It's been a hell of a year for politics in every possible respect, and we've published a lot of articles on every imaginable topic here on Blogcritics. In going through them to try to select the very best I found a lot of dross, but I also found so many really good articles — some of which I had missed the first time around — that I was hard pressed to trim the list down to a reasonable number. I had to run the candidates through a series of filters. No more than one from any writer. Nothing too politically partisan. No more than two on the same topic. Nothing with a really narrow focus. No more than two from the same month. Even after all of that, I still couldn't trim the list down as much as I wanted, so I bit the bullet and settled on 15 outstanding articles from 2008.
When the year started the election campaign had been dragging along for more than a year and we'd already published more than 100 articles about the candidates and the issues. January was packed with articles about the primaries, but one which stood out was This Voter Isn't Listening - Yet by Diana Hartman, who summed up the frustration and disenchantment of the voters remarkably well. SJ Reidhead also provided some real insight into the struggle that was going on for the soul of the Republican Party and is still going on now in her examination of How Conservatives Are Destroying the Future of the GOP.
February saw two of the most interesting articles of the year. Of the three score articles I wrote in 2008, my relatively little noted article on Campaign Songs and Shared American Values holds up as what I think is a good example of how political blogging works best, starting from a specific current controversy and using it as a lens to examine a more universal issue. Even better and more unusual was Silver Surfer's article on crime, television and censorship in Australia. I'd argue that his Bang Bang, You're Dead was one of the most interesting and eye-opening articles published on the entirety of Blogcritics in 2008.
Although the issue of universal health care was largely forgotten by the later days of the election, in the spring a number of our authors were exploring the issue. Leading the pack, John Bambenek laid out the background in The Health Care Crisis and Why it Was Inevitable and Dan Miller offered solutions from an expatriate perspective in Universal Healthcare - A Modest Proposal.
Article comments
— go to most recent comments1 - Dr Dreadful
Dave, I know you're going to get gripes from the usual suspects about selecting one of your own articles, but before that happens let me just observe that since you're by far and away the most prolific writer in the Politics section it would have been silly to omit you altogether.
Happy New Year!
2 - Dave Nalle
My thoughts exactly, b-tone. When they want to go through 12 months worth of articles to pick a selection of the best ones then they can start complaining.
Dave
3 - Dr Dreadful
'B-tone'? Does that mean I have to start swearing like a sailor and writing lengthy, scathing, sarcastic critiques of all things Republican now?
Oh wait...
4 - Dave Nalle
Oh hell, you lefties all look the same to me.
Dave
5 - Jet
Well Doc, it'd be a lot more entertaining than...
6 - jamminsue
Dave,you made fine selections! As Dr D says, you are the most prolific writer, and have most of the time hit just the right tone, so of course yours are in the running as much as anyone elses.
7 - Matthew T. Sussman
And now a list of the 10 best comments from 2008:
8 - Dave Nalle
Ah, Suss. If anyone was insane enough to go through the thousands of comments I'm sure they could find a few gems.
Dave
9 - Dr Dreadful
The ten best comments of 2008 were all written by Matt, so in deference to modesty he left the list blank.
10 - Jet
Matt, I'm heartbroken I didn't make your list... You made mine!
11 - Baritone
I suppose I should be flattered, grateful even, that Dave included one of my articles amongst the
best 15.
Well, hell. I am! :%)
12 - diana hartman
i'm giggly with delight to have been selected - and then mentioned first! :)
you'll hear no complaints from me about picking one of your own articles...an editor of a given section should be able to write one of the best for that section...
13 - Baronius
Dave, you should have included more partisan articles. No articles about Clinton, McCain, or Obama? This isn't the Foods section, you know.
Also, I remember a few good articles about Palin, Paulson, and some of the recent Supreme Court decisions. I'm surprised that none of those made your list either. And there were plenty of well-written articles about race politics that I disagreed with, but considering how many there were, I'm surprised that you didn't include any of those. I did enjoy many of the articles you listed, though.
14 - Dave Nalle
Bar, most of the types of articles you miss on the list are ones which had nothing terribly unique to recommend them. They're just the same kind of stuff you can find anywhere. Having to be so selective I tried to go for articles which were more unique.
Dave
15 - zingzing
of course, you have to admit that you certainly were partisan in your selections. you have more than twice as many right-leaning writers on your list as compared to left-leaning writers. now what does this say about you? about blogcritics? granted, it is a fairly random selection with some strict rules in play, but still.
asking you to write this (especially by yourself) is kind of like having a country music editor writing the "best pop albums of 2008" and coming up with taylor hicks or whatever her name is. he can pretend to himself that he is being neutral, but the results always show.
and no, i don't want to.
16 - Baritone
While I understand the Dave is an editor for BC, I don't believe he wrote the article with the intent that it was an "official list" of the "Best of BC" or anything. I believe it came down simply to his personal choices within the parameters he set for himself.
B
17 - zingzing
it certainly is. but that doesn't mean he's the best candidate for the job...
"the best cars of 2008," as written by william c. ford, jr.
see?
18 - Dave Nalle
Zing, I solicited suggestions from our other editors, both in politics and outside. None were forthcoming and I gave them almost a week to make any suggestions at all.
If left-leaning authors were neglected, it was solely a function of my effort to not give space to articles which were either highly partisan or too topical to have lasting value. And I don't want to put too fine a point on it, but a couple of our most prolific left-leaning writers write articles of very limited scope or which are not of the highest quality, or both.
And if someone would like to write their own list of the best BC Politics articles I'll publish it with glee. There are certainly good articles which I neglected for one reason or another.
Plus, I think that if you make it to the second page of the article you'll find more left-leaning articles given time.
Dave
19 - Baronius
Zing, I wish this list were more partisan in both directions. For the most part, it's a salute to moderates. Most of these articles are both-sides-are-wrong vein. Those right-leaning authors are congratulating Obama, nationalizing health care, and denouncing the right wing of the Republican Party. Most of the others are unpersuaded and tired of all the yelling.
20 - zingzing
"If left-leaning authors were neglected, it was solely a function of my effort to not give space to articles which were either highly partisan or too topical to have lasting value. And I don't want to put too fine a point on it, but a couple of our most prolific left-leaning writers write articles of very limited scope or which are not of the highest quality, or both."
in your opinion. i see the more frothing mouths on the right side of the line, but of course i would. you even printed a few of the worst frothing mouth idiots of the right in this article. no names need be mentioned. bambi. and everything is political blogging is topical. and it all has an expiration date. even some of the articles you published here contain out-of-date information and what can now be seen as naive thinking. it's the nature of the game.
what i think would have been better is to give a more thorough portrait of the political landscape of 2008. politics are very contextual, and taking away that context--as you seemed to have tried to do here--kind of limits their impact. show the angriest of the angry. show the most extraordinary happenings of 2008. the scandals, the characters, the intrigue... all the things that makes politics interesting.
and yes, the second page does have more left-leaning writers on it. but having 3 out of 4 on the second page of an article doesn't mean that the article as a whole isn't slanted.
21 - Baritone
As Dave suggests, make your own list and write your own article. I know this may sound disingenuine since Dave chose one of my articles, but, really! It's not like the 15 of us are getting a bonus check, being enshrined in a BC Hall of Fame, or going en masse to Disney World.
It was probably a rather time consuming endeavor to search through all the good stuff as well as the dreck to finally come to his particular choices. Why make a big deal out of it?
B
22 - Glenn Contrarian
zing -
I have to back Dave up here. He has obviously been able to separate his political beliefs from his professional conduct - which in and of itself would have prevented him from having any shot at being part of the Bush administration. There are even Democrats who can't separate their politics from their jobs - but only one or two, I'm sure.
23 - zingzing
well, i wouldn't take all the time to do it, baritone. and i already said i didn't want to. i congratulate dave for his effort, but it still looks far too red for me. it's just so... dave.
and i'm pretty sure my point is that he DID NOT "separate his political beliefs from his professional conduct."
and i know it's just an end of the year thing, but i've got a right to say it doesn't seem like a fair representation, don't i? sheesh. it's just a damn opinion.
24 - Clavos
It's not like the 15 of us are getting a bonus check...
You didn't get yours yet? :>)
25 - Baritone
Clav,
Bonus check, hell. I want a bailout!
B