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.

The so-called Arab Spring is rapidly turning into an Arab winter. And as this week’s winner, Joshuapundit’s The New Egypt – Bankrupt And Sinking Fast writes, it’s not likely to be a pleasant time in Pyramid Land:

All hail the wondrous Arab Spring!

It is one year ago today that the protests in Cairo’s Tahrir Square began that ended in the fall of the Mubarak regime. It was fitting that President Obama mentioned it last night in his State of the Union Address, since he had a major role in that ‘wave of change’, calling for Mubarak’s ouster and signalling to the Egyptian military whom now control the country which way to turn.It’s well worth examining how things are going.

The parliamentary elections have been held, and the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood and the hard core Salafist al-Nour Party won – surprise!- over 75% of the seats.The FaceBook and Twitter liberals in places like Cairo and Alexandria everyone in the West was so in love with proved to be a negligible political force, and Egypt is likely headed towards an Islamist Republic as soon as the proper arrangements are made with the Army.

The Army originally had ideas of a government that had little civilian control over the military or is it’s budget, ala’ the old Turkish model. In response, Islamists played their cards quite cleverly, gradually fomenting discontent against military rule and instigating violent riots after Friday prayers over the military’s refusal to turn over power to a civilian government. The riots resulted in a harsh series of crack downs that effectively turned the military from the people’s heroes during the Revolution into oppressors and the chief villains opposing ‘democracy’. Between September and the end of December, something like 100 demonstrators were killed by the Army and police, while hundreds were injured and arrested.

The military junta’s tactics also turned the Brotherhood and the Salafis into heroes, and the election results show how effective their tactics were. The Egyptian military will almost certainly have to make the same devil’s bargain with the Islamists that the Iranian military did.

So Egypt is likely headed towards Islamist rule, but the country’s future is looking increasingly grim. Egypt’s economy is essentially collapsing from within.

After the Lara Logan gang rape and the widespread scenes of unrest, most of Egypt’s tourism industry is dead, and the rest will likely collapse as soon as the Islamists take power and put sharia law in place to outlaw alcohol, bikinis and mixed bathing on beaches.

Increased sectarian violence against Egypt’s Coptic Christians, who largely supported the Revolution, is ensuring that a large group of Egypt’s more prosperous and educated citizens are emigrating in droves.

Investors are unwilling to buy Egyptian bonds even at double digit interest rates, which means that Egypt’s ability to borrow is being cut to the bone. No one wants the Egyptian pound. The only Egyptian bonds anyone wants to buy are dollar-denominated treasury bills. After the results of the last election, currency flight has become a major problem, as anyone with money is stashing it overseas as fast as they can in euros or dollars, preparing for a relocation out of the country.

In our non-Council category, we had a tight race, but in the end the winner was Alisina.org for What Is My Identity? submitted by Joshuapundit. What’s it about? I suggest you go read for yourself and make up your own mind. I guarantee you won’t be unaffected by it.

Without further ado, here are this week’s full results:

Council Winners

• *First place with 3 2/3 votes! Joshuapundit – The New Egypt – Bankrupt And Sinking Fast
• Second place with 2 2/3 votes – Bookworm Room- ObamaCare, the Catholic Church, and mandatory abortion payments
• Third place with 2 1/3 votes – The Razor-The Twisted Memory of Newt Gingrich
• Fourth Place with 1 2/3 votes – New Zeal-Russia Today Hires WikiLeaks Founder Julian Assange- Will the Kremlin Be Pleased?
• Fifth place *t* with 2/3 vote – The Colossus Of Rhodey-If you didn’t know this was coming by now, you’re living in a cave
• Fifth place *t* with 2/3 vote –GrEaT sAtAn”S gIrLfRiEnD -The Saudi Persian War
• Fifth place *t* with 2/3 vote –The Right Planet -GOP: On Whose Side?
• Fifth place *t* with 2/3 vote – The Noisy Room – Tantrum on the Tarmac
• Fifth place *t* with 2/3 vote – The Political Commentator –In a debate would John King ask Obama about this…? (Video)
• Fifth place *t* with 2/3 vote – VA Right! –Senator Janet Howell ‘Rectal Avenger’
• Sixth place *t* with 1/3 vote – The Mellow Jihadi – Parading Vets: St Louis Vs. New York
• Sixth place *t* with 1/3 vote – Rhymes With Right – Presidents Are Not Kings; Americans No Obliged To Appear When He Beckons

Non-Council Winners

• First place with 2 1/3 votes! – Alisineh.Org- What Is My Identity? submitted by Joshuapundit
• Second place *t* with 1 2/3 votes – Smithsonian.com – Revisiting the Rise and Fall of the Third Reich submitted by The Colossus Of Rhodey
  
• Second place *t* with 1 2/3 votes –Caroline Glick The Zionist Imperative submitted by The Political Commentator
• Second place *t* with 1 2/3 votes –The Reserve Officer New Defense Strategy submitted by GrEaT sAtAn”S gIrLfRiEnD
• Second place *t* with 1 2/3 votes –Bob Owens/PJ MediaNew Emails Suggest Eric Holder Perjured Himself submitted by The Glittering Eye
• Third place with 1 1/3 votes -Frontloading HQ –I’ll see your white knight and raise you a filing deadline. Why It’s Too Late for Entry in the Republican Nomination Race submitted by Rhymes With Right
• Fourth place with 1 vote - Investors Business Daily – Media Act As Though Only Republicans Misbehave submitted by VA Right!
• Fifth place *t* with 2/3 vote -American Thinker –Barack Obama and the Strategy of Manufactured Crisis submitted by The Right Planet
• Fifth place *t* with 2/3 vote - Michelle Malkin –For Santorum submitted by The Noisy Room
  
• Fifth place *t* with 2/3 vote -Terry Glavin –It’s Not Funny Anymore submitted by Simply Jews
  
• Fifth place *t* with 2/3 vote -Blogbat –The Moon Is Made of Cheese, You Know submitted by Right Truth
  
• Sixth place *t* with 1/3 vote -Via Meadia –Beyond Blue Part One: The Crisis of the American Dream submitted by The Razor
  
• Sixth place *t* with 1/3 vote -The Kitchen Dispatch –Aloha, Sarge Charlie. Until We Meet Again submitted by The Mellow Jihadi
• Sixth place *t* with 1/3 vote -Bill Whittle –The Vote Pump submitted by Bookworm Room

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

Ah, primary season is in full swing..

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.

This week’s contest is dedicated to Isabella Santorum and little Elli – get well soon, we’re pulling for you sweethearts.

Council News:

This week, Ask Marion, The Independent Sentinel 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 Colossus of Rhodey – If you didn’t know this was coming by now, you’re living in a cave
• Joshuapundit-The New Egypt – Bankrupt And Sinking Fast
• The Noisy Room – Tantrum on the Tarmac
• Simply Jews – Wayne Madsen drops another… bombshell: Barack Obama outed as CIA creation
• New Zeal – Russia Today Hires WikiLeaks Founder Julian Assange- Will the Kremlin Be Pleased?
• The Political Commentator – In a debate would John King ask Obama about this…? (Video)
• VA Right - Senator Janet Howell ‘Rectal Avenger’
• GrEaT sAtAn”S gIrLfRiEnD – The Saudi Persian War
• The Mellow Jihadi – Parading Vets: St Louis Vs. New York
• Bookworm Room – ObamaCare, the Catholic Church, and mandatory abortion payments
• The Razor – The Twisted Memory of Newt Gingrich
• Rhymes With Right – Presidents Are Not Kings; Americans No Obliged To Appear When He Beckons
• Right Truth – What’s In A Name?
• The Right Planet – GOP: On Whose Side?
• The Glittering Eye -The History of Spaghetti and Marinara

Honorable Mentions

• The Independent Sentinel – Obama Signed the Anti-Counterfeiting Treaty & Ceded Our Internet Rights to the UN
• Ask Marion – Hillary Leaving as Obama’s Eligibility Trial(s) Move Forward… Coincidence?
• Capitalist Preservation – A hiss is just a hiss, a lie is just a lie…

Non-Council Submissions

• Smithsonian.com – Revisiting the Rise and Fall of the Third Reich submitted by The Colossus of Rhodey
• Alisina.org – What Is My Identity? submitted by Joshuapundit
• Michelle Malkin –For Santorum submitted by The Noisy Room
• Terry Glavin – It’s Not Funny Anymore submitted by Simply Jews
• American Thinker – The Civilized Man vs. the MTA Savages submitted by New Zeal
• Caroline Glick -The Zionist Imperative submitted by The Political Commentator
• Investor.com – Media Act As Though Only Republicans Misbehave submitted by VA Right
• The Reserve Officer – New Defense Strategy submitted by GrEaT sAtAn”S gIrLfRiEnD
• The Kitchen Dispatch –Aloha, Sarge Charlie. Until We Meet Again submitted by The Mellow Jihadi
• Bill Whittle-The Vote Pumpsubmitted by Bookworm Room
• Via Meadia –Beyond Blue Part One: The Crisis of the American Dream submitted by The Razor
• Frontloading HQ – I’ll see your white knight and raise you a filing deadline. Why It’s Too Late for Entry in the Republican Nomination Racesubmitted by Rhymes with Right
• Blogbat -The Moon Is Made of Cheese, You Know submitted by Right Truth
• Bob Owens/PJ Media – New Emails Suggest Eric Holder Perjured Himself submitted by The Glittering Eye
• American Thinker – Barack Obama and the Strategy of Manufactured Crisis submitted by The Right Planet
• Gates of Vienna – Breivik: Al Qaeda’s Man in Oslo? 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, 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.

This week’s winning essay, The Mellow Jihadi’s Lance Corporal Donald Hogan, Marine Hero is a prime example of the Jihadi’s unique literary style as he takes a stirring look at an American hero in and recounts his feelings on reading about his posthumous honoring. Here’s a slice:

I am sitting in my home away from home, Panera Bread. The traffic outside is all jerky bumpers and tire shrieks. A bummy dude with an expensive laptop sprawls a seat five feet from me. I finish reading this moving post on the Marine Corps and continue my duck hunt through the web for interesting stories to share. Posts, articles, pictures that capture me, waiting for me to do the same to them.

Then this story waves at me and I know I have to salute a great hero:

A Marine who died from a roadside bomb in Afghanistan was awarded the highest honor given to members of the Corps for his heroic actions as he hurled his body into a fellow serviceman and warned the rest of the his squad of the blast.

Navy Secretary Ray Mabus said Tuesday that 20-year-old Lance Cpl. Donald Hogan is “now part of Marine lore along with the great heroes of the Corps” as he presented the fallen hero’s parents with the Navy Cross. He said his actions placed him among the “bravest and finest” in the Marines.

Semper Fi indeed.

In our non-Council category, the winner was a must read piece by an old favorite of mine, terrorism expert Dave Gaubatz writing in Family Security Matters on howMuslim Children in America are Being Taught to Hate submitted by The Political Commentator.

Eventually, we’re going to wake up to what’s happening right under our collective noses as a new generation of American Muslims is indoctrinated by people who definitely mean us no good.

Here are this week’s full results. Only New Zeal was unable to vote this week and was affected by the infamous mandatory 2/3 vote penalty:

Council Winners

• *First place with 3 2/3 votes! The Mellow Jihadi – Lance Corporal Donald Hogan, Marine Hero
• Second place with 3 1/3 votes – The Right Planet- Are We a Democracy?
• Third place with 1 2/3 votes – Joshuapundit- Obama’s State Of The Union – The Hollow Man
• Fourth place *t* with 1 vote – The Colossus of Rhodey-What the Gingrich South Carolina victory could mean
• Fourth place *t* with 1 vote – The Glittering Eye-You Be the Judge
• Fifth place *t* with 2/3 vote – The Noisy Room-Revolution Moves Into The Overton Window
• Fifth place *t* with 2/3 vote – The Razor-A Tale of Two Disasters: The Titanic and the Costa Concordia
• Sixth place *t* with 1/3 vote – Bookworm Room –War is not, and should not be, sporting
• Sith place *t* with 1/3 vote – GrEaT sAtAn”S gIrLfRiEnD – Going All The Way
• Sixth place *t* with 1/3 vote –Simply Jews – Timothy Bancroft-Hinchey vs FUKUS
• Sixth place *t* with 1/3 vote – Rhymes With Right – Am I Wrong To Be Troubled Here?
• Sixth place *t* with 1/3 vote – The Political Commentator – Doing away with the Electoral College! One man, one vote and majority wins!

Non-Council Winners

• First place with 2 2/3 votes! –Family Security Matters- Muslim Children in America are Being Taught to Hate submitted by The Political Commentator
• Second place with 2 votes – Mark Steyn – The Sinking Of The West submitted by Joshuapundit
• Third place *t* with 1 1/3 votes – Sultan Knish So You Want a Revolution… submitted by The Noisy Room
• Third place *t* with 1 1/3 votes - Yourish.Com–TANSTAAFL submitted by Simply Jews
• Third place *t* with 1 1/3 votes - Right Wing News –The Worst People In Politics Aren’t Racists submitted by The Mellow Jihadi
• Fourth place *t* with 1 vote - The Foundry –1,000 Days Without a Budget: Facts on the Senate’s Failure submitted by The Colossus of Rhodey
• Fourth place *t* with 1 vote -The Compass – An Iran Attack Would Succeed, Then What? submitted by GrEaT sAtAn”S gIrLfRiEnD
• Fifth place *t* with 2/3 vote -Gay Patriot –SOTU: Obama’s last chance to change tone submitted by Right Truth
• Fifth place *t* with 2/3 vote -The New Atlantis –The Global War Against Baby Girls submitted by The Watcher
• Fifth place *t* with 2/3 vote -James Taranto/Best of the Web–The Genetic Fallacy submitted by The Glittering Eye
• Sixth place *t* with 1/3 vote -Zero Hedge –Obama Puppetmaster Warren Buffett Biggest Winner From Keystone Pipeline Rejectionsubmitted by The Razor
  
• Sixth place *t* with 1/3 vote -Cabinet –The Behavioral Sink submitted by The Watcher
• Sixth place *t* with 1/3 vote -Polipundit –Why Newt should not be the nominee submitted by Rhymes With Right
• Sixth place *t* with 1/3 vote - Accuracy In Media –The FOX News Feminists submitted by New Zeal

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

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, Liberty’s Spirit, The Independent Sentinel, Ask Marion 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 Colossus of Rhodey – What the Gingrich South Carolina victory could mean
• The Political Commentator – Doing away with the Electoral College! One man, one vote and majority wins!
• The Noisy Room – Revolution Moves Into The Overton Window
• Simply Jews – Timothy Bancroft-Hinchey vs FUKUS
• GrEaT sAtAn”S gIrLfRiEnD – Going All The Way
• Bookworm Room – War is not, and should not be, sporting
• Right Truth – Making Sausage
• The Right Planet – Are We a Democracy?
• The Razor – A Tale of Two Disasters: The Titanic and the Costa Concordia
• VA Right - Will Newt Survive His Ex-Wives With Knives?
• The Mellow Jihadi – Lance Corporal Donald Hogan, Marine Hero
• Rhymes With Right – Am I Wrong To Be Troubled Here?
• The Glittering Eye -You Be the Judge
• Joshuapundit-Obama’s State Of The Union – The Hollow Man
• New Zeal – Kyrsten Sinema: Communist Connected Arizona State Senator to Run For Congress

Honorable Mentions

• Liberty’s Spirit – Abbott and Costello Discuss Unemployment
• The Independent Sentinel – Obama Reduced Our Dependence on Foreign Oil & I’m the Easter Bunny
• Ask Marion – Tic… Tic… GOP Toc… or Rather Talk
• Capitalist Preservation – The Fallacy Of The Minimum Wage Part Four

Non-Council Submissions

• The Foundry – 1,000 Days Without a Budget: Facts on the Senate’s Failure submitted by The Colossus of Rhodey
• Family Security Matters -Muslim Children in America are Being Taught to Hate submitted by The Political Commentator
• Sultan Knish –So You Want a Revolution… submitted by The Noisy Room
• Yourish.Com – TANSTAAFL submitted by Simply Jews
• The Compass – An Iran Attack Would Succeed, Then What? submitted by GrEaT sAtAn”S gIrLfRiEnD
• The Anchoress-Pro-Lifers and the Truth-Phobic Press submitted by Bookworm Room
• Gay Patriot -SOTU: Obama’s last chance to change tone submitted by Right Truth
• Chicago Reader – What Makes Obama Run? submitted by The Right Planet
• Zero Hedge –Obama Puppetmaster Warren Buffett Biggest Winner From Keystone Pipeline Rejection submitted by The Razor
• Creeping Sharia – Colorado Muslim arrested on terrorism charges submitted by VA Right
• Right Wing News –The Worst People In Politics Aren’t Racists submitted by The Mellow Jihadi
• Polipundit – Why Newt should not be the nominee submitted by Rhymes with Right
• James Taranto/Best of the Web – The Genetic Fallacy submitted by The Glittering Eye
• Mark Steyn – The Sinking Of The West submitted by Joshuapundit
• Accuracy In Media – The FOX News Feminists submitted by New Zeal
• The New Atlantis – The Global War Against Baby Girls submitted by The Watcher
• Cabinet – The Behavioral Sink 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, the votes have been cast, and the results are in for this week’s Watcher’s Council match up.

The election approacheth, and as expected the usual suspects are already touting the wondrous accomplishments of Our Dear Leader.

This week’s winner, Sard at The Right Planet’s The Talking Points Meme examines some of these claims and takes them apart with a fine eye for detail and hyperbole. Here’s a slice:

Here we go again … the ole leftist talking points meme! The Progressive never tires of it. If you want to try this at home (the Talking Points Meme that is), just string a series of hyperbolic, fanciful, unsubstantiated claims together and then challenge the listener to respond. I believe the purpose of this technique is analogous to running someone over with a freight train.

And what’s up with the British guy meme? Does he do the Geico ads too? Could we not find an American? Or does it make the inflated assertions sound so much more erudite if it comes in the form of an English accent? Maybe he works for the Chatham House. But I digress–so many amazing accomplishments. Where does one start?

Well, let’s start at the beginning … shall we?

Our TPM talking point friend (the British guy) alleges seven major accomplishments Obama has achieved during his years in Office, if my math serves me correctly.

TPM guy alleges Obama …

1. Killed Osama
2. Ended the war in Iraq
3. Contained Iran
4. Repealed “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (DADT)
5. Reigned in Wall Street
6. Prevented a 2^nd Great Depression
7. Passed landmark legislation–Obamacare

The Killing of Osama Bin Laden

“It is a well-known fact that those people who must want to rule people are, ipso facto, those least suited to do it… anyone who is capable of getting themselves made President should on no account be allowed to do the job.”–Douglas Adams

President Obama’s decision to take out America’s most-wanted–Osama Bin Laden–was hardly what I would call “controversial.” Honestly, what U.S. president in their right mind would not take out the world’s most notorious terrorist who perpetrated the worst terrorist attack in the history of our nation if given the chance?

I could act like a main-stream, liberal journalist and ask why the President delayed his decision for so long? Or why we never got to see the body of Bin Laden? Or why Osama was given a sailor’s burial at sea? Or how this opens a dangerous new chapter in American foreign policy in regard to the sovereignty of other nations? How many trees were burned and innocent animals killed during the illegal raid? What about noxious fumes being released into the atmosphere from burning helicopters? Won’t this lead to an increase in Climate Change? Yeah … I will leave all the speculation to the hyperbolic types of the main-stream media.

But the main point, as far as I’m concerned, is the notion Obama killed Osama. Yeah, right! Barack the brave Ninja warrior leaped from a burning helicopter riding his skateboard in, with nunchucks in tow, to engage Osama Bin Laden in mortal hand-to-hand combat. PUH-lease! I think we know who killed Osama–SEAL Team 6, and the U.S. Military and intelligence services that made the operation possible in the first place. The hunt for Osama had been going on long before Obama ever “made the scene.” Let’s put the credit where it belongs … NEXT!

Withdrawal from Iraq

“Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake.”–Napoleon Bonaparte

It was President Bush and Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki who signed the U.S.–Iraq Status of Forces Agreement in 2008. Obama did nothing but watch SOFA take its course. For Obama and his minions to make the claim it was dear leader who ended the war in Iraq is absurd and infuriating. It is also an insult to those who served in Iraq–who did the hard work–provided the blood, sweat, toil and sacrifice; while the Left did everything it could during the Bush years to tear down any forward progress in Iraq. How about giving credit to where credit is due? It’s not going to happen with the Left–only when it suits their hidden agenda and predetermined outcomes.

Additionally, after the withdrawal of U.S. Forces from Iraq, an escalation in car bombings and violence has exploded within Iraq. It doesn’t look like it’s going to stop anytime soon, either

In our non-Council category the winner was Rep. Colonel Allen West, who had a favor to ask the president in the coming campaign: Mr. President, please don’t play the race card in 2012… submitted by Joshuapundit. Colonel West was his usual eloquent self, in spite of knowing that the president will almost certainly play that particular card. Do read it.

Without further ado, here are this week’s full results:

Council Winners

• *First place with 3 2/3 votes! The Right Planet – The Talking Points Meme
• Second place with 2 2/3 votes – Joshuapundit- “I Got Bin Laden” – And Why Obama’s Big Boast Might Have Been A Huge Mistake
• Third place with 1 2/3 votes – The Political Commentator-Achtung! Antisemitismus, immer präsent doch in der Regel unter dem Radar, ist jetzt immer häufiger offene und ist in das Licht der Welt erscheinen!
• Fourth place *t* with 1 1/3 votes – The Razor-In the Belly of the Swan
• Fourth place *t* with 1 1/3 votes – The Mellow Jihadi- Move, Vets Coming Through!
• Fourth place *t* with 1 1/3 votes – The Noisy Room-Don’t Worry… Nuthin’ Bad’s Gonna Happen…
• Fifth Place with 1 vote – Right Truth-Handcuffed, arrested, and now faces three and a half years in jail for firearms possession – for the crime of being unaware that the Second Amendment does not apply in New York City
• Sixth place with 2/3 vote – The Glittering Eye – Citizenship Skills
• Seventh place *t* with 1/3 vote – Bookworm Room –San Francisco Chronicle columnist warns city’s rational thinkers not to roll in the mud with one specific fringe group
• Seventh place *t* with 1/3 vote – New Zeal – DSA Marxists Take Over the Occupy Movement: Plan “Spring Offensive,” With Widespread Occupations of State Capitols, Schools and Workplaces
• Seventh place *t* with 1/3 vote– Simply Jews–De Nada Ilse
• Seventh place *t* with 1/3 vote – VA Right! – Ron Paul Flying First Class on Taxpayer Dime

Non-Council Winners

• First place with 2 2/3 votes! – Allen West - Mr. President, please don’t play the race card in 2012… submitted by Joshuapundit
• Second place with 2 votes – Defining Ideas – The Death Of Honestystrong> submitted byThe Colossus of Rhodey
• Third place with 1 2/3 votes – Melanie Phillips-The West’s Useful Idiots submitted by The Political Commentator
• Fourth place *t* with 1 1/3 votes - Mark Steyn –Ron Paul beckons GOP to Fortress America submitted by The Noisy Room
• Fourth place *t* with 1 1/3 votes - Maggie’s Farm – Understanding The Wuterich Haditha Court Martial submitted by The Mellow Jihadi
• Fifth place with 1 vote - Wings Over Iraq–Let’s Review submitted by GrEaT sAtAn”S gIrLfRiEnD
• Fifth place *t* with 1 vote -Inside Higher Ed – Price of Success submitted by The Glittering Eye
• Sixth place *t* with 2/3 vote -IsraellyCool –There’s Something About Perry submitted by Simply Jews
• Sixth place *t* with 2/3 vote -Big Government –EXCLUSIVE:Former Bush Counternarcotics Advisor: We’re Losing the Drug War Because of Government Bureaucracy submitted by Right Truth
• Sixth place *t* with 2/3 vote -SE Cupp – Newt Gingrich, Natural Woman submitted by The Watcher
• Seventh place *t* with 1/3 vote -Rush Limbaugh –Washington, DC, Law Forces Exterminators to Capture and Relocate Rats submitted by The Right Planet
• Seventh place *t* with 1/3 vote -GodFather Politics – Urinating on the Dead: Marine Performance Art? submitted by Bookworm Room
• Seventh place *t* with 1/3 vote -Nile Gardiner – Why are Barack Obama’s critics so smart? submitted by The Razor
• Seventh place *t* with 1/3 vote -Liberty’s Spirit – The Real Story of the Lebanese Civil War submitted by The Watcher
• Seventh place *t* with 1/3 vote -Accuracy In Media – AIM Interview with Craig Shirley on Pearl Harbor, Ronald Reagan and Today’s Politics submitted by New Zeal
• Seventh place *t* with 1/3 vote -The Blaze –More ‘Embarrassing’ Ron Paul Newsletters Emerge on Race, Israel, & More submitted by Rhymes With Right

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

Seventy years young yesterday…rumble young man, rumble!

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, The Independent Sentinel, Crazy Bald Guy 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 Political Commentator – Achtung! Antisemitismus, immer präsent doch in der Regel unter dem Radar, ist jetzt immer häufiger offene und ist in das Licht der Welt erscheinen!
• The Noisy Room – Don’t Worry… Nuthin’ Bad’s Gonna Happen…
• Joshuapundit-“I Got Bin Laden” – And Why Obama’s Big Boast Might Have Been A Huge Mistake
• Simply Jews – De Nada Ilse
• GrEaT sAtAn”S gIrLfRiEnD – Preemptive Or Preventive
• The Right Planet – The Talking Points Meme
• Right Truth – Handcuffed, arrested, and now faces three and a half years in jail for firearms possession – for the crime of being unaware that the Second Amendment does not apply in New York City
• Bookworm Room – San Francisco Chronicle columnist warns city’s rational thinkers not to roll in the mud with one specific fringe group
• The Razor – In the Belly of the Swan
• The Colossus of Rhodey – Oh, no!
• New Zeal – DSA Marxists Take Over the Occupy Movement: Plan “Spring Offensive,” With Widespread Occupations of State Capitols, Schools and Workplaces
• The Glittering Eye -Citizenship Skills
• The Mellow Jihadi – Move, Vets Coming Through!
• Rhymes With Right – In Which I Argue That Scott Brown And Elizabeth Warren Don’t Understand The First Amendment
• VA Right! - Ron Paul Flying First Class on Taxpayer Dime

Honorable Mentions

• The Independent Sentinel – Marines Urinating on Dead Taliban – the Crime of the Century?
• Crazy Bald Guy – Mr. Electability
• Capitalist Preservation – Venture Capitalism Explained

Non-Council Submissions

• Melanie Phillips -The West’s Useful Idiots submitted by The Political Commentator
• Mark Steyn –Ron Paul beckons GOP to Fortress America submitted by The Noisy Room
• Allen West – Mr. President, please don’t play the race card in 2012… submitted by Joshuapundit
• Israellycool – There’s Something About Perry submitted by Simply Jews
• Wings Over Iraq – Let’s Review submitted by GrEaT sAtAn”S gIrLfRiEnD
• Rush Limbaugh – Washington, DC, Law Forces Exterminators to Capture and Relocate Rats submitted by The Right Planet
• Big Government -EXCLUSIVE:Former Bush Counternarcotics Advisor: We’re Losing the Drug War Because of Government Bureaucracy submitted by Right Truth
• Godfather Politics -Urinating on the Dead: Marine Performance Art? submitted by Bookworm Room
• Nile Gardiner –Why are Barack Obama’s critics so smart? submitted by The Razor
• Defining Ideas – The Death Of Honesty submitted by The Colossus of Rhodey
• Accuracy In Media – AIM Interview with Craig Shirley on Pearl Harbor, Ronald Reagan and Today’s Politics submitted by New Zeal
• Inside Higher Ed – Price of Success submitted by The Glittering Eye
• Maggie’s Farm –Understanding The Wuterich Haditha Court Martial submitted by The Mellow Jihadi
• The Blaze – More ‘Embarrassing’ Ron Paul Newsletters Emerge on Race, Israel, & More submitted by Rhymes with Right
• Liberty’s Spirit – The Real Story of the Lebanese Civil War submitted by The Watcher
• Robert R. Reilly – Why “Invent” The Palestinians? submitted by The Watcher
• SE Cupp – Newt Gingrich, Natural Woman 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, the votes have been cast, and the results are in for this week’s Watcher’s Council match up of 2012, carved eternally in the akhasic records of cyberspace.

This week’s winning essay, Joshuapundit’s The Tale Of The Swine is a cautionary tale about…well I think you’ll figure it out for yourselves. Here’s a slice:

Once there was a tribe of wild pigs who lived in a remote area of the woods.

As anyone who’s spent time around pigs will tell you, they are by no means the most unintelligent of animals, and these pigs had learned to adapt quite well to their circumstances. They had fashioned dens and had gradually learned to piece together a tribal law that allowed them to work as a group when necessary to ensure an adequate if not over generous food supply, care for their young and defend themselves against any natural predators. In their little corner of the woods, they were pretty much the dominant species, and were reasonably content.

One day, a pig named Andy went missing. The others searched for him throughout their part of the forest, but they were unable to find him no matter where they looked. Andy’s fate became a major topic of conversation among the pigs. It was totally unheard of for one of them to simply disappear like that.

The pigs didn’t quite keep track of time beyond the seasons, but still by their reckoning it was some time before, to their astonishment, Andy reappeared as the leaves were turning color.

The pigs were ecstatic to see their lost tribe member returned to them..and even better, in what appeared to be rip roaring good health.

Most of the wild pigs tended to lose some weight as the weather started to turn colder and food became scarce and harder to find, but Andy was sleek, fat and obviously had been living, if you’ll pardon the expression, high on the hog. His bristles and hooves were clean, his eyes shone brightly and he was as happy as a pig in – well, you know. And much to the other pig’s surprise, he had a pretty red collar around his neck, something none of them had ever seen before.

“Wherever have you been Andy?” the other pigs asked. “We looked everywhere for you.”

“Oh, I can’t wait to tell you”, said Andy. “I’ve discovered something wonderful.”

“You know, I was chasing down some berries I smelt over by the oak trees over by our eastern border, you know the place. Well I ended up going a little past our bounds and what bad luck! I wasn’t paying attention and got my left rear trotter lodged in a tree root.”

“I tried and tried, but I couldn’t get free and I thought I might die there. But then the most marvelous thing happened. A man heard my squealing, came through the underbrush and set me free.”

In our non-Council category, the winner this week was an interesting piece by Fred Seigal and Joel Kotkin in The City Journal, The New Authoritarianism submitted by Bookworm Room . It’s an interesting look at the widening divide between President Obama and the increasingly authoritarian ‘progressives’ that support him and the rest of the more center right electorate.

Here are this week’s full results.Only New Zeal was unable to vote this week, and was affected by the 2/3 vote penalty:

Council Winners

• *First place with 3 1/3 votes! Joshuapundit – The Tale Of The Swine
• Second place with 2 1/3 votes – The Razor- Is The Republican Party Stupid?
• Third place with 1 2/3 votes – New Zeal- Blinded by the Left: How Marxists Wrote Ron Paul’s Defense Cuts Plan
• Fourth place *t* with 1 vote – Right Truth- The Unintended Consequences Begin
• Fourth place *t* with 1 vote – The Glittering Eye- What Creates Opportunity?
• Fourth place *t* with 1 vote – The Mellow Jihadi- My Harvard Story
• Fifth place *t* with 2/3 vote – Bookworm Room-Which agenda really serves women’s rights?
• Fifth place *t* with 2/3 vote – The Noisy Room – Sunlight Down The Spider Hole
• Fifth place *t* with 2/3 vote – The Political Commentator – A one-picture metaphor for the Obama regime plus a lot of words!
• Sixth place *t* with 1/3 vote – GrEaT sAtAn”S gIrLfRiEnD – Reckless
• Sixth place *t* with 1/3 vote – Simply Jews – Richard (Dickie) Silverstein: a blogging dupe of the century?
• Sixth place *t* with 1/3 vote – VA Right! – Meet Mitt Romney: Corporate Raider and Vulture Capitalist

Non-Council Winners

• First place with 2 2/3 votes! – The City Journal- The New Authoritarianism submitted by Bookworm Room
• Second place with 2 1/3 votes – Liberated – Why Do Muslims Despise Jews So Much? submitted by Joshuapundit
• Third place with 1 2/3 votes – American Digest –The Gun School submitted by The Razor
• Fourth place with 1 1/3 votes - Allen West Republic –America is Good submitted by New Zeal
• Fifth place *t* with 1 vote - Doug Ross – Tehran TV’s Iranian Idol: Ron Paul submitted by The Watcher
  
• Fifth place *t* with 1 vote - Karen Holt/Historic American Examiner –Taking matters into his own hands submitted by Right Truth
• Sixth place *t* with 2/3 vote -Sultan Knish –Ron Paul’s Soros Defense Plan submitted by The Noisy Room
• Sixth place *t* with 2/3 vote -The Elder of Ziyon –Egyptians to block ‘Zionist’ visitors to rabbi’s tomb submitted by Simply Jews
  
• Sixth place *t* with 2/3 vote -American Thinker – Obama: The Mask is Off submitted by The Right Planet
• Sixth place *t* with 2/3 vote -Hired Intelligence –Threats and The School-as-Family submitted by The Colossus of Rhodey
• Sixth place *t* with 2/3 vote -Rand Simberg/PJ Media –The Lunar Yellow Peril submitted by The Glittering Eye
• Sixth place *t* with 1/3 vote -Yid With Lid –Why is Obama’s favorite Middle East leader an anti-American Islamist? submitted by The Political Commentator
• Sixth place *t* with 1/3 vote -Abu Muqawama –In Praise of John Nagl submitted by GrEaT sAtAn”S gIrLfRiEnD

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

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.

Think of us as your private window of some of the very best of the blogosphere.

Council News:

This week, The Independent Sentinel, The Grouch, Liberty’s Spirit 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 take a look at what we have this week….

Council Submissions

• The Noisy Room – Sunlight Down The Spider Hole
• The Political Commentator –
  A one-picture metaphor for the Obama regime plus a lot of words!
• Joshuapundit-The Tale Of The Swine
• New Zeal – Blinded by the Left: How Marxists Wrote Ron Paul’s Defense Cuts Plan
• Simply Jews – Richard (Dickie) Silverstein: a blogging dupe of the century?
• GrEaT sAtAn”S gIrLfRiEnD – Reckless
• The Right Planet – Is Matter Made of Waves?
• Right Truth – The Unintended Consequences Begin
• Bookworm Room – Which agenda really serves women’s rights?
• The Colossus of Rhodey – Is Liberalism Killing Comics?
• VA Right! - Meet Mitt Romney: Corporate Raider and Vulture Capitalist
• The Glittering Eye -What Creates Opportunity?
• The Razor – Is The Republican Party Stupid?
• The Mellow Jihadi – My Harvard Story
• Rhymes With Right – At What Point Does A President Lose His Legitimacy As Our Nation’s Leader And Become A Tyrant?

Honorable Mentions

• The Grouch – Romney? Electable? Hoax?
• Liberty’s Spirit – Apartheid in the Middle East
• The Independent Sentinel – ICE Changes Detention Policies on Illegals & We Can’t Afford It
• Capitalist Preservation – The fallacy of the minimum wage: Part Three

Non-Council Submissions

• Sultan Knish –Ron Paul’s Soros Defense Plan submitted by The Noisy Room
• Yid With Lid -Why is Obama’s favorite Middle East leader an anti-American Islamist? submitted by The Political Commentator
• Liberated – Why Do Muslims Despise Jews So Much? submitted by Joshuapundit
• Allen West Republic – America is Good submitted by New Zeal
• Elder Of Ziyon – Egptians to block ‘Zionist’ visitors to rabbi’s tomb submitted by Simply Jews
• Abu Muqawama – In Praise of John Nagl submitted by GrEaT sAtAn”S gIrLfRiEnD
• American Thinker – Obama: The Mask is Off submitted by The Right Planet
• Karen Holt – Historic American Examiner -Taking matters into his own hands submitted by Right Truth
• City Journal -The New Authoritarianism submitted by Bookworm Room
• Hired Intelligence – Threats and The School-as-Family submitted by The Colossus of Rhodey
• Yid With Lid – JEWICIDE! Organization of Orthodox Jews Celebrates Appointment of Jack Lew submitted by VA Right
• Rand Simberg/PJ Media – The Lunar Yellow Peril submitted by The Glittering Eye
• American Digest –The Gun School submitted by The Razor
• DaddyBear’s Den –A Damn Shame submitted by The Mellow Jihadi
• Matthew E. Miller — Race 4 2012 – It’s Good To Be A Conservative Again submitted by Rhymes with Right
• Doug Ross – Tehran TV’s Iranian Idol: Ron Paul submitted by The Watcher
• Sarah Honig – Good manners and high morals 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, 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.

Great ideas and eternal truths never die – or as the megilla written by Ecclesiastes put it so well long ago “There is nothing new under the sun” – because human nature never changes.

This week’s winning essay, The Noisy Room’s 2011 – Turning Our Backs on the Gods of the Copybook Headings takes an old and very prescient poem by Rudyard Kipling, applies its lessons to our present day and turns in a real cri de coeur. Here’s a slice:

Rudyard Kipling:
AS I PASS through my incarnations in every age and race,
I make my proper prostrations to the Gods of the Market Place.
Peering through reverent fingers I watch them flourish and fall,
And the Gods of the Copybook Headings, I notice, outlast them all.

We were living in trees when they met us. They showed us each in turn
That Water would certainly wet us, as Fire would certainly burn:
But we found them lacking in Uplift, Vision and Breadth of Mind,
So we left them to teach the Gorillas while we followed the March of Mankind.

We moved as the Spirit listed. They never altered their pace,
Being neither cloud nor wind-borne like the Gods of the Market Place,
But they always caught up with our progress, and presently word would come
That a tribe had been wiped off its icefield, or the lights had gone out in Rome.

With the Hopes that our World is built on they were utterly out of touch,
They denied that the Moon was Stilton; they denied she was even Dutch;
They denied that Wishes were Horses; they denied that a Pig had Wings;
So we worshipped the Gods of the Market Who promised these beautiful things.

When the Cambrian measures were forming, They promised perpetual peace.
They swore, if we gave them our weapons, that the wars of the tribes would cease.
But when we disarmed They sold us and delivered us bound to our foe,
And the Gods of the Copybook Headings said: “Stick to the Devil you know.”

On the first Feminian Sandstones we were promised the Fuller Life
(Which started by loving our neighbour and ended by loving his wife)
Till our women had no more children and the men lost reason and faith,
And the Gods of the Copybook Headings said: “The Wages of Sin is Death.”

In the Carboniferous Epoch we were promised abundance for all,
By robbing selected Peter to pay for collective Paul;
But, though we had plenty of money, there was nothing our money could buy,
And the Gods of the Copybook Headings said: “If you don’t work you die.”

Then the Gods of the Market tumbled, and their smooth-tongued wizards withdrew
And the hearts of the meanest were humbled and began to believe it was true
That All is not Gold that Glitters, and Two and Two make Four
And the Gods of the Copybook Headings limped up to explain it once more.

As it will be in the future, it was at the birth of Man
There are only four things certain since Social Progress began.
That the Dog returns to his Vomit and the Sow returns to her Mire,
And the burnt Fool’s bandaged finger goes wabbling back to the Fire;

And that after this is accomplished, and the brave new world begins
When all men are paid for existing and no man must pay for his sins,
As surely as Water will wet us, as surely as Fire will burn,
The Gods of the Copybook Headings with terror and slaughter return!

***************************************

Welcome to 2012… Buckle up because it will be one hell of a ride as Obama goes for broke and his mask comes off, displaying the full intent of his Marxist agenda. Interesting times indeed.

2011 was a year replete with Progressivism running wild in America and across the globe. A year that freedom slipped away and tyrants gathered collectively in gleeful anticipation of a coalescence of power, wealth and control. The year that many patriots woke up in America and realized they did not recognize their country any more.

Economics

AS I PASS through my incarnations in every age and race,
I make my proper prostrations to the Gods of the Market Place.
Peering through reverent fingers I watch them flourish and fall,
And the Gods of the Copybook Headings, I notice, outlast them all.

The Keynesian economists blather on and on… Every channel you turn to, they proclaim that we are in a recovery, albeit slow, but, recovery nonetheless. And they actually think we are stupid enough to believe that. Elitist arrogance run amok.

Silly Marxists, we know the markets are rigged. All they do is go up and Americans know it is a lie. Gold and silver markets are being manipulated. Stocks are a bad joke. The dollar is junk. While firms such as IMF Global rip investors off, publicly and brutally, individual banks are stealing their clientele blind a few dollars at a time. Why? Because they can. The collective mentality dictates that you should steal all you can before the ship goes down for the last time. After all, what does it matter? Get it while you can, is their reasoning. Screw everyone, time to look out for numero uno. What they forget is that their actions will have a cost, just like it did in the days before the Russian empire came tumbling down and the KGB changed their clothes from chic jack booted thuggery, to sleek government de regeur.

We are trillions in debt here in the US. Forget untenable, it’s un-survivable. But our leaders keep printing money in a Weimar frenzy, declaring: “What inflation?” While Americans go to the store and weigh what they can afford to eat this week as opposed to keeping the heat on.

Regulations are strangling capitalism to death and company after company is down-sizing or folding altogether. Three years into Obama’s bleak utopia and unemployment is staggering. Don’t believe the government’s numbers – they are a lie as well. Rigged to make gullible taxpayers believe things are better than they really are. Thy story is entitled Animal Farm. How very anti-laissez-faire. Welcome to 1932 redux.

I sense Cass Sunstein chuckling sardonically behind the Marxist curtain of the EPA and other agencies stealing our land, telling us what we can and can’t buy and where we can and can’t live. Herding us into cities where we can be stacked and packed and controlled. They are engineering tenement Hell.

In our non-Council category, the winner was an old Watcher’s Council favorite, Sultan Knish with The Year We Lost Afghanistan, Etc. submitted by The Political Commentator.

Here are this week’s full results.New Zeal was unable to vote this week, and was affected by the 2/3 vote penalty:

Council Winners

• *First place with 3 votes! The Noisy Room – 2011 – Turning Our Backs on the Gods of the Copybook Headings
• Second place *t* with 2 1/3 votes – Joshuapundit- A Bridge Too Far: CAIR Versus Bare Naked Islam
• Third place *t* with 1 1/3 votes – Right Truth –Taliban to Gitmo: Bye-Bye!
• Third place *t* with 1 1/3 votes – New Zeal-Communist Party Targets Veterans for Recruitment: How Will Their Skills be Used?
• Fourth place *t* with 1 vote – Bookworm Room-A tour de force post taking us from Google interviews, to self-esteem, to dancing men
• Fourth place *t* with 1 vote – The Razor-Israelis Stand Up to the Haredi
• Fourth place *t* with 1 vote – Rhymes With Right-Where Non-Discrimination Principles And Aiding Students Conflict
• Fourth place *t* with 1 vote – The Mellow Jihadi-I Gotta Move to Texas
• Fifth place with 2/3 vote – Simply Jews – Hugo Chavez Reflects
• Sixth place *t* with 1/3 vote – The Colossus of Rhodey – Civilization Continues to Crumble
• Sixth place *t* with 1/3 vote – VA Right! – Why the Iowa Caucus Is (Almost!) Irrelevant

Non-Council Winners

• First place with 3 2/3 votes! – Sultan Knish- The Year We Lost Afghanistan, Etc. submitted by The Political Commentator
• Second place *t* with 2 votes – Gates Of Vienna – Driving Out The Infidel submitted by Joshuapundit
• Second place *t* with 2 votes – Jon’s Deep ThoughtsMilitary Intelligence is an oxymoron? I think not. submitted by Bookworm Room
• Third place with 1 2/3 votes - Small Wars Journal – Thinking the Unthinkable about Napalm and Flamethrowers submitted by GrEaT sAtAn”S gIrLfRiEnD
• Fourth place with 1 1/3 votes -Daily Mail/Dominic Sandbrook –The spectre of 1932: How a loss of faith in politicians and democracy could make 2012 the most frightening year in living memory submitted by The Noisy Room
• Fifth place *t* with 1 vote - Confessions of a Closet Republican – <After Christmas Day Bombings Boko Haram Tells Nigerian Christians They Have 3 Days To Get Out submitted by Simply Jews
• Fifth place *t* with 1 vote -Alex Knapp/Outside The Beltway – Ron Paul Versus The Fourteenth Amendmentsubmitted by The Glittering Eye
• Sixth place with 2/3 vote -Wolf Howling –Obama Signs On To Silencing Criticism Of Islam submitted by Rhymes With Right
• Seventh place *t* with 1/3 vote -National Review Online –Repo Men submitted by The Razor
  
• Seventh place *t* with 1/3 vote -Powerline –Keynes Was Right–About the Jews? submitted by The Watcher

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

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, The Independent Sentinel, The Grouch,Crazy Bald Guy, Knowledge Creates Power 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 – 2011 – Turning Our Backs on the Gods of the Copybook Headings
• Simply Jews – Hugo Chavez Reflects
• The Right Planet – Agony In The Garden
• Joshuapundit-A Bridge Too Far: CAIR Versus Bare Naked Islam
• The Political Commentator – Is it the Obama administration or Iran in charge of U.S. foreign policy?
• The Colossus of Rhodey – Civilization Continues to Crumble
• Bookworm Room – A tour de force post taking us from Google interviews, to self-esteem, to dancing men
• Rhymes With Right – Where Non-Discrimination Principles And Aiding Students Conflict
• The Glittering Eye -The American Ant Tribe
• VA Right - Why the Iowa Caucus Is (Almost!) Irrelevant
• The Razor – Israelis Stand Up to the Haredi
• The Mellow Jihadi – I Gotta Move to Texas
• Right Truth – Taliban to Gitmo: Bye-Bye!
• GrEaT sAtAn”S gIrLfRiEnD – Kick It
• New Zeal – Communist Party Targets Veterans for Recruitment: How Will Their Skills be Used?

Honorable Mentions

• The Grouch – A Caucus? A Primary? A Mess?
• Crazy Bald Guy – The Idiocy of Iowa
• Knowledge Creates Power – The Race for the White House 2012… Perhaps Not All Horses to the Gates
• The Independent Sentinel/strong> – How An Online University Pays For A Football Bowl & Scams Vets With Federal Dollars
• Capitalist Preservation – The fallacy of the minimum wage: Part One

Non-Council Submissions

• Daily Mail/Dominic Sandbrook –The spectre of 1932: How a loss of faith in politicians and democracy could make 2012 the most frightening year in living memory submitted by The Noisy Room
• Confessions of a Closet Republican – After Christmas Day Bombings Boko Haram Tells Nigerian Christians They Have 3 Days To Get Out submitted by Simply Jews
• Palestinian Media Watch – In newest Zayzafuna, “Palestine” still replaces all of Israel submitted by The Right Planet
• Gates Of Vienna – Driving Out The Infidel submitted by Joshuapundit
• Sultan Knish -The Year We Lost Afghanistan, Etc. submitted by The Political Commentator
• The First Street Journal The Muslim Brotherhood Wins With an Assist submitted by The Colossus of Rhodey
• Jon’s Deep Thoughts-Military Intelligence is an oxymoron? I think not. submitted by Bookworm Room
• Wolf Howling – Obama Signs On To Silencing Criticism Of Islam submitted by Rhymes with Right
• Alex Knapp/Outside The Beltway – Ron Paul Versus The Fourteenth Amendment submitted by The Glittering Eye
• Pajamas Media – Video: #OWS Loons Try to Disrupt Romney Speech in Iowa, and Fail submitted by VA Right
• National Review Online –Repo Men submitted by The Razor
• Seraphic Secret –Rise of the Killer Drone submitted by The Mellow Jihadi
• Small Wars Journal – Thinking the Unthinkable about Napalm and Flamethrowers submitted by GrEaT sAtAn”S gIrLfRiEnD
• Liberty’s Spirit -Big Tent Mythos submitted by Right Truth
• Powerline – Keynes Was Right–About the Jews? submitted by The Watcher
• Jay Cost – Still Romney’s Race To Lose submitted by The Watcher

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