Congrats big time, Kate!

Speaking of Sarah Palin, I don't know why, but earlier today I was reflecting upon two acquaintances I'd lost because of her. Both of these acquaintances were women, one Canadian, one American. When I saw each of them continuously making vicious comments about Palin and her religion, I asked each of them a simple question: "You would never dare make such derogatory comments about Blacks or Asians or Jews. So why is it okay to do so with Christians?"

Neither of them could tolerate me "daring" to ask such a thing and haven't spoken with me since. The Minds of the Left - an endless riddle!

P.S. Not sure if you're yet written about this this from Mark Steyn. Nice words said about you therein!

Good on ya Kate, and all the rodents that voted.

K

Congrats Kate. SDA is, and will continue to be, my favourite blog. Not because of any silly award it's won, but because it always has the best topics, best leader, best discussions, best links and of course the best supporters. Not bad for a little blog out of Saskatchewan eh.
Keep up the good work.

Kate, I am so pleased for you...and for conservative Canada.

When I think about a Saskatchewan blog with a dead gopher on it consistently un-doing the starched progressive wisdom of the day, it takes me to a tiny phrase in a very old book: "Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools"

It is all so very right, this blog of yours.
Congratulations.

Congratulations from one of a thousand "lurkers". Part of the strength of a blog lies in the silent majority who doesn't always debate in the comments. I show up, I read, and on the rare occasion I comment.

But, mostly I think about what I read. And I vote. Politicians should be so inspirational.

Congratulations on your well deserved win. And congratulations to the Ace of Spades HQ. That was a hell of a battle.

A couple of years ago I said to Kate; sda is the Drudge of Canada, only better. Kate modestly laughed and said she would never be on the scale of a Drudge.

Never say never.

Congratulations Kate!

well done Kate for once I don't mind being called a sda rodent! You rock girl!

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!!!

Well deserved.

I thought that conservative thinking was well represented throughout the "best in nation" part of blog awards.

Totten in Middle East category, , Levant in Canada category (with FFF second), Reference Frame in Europe. And Melanie Phillips nearly won the best UK blog.

It's an encouraging sign. It tells me that principled conservatism is in the ascendancy in terms of thoughtful and thought-provoking bloggery.

And I had never gone to Ace of Spades before. It's a very good site.

I couldn't be prouder of the accomplishment here. Congrats.

I feel strangely Canadian at this moment. Very well done.

So does the Dodge get Kevlar reinforced tires now?

For the first time in my life I'm finally proud to be Canadian.

Congrats, Kate. Morons and Rodents. Arise and go forth!

I ain't got no quarrel with no Ace - but I voted for you anyway.

I say! Jolly good show, Kate!

Congratulations: I remember reading on the blog site of one of your competitors south of the 49th, he said "internet polls really don't mean much" and his site was way behind too. Obviously his readers felt the same as they didn't vote.

mike

Congrats Kate from an old Boilermaker we have found a forum and our voices will go forward to borrow from "tiny tim" "god bless us every one"
Cheers Bubba & Bubbette

Excellent! Kate the power of your blog is that you present ideas that spark debate, and you are unfailingly Conservative, this leads to loyalty in your readers (fellow rodents). A well deserved win.

Great job, Kate, well earned! Always time well spent at SDA.

Congratulations Kate on your win!

robert w at 9:18,
by any chance do these women think they are being clever and demonstrating their superior intellect by joining with the rest of the mob in a smear job against a woman who doesn't play the victim card? I wonder if it ever occurred to any of these Palin hating females that if they dared to stray from the herd once in a while they could bust through that so called "glass ceiling"

oops forgot to add congrats to Kate. SDA rules!

Bravo and congratulations Kate for some well deserved respect and hard earned recognition. For all the newcomers here at SDA would you mind telling the story of the (pictured) small dead animal and grandpa's old gun?

Tt Lee H this evening. He didn't know you had won. He was really pleased and wanted to thank you for the traffic on the urban reserve piece. We all think a lot of you and your site for not being politically correct about issues that matter. You wlll say in the open what most people say only in the safety of their homes.
Scott

Kate - 9:09 pm - "The truth is that there is no "what's next."

Kate, as an unabashed supporter, I cannot accept the notion there is no "what's next" for you.

There is too much need and desire for a conservative voice in Canada and all the better that it is a young independent woman's conservative voice.

Your success for the past four years as the best Canadian Blog and now best Conservative Blog North America is testament to that.

You may not seek a "what's next" and the internet is fine, for now, but you have much more to offer and you must have a larger audience, and we conservatives demand it.

Once again, congratulations Kate, you are the BEST!

Well done, Kate. Keep going.

MM

i'm going to miss the hobo hunts....the throat searing truth of valu-rite vodka....the thrill running up my leg being called a moron daily(which i are)...

but the truth was small dead animals was a titch more rewarding than AofS hq......and the reason was of course in a small yet aggregate way my "adding my mite to the pavilion..."

and of course you're more than welcome...service compris !

Congratulations from a fellow "stubblejumper".

May I add SDA is to the weblog community as Rush Limbaugh is to talk radio; the internet version of the Institute of Advanced Conservative Studies!

Mega dittos!

Congrats Kate! I love this site!!
Oh and to Canadian Sentinel, once it was clear that Ezra was running away with it I voted for you every time so you could beat the leftists! Wait to go!

Congratulations Kate

"It's passionately interesting for me that the things that I learned in a small town, in a very modest home, are just the things that I believe have won
the election."

Margaret Thatcher

WELL DONE! Congratulations from one of your Yank fans.

From a fellow Saskatchewan Girl (now living in BC): Kate, I'm so proud of you! We need you to keep doing what you're doing! Congratulations!

And that Gopher youtube video rocks! THAT put you over the top!

Well done. Any one of eight of the finalists would have been fine with me, but since I'm a big Mark Steyn fan and he links to you regularly, and I liked what I saw here, I pulled the handle for you a few times.

Another Yank admirer

PS. Please send heat; it's cold in Iowa!

Congratulations, Kate from a frequent reader, rare commenter, and sometime disagreer.

Way to go, Kate!

This is the future of journalism. As your site query showed, you have a diverse "audience". Many of us can't spend as long online looking for news or items of interest as we might wish. When that happens, we look for folks who have a good eye to sort through the drek and find things of interest for us. Yours and Anthony's are the only two blog sites I'll regularly check to see watt's happening in fields that I'm interested in (typo?). I hope that the increased notice and inevitable surge in viewers leads to more profitable ads (for you) and more time available to hunt for those elusive interesting stories online.

steve, you're lookin' in the wrong place for that.

Steve, check over at http://wattsupwiththat.com
They'll help you find all the missing heat that Al Gore promised.

Unless it's just hot air after all.

Raymi the Minx... Have to admit that I stop in every once in a while... It's like watching a train wreck... A really, really well documented train wreck...

Congratulations, that is no mean feat to beat out established US blogs, considering the disparity in populations. Congratulations also to Ezra and Kathy Shaidle.

It gives me hope that candidates will learn that if they give the electorate a good reason to vote for them, the people will mobilize and vote against overwhelming odds.

I wonder if the federal conservatives will learn and start governing like conservatives? Then I will vote for them again, at this point that is kinda doubtful. As for the liberals in BC, you won't get my vote again until the carbon tax is removed. There is also a big message there for the republicans.

Conservative voters will work their butts off for you guys, but you have to motivate us with conservative policy and action.

Well deserved! Thanks for all the time you put into this very educational blog.

Congrats Kate.

I never visited blogs up until about 6 months ago, and yours is the first and only one I now frequent. I enjoy your topics, your comments, and above all your wit.

Keep up the great work!

Congratulations Kate, don't stop !

You'd clean up in any election.

Thank-you and congratulations Kate.

Like Colin, you were my first, and are the only blog I visit. I guess once you've had road kill you can't go back to filet mignon.

In addition to the plethora of well deserved compliments, I would like to add that on a daily basis you gather the most impressive group of people anywhere. That is truly priceless.

I forgot.

"Black is white, up is down..."

Grand Slam!

Congratulations Kate!
We showed them Yanks who's boss!!! :D

Congratulations Kate!

Ace's site is great but smalldeadanimals put a beat down on the Hobo Hunters.

Congratulations Kate - this is a proud day for you and and for your gallant rodent army (that would be all of us). Congratulations to Ezra too! BTW, you have a fine Blog, Ace and you really gave SDA a run for the money. This would have had no meaning if there had not been such formidable competition. Four years from now, I think that you, Americans, will understand why Canadian Conservatives are so motivated.

Good on ya' darlin'. Enjoy the winter and here's hoping your wood pile is a thing of beauty.

Regards,
Pat

A large Bravo Zulu from this ol sailor m'lady!!

sda, that small bit of sanity in each and every day.

As a side note, Beck's first guest on Fox on Monday will be a beauty of the north who knows which end of a rifle to point at the game. Unfortunatly it is not our Kate, but it is Governer Palin. 5PM Eastern!

Thanks, Melissa, for the strategic voting for me once Ezra's victory was a guaranteed slam-dunk. I endorsed him for number one right from the beginning myself.

Others tell me they also voted for me to ensure that us conservatives would keep the Leftists out of the top positions (Redneck Mommy's non-partisan, so she doesn't count as either conservative or leftist). Thanks also to Kate for suggesting this strategic voting as an option. We conservative Canadian bloggers/readers/commentors win as a group... it's a shared victory, actually. Yet another reason to feel good about being Canadian since those awful Liberals were defeated in '06 and again in '08.

I'm pleased to have done my part to send a message to our Leftist blogger friends that their message isn't going to win them anything except a little automatic agreement from the noisy, dazed-and-confused Leftist minority.

All in all, it was really fun and exciting, plus I get another cool little "finalist" badge to display on my blog... too bad there wasn't some kind of prize, like money, a new 4X4, or perhaps a date with a hot, smart, conservative woman... mmmm!

Thanks, Melissa, for the strategic voting for me once Ezra's victory was a guaranteed slam-dunk. I endorsed him for number one right from the beginning myself.

Others tell me they also voted for me to ensure that us conservatives would keep the Leftists out of the top positions (Redneck Mommy's non-partisan, so she doesn't count as either conservative or leftist). Thanks also to Kate for suggesting this strategic voting as an option. We conservative Canadian bloggers/readers/commentors win as a group... it's a shared victory, actually. Yet another reason to feel good about being Canadian since those awful Liberals were defeated in '06 and again in '08.

I'm pleased to have done my part to send a message to our Leftist blogger friends that their message isn't going to win them anything except a little automatic agreement from the noisy, dazed-and-confused Leftist minority.

All in all, it was really fun and exciting, plus I get another cool little "finalist" badge to display on my blog... too bad there wasn't some kind of prize, like money, a new 4X4, or perhaps a date with a hot, smart, conservative woman... mmmm!

To a fellow Saskatchewanian, congratulations Kate. This is my little piece of sanity in a world gone mad. Thank you for that.

Kate:

You got shouted out on the Global Saskatoon Evening News last night by that lispy girl with the blonde hair.

Kate:

You got shouted out on the Global Saskatoon Evening News last night by that lispy girl with the blonde hair.

Victory is ours. Nice job Kate, clarity and vision in a sea of poliically correct insanity.

Congratulations Kate and all.

Top Conservative blog bar none. And let the Philistines stew.

Even Ace is congratulating Kate

Top Headline Comments 01-16-09
—Gabriel Malor

Also: Congratulations to Small Dead Animals for winning Best Conservative Blog. It was a well-fought fight. Thank you to everyone for voting (and voting and voting and voting). I'm looking forward to next year's contest.
Posted by Gabriel Malor at 09:17 AM New Comments Thingy

Yesterday I was at a Fraser Institute lunch event here in snowy Vancouver with honoured guest speaker Preston Manning (introduced as the "Brad Pitt" of Canadian politics). He gave a very thorough presentation of the current state of Canadian politics and I kept thinking what a nice and decent man - why isn't he still in politics? Then it hit me. The reason I like Kate and Ezra and Kathy and Mark Steyn and Sarah Palin is that they are not nice - they kick ass and take no prisoners.

I am sure they are nice with their families and friends but in the public sphere they are unapologetic advocates for Conservatism and think there is nothing wrong with metaphorically punching you in the mouth if you deserve it - ie most lefties. There is a word for nice Conservatives like Joe Clark, Robert Stanfield and even John McCain (who did not want to attack the Big Zero for fear of being called a Racist) - that word is LOSER. There are way to many cheek turning conservative "Christian" politicians out there - Yawn. A salute to the WINNER Kate and all here fellow CONSERVATIVE WARRIORS.

While I was checking out Andrew Sullivans blog, I noticed this:
"The Dish enters its ninth consecutive year as Best Blog in the Weblog Awards 2008"
Kate gets bumped out of "Best Canadian Blog" because you are no longer able to win more than three years in a row. What is up with that? As "Best Blog, I guess they have no where to bump you to? I think there was some mention of a "Canadian Hall of Fame Blog" icon for the SDA marquis. Should not Sullivan have been bumped out into "Hall of Fame" status and give someone else a shot at "Best Blog"? Just wondering? Actually I'm thinking ahead to when Kate gets bumped out of Best Conservative Blog" after winning it many times in a row and has to compete for "Best Blog"! Congrats Kate on an impressive blog and an equally impressive campaign.

Kate said; "Had conservatives in the US worked as hard at "getting out the vote" as the SDA Nation did this week, you might be getting ready to welcome Vice-President Sarah Palin today."

You know that's true, and we tried hard, Good God we tried, but the fix was in and most Conservative Republicans and Moderate Liberals just could not stand McCain, McCain killed us, he was not electable, and I got banned for life on Lucianne for telling them so on a daily basis.

But, I am proud for you Kate, and if I had some small part in your success it was damn well worth it.

Also long time reader and fan. Congrats Kate! SDA is the first site I check into everyday. Pls keep up the excellent work!

Congrats Kate! Keep up the great work.

OK, Vitruvius, let's see an examination of the vote for Best N. Am. Conservative Blog, by SDA webstats.

What percentageof daily site visits generated a vote?

etc

Kate Kate Kate Kate!

Excellent contest. Well fought Ace, and well won Kate. I think the dead gopher HOPE poster was a big factor. I HOPE it sticks to the SDA front page.

Sometimes have to make tough choices, like do we want to be right or do we want to win? During the last election some Republicans felt it was better to be right about John McCain and so they and their votes stayed home. That is a highly principled move but the costs are huge too. Politically, Canadian Conservatives have (hopefully) learned (the hard way) that first things come first. It is much better to take the disagreements and the fight to ones opponents and to win elections than it is to always be right on each and every issue. Kate and SDA are the best because she does both. She is right on the issues AND she wins. :0)

That's exactly right Patrina, being the 2nd son from my Mothers 2nd Broken Marriage, I was trained to except dis-appointments at an early age and move on which is why voting for McCain was not an option for me. I vote Republican he was the Candidate.

But, the one thing that stuck with me (Thanks Mom) is if you want something really bad, fight for it.

And, one more time, just for the hell of it,

CONGRATS Kate !!!!

ps. can you spot me a $20, I spent all my money partying the nite you won, ;-)
,

Andrew Sullivan?

Isn't he a Trig-troofer?

Yup

Had conservatives in the US worked as hard at "getting out the vote" as the SDA Nation did this week, you might be getting ready to welcome Vice-President Sarah Palin today.

But they couldn't because they weren't running a conservative candidate and their incumbent president had not done anything conservative on the domestic front.

Only Sarah Palin made this election at all close.

Great. Excellent. Now, one last push for a federal majority.

Ratt @ January 16, 2009 2:54 PM

Maybe you should try donating a negative ammount to Kate on Paypal?

Congrats and well-deserved, Kate.

"Speaking of Ace - the morons are great competitors, and what a great blog site. I don't stop there nearly enough."

FWIW, I'm a pretty regular AoSHQ moron and I...um...voted for both sites. :-p

Had conservatives in the US worked as hard at "getting out the vote" as the SDA Nation did this week, you might be getting ready to welcome Vice-President Sarah Palin today.

Indeed. Thank the gods flying monkeys only get one vote in the real world. Be that as it may, congrats on being voted the tallest munchkin in munchkinland.

Again, I say "Yay, Kate". Keep punching holes.

Congrat's Kate. The best Conservative blog won. I just logged in since the 13th. You put it out there Kate and the commenter's have their say, it has been entertaining, informative, educational and you have been my starting page for a long time now. Keep up the great work.