depend on voter fraud and yes, voter suppression to win elections. Here's a slice:

Holder's assault on these laws is pretty simple to explain.President Obama is up for re-election, the Senate is at stake and for the Democrats voter fraud is the only way they have a shot at maintaining and turning out large enough 'majorities' in the large Democrat ruled urban machines like Chicago and Los Angeles to offset votes from other parts of Blue states, 'win' elections and stay in power.

Needless to say, the Democrats and their media allies aren't going to say that. So they cite two seriously flawed arguments to cover for it. The first one is that minorities, people who don't drive, are poor or whom are elderly are somehow discriminated against if they are made to obtain a photo ID.

The truth? A photo ID is free for the asking to the poor in every state, because it's a law in every state of the union that valid ID needs to be presented to any peace officer that asks to see it. In many cases, it's necessary for basic operations like obtaining a library card, opening a bank account or cashing a check at the local market. As for the elderly, most municipalities have transportation available for retirees and the elderly either in the form of taxi coupons, special buses or vans paid for by tax dollars.

Having never been working class themselves for the most part, the elites pushing this don't realize that a lot of people simply aren't interested in voting, or deliberately don't vote to keep themselves off the jury duty rolls to keep from losing a few days work they can ill afford to miss.

The second argument is that the problem of voter fraud is 'minimal', a problem that doesn't exist. There's even a demonstrably cooked 'study' or two to cite. Are they right?

First of all, 'minimal' is a subjective judgment, based on who's counting. For instance, in 2009 there were a total of 13,257 new cases of AIDS originating from heterosexual contact reported in the US. As a percentage of the US population, that works out to about .000043%, something most mathematicians would call negligible. However, the government spends millions of dollars each year promoting the safe sex message and urging condom use, and if you notice, the ads almost always feature heterosexual couples or females, who have an even lower incidence of AIDS from heterosexual contact then do males. Of course, if you or one of your loved ones is part of the statistic, it's tremendously important to you and if you were to ask someone from the Department of Health and Human Services, they'd undoubtedly tell you that even one case is too many and justifies the most stringent methods at prevention.

Since voter fraud is an infection of our democracy, shouldn't we be just as concerned about preventing it?

Actually, the incidents of voter fraud, particularly when it comes to fraudulent registration are rampant and easy to find with a simple internet search. And another item of interest is that the reported instances are a lot lower than they might be simply because elected officials and their appointees charged with enforcing the laws in these matters ( almost always Democrats) frequently refuse to investigate and prosecute.

In our non-Council category, the winner was Bristol Palinasking Mr. President, When Should I Expect Your Call? submitted byBookworm Room .


Here are this week’s full results. Gay Patriot and New Zeal were unable to vote this week, but neither was affected by the 2/3 vote penalty:

Council Winners

• *First place with 3 votes! Joshuapundit – AG Holder And The DOJ Strike A Blow To Help Voter Fraud



• Second place with 2 votes – Bookworm Room- The story of Malia Obama's Mexican vacation reveals double standards and a noodle-spined media



• Third place with 1 1/3 vote – The Independent Sentinel- Obamacare Will Not Value Human Life - Proof Lies In A Killer Theory



• Fourth place *t* with 1 vote – The Noisy Room-Obama Preps for a 'Non-Emergency' Named Iran



• Fourth place *t* with 1 vote – Simply Jews-Iranian nukes, POTUS, expectations and common sense



• Fourth place *t* with 1 vote –GrEaT sAtAn”S gIrLfRiEnD -The Xceptionals



• Fifth place *t* with 2/3 vote –The Colossus of Rhodey- Next violent act can be blamed on ... The Boss



• Fifth place *t* with 2/3 vote – The Political Commentator – President Obama manipulating the truth about oil!



• Fifth place *t* with 2/3 vote – The Mellow Jihadi –From Communism to Capitalism



• Fifth place *t* with 2/3 vote – The Right Planet –Retired Postal Worker Claims Bill Ayers’ Mother Knew Obama Was a ‘Foreign Student’



• Fifth place *t* with 2/3 vote – VA Right! –How Much Is the Obama Gas Price Increase Costing You?



• Sixth place *t* with 1/3 vote – The Glittering Eye –Come Fly With Me!



• Sixth place *t* with 1/3 vote – The Razor –Mixing Fashion with Politics and Atrocities

Non-Council Winners

• First place with 2 2/3 votes! – Bristol's Blog-Mr. President, When Should I Expect Your Call? submitted by Bookworm Room



• Second place with 2 1/3 votes – Watts Up With That –Monckton's Schenectady Showdown submitted by The Glittering Eye



• Third place *t* with 1 1/3 votes – At War - Social Media Expands Military Blogging submitted by GrEaT sAtAn”S gIrLfRiEnD



• Third place *t* with 1 1/3 votes -The Sad Red Earth –Thinking Through the Iranian Dilemma submitted by Simply Jews



• Fourth place *t* with 1 vote - Hurriyet/Burak Bekdil – World War IV? submitted by Joshuapundit



• Fourth place *t* with 1 vote -Right Wing News –5 Reasons Socialism Is Inferior To Capitalism submitted by The Mellow Jihadi



• Fifth place *t* with 2/3 vote -Sultan Knish –The Tao of Warmongering submitted by The Noisy Room



• Fifth place *t* with 2/3 vote -Townhall –Good News: Solar Firm Subsidized to Sell Panels... to Itself submitted by The Independent Sentinel



• Fifth place *t* with 2/3 vote -Accuracy In Media –World Government Lobby Frets Over Fate of Lugar submitted by The Right Planet



• Sixth place *t* with 1/3 vote -Buckhorn Road –Look in my eyes; what do you see? The Cult of Personality submitted by The Colossus of Rhodey
  



• Sixth place *t* with 1/3 vote -Urban Grounds –The Mythical and Manufactured 'War on Womyn' submitted by Rhymes With Right



• Sixth place *t* with 1/3 vote -Da Tech Guy Blog – Bill Maher and Alexandra Pelosi not racists; Feudal lord and Lady submitted by VA Right!



• Sixth place *t* with 1/3 vote -Commentary Contentions –The Abu Ghraib Double Standard submitted by Gay Patriot

See you next week! And don't forget to follow us on Facebook and Twitter..'cause we're cool like that!

The Council Has Spoken!! This Week's Watcher's Council Results

The Council has spoken, and another Watcher's Council match is history, carved eternally in the akhasic records of cyberspace.

Hey, what's an election without a little voter fraud? This week's winner, Joshuapundit for AG Holder And The DOJ Strike A Blow To Help Voter Fraud examines what's behind the Obama Administration's war on voter photo ID laws and exactly how and why the Democrats absolutely depend on voter fraud and yes, voter suppression to win elections. Here's a slice:

Holder's assault on these laws is pretty simple to explain.President Obama is up for re-election, the Senate is at stake and for the Democrats voter fraud is the only way they have a shot at maintaining and turning out large enough 'majorities' in the large Democrat ruled urban machines like Chicago and Los Angeles to offset votes from other parts of Blue states, 'win' elections and stay in power.

Needless to say, the Democrats and their media allies aren't going to say that. So they cite two seriously flawed arguments to cover for it. The first one is that minorities, people who don't drive, are poor or whom are elderly are somehow discriminated against if they are made to obtain a photo ID.

The truth? A photo ID is free for the asking to the poor in every state, because it's a law in every state of the union that valid ID needs to be presented to any peace officer that asks to see it. In many cases, it's necessary for basic operations like obtaining a library card, opening a bank account or cashing a check at the local market. As for the elderly, most municipalities have transportation available for retirees and the elderly either in the form of taxi coupons, special buses or vans paid for by tax dollars.

Having never been working class themselves for the most part, the elites pushing this don't realize that a lot of people simply aren't interested in voting, or deliberately don't vote to keep themselves off the jury duty rolls to keep from losing a few days work they can ill afford to miss.

The second argument is that the problem of voter fraud is 'minimal', a problem that doesn't exist. There's even a demonstrably cooked 'study' or two to cite. Are they right?

First of all, 'minimal' is a subjective judgment, based on who's counting. For instance, in 2009 there were a total of 13,257 new cases of AIDS originating from heterosexual contact reported in the US. As a percentage of the US population, that works out to about .000043%, something most mathematicians would call negligible. However, the government spends millions of dollars each year promoting the safe sex message and urging condom use, and if you notice, the ads almost always feature heterosexual couples or females, who have an even lower incidence of AIDS from heterosexual contact then do males. Of course, if you or one of your loved ones is part of the statistic, it's tremendously important to you and if you were to ask someone from the Department of Health and Human Services, they'd undoubtedly tell you that even one case is too many and justifies the most stringent methods at prevention.

Since voter fraud is an infection of our democracy, shouldn't we be just as concerned about preventing it?

Actually, the incidents of voter fraud, particularly when it comes to fraudulent registration are rampant and easy to find with a simple internet search. And another item of interest is that the reported instances are a lot lower than they might be simply because elected officials and their appointees charged with enforcing the laws in these matters ( almost always Democrats) frequently refuse to investigate and prosecute.

In our non-Council category, the winner was Bristol Palinasking Mr. President, When Should I Expect Your Call? submitted byBookworm Room .


Here are this week’s full results. Gay Patriot and New Zeal were unable to vote this week, but neither was affected by the 2/3 vote penalty:

Council Winners

• *First place with 3 votes! Joshuapundit – AG Holder And The DOJ Strike A Blow To Help Voter Fraud



• Second place with 2 votes – Bookworm Room- The story of Malia Obama's Mexican vacation reveals double standards and a noodle-spined media



• Third place with 1 1/3 vote – The Independent Sentinel- Obamacare Will Not Value Human Life - Proof Lies In A Killer Theory



• Fourth place *t* with 1 vote – The Noisy Room-Obama Preps for a 'Non-Emergency' Named Iran



• Fourth place *t* with 1 vote – Simply Jews-Iranian nukes, POTUS, expectations and common sense



• Fourth place *t* with 1 vote –GrEaT sAtAn”S gIrLfRiEnD -The Xceptionals



• Fifth place *t* with 2/3 vote –The Colossus of Rhodey- Next violent act can be blamed on ... The Boss



• Fifth place *t* with 2/3 vote – The Political Commentator – President Obama manipulating the truth about oil!



• Fifth place *t* with 2/3 vote – The Mellow Jihadi –From Communism to Capitalism



• Fifth place *t* with 2/3 vote – The Right Planet –Retired Postal Worker Claims Bill Ayers’ Mother Knew Obama Was a ‘Foreign Student’



• Fifth place *t* with 2/3 vote – VA Right! –How Much Is the Obama Gas Price Increase Costing You?



• Sixth place *t* with 1/3 vote – The Glittering Eye –Come Fly With Me!



• Sixth place *t* with 1/3 vote – The Razor –Mixing Fashion with Politics and Atrocities

Non-Council Winners

• First place with 2 2/3 votes! – Bristol's Blog-Mr. President, When Should I Expect Your Call? submitted by Bookworm Room



• Second place with 2 1/3 votes – Watts Up With That –Monckton's Schenectady Showdown submitted by The Glittering Eye



• Third place *t* with 1 1/3 votes – At War - Social Media Expands Military Blogging submitted by GrEaT sAtAn”S gIrLfRiEnD



• Third place *t* with 1 1/3 votes -The Sad Red Earth –Thinking Through the Iranian Dilemma submitted by Simply Jews



• Fourth place *t* with 1 vote - Hurriyet/Burak Bekdil – World War IV? submitted by Joshuapundit



• Fourth place *t* with 1 vote -Right Wing News –5 Reasons Socialism Is Inferior To Capitalism submitted by The Mellow Jihadi



• Fifth place *t* with 2/3 vote -Sultan Knish –The Tao of Warmongering submitted by The Noisy Room



• Fifth place *t* with 2/3 vote -Townhall –Good News: Solar Firm Subsidized to Sell Panels... to Itself submitted by The Independent Sentinel



• Fifth place *t* with 2/3 vote -Accuracy In Media –World Government Lobby Frets Over Fate of Lugar submitted by The Right Planet



• Sixth place *t* with 1/3 vote -Buckhorn Road –Look in my eyes; what do you see? The Cult of Personality submitted by The Colossus of Rhodey
  



• Sixth place *t* with 1/3 vote -Urban Grounds –The Mythical and Manufactured 'War on Womyn' submitted by Rhymes With Right



• Sixth place *t* with 1/3 vote -Da Tech Guy Blog – Bill Maher and Alexandra Pelosi not racists; Feudal lord and Lady submitted by VA Right!



• Sixth place *t* with 1/3 vote -Commentary Contentions –The Abu Ghraib Double Standard submitted by Gay Patriot

See you next week! And don't forget to follow us on Facebook and Twitter..'cause we're cool like that!

A Few Words From Our Founder...

One of the great things about being a part of the Watchers Council isn't the fame,the blogging groupies or the obscene amounts of money to be made but the great people you get to associate with.

For me, one of those people has always been the founder of the Watcher's Council,the Watcher Emeritus who first conceived of the idea back in 2003.Ever since I first joined the Council back in 2005 and since his retirement, he and I have been in touch off and on, and I'm glad to say that's he's now back in the blogging world at last on his spiffy new site Crazy Bald Guy.

I finally talked him into an interview where he weighs in about the Council, its origins and blogging in general, insights from someone who was there at the creation, so to speak.

Rob: How did you first get involved in blogging?What attracted you to it?

Watcher Emeritus: It was around the time that KSM was captured that I first started blogging... I had an interest in politics for a while before that, but never quite knew what to do with it. Sometime during the Clinton impeachment I got into the habit of arguing about politics online in various forums, and this habit intensified throughout the 2000 election... after 9/11 and the War on Terror began I started to notice that just about everyone had a blog. I decided to get one of my own so that I could have my own place to vent.

Rob: What first gave you the idea for the Watcher's Council? How did you come up with the original bylaws and format? Was it trial and error,or did you pretty much have a good idea of how to proceed?

Watcher Emeritus: The Watcher's Council came about when I noticed there so many blogging carnivals out there... I thought they could be a good way to promote blogs, but they seemed to have a bit too much randomness in the links being presented. I figured having some sort of vote would be the best way to filter through everything and try to put the focus more on quality than quantity. I thought on it for a while, and eventually came up with what I figured would be a pretty fair way to handle that kind of vote... then I settled on a few basic requirements for members to follow, and got started recruiting.

Rob: What was the most challenging part of getting the Council together? The biggest surprise?

Watcher Emeritus: Well, putting it together wasn't so bad... the hardest part was probably just dealing with all the emails back and forth trying to spread the word about it. I was surprised that there seemed to be quite a few people interested in joining right off the bat, though I think it did take a while to completely fill up all the open spots. I also wrote a PHP script for myself to help me with all the vote counting.

Rob: When approximately did you stop being the Watcher and why?

Watcher Emeritus: I stopped blogging sometime in the middle of 2008... partly due to health problems, partly due to money problems, and partly due to just being burned out on everything in general.

Rob: What was your initial reaction to finding out we've kept it going all this time? Were you aware that the members kept the Council going after you left? What was your reaction?When approximately did you become aware we were still alive and kickin'?

Watcher Emeritus: Even after I quit blogging I would still lurk here and there, and comment once in a while in a few places, so I could see things were still going... nice to see it still going strong for so long.Yeah, I was glad to see that it didn't end just because I had to stop.

Rob: While keeping to the basic format and traditions you set up,the Council has evolved quite a bit. How would you compare then and now? Do you feel the quality of the content overall has improved, declined, or remained the same? (loaded question, that last one!)

Watcher Emeritus: If you had to make a few minor adjustments in order to keep things going, I can't really complain... without you it wouldn't be there at all anymore, so thanks for all the work you've put into it. And it's hard to really compare between then and now, the membership was always in flux even when I was still running things. The current members have been writing a lot of quality stuff though, my hat's off to you all. It's really nice to see that at least a few people have stuck around this whole time.

Rob: As a blogging pioneer, what are your thoughts on how blogging has evolved and where it's heading?

Watcher Emeritus: I guess maybe I have been blogging for a while now, but it's hard for me to call myself a pioneer... by the time I started my own blog it seemed to me like everyone else already had one. It's been interesting to see the impact that Twitter has had on blogging... I notice that many bloggers now also use Twitter, and some bloggers have even scaled back their blogging to the point where they are using Twitter almost exclusively. You can't say very much in a single tweet, but I find Twitter is a very useful way to fill in the gaps when I just can't seem to cough up a full blog post... it's also a handy way to find new things to blog about.

Rob: Aside from Twitter, social media like Reddit and Facebook seem to be driving a great deal of blogging traffic nowadays. What's your reaction to that?

Watcher Emeritus: Hmmmm, not sure. I know what Reddit is, but don't think I've ever used it before... I don't have a Facebook page myself, so all my Facebook experience comes from following links to there from blogs, not the other way around. When I'm not fussing with my blog or reading another blog somewhere else, I tend to be on either Twitter or Youtube.

Rob: Any words of wisdom or thoughts in general you'd like to pass on to your loyal acolytes?

Watcher Emeritus: Never try to boil eggs in the microwave, it won't end well.

A Few Words From Our Founder...

One of the great things about being a part of the Watchers Council isn't the fame,the blogging groupies or the obscene amounts of money to be made but the great people you get to associate with.

For me, one of those people has always been the founder of the Watcher's Council,the Watcher Emeritus who first conceived of the idea back in 2003.Ever since I first joined the Council back in 2005 and since his retirement, he and I have been in touch off and on, and I'm glad to say that's he's now back in the blogging world at last on his spiffy new site Crazy Bald Guy.

I finally talked him into an interview where he weighs in about the Council, its origins and blogging in general, insights from someone who was there at the creation, so to speak.

Rob: How did you first get involved in blogging?What attracted you to it?

Watcher Emeritus: It was around the time that KSM was captured that I first started blogging... I had an interest in politics for a while before that, but never quite knew what to do with it. Sometime during the Clinton impeachment I got into the habit of arguing about politics online in various forums, and this habit intensified throughout the 2000 election... after 9/11 and the War on Terror began I started to notice that just about everyone had a blog. I decided to get one of my own so that I could have my own place to vent.

Rob: What first gave you the idea for the Watcher's Council? How did you come up with the original bylaws and format? Was it trial and error,or did you pretty much have a good idea of how to proceed?

Watcher Emeritus: The Watcher's Council came about when I noticed there so many blogging carnivals out there... I thought they could be a good way to promote blogs, but they seemed to have a bit too much randomness in the links being presented. I figured having some sort of vote would be the best way to filter through everything and try to put the focus more on quality than quantity. I thought on it for a while, and eventually came up with what I figured would be a pretty fair way to handle that kind of vote... then I settled on a few basic requirements for members to follow, and got started recruiting.

Rob: What was the most challenging part of getting the Council together? The biggest surprise?

Watcher Emeritus: Well, putting it together wasn't so bad... the hardest part was probably just dealing with all the emails back and forth trying to spread the word about it. I was surprised that there seemed to be quite a few people interested in joining right off the bat, though I think it did take a while to completely fill up all the open spots. I also wrote a PHP script for myself to help me with all the vote counting.

Rob: When approximately did you stop being the Watcher and why?

Watcher Emeritus: I stopped blogging sometime in the middle of 2008... partly due to health problems, partly due to money problems, and partly due to just being burned out on everything in general.

Rob: What was your initial reaction to finding out we've kept it going all this time? Were you aware that the members kept the Council going after you left? What was your reaction?When approximately did you become aware we were still alive and kickin'?

Watcher Emeritus: Even after I quit blogging I would still lurk here and there, and comment once in a while in a few places, so I could see things were still going... nice to see it still going strong for so long.Yeah, I was glad to see that it didn't end just because I had to stop.

Rob: While keeping to the basic format and traditions you set up,the Council has evolved quite a bit. How would you compare then and now? Do you feel the quality of the content overall has improved, declined, or remained the same? (loaded question, that last one!)

Watcher Emeritus: If you had to make a few minor adjustments in order to keep things going, I can't really complain... without you it wouldn't be there at all anymore, so thanks for all the work you've put into it. And it's hard to really compare between then and now, the membership was always in flux even when I was still running things. The current members have been writing a lot of quality stuff though, my hat's off to you all. It's really nice to see that at least a few people have stuck around this whole time.

Rob: As a blogging pioneer, what are your thoughts on how blogging has evolved and where it's heading?

Watcher Emeritus: I guess maybe I have been blogging for a while now, but it's hard for me to call myself a pioneer... by the time I started my own blog it seemed to me like everyone else already had one. It's been interesting to see the impact that Twitter has had on blogging... I notice that many bloggers now also use Twitter, and some bloggers have even scaled back their blogging to the point where they are using Twitter almost exclusively. You can't say very much in a single tweet, but I find Twitter is a very useful way to fill in the gaps when I just can't seem to cough up a full blog post... it's also a handy way to find new things to blog about.

Rob: Aside from Twitter, social media like Reddit and Facebook seem to be driving a great deal of blogging traffic nowadays. What's your reaction to that?

Watcher Emeritus: Hmmmm, not sure. I know what Reddit is, but don't think I've ever used it before... I don't have a Facebook page myself, so all my Facebook experience comes from following links to there from blogs, not the other way around. When I'm not fussing with my blog or reading another blog somewhere else, I tend to be on either Twitter or Youtube.

Rob: Any words of wisdom or thoughts in general you'd like to pass on to your loyal acolytes?

Watcher Emeritus: Never try to boil eggs in the microwave, it won't end well.

The Council Has Spoken!! This Week's Watcher's Council Results

The Council has spoken, the votes have been cast, and the results are in for the first Watcher's Council match up of 2012, carved eternally in the akhasic records of cyberspace.

Perception frequently comes from which end of the telescope you're looking through, as this week's winner, The Mellow Jihadi for Me and a Pakistani Captain Chat , a sort of virtual conversation if you will. Here's a slice:

Pakistan. Are they our friends? Do we have the same goals in mind? Can we partner together? Can we trust them? Are they doing enough to combat their jihadi issue? An interesting write-up in Marine Times touches these questions:

The wind was howling and the snow outside their bullet-pocked bunker lay knee-deep as the men of the 20th Lancer armored regiment bedded down for the night, nearly 8,000 feet up a mountain on one of the world’s most inhospitable borders.

They cheered themselves up by singing songs. Their commander gazed at photos of his 4-year-old daughter on his computer. But as the men chatted, it became clear that they were feeling a bit underappreciated.

Why did the West accuse Pakistan of not pulling its weight in the war on terror, they asked. Hadn’t large numbers of their comrades died at the hands of Islamist militants? Why else were they in this hellish place if not to keep them at bay?

“They say we aren’t doing enough,” said their commander, Capt. Imran Tanvir. “What more can we do?”

Well Capt. Tanvir, let’s chat about Abbottabad, Osama bin Laden’s little summertime retreat. How unlikely is it that no one was aware of Osama in a town that is home to a major military academy, Pakistan’s Westpoint:


In our non-Council category, the winner was Victor Davis Hanson's We Give Up submitted by The Watcher. It's a sobering look at our efforts to use various startegies to deal with the Muslims world and how they've failed. A worthy read.

Here are this week’s full results. New Zeal was unable to vote this week, but was not affected by the 2/3 vote penalty:

Council Winners

• *First place with 2 2/3 votes! The Mellow Jihadi – Me and a Pakistani Captain Chat



• Second place with 2 1/3 votes – The Noisy Room- The American Spring Bears Poisonous Fruit



• Third place with 1 2/3 votes – Bookworm Room-The Breitbarters launch their first barrage in their war against the American Leftist media



• Fourth place *t* with 1 1/3 votes – The Glittering Eye-Okay, You’ve Caught It. Now What Do You Do With It?



• Fourth place *t* with 1 1/3 votes – The Independent Sentinel-Anti-First Amendment Liberals-Hanoi Jane, Steinem & Morgan-Want the FCC to Shut Down Rush's Radio Station



• Fourth place *t* with 1 1/3 votes – The Right Planet-Bloody Revolution Pt. 2



• Fifth place with 1 vote –Joshuapundit-More 'Diplomacy ' With Iran As Obama And The EU Team Up To Fend Off An Israeli Strike



• Sixth place *t* with 2/3 vote – Simply Jews – Maradona as a champion of Palestinian cause



• Sixth place *t* with 2/3 vote – Gay Patriot –How about a TV series treating Christians* with dignity?



• Sixth place *t* with 2/3 vote – The Razor –Loving Sluts, Hating Liars



• Sixth place *t* with 2/3 vote – Rhymes With Right – Enough Of Stupid Comments About "The Establishment" Trying To "Anoint" A Candidate



• Sixth place *t* with 2/3 vote – VA Right! – Thursday:First I Spoke With Senator Rand Paul - Then I Crashed George Allen's Birthday Party

Non-Council Winners

• First place with 2 2/3 votes! – Victor Davis Hanson-We Give Up submitted by The Watcher



• Second place *t* with 2 votes –Information Dissemination – Pirates vs. Congress: How Pirates Are a Better Bargain submitted by Joshuapundit



• Second place *t* with 2 votes –Castra Praetoria Debunking lies about the militarysubmitted by Bookworm Room



• Third place *t* with 1 2/3 votes - Mark Steyn –The Fluke Charade: A Middle-Age Child's Nutty Demand submitted by The Noisy Room



• Fourth place *t* with 1 vote - Sarah Palin –Let's Talk About The Real Issues, Mr. President submitted by The Watcher



• Fourth place *t* with 1 vote - Life In Israel – A personal message from the Iron Dome Soldiers submitted by Simply Jews



• Fifth place *t* with 2/3 vote -Institute for The Study Of War – Syria's Armed Opposition submitted by GrEaT sAtAn”S gIrLfRiEnD



• Fifth place *t* with 2/3 vote -The First Street Journal –The Excuses of The Losers submitted by The Colossus of Rhodey



• Fifth place *t* with 2/3 vote -NewsBusters –So Much for Church-State Separation: White House Organizing 'Prayer Vigils' for Obama-Care, Says NYT submitted by Rhymes With Right



• Fifth place *t* with 2/3 vote -Institute for The Study Of War – Syria's Armed Opposition submitted by GrEaT sAtAn”S gIrLfRiEnD



• Fifth place *t* with 2/3 vote -6079 Smith, W–The Hero And The Fluke submitted byThe Mellow Jihadi



• Fifth place *t* with 2/3 vote -Just One Minute –Reaching Critical Mass submitted byThe Glittering Eye



• Fifth place *t* with 2/3 vote -CNS News–NAACP Asking U.N. Human Rights Council to Condemn American Voter ID Laws submitted byThe Right Planet



• Sixth place *t* with 1/3 vote -Stonegate Institute –Infiltrating Pakistan's ISI submitted by The Political Commentator



• Sixth place *t* with 1/3 vote -The Conservative Commune –The 21st Century Energy Crisis submitted by Gay Patriot

See you next week! And don't forget to follow us on Facebook and Twitter..'cause we're cool like that!

The Council Has Spoken!! This Week's Watcher's Council Results

The Council has spoken, the votes have been cast, and the results are in for the first Watcher's Council match up of 2012, carved eternally in the akhasic records of cyberspace.

Perception frequently comes from which end of the telescope you're looking through, as this week's winner, The Mellow Jihadi for Me and a Pakistani Captain Chat , a sort of virtual conversation if you will. Here's a slice:

Pakistan. Are they our friends? Do we have the same goals in mind? Can we partner together? Can we trust them? Are they doing enough to combat their jihadi issue? An interesting write-up in Marine Times touches these questions:

The wind was howling and the snow outside their bullet-pocked bunker lay knee-deep as the men of the 20th Lancer armored regiment bedded down for the night, nearly 8,000 feet up a mountain on one of the world’s most inhospitable borders.

They cheered themselves up by singing songs. Their commander gazed at photos of his 4-year-old daughter on his computer. But as the men chatted, it became clear that they were feeling a bit underappreciated.

Why did the West accuse Pakistan of not pulling its weight in the war on terror, they asked. Hadn’t large numbers of their comrades died at the hands of Islamist militants? Why else were they in this hellish place if not to keep them at bay?

“They say we aren’t doing enough,” said their commander, Capt. Imran Tanvir. “What more can we do?”

Well Capt. Tanvir, let’s chat about Abbottabad, Osama bin Laden’s little summertime retreat. How unlikely is it that no one was aware of Osama in a town that is home to a major military academy, Pakistan’s Westpoint:


In our non-Council category, the winner was Victor Davis Hanson's We Give Up submitted by The Watcher. It's a sobering look at our efforts to use various startegies to deal with the Muslims world and how they've failed. A worthy read.

Here are this week’s full results. New Zeal was unable to vote this week, but was not affected by the 2/3 vote penalty:

Council Winners

• *First place with 2 2/3 votes! The Mellow Jihadi – Me and a Pakistani Captain Chat



• Second place with 2 1/3 votes – The Noisy Room- The American Spring Bears Poisonous Fruit



• Third place with 1 2/3 votes – Bookworm Room-The Breitbarters launch their first barrage in their war against the American Leftist media



• Fourth place *t* with 1 1/3 votes – The Glittering Eye-Okay, You’ve Caught It. Now What Do You Do With It?



• Fourth place *t* with 1 1/3 votes – The Independent Sentinel-Anti-First Amendment Liberals-Hanoi Jane, Steinem & Morgan-Want the FCC to Shut Down Rush's Radio Station



• Fourth place *t* with 1 1/3 votes – The Right Planet-Bloody Revolution Pt. 2



• Fifth place with 1 vote –Joshuapundit-More 'Diplomacy ' With Iran As Obama And The EU Team Up To Fend Off An Israeli Strike



• Sixth place *t* with 2/3 vote – Simply Jews – Maradona as a champion of Palestinian cause



• Sixth place *t* with 2/3 vote – Gay Patriot –How about a TV series treating Christians* with dignity?



• Sixth place *t* with 2/3 vote – The Razor –Loving Sluts, Hating Liars



• Sixth place *t* with 2/3 vote – Rhymes With Right – Enough Of Stupid Comments About "The Establishment" Trying To "Anoint" A Candidate



• Sixth place *t* with 2/3 vote – VA Right! – Thursday:First I Spoke With Senator Rand Paul - Then I Crashed George Allen's Birthday Party

Non-Council Winners

• First place with 2 2/3 votes! – Victor Davis Hanson-We Give Up submitted by The Watcher



• Second place *t* with 2 votes –Information Dissemination – Pirates vs. Congress: How Pirates Are a Better Bargain submitted by Joshuapundit



• Second place *t* with 2 votes –Castra Praetoria Debunking lies about the militarysubmitted by Bookworm Room



• Third place *t* with 1 2/3 votes - Mark Steyn –The Fluke Charade: A Middle-Age Child's Nutty Demand submitted by The Noisy Room



• Fourth place *t* with 1 vote - Sarah Palin –Let's Talk About The Real Issues, Mr. President submitted by The Watcher



• Fourth place *t* with 1 vote - Life In Israel – A personal message from the Iron Dome Soldiers submitted by Simply Jews



• Fifth place *t* with 2/3 vote -Institute for The Study Of War – Syria's Armed Opposition submitted by GrEaT sAtAn”S gIrLfRiEnD



• Fifth place *t* with 2/3 vote -The First Street Journal –The Excuses of The Losers submitted by The Colossus of Rhodey



• Fifth place *t* with 2/3 vote -NewsBusters –So Much for Church-State Separation: White House Organizing 'Prayer Vigils' for Obama-Care, Says NYT submitted by Rhymes With Right



• Fifth place *t* with 2/3 vote -Institute for The Study Of War – Syria's Armed Opposition submitted by GrEaT sAtAn”S gIrLfRiEnD



• Fifth place *t* with 2/3 vote -6079 Smith, W–The Hero And The Fluke submitted byThe Mellow Jihadi



• Fifth place *t* with 2/3 vote -Just One Minute –Reaching Critical Mass submitted byThe Glittering Eye



• Fifth place *t* with 2/3 vote -CNS News–NAACP Asking U.N. Human Rights Council to Condemn American Voter ID Laws submitted byThe Right Planet



• Sixth place *t* with 1/3 vote -Stonegate Institute –Infiltrating Pakistan's ISI submitted by The Political Commentator



• Sixth place *t* with 1/3 vote -The Conservative Commune –The 21st Century Energy Crisis submitted by Gay Patriot

See you next week! And don't forget to follow us on Facebook and Twitter..'cause we're cool like that!

Watcher's Council Nominations...Green Beer N' Leprechauns Edition

Welcome to the Watcher's Council, a blogging group consisting of some of the most incisive blogs in the 'sphere, and the longest running group of its kind in existence. Every week, the members nominate two posts each, one written by themselves and one written by someone from outside the group for consideration by the whole Council.Then we vote on the best two posts, with the results appearing on Friday.

Ah yes,St. Patrick's Day approaches...back when I was a single gentleman, this used to be one of my favorite holidays, for reasons best left to the imagination.

At any rate, it's a day to celebrate the extraordinary Irish and have a marvelous time at it...and maybe get a glimpse of a vision of your own pot o' gold.

Here's a little music to put you in the right spirit..







Council News:

This week, Liberty's Spirit, The Grouch, Right Truth and Capitalist Preservation took advantage of my generous offer of link whorage and earned honorable mention status.

You can, too! Want to see your work appear on the Watcher’s Council homepage in our weekly contest listing? Didn’t get nominated by a Council member? No worries.

Simply head over to Joshuapundit and post the title a link to the piece you want considered along with an e-mail address ( which won't be published) in the comments section no later than Monday 6PM PST in order to be considered for our honorable mention category, and return the favor by creating a post on your site linking to the Watcher’s Council contest for the week.

It's a great way of exposing your best work to Watcher’s Council readers and Council members. while grabbing the increased traffic and notoriety. And how good is that, eh?

So, let's see what we have this week....

Council Submissions

• The Noisy Room – The American Spring Bears Poisonous Fruit



• The Political Commentator – Eminent domain: Being a bondholder ain't what it used to be!



• Simply Jews – Maradona as a champion of Palestinian cause



• The Independent Sentinel – Anti-First Amendment Liberals-Hanoi Jane, Steinem & Morgan-Want the FCC to Shut Down Rush's Radio Station



• GrEaT sAtAn”S gIrLfRiEnD – Fake Syrian Military Intell



• The Colossus of Rhodey – Why Andrew Breitbart was important



• Rhymes With Right – Enough Of Stupid Comments About "The Establishment" Trying To "Anoint" A Candidate



• Joshuapundit-More 'Diplomacy ' With Iran As Obama And The EU Team Up To Fend Off An Israeli Strike



• Bookworm Room – The Breitbarters launch their first barrage in their war against the American Leftist media



• Gay Patriot – How about a TV series treating Christians* with dignity?



• The Mellow Jihadi – Me and a Pakistani Captain Chat



• The Razor – Loving Sluts, Hating Liars



• The Glittering Eye -Okay, You’ve Caught It. Now What Do You Do With It?



• VA Right! - Thursday:First I Spoke With Senator Rand Paul - Then I Crashed George Allen's Birthday Party



• The Right Planet – Bloody Revolution Pt. 2

Honorable Mentions

• The Grouch - Mitt Romney Flops Again - Reverses Stance on Minimum Wage



• Liberty's Spirit - Reality: Obama Wants a Nuclear Iran



• Right Truth - Not Diagnosing and Treating PTSD and TBI



• Capitalist Preservation - Liberals and the Suborned Media Employ Hegel’s Dialectic

Non-Council Submissions

• Mark Steyn/IBD –The Fluke Charade: A Middle-Age Child's Nutty Demand submitted by The Noisy Room



• Stonegate Institute -Infiltrating Pakistan's ISI submitted by The Political Commentator



• Life In Israel – A personal message from the Iron Dome Soldiers submitted by Simply Jews



• Michelle Malkin – Knock, knock. Who's there? Big Labor at your door! submitted by The The Independent Sentinel



• Institute for The Study Of War – Syria's Armed Opposition submitted by GrEaT sAtAn”S gIrLfRiEnD



• The First Street Journal – The excuses of the losers submitted by The Colossus of Rhodey



• NewsBusters - So Much for Church-State Separation: White House Organizing 'Prayer Vigils' for Obama-Care, Says NYT submitted by Rhymes with Right



• Information Dissemination – Pirates vs. Congress: How Pirates Are a Better Bargain submitted by Joshuapundit



• Castra Praetoria –Debunking lies about the military submitted by Bookworm Room



• The Conservative Commune -The 21st Century Energy Crisis submitted by Gay Patriot



• 6079 Smith, W -The Hero And The Flukesubmitted by The Mellow Jihadi



• American Thinker –The Real War On Women submitted by The Razor



• Just One Minute – Reaching Critical mass submitted by The Glittering Eye



• American Spectator – Republican Party Overmatched By Soros Backed 'Vote Fraud Denier Industry' submitted by VA Right!



• CNS News – NAACP Asking U.N. Human Rights Council to Condemn American Voter ID Laws submitted by The Right Planet



• Sarah Palin – Let's Talk About The Real Issues, Mr. President submitted by The Watcher



• Victor Davis Hanson – We Give Up submitted by The Watcher

Enjoy! And don't forget to follow us on Facebook and Twitter..'cause we're cool like that!