Take A Peek…..

…at Captain’s Quarters, one of the must-read conservative weblogs on the Internet.

The Captain, Ed Morrissey, has skyrocketed in popularity but it can’t just be explained by his being frequently linked to by InstaPundit and other big conservative sites. The fact is, Morrissey does a couple of things that sets him far apart from many weblogs — conservative, liberal and (we hate to say it) centrist.

For instance, the American media and the emerging Blogtopia shortsightedly ignore foreign affairs. You can’t accuse Morrisey of that. He’s quite diligent in consistently zeroing in on foreign issues, giving you a summary of what’s going on and then giving you his own, blunt but well-thought out take on it. Agree with him or not, he has thought it through and isn’t regurgitating something he heard on the radio or writing something merely to be stylistic.

The same applies for domestic issues. On the Harriet Miers nomination, he stuck by the Bush administration but made it clear he thought it was a terrible choice and a day before Bush withdrew the nomination Miers withdrew her nomination Morrissey said he couldn’t support it because the more he looked into it, the more he didn’t think she was qualified.

Make no mistake about it: he is a Republican, a conservative, and proud of it. But when he does a post he explains why he thinks as he does.

Another strong point: unlike some bloggers on both sides, Morrissey usually sticks to the issues. He doesn’t question the motives, sincerity or beliefs of other people who write weblogs or go after them personally because they happen to disagree with him. He writes about ISSUES and how he differs on ISSUES with political figures or a given blogger. Which is why TMV reads him again and again and suggests you Take A Peek, too.

Of course, many liberals will automatically detest him because of his conservative ideas. Many conservatives will hail him because he has an “R” in front of his name and blasts the left. But TMV reads him because he deals in ideas and writes in a way that makes you think because he is so earnest. Morrissey is also a public speaker and also wrote a great op-ed piece in the Washington Post.

Blogs have ushered in a new era in political debate — creating, in effect, printed word talk radio on the Internet. The WEAKNESS of this concept is the tendency of many readers to only read those with whom they agree — the same “echo chamber” you find on the right and left now on radio talk shows. Captain’s Quarters deserves to be on everyone’s daily reading list — because it’s caffeine for the mind. Even if you’re on the far left and disagree, so what? You’ll survive reading Morrissey making his best case to you. And you’ll be reading posts by someone who can write more than just “liberals, liberals, liberals” or who claims to know the motives or “real” beliefs of writers with whom he disagrees.

Take A Peek at Captain’s Quarters and we KNOW you’ll be taking a daily peek……