This Sunday I’m focusing on three blogs by Pennsylvanians: Kelley Smith, Scott Ott, and Skye. 

Kelley Smith, a senior political science at Grove City College, does http://kelleysblog.townhall.com.  Kelley, a summer intern at Townhall, is new at blogging. She doesn’t yet have one of the best blogs, but it’s a good one, and she shows great promise. 

Her first three blogs are titled:  "I'm Conservative Because"; "Flying the Gay Old Skies"; and "The Fine Line Between Judgment and Opinion."

Kelley's a talented young writer but has an occasional tendency toward verbal sloppiness.  She needs, for example, to remember the difference between the possessive "its" and the contraction “it’s” ("it is”).

I like the fact that she's willing to examine her conservatism in an effort to find out why precisely she embraces that point-of-view.  She avoids Christian judgmntalism, especially as it relates to gay and lesbian people. 

Her comments on judgment and opinion reminded of Pat Moynihan's famous comment:  "We have a right to our opinions, but we don't have a right to our own facts."  We live in a country overloaded with "opinions" -- one of the dubious contributions of "talk radio" -- and underloaded with facts. 

On the "gay" issue: Kelley's bright enough to discover that one of the major failings of conservatives has been a tendency to dismiss various groups as unworthy of the "movement," including Blacks, gays, lesbians, working women, and -- recently -- Hispanics.  That's an approach which will end up making conservatives a permanent minority, one that complains ceaselessly but has little influence.

(I read yesterday that the gay vote -- 4% of the electorate -- was the reason Bush won the presidency in 2000.  Nationwide, Bush got 23% of that vote.  As you remember, he won the crucial state of Florida by roughly 600 votes.  Without the efforts of gay Republicans in FL, Al Gore would have won the election.) 

One concept I hope Kelley tackle in a future column is the tendency of some conservatives to rely on buzz-words ("liberal . . . feminist . . . amnesty") and slogans ("gay agenda . . . Rudy McRomney") rather than discussing issues. 

She’s a work-in-progress but is off to a good start with her blog. 

A truly superb blog is one by Scott Ott:  http://scrappleface.townhall.com.  This is a very funny man, a conservative counterweight to someone like Jon Stewart.  Few people on Townhall know that Scott exists, and that’s a real shame.

As someone who's tried, I know that writing good humor -- funny, insightful stuff -- is difficult.  Scott Ott (great name for a humorist) is excellent.
 
Here’s how he describes himself:  “Scott Ott is editor-in-chief and anchor overseeing the vast editorial staff of ScrappleFace.com, the daily news satire site which covers the globe like a patina of dental plaque. Author of the good-selling book, Axis of Weasels, Mr. Ott works from an undisclosed location where he is crafting his next book, tentatively titled The Lost Speeching of George W. Bush.

His most recent piece on his blog is "Poll: Majority Say Paris Hilton's Plight Good for America"

In it, he quotes a (fictional) resident of Pittsburgh as saying, "Just knowing that rich, famous, beautiful people can be miserable, pathetic losers gives me hope that my own troubled existence may have meaning.  I can't get enough of this story on TV.  Every moment is like a multivitamin for my ego." 

He adds, "Researchers say their findings show: 'What's bad for Paris Hilton is good for America.'"

He continues, "The CBS News/New York Times survey showed that 58 percent of Americans were willing to see Ms. Hilton suffer further disgrace, prolonged imprisonment, or even death for the good of the nation."
 
In another column Scott informs us that, in response to appeals that he pardon Scooter Libby, President Bush instead pardoned (former State Department official) Richard Armitage, "who actually leaked Valerie Plame's name to the media."

Writing about the problems Democrats are having with Iraq War funding, he gives some tips from Hillary and Obama on saving money, including having the military use the "economical Toyota Priuses" rather tan "gas-guzzling HumVees." 

When you visit Scott's site, check out some of the comments.  At least two of the respondents (including one outraged Mormon) seem to have no idea that he's writing humor.

Please visit Scott frequently.  Why on earth Townhall doesn't have him doing regular columns for it is beyond me.  His talent enables him to make us look at some tired news stories in new ways, and that's a major contribution. 

Townhall delights in publishing the geriatrics of the conservative movement, Wm. F. Buckley, Jr., Bill Rusher, pat Buchanan, and others who long ago ran out of interesting things to say.  Conservatism badly needs some fresh blood.
 

The third Pennsylvania blog I recommend is Skye’s Midnight Blue, a dedicated web site that has a link from Townhall:  http://midnightbluesays.blogspot.com.

Midnight Blue is a creation that deserves the designation of “gorgeous,” with its rich and colorful array of colors, images, and words.

Skye Describes herself as a “conservative Democrat,” which I guess makes her a member of a rather small minority group.   She says that attachment “makes life interesting in Philadelphia,” a major stronghold of liberal Democrats. 

If you want to do a blog – and have lots of money to spend on professional designing – you might come up with something as good as Midnight Blue, but I doubt it.

Please take a look at this site to get a sense of the “limits of the possible” in blogging.  You won’t regret it.