September 18, 2009

BLOGGER SPOTLIGHT: Moe Lane

Today the Blogometer talks to Moe Lane, who blogs at RedState and MoeLane.com.

(If you're looking for Friday's edition of Blogometer, click here).

Where did you grow up?
Coastal New Jersey (Monmouth County); it is a point of some pride that I've never been inside The Stone Pony, because that's for tourists. Nothing against [Bruce] Springsteen (Greetings from Asbury Park; Nebraska is frankly overrated, except for "Atlantic City").

Where do you live now?
Howard County, Maryland. For those keeping score: Elijah Cummings' district.

If you have an occupation other than blogging, what is it?
My occupation is actually "stay-at-home dad:" blogging is what I do in-between.

What's on your iPod right now?
A combination of sea shanty collections: folk compilations ranging from the 1920s on; 'modern' neo-folk/SCA/traditional music bands; Weird Al Yankovic; and a spoken-word thing that came with iTunes that I keep meaning to delete.

What book do you think every person should read?
Silverlock, by John Myers Myers. It's perfect for encouraging people to actually go out and read Western literature in general.

Please finish this sentence: "When I'm not blogging, you'll probably find me..."
Doing various family-related activities, reading, sleeping, or general geekery.

What has been your favorite blog post, or your favorite story to write about?
Probably my ultimate response to the Great Democratic FISA Cave-In of 2008. I still get hate mail for that one.

Which blogger(s) do you consider indispensable, if any?
Me, of course: both at RedState.com and MoeLane.com. After that -- and the rest of RedState in my reflected glow -- Instapundit, Hot Air, and Ace of Spades are usually on my need-to-keep-track of list; so is Jim Geraghty's Campaign Spot. Dan Collins (of POWIP) and Jim Treacher are on my 'indispensable bloggers who tweet a lot' list. And while I don't really think that Drudge and Real Clear Politics are blogs, they're pretty useful.

Who's your favorite non-conservative blogger?
Technically, the Manolo.

Who's your favorite active politician? Least favorite?
Most favorite: Probably Michael Williams, Texas Railroad Commissioner and possible Senate replacement for KBH. Nice guy and good, solid conservative.

Least favorite: Now that William "...in his freezer." Jefferson's gone? Okinawa Jack Murtha. It takes a lot to make me hang an epithet on a politician, but those two were up to the challenge.

What would you realistically like to see Republicans accomplish in the next year?
Figure out how to turn the conventional wisdom of a 20-30 seat gain in the House in 2010 into a 30-40 seat gain.

If you could give President Obama advice, what would it be?
Break contact. The President made three mistakes: trusting the Democrats in Congress to come up with a workable agenda, assuming that the Republicans would not regroup, and thinking that the goodwill given to him by the populace was infinitely renewable (he also believed all the propaganda written about him, but that's a personal flaw, not a mistake). So President Obama needs to find the moral courage to throw in his cards, abandon the pot, and walk away while he still has some credit with the American people. He actually has a good bit, yet -- but another three months like the last three, and he won't.

Oh, and he should never let a day go by where he doesn't kick progressive Democrats around. It's great fun.

What keeps you up at night?
Since I got the CPAP machine for my sleep apnea? Nothing, really.

Please feel free to ask and answer your own question.
This is always a fun one to toss at people. OK: "Why, Moe? Why?"

Answer: "Because I did, that's why. Deal with it -- and dramatically unstaple your hand from your forehead, while you're at it. It's silly."

Posted by Ian Faerstein at September 18, 2009 02:09 PM