It might be still too early for this sort of thing, but I’ve skimmed the Fishkite archives to find the best posts, most discussed topics, best comments, and best hatemail of 2006. Also, some of the top stories not blogged in 2006.

I selected 10 entries that I think stand out the most, and yet are still fairly representative of the tone of this blog and of the topics we’ve discussed over the past year. They span the categories of culture, national security, religion, national politics, local politics and media criticism — the palette that pretty much makes up Fishkite.

In chronological order:

1. I kicked off the year with Everlast: What It’s Like (followed later by Some Loose ‘Ends’), which allowed me to vent some frustration with a popular song. As you’ll see below, these two brought me some of the year’s best hate mail, not to mention an off-line comment or two. It turns out people don’t like it when you criticize their favorite songs. Go figure. But my point was that the song doesn’t mean what most people think it means, and maybe it shouldn’t be so highly favored in the first place.

2. February’s best entry was actually posted at the WILLisms.com Pundit Roundtable. The topic: Where do you stand on the issue of letting a Dubai company run American ports? Watch as I skillfully weave in some of my favorite whipping boys. The post even has some staying power, in light of recent news about the 9/11 Commission’s recommendations.

3. In March, I explained why I hate business attire, and why you should, too. Business suits are the perfect fit… for anyone with a death wish.

4. In May, I gave a fisking to Commercial Appeal metro columnist Wendi Thomas with What Jesus said about Marriage. It turns out Jesus is actually quite fond of using “Religious Right rhetoric.”

5. With The Wall, I put on my Lou Dobbs gloves and took a swing at the ignoramuses in the U.S. Senate and at NPR. All things considered, the Republicans probably could have saved themselves by doing more to reform immigration and secure the border.

6. I had fun all summer long with a couple columns by a contributor to the local alternative weekly, but this post got the ball rolling: Memphis Flyer Hack Devotes Column to Fishkite. I love this post as if it were my child.

7. Some overly-boastful comments following the August election offered me a rare opportunity to alienate myself from an entire local Republican club, and I didn’t pass up the chance: SCCRC’s Real Success Rate. And when that didn’t stir up enough trouble, I wrote a follow-up.

8. The last three were written in a busy September, full of charm and promise. First, another chance to ridicule the alt weekly: Paper Rails Against Paper Use. I’m still laughing about this one.

9. Second, following the trail from the religious left to the Islamofascist extreme: Jim Wallis, Sojourners and Hezbollah — an instant classic.

10. Finally, what would Fishkite be without some “pro-war” propaganda? Time for Another Reminder is a good example.

The most striking thing about the five most discussed posts of 2006 is that they tended to spring from the shortest and most unassuming entries.

1. Liberty for Safety: a little jab at some unmannered students and a rhetorical question results in 28 comments, most of them unrelated to the topic at hand.

2. Fishkite Calls CNN: what happens when you post about calling CNN and they admitted to watching Fox News? You get 58 comments telling you the story isn’t newsworthy.

3. Al Qaida in America: eleven words, a little aside, one photo, one link… and 27 comments.

4. Club Endorsements and Party Label Restrictions: 32 comments long, this one takes on a life of its own.

5. More on Amendment One: there were 28 well-deserved comments on this topic, but the amazing part is how the arguing parties make up in the end — quite a rarity online, where most debates turn into poop-slinging and name-calling.

I’m very honored by all the cool visitors who come to Fishkite and leave comments. Here are a few of my favorites; some of them supported my point, others destroyed it, and the rest offered a unique perspective or simply made me laugh:

1. I’m indebted to Trevor Garrett for putting my Cheney Watch series to rest with some inside information. I still don’t like Cheney much, but now I have one less reason to dislike him.

2. I didn’t entirely agree with him, but I was pleased when James Wood cleared some middle ground on the topic of evolution and intelligent design. Middle ground is scarce these days.

3. Patrick Mead is one of my favorite, most encouraging readers. Here’s a comment he left concerning some things Howard Dean was saying about Republicans.

4. Blogger Will Franklin shares my esteem for TIME magazine.

5. MCO encouraged me to be more patient with potential Cubs starters.

6. Local blogger A.C. gets points for solving the riddle behind my temporary header image.

7. Local Republican insider Don Johnson graced Fishkite with a polite rebuttal to my take on the President’s immigration speech.

8. My good friend Neil Chilson offered a gentle correction when I took my immigration rant too far.

9. John Farmer provided a helpful summary of a protracted debate in the comments, as my critics failed to realize that their continued interest in the thread merely served to prove my point.

10. Ben T. proved me wrong in a post about human contact by poking fun at his own allies.

What would a blog be without its critics, detractors and the all-purpose peanut gallery? My thanks to all the people who wrote in opposition to my thoughts, but especially to those who did an exceptionally poor job of it and kept me entertained. So here are the best hateful comments, e-mails and blog posts of 2006:

1. Rob took issue with my Everlast criticism and offered some helpful criticism of his own: “GROW A FUCKING IMAGINATION U NEO-NAZI PRICK. IT’S A FUCKING SONG.” Bob offered an even more succinct rebuttal: “your retarded.”

2. Just sayin’ hijacked my brief post on social security and accused me of “clowning” four separate times.

3. Neo-confederate politician Austin Farley referred to me as an “idiot,” a “communist,” a “liberal” and a “Bush blower” all within the span of a few months. That shows how little he knows — I’m actually just a “nazi prick.” Elsewhere, he also wrote this: “Mick has his head so far up the establishment’s ass he can’t see the light.”

4. Mike Cromer said my arguments were “weak and specious” concerning the Biblical view of marriage and accused me of putting words in Jesus’ mouth. You’ll have to forgive me, Mike, I was just “clowning.” Later, our very tolerant friend wrote to call me “foolish” and to say that the Bush Administration would “Burn. In. Hell.”

5. Stephanie Carr said I needed to “shut up” since my “ass” was not willing to perform on the American Idol finale show. Apparently, if you aren’t a contestant of the program, Stephanie believes you have no right to make jokes about it.

6. Newton left a comment saying the CNN news desk should have hung up on me for asking a simple question. That kind of customer relations would have been more fitting with their news judgment, I suppose.

7. Someone calling himself John Post e-mailed to say I’m a “bigoted scum bag chicken shit fuck,” a “faggot Republican fuck” and to describe Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice as a whore. But I’m sure that John and his liberal friends are otherwise friendly to blacks and homosexuals.

8. This one is not really “hatemail,” but an overly-compassionate visitor named Heather wrote to say that she wouldn’t mind getting a mouth swab “if it will confirm to the mother space unicorn that I’m not her child.” That right there is proof enough for me — Heather is, without a doubt, queen of the space unicorns.

9. Margie Wright (no relation) wrote this: “You are not fit to lick Jack Shock’s boots… Go soak your head in a bucket of buttermilk.” Funny thing is, I hadn’t criticized Jack Shock.

10. Last, some poor fellow named Craig T. Furlong sent me a long, unsolicited rant about 9/11, all centered around the notion that it was an “inside job” because he had proof, PROOF, that two different agencies reported the plane’s impact into the WTC at two different times. Well, obviously it’s a cover-up, because two government agencies can’t possibly have clocks that aren’t perfectly synchronized. When I responded with the helpful suggestion that he consider therapy, he wrote back to say, “All you have is a closed mind that is all made up. Well, that’s your problem, pal. You’re asleep at the wheel like many Americans.” He also said he would add me to his “Blocked Sender list,” to prevent me from wasting his time.

Finally, here are the topics that didn’t quite make the cut, or I didn’t get around to writing about this year. Most of these are collecting dust in my draft folders:

1. A smackdown on CA columnist David Waters for his silly pro-draft article. Waters in short: “I don’t believe in this war, so let’s force people to join the military.”

2. An interview with local gun-brandishing hero Chris Cope, mentioned briefly here. The media got this one wrong, but so did the blogs.

3. An investigation of KIPP charter schools. In short: they’re a great idea.

4. A retrospective on Republican candidate and blogger John Farmer. I still consider him a friend, but I’m afraid he’s lost his mind.

5. A tribute to my favorite uncle, who passed away this summer. With applications to (former) current events, which got a little too heated for my taste when I was pondering this one. Say what? He was a gay Republican. Nuff said?

6. Anne Lamott - Christian author and unhinged liberal who spoke at a church service I attended. She didn’t share the gospel from the pulpit, but rather a meandering, Left-wing, stream of consciousness capped by fear-mongering and pro-abortion solidarity.

7. Numerous Chicago Cubs developments: a new manager, some new players, and Jacque Jones gives a car to his “other family” in Millington. It’s a whole new ballgame.

8. A series on charities, and giving to charity, and how. In short: don’t just give when asked. Plan ahead. Plan to give.

9. A Mahmoud Maawad update. Whatever happened to that terrorist suspect?

10. All the rest: USAID, Social Security, pork spending, Weight Watchers, book reviews, topics remotely related to this blog’s supposed focus on church and state issues, etc.

Thank you all, and bless you.