Rolling on with our one year anniversary week, here I count down my personal favorite ten items that ran in the last year. I’m not saying they’re the BEST ones necessarily and there are dozens of runner-ups I couldn’t list, but I think this gives a pretty good summation of what the site’s all about.
2nd Runner-Up: Every Entertainment Editorial. I’ve really grown to love “Mindless Mondays” and that goes double for its flagship The Entertainment Editorial. Whether I’m bullshitting about what it’s like to be in the audience of a talk show or giving odds on what shows will survive the Fall season or (God Forbid) watching every one of those shows for reviewing purposes, I can honestly say this may be my favorite thing to write.
1st Runner-Up: All of Red State vs. Blue State. I couldn’t pick just one, so I had to cop out and say all of them. Whether I’m debating housewives or Russians or bar drunks or just regular Libertarians, I try to have fun…try being the key word.
10. “Now What: (Life Post-Grad): America’s Next Top Sucker” http://alabamaliberal.com/archives/6779 TIED WITH “Now What: (Life Post-Grad): The Me Party, How Apathy and Selfishness Empower Fringe Politics” http://alabamaliberal.com/archives/1095 Both tell the story of how far-right conservatives get everything they want because “moderates” or “independents” are so zoned out they just don’t care about even their own bottom lines.
9. “Now What: (Life Post-Grad): Thank You to President Obama For My Health Insurance” http://alabamaliberal.com/archives/626 Although it’s much easier to bash Obama’s competition than recognize that he actually has been a good president so far, I’ve written several pro-POTUS articles, and this one is perhaps the most personal. When people make Obama sound like an outright failure, this is my rebuttal.
8. “The Fast Food Critic reviews The McRib” http://alabamaliberal.com/archives/387 Although there have been several fine fast food reviews, I single out this one just…well…just because really.
7. “Now What (Life Post-Grad): The Vicious Cycle of Experience” http://alabamaliberal.com/archives/318 TIED WITH “Now What (Life Post-Grad): Network Connectivity Problems (What to Do When You Don’t Know Anyone Who’s Useful)” http://alabamaliberal.com/archives/393 Two articles that highlight why our generation’s troubles are unique.
6. “Bubba’s Sex Tips 9: When to Send a Picture of Your Penis to That Special Someone” http://alabamaliberal.com/archives/795 TIED WITH “Bubba’s Sex Tips 1: Who Needs a Big Truck When You’ve Got a Big Penis?” http://alabamaliberal.com/archives/339 People seem to love Bubba or totally ignore that section, and if you read these two items (examining dick pics and over-compensation) you’ll know which one you are.
5. “Sunday’s Sermons: The Black Elephant in the Room and the White Lion on the Rooftop, Why People Won’t Say They Hate Obama because He’s Black but Will Call Him a Muslim” http://alabamaliberal.com/archives/345 There’s been plenty of good Sunday’s Sermons (I’d also draw attention to the time I posed as a black woman on the internet to see how people would treat me or a lot of things on religion) but this is the first and still probably the best. Many items on the site have talked about people hating Obama, but this might do the best job of explaining why and the codes they use to express it.
4. “Working Class Economist: Outsourcing is a Greater Threat to America Than Terrorism” http://alabamaliberal.com/archives/769 TIED WITH “Working Class Economist: Why Alabama’s Fiscal Conservatism Actually Encourages Illegal Immigration” http://alabamaliberal.com/archives/1404 If I had to chose, I would say that “Working Class Economist” is probably the best section on the site that I write. And although there are plenty of good items I could have chosen (I would also point out “Brody Incorporated” where I rebrand myself a corporation to get out of taxes) these two pretty well sum up the biggest problem facing America: outsourcing of jobs and driving down our standard of living to compete with outsourcing.
3. “Interviews with the Invisible: The Illegal Immigrant” http://alabamaliberal.com/archives/873 Although I think WCE is the best item that I write, the interviews are the best item on the site period. Every time I’m lucky enough to get someone to interview what they have to say is usually funny, informative, and always interesting. Nowhere is this more apparent than in this interview that really shines a light on the actual person at the core of a talking point issue.
2. “Interviews with the Invisible: The Veteran Teacher” http://alabamaliberal.com/archives/7011 Picking the “best” interview is almost impossible as all of them have been good (no, really) but this is my personal favorite. Just like with illegal immigrants, it shines a light on the issue of “education reform” and union busting from the perspective of someone never interviewed: the actual, boots-on-the-ground teacher.
1. “Defending Teacher’s Unions, the Most Misunderstood Organization in America” http://alabamaliberal.com/archives/712 As impossible as it is to pick a favorite item out of the hundreds that have run, this was the obvious choice as it’s inarguably the most highly read item I’ve ever run. And the reason it’s popular probably has to do with the same reason I like it: it’s one of the few items on the site that I can say I’m ahead of the curve on instead of just reporting on something that’s already happened. It provides analysis to why everything you think about teacher’s unions is wrong, and tries to help change perception BEFORE something bad happens, rather than waiting around until it’s too late (a la, Iraq War, Bush tax cuts, the Patriot Act, global warming, etc.). And in the end, if this site can have an impact on even one issue, it’ll be worth doing for ten more years.