Watcher's Council Nominations - Christmas 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.

This week's contest is dedicated to the memory of Robert Bork, a giant and a man of rare intellect and courage. RIP.



It's Christmas, a very special time of year even for those of us who don't celebrate it. All of us at the Council send you our best wishes for a holiday season filled with light, hope, cheer and the warmth of your loved ones.

And for those of our readers who aren't able to be with their loved ones this holiday season, (and I know that includes a lot of Joshuapundit's readers as well as some of the other Council members) may the day come soon when you return to your loved ones safe and sound.This is for you...trust me, none of us here have forgotten you.



Council News:

I'm happy to report that for the third year in a row, The Watcher's Council won the Fabulous Fifty blogging award for Best Blogging Ring.Council Akbar, and thanks to Doug Ross and to everyone who voted for us.



Now, yesterday was Christmas, but it wasn't the only momentous event..no indeed.
It was also the birthday of our own Dave Schuler, The Glittering Eye!



There's not much I can say about Dave that I haven't said already. Aside from being a writer extraordinaire, he's a true renaissance man, someone I could have a conversation with about opera, wine, economics, politics, foreign policy or a thousand other topics and he'd be all over it.

We've known each other in an online sense ever since I joined the Council. He's one of the two members who predate me, and it's a mark of his cheerful demeanor and tolerance that he's put up with all of my nonsense during all that time without going off on me even once.

Best birthday wishes Dave, many, many happy returns and I hope  all those candles didn't set off the smoke alarms!

A little music, with you in mind:



This week, Right Truth, Ask Marion, Crazy Bald Guy, Wolf Howling, and The Pirate's Cove 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. Then just return the favor by creating a post on your site linking to the Watcher’s Council contest for the week when it comes out Wednesday morning.

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, without further ado, let's see what we have this week....

Council Submissions

• Joshuapundit-A Game Change In Syria


• The Noisy Room – Big Business and Marxist Collusion – Bourgeois Socialism


• The Political Commentator – If your employee did these 10 things, would you fire them?


• The Independent Sentinel – Gun Control Move Is Political Theater – Here’s Proof


• Simply Jews – The Guardian report on Christmas in Bethlehem


• VA Right! - Virulent ‘Pro-Choice’ Rhetoric, ADHD Drugs, Video Games to Blame for School Shootings


• The Right Planet – A Real Plan for Recovery …


• The Glittering Eye -Do We Really Want Less Work or Investment?


• The Razor – The Conscience Pangs of a Drone Pilot


• Rhymes With Right – A Silly Anti-Gunnite Argument On Second Amendment Rights That Needs Dismissing


• The Colossus of Rhodey – Dopey WNJ Letter of the Week


• The Mellow Jihadi – Suicide Strikes the Navy, SEAL Commander Down


• Bookworm Room – The Leftist delusion of a world without danger


• Gay Patriot – Larry Elder’s message to the GOP: Explain how Democratic policies hurt the poor


• GrEaT sAtAn”S gIrLfRiEnD – Best Chick For The Gig

Honorable Mentions

• Right Truth - The Worst Woman of 2012


• Ask Marion - Simpler Times – A Groetzmeier Christmas


• Crazy Bald Guy - My review of "Brave"


• Wolf Howling - The 2nd Day Of Christmas


• The Pirate's Cove - Campaign 2012: The Titan of Entitlements

Non-Council Submissions

• American Thinker/Anne Lieberman – Against Nothingness submitted by Joshuapundit


• Larry Corriea/Monster Hunter Nation –An opinion on gun control submitted by The Noisy Room


• Sultan Knish -The Perfect Prison submitted by The Political Commentator


• Victor Davis Hanson – Let the Real Fat Cats Pay Their Fair Share submitted by The Independent Sentinel


• The Socialism of Fools – The New Laocoon submitted by Simply Jews


• Marathon Pundit – Chicago Teachers Union offers class cutting strategies to members submitted by VA Right!


• Thomas Sowell – Gun Control Ignorance submitted by The Right Planet


• J.D. Tuccille/Reason.com – Gun Restrictions Have Always Bred Defiance, Black Markets submitted by The Glittering Eye


• The Patriot Perspective –David Gregory Violates DC Gun Law On National TV —– Update:CNN’s Don Lemon Admits To Breaking Gun Laws, Too? submitted by The Mellow Jihadi


• Seraphic Secret-Jew Without a Gun submitted by Bookworm Room


• Ann Althouse -Scenery chewing in the Theater of Outrage over Wayne LaPierre's unremarkable news conference. submitted by Gay Patriot


• Taki's Magazine –10 Facts About Brooklyn Natives submitted by The Razor


• Urban Grounds – Does Anybody at the Texas Tribune Even Own a Gun? submitted by Rhymes with Right


• The Delaware Libertarian – What Does the 2nd Amendment Mean? submitted by The Colossus of Rhodey


• Real Clear Markets/Bill Frezza – Clement Moore Revisited: Twas the Night Before Fiscliff submitted by The Watcher


• Boston Globe/ Michael Kranish – The Story Behind Mitt Romney’s Loss In The Presidential Campaign submitted by The Watcher

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