There are times when writing is a sheer joy, an uplifting combination of out of body experience and sexual arousal where all the tumblers click into place as if God ordered the mysteries of the universe to be revealed in a breathtaking cyclorama and one can almost taste colors and smell beauty.

Then there are times when writing really, really sucks.

It’s at those times that, like an addict stealing money from a roommate to feed their insatiable desire for a fix, I must confess to occasionally stealing ideas for articles from others in order to feed this demon of a blog whose screaming desire for CONTENT! CONTENT! is both ceaseless and wearying.

A notable example of my shameless plagiarism of ideas was a post I did a few months ago entitled “Moonbat Blog Taxonomy” where I stole the idea of doing a post on some of the top lefty blogs from a liberal writer (and shall remain nameless here given the nauseating racism and sexism exhibited in the article by the author) who did a hit piece on top righty sites.

This morning, after sitting in front of the monitor for two hours with a blanker stare than usual, my mouth hanging open, settling in its accustomed place to allow for the full intake of oxygen (I am, in fact, a mouth breathing right wing conservative) I happened to click a link on John Hawkins site that led me to this post by Jon Henke at Q & O Blog which reviewed conservative blog sites.

It took a couple of seconds for those tumblers to click into place but eventually I slapped my hand to my head saying “That’s it!” (Note to self: Next time put the coffee cup down before slapping your head, ninny). And since Henke shamelessly stole my idea during the last go-around with liberal sites, perhaps turnabout is fair play in this case and Jon will vouchsafe my theft of his excellent idea.

Mr. Henke approached his subjects from his viewpoint as a libertarian…or is it neo-libertarian…as opposed to a paleo-neo-libertarian like me. At any rate, since Jon was kicked out of the Conservative Book Club a long time ago for being an apostate and mortal sinner, he felt no compunction about criticizing many of the conservative blogs for their shortcomings both real and perceived.

Now Jon is a respected blogger, widely read and justifiably so for the excellent commentary he and his compatriots publish on their site. I however, am not very respected and little known outside of a small circle of people whose computers have mysteriously malfunctioned and permanently frozen on my webpage. The fact that most of them are from foreign countries where English is not usually spoken gives me the confidence to write whatever I please without fear that anyone of any note would ever take offense to anything I said about them since the odds of them seeing what I wrote approach those being laid in Vegas for a Cubs World Series championship next year.

That said, here is my review of some conservative sites that I visit everyday.

INSTAPUNDIT

Glenn Reynolds is a fascinating combination of lawyer, teacher, sage, and geek. Anyone who can start an internet wide discussion on the relative merits of various shaving blades (or lawnmowers, or cameras) deserves serious consideration as a true Renaissance man. One gets the impression at times that Mr. Reynolds is permanently plugged in to the internet with his brain downloading and processing information even as he sleeps. I also believe he is dismissive at times of the religious right and of moral arguments in general as well as being occasionally condescending to those with which he disagrees. Not a deep thinker but appears to have a clear, well ordered mind which manifests itself in his excellent writing ability.

MICHELLE MALKIN.COM

Malkin’s site has actually surpassed Instapundit as the top blog in the ecosystem according to linkage. The reason is that there is no one who has better round-ups of blog and media reaction to The Big Story. Within minutes of breaking news, Malkin has a dozen links to posts that give both information and opinion. It is not empty flattery to say that she is a blogger’s blogger, someone who provides quotable perspective and great links for one’s own blog posts. I’ve never been able to figure out what drives the left to attack her in such despicably viscous ways. Her book In Defense of Internment is one of the most provocative and from my point of view, wrongheaded books I’ve ever read. But the arguments made were I thought, reasonable and well researched. Why the left can’t see past their own myopia and judge the book on its merits instead of their using some of the most vile, personal invective imaginable is beyond my understanding. That said, there are few who wield a sharper pen than Malkin when it comes to exposing the hypocrisy of liberals. Maybe that is what’s got them in a constant lather about her.

POWERLINE

If you’ve read Jon Henke’s review of Powerline, you can see where he doesn’t much care for the trio of attorneys who write for it. I actually thought Mr. Henke was unfair in this case as he criticized specifically their “corrections policy, their interest in criticism, and consistency.” I have seen many corrections on that site as well as responses to criticisms, most recently a thoughtful response to E.J. Dionne. As for consistency, the post Jon linked to trying to equate Clinton and Scooter Libby is a false analogy – at this point. Did Scooter Libby not remember certain conversations or did he deliberately lie to the Grand Jury? There’s no such question about Mr. Clinton’s guilt in that regard.

As for the blog itself, I must confess to being more of a skimmer recently than a reader. Powerline is still the “goto” place for analysis on a Supreme Court decision or other legal issues. And their forays into music and the arts are always fascinating reads. But I now go for politics elsewhere.

LITTLE GREEN FOOTBALLS

If there is something going on in the Middle East that affects America, LGF has the link to the story. Jon Henke rightly says it’s “all anti-Islamism all the time.” I consider the site a valuable public resource that gives a perspective on radical Islam that is missing from media coverage in general. That said, I wish the proprietor of the site Charles Johnson would interject his views more often and in greater detail. And while the vast majority of his commenters (“Lizardoids”) add valuable insights and information to the discussions (many of them scholars in their own right) the level of discourse can be lowered considerably by the occasional knucklehead who spouts bigoted claptrap. To their credit, other commenters usually slap the offender down, something not usually mentioned when liberals write about the LGF community.

HUGH HEWITT.COM

Jon calls Hewitt “the distilled essence of the Party Man.” I suppose he means that as a criticism. The question is, does Hewitt try to hide his party loyalty? If not, what’s the big deal? If Hewitt was trying to pass himself off as a disinterested observer, I can see where such criticism would be in order. Seeing that Mr. Hewitt has on more than one occasion taken both the President and the Republican party to task for a variety of transgressions, Jon’s criticism – if that’s what it is – would be unwarranted. I would say there is a huge difference between Ken Mehlman and Hugh Hewitt.

Hewitt is sometimes called the “Father” of the blogosphere and I generally read him to find out what other bloggers are writing about. Content wise, I have to say that his postings since the election have appeared to be rather desultory rather than inspired. That said, I listen to his radio show where he seems much more animated and interesting. Perhaps that’s where his energies are being directed these days.

Why stop here? First of all, this post is getting tiresome and not very interesting to write which probably means if you’ve come this far with me, you are either really a fan or in some kind of drug induced stupor.

Secondly, if I don’t get this published in the next 10 minutes, I’m going to be late for an appointment. Why not leave a comment about your favorite blog with a short paragraph saying why you like it? I might even put it in an update to this post I’m doing later this afternoon.

Get busy…