Jon Swift Roundup 2024

(The Best Posts of the Year, Chosen by the Bloggers Themselves)

( A Jon Swift picture, or possibly a visual summing-up of 2024.)

Welcome to the 2024 edition. It's been a tough year for many folks, and interesting times loom ahead. But it's always a good time to celebrate independent voices, insightful political commentary, and thoughtful reflections on culture and the arts.

This tradition was started by the late Jon Swift/Al Weisel, who left behind some excellent satire, but was also a nice guy and a strong supporter of small blogs.

The late Lance Mannion provided the definitive description of our endeavor:

Our late and much missed comrade in blogging, journalist and writer Al Weisel, revered and admired across the bandwidth as the "reasonable conservative" blogger Modest Jon Swift, was a champion of the lesser known and little known bloggers working tirelessly in the shadows . . .

One of his projects was a year-end Blogger Round Up. Al/Jon asked bloggers far and wide, famous and in- and not at all, to submit a link to their favorite post of the past twelve months and then he sorted, compiled, blurbed, hyperlinked and posted them on his popular blog. His round-ups presented readers with a huge banquet table of links to work many of has had missed the first time around and brought those bloggers traffic and, more important, new readers they wouldn’t have otherwise enjoyed.

It may not have been the most heroic endeavor, but it was kind and generous and a lot of us owe our continued presence in the blogging biz to Al.

Here's Jon/Al's massive 2007 and 2008 editions (via the Wayback Machine). Meanwhile, our more modest revivals from 2010–2023 can be found here.

If you're not familiar with Al Weisel's work as Jon Swift, his site (via the Wayback Machine) features a "best of" list in the left column.

Thanks to all the participants, and apologies to anyone I missed. (I'd like expand our numbers again, but many bloggers don't list contact information.) You still can join in, by linking your post in the comments. Whether your post appears in the modest list below or not, feel free to promote your best post with the hatchtag #jonswift2024.

As in Jon/Al's 2008 roundup, submissions are listed roughly in the order they were received. As he wrote in that post:

I'm sure you'll be interested in seeing what your favorite bloggers think were their best posts of the year, but be sure to also visit some blogs you've never read before and leave a nice comment if you like what you see or, if you must, a polite demurral if you do not.

Without further ado:

Bark Bark Woof Woof
"Taking Dictation"
Mustang Bobby: "The curious case of the voters in Florida who fled dictators in Latin America only to vote for one here. It's part of a rich cultural tradition. But it's not really good for the American experiment."

Mad Kane's Political Madness
"Trump’s 'Genius' Speeches (3-Verse Limerick)"
Madeleine Begun Kane: "My 3-Verse Limerick mocking Trump's 'genius' oratorical 'weave.' "

Show Me Progress
"Representative-elect Wick Thomas (D) – LGBTQIA+ Townhall Meeting – Kansas City, Missouri – December 8, 2024"
Michael Bersin: "On Sunday night, December 8th, the LGBTQIA+ community in Kansas City, Missouri held a town hall in a supportive establishment on Main Street to address the coming Trump administration. More than 150 people attended the over two-hour standing room only event."

The Professional Left Podcast
"A Good Ol' Fashioned Beatdown"
Bue Gal: "Our most popular episode of the year was the one on the "They're eating the cats, they're eating the dogs" debate... with bonus slagging of Morning Joe!"

driftglass
"Democrats Are the Kwisatz Haderach"
driftglass: "They did it to themselves. And they didn't have to. For 50 years, they had so many different paths open to them, but always they chose the Dark Road."

The Rectification of Names
"God Made a Former"
Yastreblyansky: "At the beginning of the 2024 primary campaign, Donald Trump's people issued a downright Stalinist remake of the old Paul Harvey routine, "God Made a Farmer", to the greater glory of their candidate; this formal parody was my response."

Darwinfish ²
"How to Win the November Elections"
bluzdude: "All we had to do was follow the plan; it was right there for the taking."

You Might Notice A Trend
"The Joy"
Paul Wartenberg: "I could – after the nightmare happening again this November – share an article that is dark and angry. But for a brief moment during this 2024 election cycle, it felt like the Democrats were doing well, doing the right thing, promoting Kamala Harris to the presidency and running a joyous, electric national convention. There was a thrill to the campaign I hadn't seen since 2008."

Just an Earth-Bound Misfit, I
"World War III is Underway"
Comrade Misfit: "The Third World War has begun, for those not paying attention."

The Rude Pundit
"America Is a Floating Island of Garbage"
Lee Papa: "The good guys lost. Goddamnit."

Infidel753
"Further observations on the election"
Infidel753: "My assessment of why the Democrats lost, and what they need to do differently going forward. Left-populist economic policies poll well, but the left's stances on many social issues and on culture are repulsive to mainstream voters."

Mock, Paper, Scissors
"TFG Puts America LAST, Again"
Tengrain: "78-year old career criminal and likely Russian asset Donald Trump congratulates Vladimir Putin for releasing the hostage that he took. He never says so much as "Welcome Home" to any of the repatriated Americans, too. Also."

AnnieAsksYou
"BEYOND A REASONABLE DOUBT—An Acrostic in Praise of Twelve Ordinary Americans"
Annie: "This is my tiny retribution. He may be president-elect, but he’s still a felon convicted on 34 counts by a jury of his peers.

"Lotus – Surviving a Dark Time"
Now What?"
Larry Erickson (whoviating): "It's post-November 5, 2024. What happened? And now what?"

Perrspectives
"Trump’s Top 10 Broken Promises on the Economy"
Jon Perr: "When it comes to his promises on the economy, Donald Trump’s dismal past performance is a guarantee of future results."

First Draft
"Lowbrow Humor, Wicked Satire"
Peter Adrastos Athas: "Mocking the Nazis, Three Stooges style. Nyuk, nyuk, nyuk."

Left Jabs
"Don't Let The New York Times Do Your Thinking"
Left Jabber: "A look at the failure of the New York Times to defend the democracy under which they've thrived."

The Debate Link
"How Awful They Must Be, To Compel Us To Do Such Dreadful Things"
David Schraub: "My one year reflection on October 7, the horrors of that day and the horrors that followed it, and in particular how for some seeing those horrors paradoxically made them more committed to hating, denigrating, and dehumanizing the victims. After all, think of how awful they must be, to have forced us to do such dreadful things."

God's Spies
"What 'The Wire' Teaches About Institutions"
Thomas Neuburger: "Does death make life less sweet? It shouldn’t, and we shouldn’t let it."

Writer Everlasting
"How to Live Longer and Stay Sharper: Be Creative, Find Your Joy"
Ramona Grigg: "It's a theory, with no facts to back it up, but Ramona is old so you should indulge her. If you're the creative type you might just agree."

Bluestem Prairie
"DNA, inbreeding issues: Rusty patched bumble bees' survival may take more than habitat"
Sally Jo Sorensen: "Saving the endangered rusty patched bumble bee, Minnesota's official state bee, may take more than just habitat protection and creation."

This Is So Gay
"What Did You Do in the Woke Wars, Grampa?"
Duncan Mitchel: "The use of "woke", both positively and negatively, continues unabated. Here's why it should be abandoned."

Roy Edroso Breaks It Down
"The People Next Door"
Roy Edroso: "This year I thought I'd pick one from my various comic equities: The Sunday morning show Received Opinion with Bolt Upright? Supervillain Elon Musk? Donald Trump as senile Frank Booth with The Formula? But in the end I went with Sam Alito and his upside-down flag."

alicublog
"Just What Maga v. Taylor Swift Needed: A Little Touch of Dreher!""
Roy Edroso: "These days alicublog is mainly a weekly wrap-up with links to my Substack, but this one's an interesting snapshot from that weird time when conservatives were freaking out over the communist menace of Taylor Swift. Special guest appearance from stock company buffoon Rod Dreher!"

Crazy Eddie's Motie News
"John Oliver examines Clarence Thomas and makes him an offer on 'Last Week Tonight' "
Pinku-Sensei (Vince Lamb): "This was the most read entry of 2024. It's still timely ten months later with the release of the Senate Judiciary Committee report last week. Too bad Thomas didn't accept Oliver's offer!"

Vagabond Scholar
"The State of the Nation (Pre-Election 2024)"
Batocchio: "Assessing the state of things on the eve of the election."

Thanks again, folks. Happy blogging and everything else in 2025.