The time has finally come to announce the winners of the 2004 Koufax Awards.
Congratulations are in order not only for the winners but also for each of the Nominees and Finalists. Many people commented on the difficulty of choosing among the entries. Every category had a number of people deserving of the award.
The Koufax Awards are intended to help forge a sense of community among lefty bloggers and their readership. We hope make introductions of bloggers to each other and to readers. We also hope to create a sense that we all live in the same virtual neighborhood and that it is a very nice neighborhood indeed.
Thanks to all who participated as a nominee, a nominator, or as a voter. Each of you has helped promote the purpose of the awards.
Hosting the awards allows us to serve as conduits for the opinions of many, many people. During the awards, we try not to express our opinions. It has become my habit, when announcing the winners, to take the opportunity to express my personal preferences by identifying blogs that I read daily and that I believe others should as well. I want to identify three such blogs this year. It should be no surprise that those blogs write in areas that interest me, namely economics, law, and politics.
This year the first of those blogs is Angry Bear. Angry Bear is written by three economists, Angry Bear, Kash, and PGL. They bring their expertise to bear (pun intended) on all manner of economic issues and they do so in a way that is accessible to those without a strong background in the discipline. Whenever a budget, an economic report, or an economic projection is issued, Angry Bear is my first stop for clear economic analysis. If you are not reading Angry Bear, please correct that sad state of affairs immediately.
The law blog I wish to point out is the Return of Ignatz by Sam Heldman. Sam is a lawyer, an astute court watcher, understands both the law and the litigation process, and, in a previous incarnation, had the guts to predict Supreme Court decisions. He was Atrios’ lawyer in l’affair Luskin. If you are interested in legal isues, Ignatz is essential reading.
The final blog I wish to single out is the Decembrist by Mark Schmitt. Mark’s background is policy and politics. He is the Director of Policy and Research at the Open Society Institute. He formerly was a speechwriter and policy director for former Senator Bill Bradley. Mark digs below the surface to identify larger political issues and trends. His analysis of policy proposals is superb. The Decembrist is a blog for those who are less concerned about the daily outrage and more concerned with longer term trends. The Decembrist is a thoughtful blog by a thoughtful observer who cares deeply about the principles of liberalism. I commend it to your attention.
That said, lets move on to the winners.
Best Blog – Non-Sponsored Division
Best Blog was won in both 2002 and 2003 by Atrios’ Eschaton.
This year, we had more than seventy nominations for Best Blog. Those were winnowed to nine finalists of the highest quality. Each of those nine finalists was well qualified to win.
Atrios made a strong showing in an effort to threepeat as Best Blog. The voting came down to a two-person race between Atrios and the Daily Kos. This year’s winner of Best Blog is the Daily Kos.
It was a hard choice. In comments, J.B. wrote:
Why does this have to be so hard? How does one pick between kos and atrios? Well, last year I gave my vote to atrios, so this year kos. Plus, kos is the best in an election cycle.
DailyKos - for so many reasonsThe biggest reasons are the community moderation and the constant innovation in the way the site works to build community. I like what Markos writes for the most part, and think his brevity and summaries are terrific. Many of the front-page regular posters are also excellent.
Members of the dKos community have effectively taken on issues as investigative journalists, researchers, and activists. dKos is proving that blogs and bloggers can make a real difference in the world.
Best Blog – Pro Division
The 2004 Koufax Award for Best Blog- Pro Division goes to Talking Points Memo by Josh Marshall. The voting was not close as Josh won in a landslide. Josh also won this category in 2002. The category was not included in the 2003 awards so TPM remains the only blog to ever win a Koufax in the pro division.
What makes TPM the best? Commenter AL noted it remains the “Best combination of writing AND actual reporting.” Given Josh’s recent work on Social Security, it may well remain true for another year.
Congratulations Josh.
Best Writing
The 2002 Koufax for Best writing was won by Jeanne D’Arc of Body and Soul. The 2003 award went to Billmon of the Whiskey Bar.
This year we had a very close four way vote for Best Writing. Meteor Blades, Michael Berube, and James Wolcott all made strong showings. In the end, the 2004 Koufax Award goes to Hullabaloo by Digby.
In 2002, before Digby started Hullabaloo, he won a Koufax as Best Commenter. In that voting, Toby B wrote that:
It is a pleasure to know that on any given day, I may get to read Digby.
Digby is the complete package. A true five-tool talent.
Best Post
The truth is that trying to select the very best of the millions posted each year is a fool’s errand. That makes me particularly suited for my role.
In 2002, the Koufax for Best Post went to Jim Capozzola of the Rittenhouse Review for his hilarious and insightful Al Gore and the Alpha Girls.
2003 was dominated by the start of the Iraq war and it was appropriate for the Best Post Koufax to go to Billmon of the Whiskey Bar for his WMD quote post, What a Tangled Web We Weave.
This year, we narrowed the field to eleven of the very best efforts of the year. Each is superb. Each deserves to win. I do not know how I could choose among them. For instance, Just Go by Riverbend of Baghdad Burning will break your heart. Tbogg’s Exit Interview will do the same. Fortunately, I do not have to choose.
When all of the votes were counted, the Best Post of 2004 was If American Were Iraq, What Would it be Like by Professor Juan Cole of Informed Comment. If 2003 was dominated by the run up to the war, 2004 was dominated by the post war situation in Iraq. Professor Cole’s post helped us to understand conditions in post war Iraq by relating it to things within our own experience. Professor Cole made us think in new patterns. If America Were Iraq… was the Best post of 2004. Thank you Professor Cole and congratulations.
Best Series
In 2002, the Koufax for Best Series went to Atrios for his coverage of Trent Lott. In 2003, it went to David Neiwert for Rush, Newspeak and Facism. Those series set a very high standard.
This year, two series stood above them all. Those series are The Rise of Pseudo-Fascism by David Neiwert at Orcinus and Cheers and Jeers by Bill in Portland Maine at the Daily Kos.
We had a difficult time counting the votes in this category as a number of votes came from the same IP addresses. As a result, we have decided to declare the category a tie and award a Koufax to Both David and Bill. Congratulation to you both. You each deserved to win.
Best Group Blog
This is the second year we have awarded a Koufax for Best Group Blog. Last year, despite protestation by Kos that the Daily Kos was not a true Group Blog, it won the most votes. I exercised my discretion to award the Koufax not to Kos personally but to the entire Kos community. I believe that Markos approved of my decision.
This year, we narrowed the filed to ten worthy groups. Three of those groups, MyDD, Crooked Timber, and Panda’s Thumb made strong showing in the voting. I think that it is pretty remarkable that the three highest vote getters in this category include blogs largely devoted to evolution (Panda’s Thumb) and philosophy (Crooked Timber). The range of interests and expertise on lefty blogs is phenomenal.
The 2004 Koufax Award for Best Group Blog goes to Jerome Armstrong, Chris Bowers, and the many diarists at MyDD. 2004 was an election year and information on campaigns and elections had a particular saliency. For in-depth coverage of campaigns and elections, it is hard to beat MyDD. Congratulations. MyDD is a deserving winner.
Most Humorous Blog
It is hard to categorize humor. What makes one person laugh fall flat with another. In 2002, Fanatical Apathy was chosen the Most Humorous Blog. The 2003 award was captured by TBogg.
This year, we are blessed with a number of blogs that consistently make many, many people laugh. For instance, there is only one source in the entire world for Fafblog and we are lucky to have it. Many people voted for Fafblog for the most humorous blog.
In the end, the blog voted the most humorous for 2004 was J.C. Christian’s Jesus’ General. It was truly a “10 on the manly scale of absolute gender.” Please keep those letters coming, General, and congratulations.
Most Humorous Post
The Most Humorous Post for 2002 was Jesse Taylor of Pandagon’s Parody of Peggy Noonan. Last year Atrios’ Preznit, Giv me turkee won.
This year, we had three contenders for the title each of which received a lot of support. The Rude Pundit’s What Kerry Should Say, Part 2 and Michael Berube’s Second Night of blogging from the Republican National Convention are now classics.
In an extremely close vote, those two posts were edged out by the winner of the 2004 Koufax for Most Humorous Post, the Poorman’s Poker with Dick Cheney. Our congratulation to the Editors. That post still cracks me up.
Best Expert Blog
The 2003 Koufax Awards introduced the category for Best Expert Blog. It was was won by Professor Juan Cole’s Informed Comment for his coverage of Middle East issues.
Professor Cole was challenged this year by the science oriented blog, Pharyngula (who else discusses science issues in “Pirate Mode?”).
In the end, Informed Comment won the vote to become a two-time Koufax Award winner for Best Expert Blog.
Congratulations again Professor Cole.
Best Single Issue Blog
Only one blog, Jeralyn Merritt’s Talk Left, has ever won a Koufax for Best Single Issue Blog. Jeralyn won in both 2002 and 2003. With the Daily Kos edging out Atrios for Best Blog this year, only Jeralyn has a chance for a threepeat.
Lat year, Jeralyn won a desperately close vote over the Daily Howler. This year, she was challenged by Scott Henson’s Grits for Breakfast. Scott is a researcher and political consultant. He works part time for the Texas ACLU.
Grits for Breakfast’s focus is on the Texas Criminal Justice system. It is fair to say that Scott does not always like what he sees in that system.
GFB received a large number of votes in this category. If you go to the appropriate comment thread and count the votes, you will see that GFB has the most votes. A number of those votes per posted after I closed the voting for the awards. At the time I closed the voting, Talk Left, by virtue of a large number of email votes, held the lead by a very small margin. The votes for GFB coming in after the close of voting would erase that margin and swing the award, also by a very narrow margin.
What to do? It seems unfair to penalize the GFB voters for leaving a comment without checking the main Wampum page to see that voting had closed. We are liberals. We think that every vote should count. By the same token, it seems unfair to penalize Talk Left and her supporters for not continuing to vote after the voting closed. Once again, what to do?
The principle by which I have run these awards for three years has always been, when in doubt, take the course that honors the maximum number of people. In that spirit, I have decided to award two Koufax’s for Best Single Issue Blog this year. Both Talk Left and Grits for Breakfast are declared winners.
Congratulations to both. Particular congratulations go the Jeralyn for winning three straight years even though Talk Left is no longer the only blog to have won the category. If anyone does not like that decision, I am sorry.
Best New Blog
This is one of my favorite categories as it permits me to discover lots of great new blogs and bloggers. In 2002, this award was won by old, bald, fat, right wing Roger Ailes of Fox News (is that right? Nah…it must have been the other one). Last year, it was won by the blog of the DNC, Kicking Ass.
We have a great new crop of bloggers this year. James Wolcott of Vanity Fair brought a new level of snark to the lefty blogs. Brad Blog, was all over the Ohio voting issue and provides investigative reporting as well normal blog fare. Michael Berube is a lot funnier and more interesting that the literature professors I had at Duke.
While those three each attracted a lot of votes, the 2004 Koufax Award for Best New Blog goes to Amanda Marcotte of Mouse Words.
When Mouse Words made the finals, she asked for votes promising:
Earlier, I promised that if I win, I will make a massive ass out myself, with drunken speechifying and boobies. I stand by that promise, even as I realize that I may be closer to winning than I initially thought.
Most Deserving of Wider Recongition
This is another of my favorite categories. Not many bloggers get the recognition they deserve. Blogging is a lot of work for very little if any money and often only a modicum of praise.
Last year, the award was won by South Knox Bubba. This year there were a lot of contenders for the award.
Ntodd’s Dohiyi Mir and Majikthise both received enormous support and each would be a deserving winner.
The one blog that most deserves wider recognition for the wonderful work done throughout 2004 is Suburban Guerrilla. Susan is a great writer with an eye for interesting links and a great deal if insight.
SG has become a daily read for me and you are missing out on a lot if it is not one for you. None of this year’s winners are more deserving than Suburban Guerrilla. It is simply a great blog and an absolutely indispensable resource. Congratulations Suzie.
Best Commenter
This category has a good pedigree. The 2004 winner was Digby now of Hullabaloo. Last year’s winner was John Emerson, a/k/a Zizka, now gracing us with his insight at Seeing The Forest.
This year, it came down to a two-person race between two already established bloggers. NTodd says his piece at Dohiyi Mir while Meteor Blades is know for his guest blogging at Kos and for his writing at Liberal Street Fight.
The 2004 Koufax Award for Best Commenter goes to Meteor Blades. It is well deserved.
That concludes the 2004 Koufax Awards. It was a lot of work for us and we hope that it was a lot of fun for you. This year’s winners are a particularly deserving group. Thanks to all who participated. We look forward to next year’s awards.
We now return you to regularly scheduled blogging.
(Bumped to Keep it on top)
Posted by Dwight Meredith at February 23, 2005 07:54 PM | TrackBackCongratulations to all.
And thanks once again to the proprietors of Wampum for hosting the award at great expense in terms of money, time and health. I appreciate the exposure I've gotten from the awards, and think it's wonderful that you continue to "spread the wealth" and promote a wide variety of blogs on our side of the political divide.
Huzzah!
Posted by: NTodd at February 23, 2005 04:19 PMDwight:
Thanks very much for the "best series" honor. I'm a little disconcerted, however, by the repeat-voting issue in that category. I sincerely hope these were not votes for my series.
Posted by: David Neiwert at February 23, 2005 04:47 PMCongratulations to all the winners, and a big pat on the back to Wampum for taking on the task, which was gargantuan the first year and has only gotten bigger.
I mourn the passage of the 'Best Multimedia' category. Only UggaBugga and my blog were awarded Best Multimedia Koufaxes, and it is still an honor to say that.
Thanks again, and to all the non-winners - there's always next year.
Posted by: stranger at February 23, 2005 04:52 PMOf course I'm not unhappy with your decision on Best Single Issue Blog! I'm honored to be included in such distinguished company at all, and would have been perfectly content, whatever you thought best. Congrats to co-winner Jeralyn, too, whose fine blog I rely upon and adore.
Thanks, too, Wampum, for holding the Koufax Awards. Grits for Breakfast is a pretty new blog, and it's been a lot of fun to take the new medium out for a spin to see what it can do. Best,
Posted by: Scott at February 23, 2005 04:54 PM-
Thank you's are in order:
To everyone who voted for Cheers and Jeers (except those who may have voted inappropriately). You guys have really made C&J a, um, really, um, special community. This fart's for you. And I mean that.
To David, my co-winner. Shall we take this to the Supreme Court??
To all the Best Series nominees. I would've been thrilled if it ended up a 10-way tie.
To Wampum, for being insane enough to undertake this huge task every year in the face of computer crashes and flu bugs. You guys are great. Great, great, great.
To all the blogs I've discovered in the process of nominating and voting. Wow---we got some talent here. Big guns.
To my fellow Kossacks for the Best Blog Award, and to the uniquely-gifted Meteor Blades for his Best Commenter Award.
[Orchestra starts playing]
No wait! No wait! Um, to Howard Dean for getting me excited about being a Democrat again! To Harry Reid and Barbara Boxer! To Michael, my love, and Molly and...
[Producer cuts microphone]
[Cue Viagra commercial]
[The lefty blogosphere takes a much-needed potty break]
Congratulations to the hosts for a fantastically administrated, martyrific contest. All of the winners are more than deserving, except for that rat bastard uber-reactionary kitten-kicker, Major General J.C. Christian at Jesus' General.
Start your pledge drives early next year to build up your bandwidth war chest, and I'll be there.
Posted by: norbizness at February 23, 2005 05:09 PMI'm astounded at the sheer volume of blood, sweat, tears and $$$ that you guys volunteered to make the Koufax Awards happen. Thanks so much.
Posted by: Ted Barlow at February 23, 2005 05:09 PMCongrats to all! (And glad you're up & around today, Dwight.
Yes, the task had to be daunting this year.
Btw, I'll post the Perranoski Prize (supplemental) awards tomorrow at American Street, which does include a 'best moving images' award.... not quite Multimedia, but close)
Posted by: Kevin Hayden at February 23, 2005 05:16 PMCongrats to all the winners.
And a big Congrats to this blog for showing a level of selflessness and sacrifice not often exhibited.
Your efforts are invaluable.
Posted by: Armando at February 23, 2005 05:18 PMCongrats to all the winners. All are well-deserved. I'm honored to have been a finalist for Best Single Issue Blog, and every single one of them in that category is fantastic.
One word for Amanda - Boobies!!!
Posted by: Trish Wilson at February 23, 2005 05:36 PMCongrats to everyone, finalists and winners. As many have noted, it's hard to choose when so many bright, informed and snarky people are available to choose from. Thanks to all those of you who think my commentaries measure up. Given how good I know the "competition" to be, I am humbled indeed.
One more word of thanks: to Wampum for the time- and bandwidth-consuming task of hosting these awards and for pointing us all in direction of blogsters we might never have encountered otherwise.
Posted by: Meteor Blades at February 23, 2005 05:44 PM
On behalf of the folks at theleftcoaster, thanks Dwight thrice over.
One for doing this and giving us all the excuse to look around the blog-o-rama-dama-ding-dong.
Two for your blogging, and finally,
Three, for the potential for Boobies!!
Congrats to all, and DAMMIT, LINK TO ME, LINK LINK LINKEE,
Oh, sorry, thought I was at Atrios' for a second.
Posted by: Duckman GR at February 23, 2005 05:48 PMWe are lucky to have so many great people fighting this fight on our behalf. Congratulations to all the winners, and to all the other bloggers who have made such a contribution in the past year!
Shout out to AmericaBlog as "Best Blog that didn't win any of the other awards."
Posted by: -asx- at February 23, 2005 05:52 PMLet the Jonah fan fiction commence....
By the way, this was the best group of nominations ever. And I mean that. Really. No. Honestly.
Thank god I still have my MacArthur genius grant to keep me warm at night...
Congratulations to the winners and, as a former winner, a reminder to them to print out a copy of this announcement and take it to a very expensive restaurant in your hometown for a free five-course meal. And don't take your wallet either. It's free. Free, I tell you. You won't need money.
Trust me...
Posted by: tbogg at February 23, 2005 05:59 PMHuge congratulations to the winners and the runners-up as well. We really have an embarrassment of riches among the lefty blogs.
And thanks again to the Wampum folks for making this all happen.
Posted by: jnfr at February 23, 2005 06:21 PMHey, I'm glad I stumbled across this thread; it gives me some great ideas for sites to check out! I'm a big Fafblog fan; does anyone elase think that the site is a sort of hybrid of 1950's era Pogo comics and the Firesign Theater, circa 1973?
Posted by: Larry Ayers at February 23, 2005 06:21 PMWhat a terrific mix of excitement at seeing some of my favorites recognized, and anticipation at finding new sources of humor, intelligence, inspiration.
Congrats to the winners and a huge thanks to you all at Wampum for hosting this insane little party.
Posted by: NYSusan at February 23, 2005 06:55 PMMany thanks to Wampum for hosting the awards, and to everybody who voted for us. And may God forgive those who voted against us, or who used any number of devious methods to deny us our just acclaim. God must now forgive you, for we cannot.
Posted by: The Editors at February 23, 2005 07:10 PMOk, so, since I was a finalist does that at least mean I get to glom free booze at one of the A-list after-awards-show parties? Anyone got room in their limo for a rider? And, listen, I really gotta get the rentatux back by 9AM...
(big tip-o-the cumberbund to MB and Dwight for suffering through this thing under less than ideal circumstances...and thanks to everyone who clicked over to check out All Spin Zone during the noms and finals. Philly blogs rawk!)
Posted by: Richard Cranium at February 23, 2005 07:13 PMMany thanks, Wampum, for this sterling work, and many congratulations to all the winners!
Posted by: Ushma at February 23, 2005 07:48 PMI join in congratulating everyone who won, placed, or showed, and in profusely thanking MB, Eric, and Dwight for their amazing work in hosting these awards again. What a great crop of nominees and winners we had.
Posted by: Charles Kuffner at February 23, 2005 08:11 PMmany thanks to wampum for doing this.
Posted by: David Weman at February 23, 2005 08:13 PMam i the only one who thinks the pro/non-pro distrinction makes no sense?
and how is kos and atroios not pros???
the more awards the meerrier i suppose.
Posted by: David Weman at February 23, 2005 08:21 PMCongratulations!
Posted by: Echidne of the snakes at February 23, 2005 09:25 PMcongratulations!
Posted by: duus at February 23, 2005 09:40 PMGreat job Wampum. Guess i'll have to follow Jeanne D'arc's advice & contribute to you guys now for your superlative work.
tarylcabot
p.s. "am i the only one who thinks the pro/non-pro distinction makes no sense?"
My personal standard would be whether you're an employee or founder of your blog, so Kevin Drum & Wonkette would be professional while TPM, Atrios & dKos would not. Another standard would be ads vs. no-ads. By that standard, very few blogs would classify for non-pro.
Posted by: tarylcabot at February 23, 2005 10:03 PMIt was a great honor to be a finalist for best blog entry. Thank you to all who voted for me, and congratulations to Juan Cole who very much deserved to beat me.
Posted by: Christie at February 23, 2005 10:13 PMMaybe I'll get some votes too!
Posted by: Marc at February 23, 2005 10:24 PMI was simply astounded by the talent lined up here this year. Thanks, Dwight and Mary Beth, for all you do. (I think you're both insane, but I'm still grateful.) I couldn't even vote for Most Humorous this year - my brain couldn't handle the gridlock.
For the first time in months, I can look at election results without wondering, "How could any rational person vote for this loser?"
Now, about those paper receipts for next year...
Posted by: Susie from Philly at February 23, 2005 10:51 PMWhat a great surprise to come home to after dinner!
TalkLeft wholeheartedly supports the decision. We're thrilled to win the award and be the only blog that has won the same category three years in a row. We're also delighted to share it with Grits for Breakfast, whom we read every day, because Scott does an incredible job of exposing injustice in the most unjust state of the union.
Congratulations to Scott and Grits for Breakfast. We are proud to be the co-winner of this award.
Enough about us. Congrats to all the winners, we hope you read every single one of them.
Congrats also to the many finalists in each category. As blogs have become a household word, the number of weblogs has exponentially increased this year, making the competition much, much tougher. Being a finalist is an honor. Winning is just the icing on the cake.
None of this would have been possible without Dwight and Mary Beth at Wampum. For three years, they have hosted these awards. They've counted the votes for nominations, determined the semi-finalists, the finalists and counted one last time to determine the winners. They've paid for the the bandwidth. And they have done it for free. Please, send them some heart and show them your appreciation.
Posted by: TalkLeft at February 23, 2005 11:37 PMCongrats to all the nominees and winners! I look forward to voting next year for World O Crap--as funniest blog and for best series--the stuff she has done on Jemff Gurnnon has been stellar!
Posted by: twistedsisterchristian at February 24, 2005 12:13 AMThanks to Wampum for all the work; thanks to the bloggers for all their work; you guys take up way too much of my time here on Earth as it is, so it would seem.
But it's beautiful. And it would feel so much more alone without the blogosphere, here in George's World.
Thanks, thanks, thanks to each and every one of you. Later.
Posted by: Daddy-O at February 24, 2005 12:16 AM1) the link to Prof. Cole's 'best post' winner doesn't work. You need an "l" at the end of the link (.html not .htm)
2) is it too early to nominate Americablog???
Posted by: renato at February 24, 2005 12:17 AMCongrats to all the winners. Happy to see Susie at SG win...she had my vote!
Sad that "Exit Interview" did not win. Note to Tom: go for a book deal, man.
Posted by: Jo Fish at February 24, 2005 12:45 AMI suppose congratulations is in order for the winners, but Daily Kos is not a real blog anymore.
It is a discussion board, not unlike Democratic Underground, Salon's Table Talk, and all of the rest.
If Kos is a blog, then so are TT and DU regardless of the software used for the site.
I also recommend to people who vote for the same old blogs over and over to try and read some different ones.
One thing about listing the nominees is there are a lot of them I wasn't aware of before and finally put in my blogroll.
Posted by: Susan Nunes at February 24, 2005 12:56 AMCongrats to all! Special bravo to Josh Marshall of Talking Points Memo and to Atrios!
Posted by: Deborah White at February 24, 2005 02:03 AMthe rude pundit deserves far more than an honorary mention for most humorous post. rude one consistently raises political commentary to an artform. yes, it's rude and scatological but it's also righteous and deadly accurate. at the very least, he deserves syndication in weeklys across the nation.
Posted by: mouthbreether at February 24, 2005 02:22 AMThe General is not trying to be funny. How dare you list him as humor. There's nothing funny about making lists of the Liberal Frenchmen and 'So Called Straight Media' types who are a true/truth threat to our beloved leader.
PS- there should be a gonzo category for blogs with that presentation style (rude pundit). In honor of the best writer ever to grace the pages of our Air Force, the Kentucky patriot and football fanatic HST.
Congrats to all bloggers! We're all winners when we get our voice out!
Posted by: Mr. Murder at February 24, 2005 03:10 AMOh come on, there's far too little Wolcott love (not) going on in here. What up widdat?
The Man kills. Funnier than Bush on a bike and some of the sharpest daggers in the blogosphere.
Huzzah, James!
Ok, back to work. Gotta keep the boss looking dapper...
Posted by: Glenn Reynold's Flowbee™ at February 24, 2005 05:40 AMFrom a curious Brit blogger, yet follower of American leftie political blogs a big thankyou to Wampum for hosting the Koufax awards and highlighting all these great blogs...however I have a suggestion what about including best Foreign English Language Blog(kinda like the Oscar's best foreign film..) in your catergories as there are plenty of great readable blogs that aren't located in the USA I think it would add interest and draw more people into the voting and would show international solidarity for US Progressive bloggers. Feel free to shoot down and add other suggestions
Posted by: Beowulf at February 24, 2005 07:25 AMWhat a list of winners, they're all great.
best Foreign English Language Blog
If it's not too early for feedback yet, yep, this is a great idea. Maybe "best mostly non-political blog" too for unfogged and the likes.
Posted by: dismembermentplanfan at February 24, 2005 08:56 AMCongratulations to all the winners! I've never had such a hard time voting as I did this year.
And thanks Wampum, for the hard work.
I find it funny that the suburban Guerilla has a picture of the Queen of England doctored to look like shes nude on its front page after winning an award that would bring lots of people to her site.
Posted by: Matt at February 24, 2005 09:25 AMYou guys are saints for doing all this. In a web world full of hucksters, that's saying a lot. Thank you.
Posted by: roy edroso at February 24, 2005 10:27 AMOK I've written down 10 new spots to visit as well as bookmarked this article for future goldmining.
thanks alot for now making it necessary to waste half my day, instead of a mere quarter, to follow the Plot of the Unfolding Melodrama that comprises Living In America Today.
Now I'll have you know I'd be near to retirement age if it weren't for the tandem facts that I love my work as a "self-employed musician" and, alas, there is no pension fund for the kind of work I do. If only I has listened to Mamma and become a Corporate Lawyer, I'd have more time to dig dig dig into this inspiring and reality-reifying world of Left Blogitudistan. Maybe with more coffee I'll only need 3 hours of sleep per night, a la the Legend of Thomas Edison.
I cannot thank you enough for doing so well this important work of fanning the Lefty flames. Aloha to you and all participants.
Posted by: Kit at February 24, 2005 12:17 PMCongratulations to all the winners and thanks to all the folks who voted for us at Blondesense.
Thanks to wampum for putting this all together
Posted by: BlondeSense at February 24, 2005 12:55 PMMany thanks to the three mensches here at Wampum and all the people I paid... er, inspired to vote for me. This is great fun.
Posted by: digby at February 24, 2005 01:53 PMWampumfolk,
You are the best. Thanks for hosting the cleanest, most meaningful, most informative and most fun awards competition on these internets.
A request: For '05 please add a category for Best Awards Competitions. Even though you would win every year, please do us the honor of letting us cast a vote for you. Thanks again!
Posted by: Eddie Haskell at February 24, 2005 02:21 PMHey Digby, it is a lot cheaper to "inspire" the three of us than your thousands of readers.
The award Digby should have won "Best Replacement for Safire on the OP-Ed pages of the NYT".
Now would that not be great? Digby's writing gracing the Grey Lady twice a week.
Posted by: dwight Meredith at February 24, 2005 03:08 PMCongrats to all you magnificently-talented bastards that keep me from getting my work done on time!
Posted by: Ras_Nesta at February 24, 2005 03:44 PMSeems like the best of the best. But no Matt Yglesias?
Posted by: Sam at February 24, 2005 04:29 PMI knew Jeff Gannon, and I suffered in that stupid journalism class. Jeff told me his plans then. I was gonna rat him out, but he threatened to crap me up......
Posted by: pinko at February 24, 2005 06:00 PMCongrats to all the winners! It was a great honor to make it to finalist in my first year of blogging (thanks to those who voted for me), and it was great to find so many must-read blogs.
Posted by: W. David Stephenson at February 27, 2005 10:51 PMHave you checked this out? Next the bloggers will have their own televized awards, with special recognition for the coolest T-shirt, the most extreme I-don't-give-a-shit-about-fashion statement, etc.
Arthur
Posted by: Chris Hess at March 11, 2005 12:16 PM