I’ve talked about this in other posts, but I read The Next Right, Ross Douthat, Below The Beltway, Megan McCardle, Secular Right, Marginal Revolution, Michael Totten, Q and O, Reason and The Volokh Conspiracy. I also subscribed to Captain’s Quarters, but since Ed moved I haven’t given Hot Air much notice b/c I refuse to support Malkin.

So, actually, I read MANY more conservative bloggers than I do liberal bloggers. Most of the other 50 or so blogs I read come from news sources (Politico, WSJ, NBC, ABC, MSNBC, CBS, Hotline, RCP) because this tends to be a little bit more of a newsy blog. I do read Kevin Drum, Steve Benen, Brendan Nyhan and TPM, but that’s about as liberal as I get. And actually, TPM was great during the primary season, but I rarely ever read their stuff anymore.

Oh, and John Cole at Balloon Juice just because he has made me laugh out loud on MANY occasions when he slams both sides, although he’s much more anti-right these days.

So yes, I’d say that most of the bloggers I read have a much better than average grasp on the issues they’re discussing and if they don’t…they say as much.

I think most bloggers I read have a fairly good grasp on what they’re talking about.

Talk about being a matter of opinion. However, there are some truly exceptional bloggers out there with fantastic writing ability. My favorites are Kim Crawford of Velociworld, winner of this years Hewitt Award (www.velociworld.com) and the other is Nick Packwood of the Canadian blog, Ghost of a Flee, http://www.ghostofaflea.com. On the hard left, there are also some good writers, including Richard Seymore with Lenin’s Tomb.

I think most bloggers I read have a fairly good grasp on what they’re talking about. Maybe they’re not experts, but they’re certain informed. Wurzelbacher is plainly ignorant and is trying to hide from that.

Given that, i don’t think it’s a good step forward for bloggers because if you have a “citizen journalist” like Joe out there talking nonsense, it’s hurts bloggers’ credibility.

Let’s wish these fine folks best of luck in their future endeavors, shall we?

The other day in the grocery store parking lot I walked past the car of a disappointed McCain supporter. He had a bumper sticker that apparently came from the campaign since it closely matched the one that definitely did. It said “I’m voting for Joe the Plumber.”. I have no doubt this person, if asked, would say that one reason we shouldn’t have voted for Obama is his lack of experience.

Joe may well prove to be a moron, but then, quite a few of us bloggers often show little substantive knowledge of the subjects we treat. But overall, this is a hugely positive development for a free society — breaking the oligopoly of control held almost since the inception of the penny newspaper by a handful of major news gathering organizations that could capitalize printed and broadcast media.

Now, we don’t need no stinking capital! I say, more power to Joe and anyone else who wants to take the dive.

How about Joe knows just enough about everything and a lot about nothing. Dangerous? Yeah, well, that goes without saying for most ignorant people.