Top of the Blogs: The Golden Dozen #81

Welcome to the 81st of our weekly round-ups from the Lib Dem blogosphere, featuring the seven most popular stories according to click-throughs from the Aggregator (31st August – 6th September), together with a hand-picked quintet you might otherwise have missed.

How about starting with the most popular blog-posting, and we work our way down? Here goes:

1. Tory Council Leader joins Lib Dems on Martin Land’s New Model Army blog.
A warm welcome to a new recruit.

2. Olly Kendall gets it wrong on Andy Strange’s Process Guy blog.
Forget about swimming with the mainstream: “We don’t need to be “responsible” – we need to be liberal and we need to be right.”

3. How Sarah Palin’s Record impinges on her family life on Peter Black AM’s blog.
The Governor of Alaska shows her compassionate conservativism towards single mothers… as long as they’re her daughter.

4. Can anyone identify this guest from the LibDem BBQ? on Sara Bedford’s Always win when you’re singing blog.
A big hand for the guest of honour.

5. Why McCain chose Sarah Palin? on Peter Black AM’s blog.
The potential 45th President of the USA photographed on one of the GOP’s single-mothers hunting expeditions.

6. Chris Bones writes… The Party Reform Commission – taking the Lib Dems forward on Lib Dem Voice.
Don’t forget: if you have any questions for Chris you can ask them in the members’ forum here.

7. Smithson’s view: How can the Lib Dems exploit the Tory “Thatcher tendency”? by Mike Smithson on Lib Dem Voice.
PoliticalBetting.com’s chief pundit advocates Lib Dem love-bombing of David Cameron.

And now to the five slots we reserve under the category ‘well worth reading even if they didn’t get the most clicks this week’. Remember, if you do want to highlight a Lib Dem blog article published in the past seven days – your own, or someone else’s – all you have to do is drop me a line at (providing the web-link and author, and any tagline comment you care to have published).

8. Should I bother? on Tristan Mills’ Liberty Alone blog.
A libertarian Lib Dem ponders his future in the party. (If you visit, do encourage him to stay).

9. Tons More Fun: The Best of the Blogs, As Picked By Their Bloggers on Alex Wilcock’s Love and Liberty blog.
A self-selected Top of the Blogs – which prompts me to ask one question: why do none of you ever bloody nominate yourselves for the Golden Dozen?

10. Selection Committees, uh, what are they good for? Absolutely nothing? on Mark Valladares’ Liberal Bureaucracy blog.
Scrap the committees and hold all-member primaries instead: “If there are a lot of applicants, have an all member run-off to establish a final shortlist of five. It would certainly test the skill and enthusiasm of the applicants, would engage members and, even better, be fun.”

11. Vince Cable regrets “Mr Bean” jibe on Jonathan Calder’s Liberal England blog.
The perils of becoming a political cult.

12. Day 2802: Bull in China Shop on Millennium Elephant’s Very Fluffy Diary blog.
A shout-out to Millennium as some consolation on missing out on his hat-trick of Blog of the Year nominations.

That’s it for this week. Happy blogging, and hope to see you at conference.

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