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• Another Week, Another GOP-Engineered Debate Debacle
• That’s “Award-Winning Blog The Sundries Shack”, Thank You
• R.I.P. Tony Blankley

Another Week, Another GOP-Engineered Debate Debacle Posted: 09 Jan 2012 08:15 AM PST Mark Steyn has sung the song in my own heart. With respect to Hugh and Marc, after almost every one of these debates we at NR and elsewhere say "ABC lost. Big time." and "Big loser: ABC News" – or CNN or MSNBC or whoever it is. And then ten days later (or, in this case, the following morning) there they all are again acquiescing in some condescending media bigfoot's wish to spend 20 minutes discussing whether the Supreme Court has a right to ban diaphragms for transgendered adoptees or whatever hallucinogenic George Stephanopoulos and Diane Sawyer were chugging down in the green room last night. This country is broke, and the unprecedented scale of its brokeness is an existential threat. Yet, with the exception of Newt's occasional flashes of contempt for the questioners, everyone else plays along with this absurd game. It's not merely that the GOP is letting the left frame the contest but that a party willing to dignify this pitiful charade is sending a broader message about the likelihood of its mustering the determination to stand up to a Democrat-media establishment once in office and effect meaningful course correction. You should click over there and read Steyn’s remedy to the latest episode of unbridled MSM bias in this past Saturday’s debate. But we shouldn’t be too hard on the MSM — that is Newt Gingrich’s job. They are who they are. If you expect Diane Sawyer and George Stephanopoulos not to use every means fair or foul to trip up a GOP Presidential candidate, you are a fool. As I have said, almost to the point of exhaustion, the Republican Party has earned all the blame in this election season. If we read a story today that a lion ate several people who had been shoved into its cage by a deranged lunatic, we wouldn’t blame the lion. Well, the GOP has played the role of the deranged lunatic. Fortunately, a couple of the candidates managed to sneak some weaponry in with them to fight back against the lapdog media, but they should never have had to fight in the first place. There is no shortage of intelligent, informed, and media-savvy right wing people who could have moderated a dozen Presidential debates.I guarantee you the candidates would have gotten real questions about Operation Fast and Furious, the housing debacle, Solyndra, the coming entitlement disaster and not about contraception or Coke vs Pepsi.  They surely wouldn’t have gotten misinformed lectures about illegal combatants or setups about gay marriage (by the way, the most “extreme” GOP candidate has exactly the same position on gay marriage as President Barack Obama and both Democratic Congressional leaders). Why the GOP has agreed to subject their candidates to the best attacks the Democratic message machine can craft is entirely beyond me. Why we on the right have allowed the GOP to continue in its folly without serious pushback mystifies me as well.

That’s “Award-Winning Blog The Sundries Shack”, Thank You Posted: 09 Jan 2012 06:10 AM PST Well, after almost eight years, the glory has finally come to The Sundries Shack! Feast your eyes upon this accolade! Welcome to the first annual Zilla Awards for Awesomeness in the Dextrosphere! Conservative Bloggers may be the Chopped Liver of the Right, but in my eyes they are the finest cuts of the very best red meat, and now it is time to recognize the bestiest of that best. Here are your winners of the Zilla Awards for Awesomeness in the Dextrosphere who kicked ass all over the interwebz in 2011: Best at Advocating for the Hitting of Bloggers’ Tip Jars: The Other McCain, The Sundries Shack, DaTechguy, The Conservatory Nicest Bloggers: Adrienne’s Corner, Bread Upon The Waters, DaTechguy’s Blog, The Sundries Shack, Pundit & Pundette, and, The Lonely Conservative You read that right, folks. Two awards! Of course, this clearly makes me the nicest blogger to advocate the Hitting of the Tip Jar anywhere on the Internet. But, wait! There’s more! Nice Deb has her round up of 2011′s top stories at her place, and it's not a bad place to start. Doug Ross has his top blogs and media presences of the Dextrosphere, and it's a good list, too. It's just that time of year. My thoughts have been on other things, so please excuse the shagginess of this compilation, and feel free to emend anything that you find unsuitable. Despite Dan’s humility, his awards are thoughtful and his list comprehensive. And…I detect a theme. Nicest Guys on the Internet: Jimmie Bise and Peter Ingemi. Nice guys represent! I extend my thanks to Zilla and Dan Collins for their consideration, and the time they spent to recognize me. There is a paucity of consideration among the right side of the blogosphere these days and little bits of kindness shine very brightly.

R.I.P. Tony Blankley Posted: 08 Jan 2012 11:53 AM PST If you have spent any time in the world of conservative politics, you have heard from Tony Blankley. He spent several years as press secretary and adviser to Newt Gingrich and as the editorial page editor of the Washington Times and most recently as a public relations professional, columnist, and media pundit. Before that, he was a child actor, a prosecutor, and a bureaucrat. On top of all that (and a resume that laden with genuine accomplishment should be enough to please any man) Blankley seemed to me to be one of the nicest guys in politics, a profession where being nice is actually an impediment to success. He reached the top of the conservative movement without a trail of broken and bitter rivals nipping away at his heels. And now, according to his former employer The Washington Times, he has passed away. Tony Blankley, a noted conservative author and commentator and former editorial page editor of The Washington Times, died Sunday morning, according to family sources. He was 63 and had been battling stomach cancer. I didn’t know he was sick at all. He worked steadily — I heard him on WMAL-AM’s “Morning Majority” show quite often (and most recently at the end of November) — and I had heard nothing about his illness before, well, today. I wish his family and friends my most sincere condolences. I regret that I did not have the chance to meet Blankley before he passed. I’m sure I would have found him as engaging and good a man in person as he seemed elsewhere.

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