Michael Yon deserves a landslide

I note with immense satisfaction that Michael Yon is absolutely obliterating the competition for Best Media/Journalist Blog. And well he should. If you have not been reading Yon's on-line dispatches from Iraq (primarily from Mosul), then (a) you should go to the site right now, start on the bottom of the "Previous Dispatches" list with "Showdown in Baquba," and read your way through his entire as-it-happened history of the war in Mosul as waged by the boys of Deuce-Four, and (b) you should not talk about the war in Iraq until you have finished for fear that you will betray your ignorance. If there's anything on the web that is truly required reading for anybody wanting to address some topic, then Michael Yon's dispatches are required reading for anybody wanting to have an intelligent opinion on how the war in Iraq is going. This is first-rate journalism in an extremely high-risk and naturally harsh environment, combined with the innovative technology that makes the web in general such a deadly threat to traditional gate-kept media organs.

So don't forget to cast your vote -- though, given that last time I checked Yon had 1691 votes while the current runner-up had only 899, there's a pretty good chance he'll come sailing through without your help.