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Here They Are: The 2016 Fabulous 50 Blog Award Winners Fab50

Sunday, January 1, 2017 15:13

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The moment you’ve been waiting for is here.

The votes are in. The anxious nominees’ fingernails have been chewed down to the quick.

And at least one blogger just excused himself to go to the bathroom (number two, apparently, based upon the length of time he’s been gone).

So we’re more than pleased to announce the winners of the 2016 Fabulous 50 Blog Awards, the most prestigious new media awards in the conservative blogosphere.

Or, at the very least, in the 993 area code.

These awards recognize a variety of blogs and websites operating in the conservative hemisphere of the Internet, all of which have worked tirelessly to promote conservatism, free market capitalism, fiscal sanity, the sovereignty of the individual, and otherwise protect America from the cockroach-like Statists — some in very unique ways.

So, without further ado, may I have the envelopes, please?

Blog of the Year

The Conservative Treehouse: In short, The Last Refuge saw the appeal of Trump national populism first, understood that conventional candidates (even the likes of Ted Cruz) would be seen as Beltway insiders, and that the country was ready for something new. It became the rallying point for Trump supporters and fought long and hard for its vision of a candidate who would end up breaking all the rules. For its impressive thought leadership and prescience, The Last Refuge wins our Blog of the Year award.

Most Influential

The Drudge Report: If the 2016 election proves anything, it’s that legacy media has been surpassed by new media. Traditional media outlets have allowed themselves to become the voice of Washington’s uniparty; an echo chamber of failed, big government ideas. There should be no debate that these once-powerful bastions of print and broadcast — which employ 96% Leftist Democrats — have been deemed completely irrelevant by normal Americans, who turn to thought leaders like Matt Drudge on a scale that seems almost too immense to believe (a billion page views a month?). Goodbye, old media. And good riddance.

Breitbart: No site was more unfairly tarnished in 2016 than Breitbart. Speaking of #FakeNews, this valuable news and opinion site was fraudulently described as a “White Nationalist” website by hysterical haters. Were such a claim true, it would be an historic first, given its roster of Black and Jewish contributors.

Gateway Pundit: Like The Last Refuge, Jim Hoft and company saw the unique appeal of Donald Trump well ahead of the curve. His site caught fire thanks to timely revelations during the campaign. If I have one complaint about the site, it’s the ads that actually interfere with perusing the content. I suspect that its readership would even be higher if it were a tad easier to navigate the ads.

The Z Blog: One of the more thoughtful, insightful and (truly) wise blogs operating today, Z reminds me of the old “Doc Zero” (John Hayward). Z has a unique ability to map historical events to a current context, providing education and insight to a growing readership.

Least Influential (i.e., The Biggest Losers of 2016)

Ignoring their one-sided political goose-stepping for a moment, these sites actually made incredibly poor business decisions over the course of the last year. They completely missed, then ignored, a vast readership that was desperately seeking a candidate untarnished by the poisonous corruption currently infecting both parties in Washington.

National Review : For the high crime of gently mocking Kevin D. Williamson, Biff Spackle and Doug Ross were both blocked by the magnanimous #NeverTrumper. Talk about an overinflated sense of self. NRO’s “Against Trump” issue was ridiculous on its face; the President-Elect’s cabinet selections — arguably more conservative than anything the NRO could have dreamed up — just make it even more ironic.

RedState: I never fully grokked Erick Erickson’s repudiation of Donald Trump. The alternative was Hillary Clinton, who believes that a baby’s life can be snuffed out literally one second before birth. Sure Trump is rough around the edges and may not be anyone’s idea of a pious individual. Still, do you side with the devil instead? Suffice it to say that Erickson chose… poorly.

The Weekly Standard: The geriatric leaders of the WS saw their waning influence continue to plummet in 2016. The very epitome of Beltway insiders, Kristol and Barnes are more concerned with the cocktail circuit than what Americans in flyover country actually think. Disconnected, detached, and irrelevant should be this dying magazine’s slogan.

Video of the Year

Trump’s Closing Argument for America

Best Columnist

Daniel Greenfield: A repeat winner, Greenfield is simply one of the best there is in all genres of reporting and commentary.

Blog posts of the year

“New Day Dawning” by Cold Fury
“Poor Liberals: You have Nobody to Blame but Yourselves” by David Penner

“You Owe Them Nothing – Not Respect, Not Loyalty, Not Obedience” by Kurt Schlichter

The Single Dumbest Blog Post of the Year Award

Matthew Yglesias, “The First Big Question about the Clinton Transition”

The Matthew Yglesias Award for the World’s Dumbest Op-Ed

Paul Krugman, for his hilarious meltdown, claiming the U.S. is becoming either Nazi Germany or the Roman Republic, because Trump.

Text Message of the Year

Anthony Weiner, for his serial sexting that triggered the reopening of the FBI’s investigation into Hillary Clinton’s illegal email server. Who’d have guessed a pervert would have such a big impact on a presidential election? I mean, not including Bill Clinton.

Best Bloggers in a Group Blog

Ed Morrissey and John Sexton of Hot Air: The prolific Morrissey and rookie Hot Air blogger Sexton bring a wealth of experience, a balanced perspective, and — most importantl — a far less angry tone than many (I mean, me). Both have been cranking out fast, insightful commentary for years; the combination — along with other stalwarts like Jazz Shaw — make Hot Air one of the go-to sites for conservatives.
Rachel Stockman and Chris White of LawNewz: As part of the liberal-leaning Mediaite family, LawNewz is often a mouthpiece for leftist PR efforts. However, Stockman and White are refreshing exceptions, giving normal folks reasons to visit the site.
John Hinderaker of Power Line: There’s are many reasons that Power Line remains so popular after all these years; and Hinderaker may be the most important of those reasons.

Best Op-Ed Blog

American Thinker: Thomas Lifson has continued to build an impressive roster of top-notch and thought-provoking contributors.
FrontpageMag: Remains one of the most important policy sites operating today.

Best Blogging Platform

Right Wing News: John Hawkins’ site combines syndicated columnists, established bloggers, and high-potentials that represent a wide spectrum of conservative thought leadership and pure entertainment.

Best Blog Portal

BadBlue: Yes, I’m cheating by naming this site to the list, but I read it every day and you should too. It’s the only conservative news portal operating without any human editors, using algorithms to level the playing field between small blogs and large sites. I routinely find stories on BadBlue that I don’t see anywhere else.

Best Public Policy Blog

The Daily Signal: The Heritage Foundation’s blog is consistently excellent, providing an encyclopedic reference of free market success stories and the endless failures of socialism/progressivism.

Best News Aggregation Blog

Weasel Zippers: Still one of the finest conservative news aggregators, operating at warp speed and sourced from around the globe

Best Grassroots Blog

Lawrence Person’s BattleSwarm: Person’s LinkSwarms extract pure wheat from chaff.
DaTechGuy: DTG continues to evolve its group-blogging platform and Alexa indicates its popularity has trended up significantly over the last several months.
Flopping Aces: Dr. John and company continue to bring the right kind of thinking to the table.
Independent Sentinel: Sara Noble is relentless and always right.
Jammie Wearing Fool: Entertaining, indefatigable and caustic commentaries that always cut to the chase.
Lid Blog: Jeff Dunetz brings it day in and day out, with quality writing and curation of the key stories of the day.
Moonbattery: Dave Blount continues to deliver one of the best independent political blogs running today.
Noisy Room: A contributor at Right Wing News, Terresa Monroe-Hamilton is a dogged defender of truth, justice and the American way.
Publius Forum: Warner Todd Huston is a prolific, quality writer who seems to have a presence at all of the major center-right sites.
VictoryGirls: Ladies second, patriots first.

The Daniel Simpson Day Award for Superior Blogging and Skulduggery

Ace of Spades : Continues to bring the funny; and the Extraordinary League of Morons’ comments are like butta. Or K-Y. Some kind of magical, velvet-like lube, anyhow.

Best Econ Blog

Doctor Housing Bubble: No one on the planet is doing a better job dissecting the insanities of real estate, especially in Cali.
The Burning Platform: The math always beats the politics and Jim Quinn is never afraid to speak truth to power.
The Economic Collapse Blog: To be sure, Michael Snyder is no one’s idea of a laugh-a-minute Jim Gaffigan clone, but his listicles are always must-reads and studded with valuable insights.
Zero Hedge: Chock full of analysis, doom-and-gloom, and rip-roaring commentary ripped from the headlines on a near real-time basis.

Most Valuable Twitter Feed

Mike Cernovich: a one-man meme machine, he literally wrote the playbook on personal brand marketing.
Milo Yiannopoulos: nothing ticks off the left like using their own tactics against them. And Milo’s the master.
James Woods: the accomplished actor is a savage political commentator. I’m glad he’s on our side.

Best Talk Radio Host Website

The Rush Limbaugh Show for best show transcripts.
The Mark Levin Show for best show podcasts.

Best Investigative Reporter

Sharyl Attkisson: Fearless — and feared by those who have something to hide.

Best Investigative Reporting

Judicial Watch: Still the investigative champ, running circles around the Republican “oversight” leadership in both chambers.
Project Veritas: What 60 Minutes once was

Best National Security Correspondent

Adam Kredo of the Washington Free Beacon runs circles around most of his competitors.
Bill Gertz, also of the Washington Free Beacon; the dude is wired into all the right places.

Mea Culpa of the Year

Eli Lake of Bloomberg View, who public apologized for defending Obama to his pro-Israel friends.

Best Anti-Corruption Blog

True the Vote: A monumentally important and patriotic project.
Watchdog.org: The best grass-roots investigation platform operating today.

Best Intelligence Blogger

The XX Committee: Longtime intelligence professional John R. Shindler is always a must-read, whether you agree with him or not.

Best Middle East Blogger

Elder of Ziyon: News and commentary straight from the heart of Israel.
Gatestone Institute: A tireless defender of Western civilization.
Israelly Cool: A panoply of news involving Israel, the Middle East, and the West.
MEMRI: An awesome and under-leveraged source of translated news stories that provide real insight into the sickness infecting much of the Middle East.
The Tower: An invaluable view of politics, diplomacy, war and peace centered around Israel.

Best Newspaper

Daily Caller: TheDC and TheDCNF are excellent sources of real news stories that old media continues to try to censor.
Free Beacon: Excellent, entertaining reporting on the Beltway and beyond.
Washington Examiner: Unparalleled coverage of world events, centered in DC and rippling outward into the hinterlands.

Best Legal Writer

Andrew C. McCarthy: As dogged a defender of the Constitution as he was when acting as a federal prosecutor; an invaluable truth-teller

Best Blog on Gender and Society

Robert Stacy McCain, The Other McCain: continues his sharp, effective commentary that exposes the insanity of the modern Left.

Best Firearms Blogger

Bob Owens: Always relevant and timely summaries of the current state of firearms, political posturing, and cold, hard reality.
John R. Lott, for his work at CrimeResearch.org: A world-renowned economist destroys the repeated lies and failures of gun control advocates head on.
WeaponsMan: Weapons and much more.

Best Latin American Coverage

Babalú Blog: Dedicated to exposing the bloody dictatorship in Cuba and the American Left’s support of it.
Fausta’s Blog: The single best news portal to catch the key events occurring in Latin America.

The Geert Wilders Award for Best Anti-Jihad Blog

Creeping Sharia: Documenting the uncomfortable truths that the Democrats and Leftist Media seek to conceal from the American public.
Gates of Vienna: Global news, often from grassroots journalists, documenting the true nature of an ideology rooted in world domination.
JihadWatch: An unwavering chronicler of the war against Western civilization.
Vlad Tepes: Bringing unique and global insights to the world’s oldest war.

The Ronald Reagan Award for Best Anti-Communism Blog

TrevorLoudon.com: A one-man juggernaut following in Reagan’s footsteps

Best Political Cartoonist

Chris Muir, Day By Day: Dazzling, sexy and startling.
Michael Ramirez: No contest; pound-for-pound the finest political cartoonist in the world.

Best Illustrated Satire

Hopenchangecartoons: Illustrator and humorist Stilton Jarlsberg is a dead-eyed talent who will make a great pickup by one of the major sites.
Diogenes Sarcastica: The name says it all.
The People’s Cube: Officially sanctioned news, straight from the Karl Marx Treatment Center.

Best First Lady Blog

Michelle’s Mirror (MOTUS): Inquiring minds want to know: will the mirror reflect Melania’s visage?

Best Media Watchdog

NewsBusters: The ultimate reference site for diagnosing media falsehoods and omissions.

Best Video Aggregator

The Right Scoop: Top-notch, sweeping coverage of the real media.

The Salvador Dali Award for Most Creative Blogging

American Digest: The Internet’s free general store.
Curmudgeonly & Skeptical: Savagely funny.
Sondrakistan: Always a unique take on current events.

Best Security Blogger

Krebs on Security: Brian Krebs is literally making security news, not simply reporting it.
Schneier: Bruce Schneier is the Godfather of modern cryptography and information security practices in general.

Best Climate Blog

Climate Audit: Steve McIntyre’s site is unsettling the science on a daily basis.
The Pirate’s Cove: The layman’s favorite climate news portal.
Watts Up With That: Still the world’s leading website for climate coverage.

Sites That Should Be Daily Reads But the Ads Have Left Me Shell-Shocked

I know it’s tough to monetize blogging; hell, I’m probably the worst at raising revenue from traffic in the game. But with all love and respect, I’d like to visit the following sites more often, but the ads have given me PTSD. Please consider making your site easier to peruse without popups, flyovers, dropdowns, zoom-ins, et. al.
The Geller Report
Washington Times

Humiliation of the Year

Alan Dershowitz: The influential law professor and author who — despite a plethora of warning signs — supported Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012. After Obama’s final, savage poke at Israel at the United Nations in December of 2016, Dershowitz wrote a scathing critique of the lame duck president’s shocking actions. It wasn’t enough that Obama marinated in the anti-American, anti-semitic screeds of Jeremiah Wright for two decades; nor was it enough that Obama jumped in bed with terror leaders associated with the PLO (Rashid Khalidi), the Muslim Brotherhood, and ~~Hamas~~ CAIR.
Dershowitz owes all of those who warned him an apology. But don’t hold your breath. The Leftism gene appears to be dominant within the professor’s conflicted brain, thereby superceding logic, history, reason and wisdom.

Well, that’s it for now, folks.

Who’d we miss?

Add your favorite sites to the comments section and we’ll see what we can do.

Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Okay, I won. Where do I get my damn award badges?
A: Right here. If you have questions about installing your badge, ask ‘em in the comments.

Q: *Sob*. I didn’t win. Can I use one of the badges anyhow?
A: Yes, we’ve included a spiffy new LOSER badge just for you.

Q: You suck — I didn’t win.
A: That’s not a question.

Q: Where are the previous Fabulous 50 Award Winners listed?
A: The prior awards are listed here:

• 2015 Fabulous 50 Blog Award Winners
• 2014 Fabulous 50 Blog Award Winners
• 2013 Fabulous 50 Blog Award Winners
• 2012 Fabulous 50 Blog Award Winners
• 2011 Fabulous 50 Blog Award Winners
• 2010 Fabulous 50 Blog Award Winners
• 2009 Fabulous 50 Blog Award Winners.

Source: http://directorblue.blogspot.com/2017/01/here-they-are-2016-fabulous-50-blog.html

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