Watcher's Council Nominations - America's Birthday Edition

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

As we approach a moment of decision 1n four months' time, it's well worth reflecting on our past,our present and our future. The next election, and even more important how the men elected to office behave and the choices they make are going to be crucial in determining what kind of country we become.

It wasn't so very long ago that Benjamin Franklin, coming out of the Constitutional convention in Philadelphia, was asked by a fellow citizen what kind of country our Founders had given us.

"A Republic" Franklin replied, "If you can keep it."

Can we? Amidst the festivities of celebrating the birth of our beloved Republic, we had best ponder the answer to that question. As another great American famously said, freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction.

Ultimately, it's up to us, just like Ben Franklin said back at the creation.

I and my fellow Council members wish you and yours a wonderful Fourth of July.

Council News:

This week, Ask Marion, Liberty's Spirit, and The Pirate's Cove took advantage of my generous offer of link whorage and earned honorable mention status with some great pieces.

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. Then just return the favor by creating a post on your site linking to the Watcher’s Council contest for the week.

Simple, no?

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?

Well then, let's see what we have this week....

Council Submissions

• The Noisy Room – Obama Lies, Taxes Rise



• The Right Planet – SCOTUS Obamacare Ruling: The Government Can Now Tax Any Human Activity



• Simply Jews – Dan Savage and the "house faggots" incident



• Rhymes With Right – The ObamaCare Decision -- Will Post-Decision Statements Lead To Petition For Rehearing Under Rule 44?



• GrEaT sAtAn”S gIrLfRiEnD – The America Iran War of 2013



• Joshuapundit-Gettysburg - A Fourth Of July Long Ago



• The Political Commentator – You're no longer welcome here liberal! (Video)



• The Independent Sentinel – The Fast & Furious Investigation Destroyed Lives Including Those of the Whistleblowers



• Bookworm Room – Judge Roberts’ decision forces Americans to stand on their own two feet and that’s a good thing



• The Colossus of Rhodey – Hube's James Bond Bests (and Worsts)



• Gay Patriot – Contemporary liberalism: preferring the abstract “good” to the imperfect real?



• The Mellow Jihadi – Muslim Targets



• VA Right! - My Doctor Is a Flaming Pro-ObamaCare Liberal – Time to Change Doctors!



• The Glittering Eye -The Law of the Land



• The Razor – Global Warming Heretics Aren'’t Stupid

Honorable Mentions

• Ask Marion - The Shock Heard Around the World May Save America



• Liberty's Spirit - Jewish-Americans, Spoiled Brats of History? No, Just the Most Lucky



• The Pirate's Cove - This Is What “Global Warming” Legislation Looks Like

Non-Council Submissions

• Mark Steyn –Constitutional Contortions submitted by The Noisy Room



• Sultan Knish – Why The Newsroom is Good News for Republicans submitted by The Right Planet



• The Passing Parade – Reform, or can I have another cookie, please? submitted by Simply Jews



• TaxPolitics – When is a Tax Not a Tax? When the White House Says So submitted by Rhymes with Right



• Human Rights Watch – Syria's Torture Archipelago submitted by GrEaT sAtAn”S gIrLfRiEnD



• John Yoo/WSJ – Chief Justice Roberts and His Apologists submitted by Joshuapundit



• Ha'aretz -Top Iran official: U.S. threats of military attack against nuclear program are empty submitted by The Political Commentator



• Weasel Zippers – Liberal Teachers Group Says July 4th Fireworks Equal “Pretend War”… submitted by The Independent Sentinel



• Sir Winston Churchill-We shall fight on the beaches submitted by Bookworm Room



• Buckhorn Road – Seeing Obama's incompetence with my own eyes submitted by The Colossus of Rhodey



• Zero Hedge -The Dummy's Guide To Healthcare submitted by Gay Patriot



• Taki's Magazine –Gangsters At Sea submitted by The Mellow Jihadi



• Hot Air – The Navy’s “Great Green Fleet” sets sail submitted by VA Right!



• Dan Drezner/Foreign Policy – An open letter to the Mitt Romney on American foreign policy leadership submitted by The Glittering Eye



• Michael Totten –Is Mali the Next Afghanistan? submitted by The Razor



• Potluck – A Tale of One Tragedy and Two Campaigns submitted by The Watcher



• Barry Rubin – Former Israel Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir Dies at 96: A Personal Memory submitted by The Watcher

Enjoy!

Remember to tune in next Monday for the Watcher's Forum question, where the Council and invited guests provide pithy short takes as a roundtable on a major issue...don't you DARE MISS IT!

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