MY Version of the Friday Five Ten

I listen to Hugh Hewitt in the afternoons, since my only other options from a talk-radio standpoint is the execrable Michael Savage. To his tremendous advantage Hugh is highly entertaining and he reads and credits a lot of bloggers on his site, both left and right, often having them on as guests. Yesterday he had a round-table discussion with Glenn Reynolds (who hardly needs another link), James Lileks, and Roger Simon. It was an interesting, intelligent, and spirited discussion, but Hugh asked one question of each of them that I thought I'd ask here. What five blogs (other than those listed above) do you read every day? I read more than five, so I thought I'd list just a few, in the order I peruse them each and every morning:

1. Day by Day - Not really a blog per se, but political commentary and great wit.

2. Lileks's the Bleat - In my opinion absolutely the best "pure writer" on the web. If he decided to write about the phone book, it would be a great read. (Bill Whittle is damned fine as well, but he posts so intermittently that he pales in comparison to Lileks.) I respect good writing and strive to emulate it (though I know I tend to be excessively long-winded and often ponderous. Oh well, that's my style :-)

3. Instapundit. More links to more stuff that interests me than any other site.

4. USS Clueless - Steven Den Beste doesn't post every day, but I check every morning to see if he has, and then check the clock to see if I have time to read it all, or if I must come back and hit it later.

5. Ravenwood's Universe - Ravenwood posts something every single day almost without fail. What he posts is short, pithy, and usually won't be found much anywhere else. And he has a wicked sense of humor that I really grok.

6. Gut Rumbles - I got into blogging because I ran into a commenter at Rob's site and ended up engaging that commenter in a long, drawn-out discussion on the right to arms. Rob's been recently de-linked by a lot of people for excessive use of politically incorrect speech, and there's some serious personal angst being aired there, but he remains an unapologetic, irascible and absolutely entertaining read.

7. Kim du Toit - The first "gun blogger" I ever found, and still one of the best. One kick-ass African-American immigrant who understands what America is supposed to be, and who does his damnedest to hold it to that standard.

8. The Geek with a .45 - The Geek, scheduled to escape the gun control hell that is New Jersey soon, is another outstanding "gun blogger" who posts daily and has things to say that I think are important. On top of that, he writes damned well.

9. The Feces Flinging Monkey - Mike posts sporadically, but when he does you can expect one of two things - it will be unique, or it will be outstanding. Usually it's both, and it's always interesting.

10. And finally, The Curmudgeon's Corner - Francis W. Porretto posts an essay every single day almost without fail (people email him to see if he's OK if he misses one.) Each and every essay is exquisitely constructed, logically rigorous, consistent, eloquent, and blindingly intelligent. I have no idea how he manages it Every. Single. Day. I save Francis for last because he's never overly long and usually topical, and by the time I've slogged through the links from Instapundit, Ravenwood, and everybody else, I'm informed enough to marvel even more at what Francis hath wrought.

And that brings me to a final point: I MISS RACHEL LUCAS! She was one of my top five for a LONG time. Brilliant, witty, acid, and fun as hell, especially when she was ripping asshats a new orifice.

I think we in the blogosphere need to start a FREE RACHEL LUCAS campaign.

What do you think?