So, I thought I'd blog tonight about what and who I read for political info on a daily or consistent basis. Let me just reiterate: I was a card-carrying Democrat my entire life until last year. I now call myself a moderate or centrist, not so much because I changed in my beliefs as much as my party left me, and I do mean LEFT me (literally).
The people I choose to read and the places I read from were not fed me by anyone's list or philosophical expectations. I've found my list by trial and error, meaning I have read a wide divurgence from left to right and quit reading where the intent seemed cubbyholed, stereotyped, too predictable or just plain boring and vapid. What remains isn't written by people ideologically identical to me; rather, be they left, right, middle or all over the place, they make me think and they win me over sometimes.
On any given day, my first trip is to USA Today. My reason: I've found they give the best snapshot of the pulse of America in general and overall. I peruse their top stories and move on.
Next, I usually check out my main Leftist literature: The Daily Beast. I like how they have created their summary pages, which are stories from the Big Box Lamestreamers (WaPo, NYTimes, Wall St Journal, LATimes) and I like reading Meghan McCain's blog which is published there, as well as occasional reads of other blogs. Reading the Beast enables me to avoid HuffPo and Daily Kos in order to get the Left-ish perspective.
Then, to get a bit of conservative with chutzpah, I surf to the NY Daily Post. I confess to a Page Six weakness, which is gossip, but I generally find their take on issues to be a good counterpoint to the Left without getting too far right.
The three sites above usually give me a broad view. My next stop is for a broad stroke of politics. For that, I first go to Drudge and read the headlines, then I go to Politico and surf around.
Then it is on to specific writers, columnists and essayists. Not all of these folks publish daily, but my list includes Charles Krauthammer, David Brooks, Camile Paglia, S.E. Cupp, Margaret Hoover, Peggy Noonan, and Craig Crawford.
When I have the time or need, I also check out the Times of London and the Daily Telegraph, The Weekly Standard, Michelle Malkin, and Breitbart .
Krauthammer's my go-to guy, my favorite of the columnists. I always enjoy Paglia and she doesn't write frequently enough for my taste. And I like the young women columnists Hoover (Herbert's granddaughter) and S.E. Cupp for their fresh perspectives.
Well, there you have it. No matter your beliefs, I encourage everyone to develop their own lists in order to stay informed and help develop where you stand on the issues that affect us all.
