Blog Awards

Much to my surprise, it looks like I won two blog awards while I was out of the country. I’d like to say I’m thrilled, but I don’t think I really deserve either of them.
The first is for Favorite Left-of-Center blog from Right-Wing News, a dubious honor if ever there was one. (No offense to site owner John Hawkins, but it is a bit awkward, you know?)
I also won the Best Liberal Blog over at Wizbang.
I appreciate the nominations and the votes. How could I not? But look. I’m not really left-wing anymore. I suppose I’m still slightly left-of-center; I’m going to vote for a Democratic Congress next year and I’d rather vote for a hawkish Democrat than for George W. Bush. But when you really get down to it, I’ve left the left. Not for the right, but for the middle. I’m an independent, a moderate, a centrist, an apostate, whatever.
During the 1990s my hawkish foreign policy views were a nice fit on the left. Isolationists were at home on the right. But the two sides flipped after September 11. Since the Democrats ran away from their prior convictions and I stayed right where I was, it seems to me ridiculous to say I’m the one who’s a heretic. But whatever. Ultimately it doesn’t matter who changed and who didn’t. The point is that I’ve parted ways with the left on the biggest question of our time.
I think I would have a much harder time winning a Best Centrist Blog competition. Roger L. Simon and Matt Welch would almost certainly cream me. But if anyone does feel like nominating me for something else in the future (and I profusely thank those who supported me this time), please bear this in mind.
Thanks, folks!
UPDATE: Oops. Looks like the Wizbang voting isn’t finished yet, so I may not actually win that one. Sorry! I didn’t pay close enough attention. I’m still a bit out of it and trying to catch up…