To Blog Or Not To Blog
That is the question! Some dismiss the whole trend as irrelevant to themselves and to modern politics. I am here to say these people are wrong. I am certainly not posing myself as an expert. As many of you know I got into this serendipitously, and because of that fact, my arguments have not always been that cogent. But, last night, while trolling through C-Span, I found the answer and an exposition of the power of blogs.
Book TV is at a book fair and interviewing various publishers and authors. I caught the interview with Markos Moulitsas Zuniga, the originator in May 2002 of http://www.dailykos.com/ and the author of a new book Crashing the Gate: Netroots, Grassroots and the Rise of People Powered Politics. This blog gets between 600,000 and one million hits per day (it is even rated by Nielsen) and therefore, is a virtual community of like-minded political junkies. Some of these junkies, importantly without the participation of Mr. Zuniga, have organized a convention in Las Vegas this June to which they have invited various Democrat politicians. The invitees are going to attend and so are 1,500 readers of the Daily Kos. In effect, these people, whose connection began on a blog, have set up a political convention, outside the establishment. When asked if the Kos intends to affect the selection process or let it play out then influence the issues discussed, Mr. Zuniga replied, “the selection.” He will be the keynote speaker. Other speakers will include Virginia’s ex-governor, Mark Warner; retired and ex-Presidential candidate, Wesley Clark; Iowa governor, Tom Vilsak; and DNC Chairman, Howard Dean.
The Kos community, along with http://www.moveon.org/ and other blogs, are changing the face of politics in America. These groups are fed up with Washington Democrats, who they see as ineffective and wrong on the issues. Hillary Clinton is in this group-they do not like her (OK, we agree on something!). Their hero is Howard Dean, who jump started this movement in the 2004 Democrat primaries with his ability to tap the internet for volunteers and money and who is creating a huge controversy within his party. “Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean and the leader of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (Rahm Emmanuel) have clashed angrily in recent days in a dispute about how the party should spend its money in advance of this fall's midterm elections,” according to an article in the Washington Post.http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/10/AR2006051001927.html “...Dean and many state party chairmen...believe that the party needs to be rebuilt from the ground up...Dean has maintained that the party cannot strengthen itself over the long haul unless it competes everywhere.” The article was about an apparently violent and expletive deleted argument between Mr. Dean and Mr. Emmanuel over how to spend party funds. Mr. Emmanuel wants the money now to fund a Democrat take-over of the House of Representatives. Mr. Dean is looking toward the future. In subverting the entire Democrat Party establishment, Mr. Dean has probably taken the right road. It would be foolish of Republicans to believe that this does not affect them, as at the least, it will make the elephant look like a dinosaur to tomorrow’s voters.
The statement made by Mr. Zuniga during the interview that caught my attention had to do with how he says he became a Democrat. He says he spent three years in the Army during Desert Storm and was impressed with the communal structure of that organization that is designed to meet a common goal. He thinks all society should operate like this. This is not only antithetical to conservative values; it is really subversive for a free, democratic and capitalist society. After all, a military is dealing daily with issues of life and death, security and intelligence. In addition, every wholly socialist society has either failed outright, or at a minimum, has left the majority of its citizens behind. Mr. Zuniga says he is for opportunity and against the selfish conservative and capitalistic idea of individualism. Yet, the destruction of self-interest in socialist societies has always limited opportunities to the elite and never afforded it to the masses. Cuba may have universal health care (unless of course you are of African descent), but masses of Cubans have no job opportunities and cannot even afford new shoes. The Danny Glovers and the Harry Belafontes of this world, who have plenty of resources and who are not among the left-behind, find these ideas irresistible.
For a dose of some opposition thinking you can go to http://www.instapundit.com/, a blog begun by Glenn Reynolds in 2001. Unlike the daily Kos, Instapundit is not politically partisan, but it does espouse more conservative, often libertarian views. Mr. Reynolds has also written a book, Media, An Army of Davids: How Markets and Technology Empower Ordinary People to Beat Big Media, Big Government and Other Goliaths. This is more in tune with American society For a history of blogs you can go to http://www.law.yale.edu/outside/pdf/Public_Affairs/ylr50-2/Reynolds.pdf. In addition there is http://http://littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/, and those guys in jamies who brought down the mightly Dan Rather. It is a good idea to get some idea of how these blog creatures work in order to maximize their effectiveness for a specific purpose and of course it is always a good idea to know what the opposition is saying. Several printed publications, such as National Review have blogs, but again they are not conducting partisan grassroots operations, and this is what I am looking for and what the GOP needs.
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Book TV is at a book fair and interviewing various publishers and authors. I caught the interview with Markos Moulitsas Zuniga, the originator in May 2002 of http://www.dailykos.com/ and the author of a new book Crashing the Gate: Netroots, Grassroots and the Rise of People Powered Politics. This blog gets between 600,000 and one million hits per day (it is even rated by Nielsen) and therefore, is a virtual community of like-minded political junkies. Some of these junkies, importantly without the participation of Mr. Zuniga, have organized a convention in Las Vegas this June to which they have invited various Democrat politicians. The invitees are going to attend and so are 1,500 readers of the Daily Kos. In effect, these people, whose connection began on a blog, have set up a political convention, outside the establishment. When asked if the Kos intends to affect the selection process or let it play out then influence the issues discussed, Mr. Zuniga replied, “the selection.” He will be the keynote speaker. Other speakers will include Virginia’s ex-governor, Mark Warner; retired and ex-Presidential candidate, Wesley Clark; Iowa governor, Tom Vilsak; and DNC Chairman, Howard Dean.
The Kos community, along with http://www.moveon.org/ and other blogs, are changing the face of politics in America. These groups are fed up with Washington Democrats, who they see as ineffective and wrong on the issues. Hillary Clinton is in this group-they do not like her (OK, we agree on something!). Their hero is Howard Dean, who jump started this movement in the 2004 Democrat primaries with his ability to tap the internet for volunteers and money and who is creating a huge controversy within his party. “Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean and the leader of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (Rahm Emmanuel) have clashed angrily in recent days in a dispute about how the party should spend its money in advance of this fall's midterm elections,” according to an article in the Washington Post.http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/10/AR2006051001927.html “...Dean and many state party chairmen...believe that the party needs to be rebuilt from the ground up...Dean has maintained that the party cannot strengthen itself over the long haul unless it competes everywhere.” The article was about an apparently violent and expletive deleted argument between Mr. Dean and Mr. Emmanuel over how to spend party funds. Mr. Emmanuel wants the money now to fund a Democrat take-over of the House of Representatives. Mr. Dean is looking toward the future. In subverting the entire Democrat Party establishment, Mr. Dean has probably taken the right road. It would be foolish of Republicans to believe that this does not affect them, as at the least, it will make the elephant look like a dinosaur to tomorrow’s voters.
The statement made by Mr. Zuniga during the interview that caught my attention had to do with how he says he became a Democrat. He says he spent three years in the Army during Desert Storm and was impressed with the communal structure of that organization that is designed to meet a common goal. He thinks all society should operate like this. This is not only antithetical to conservative values; it is really subversive for a free, democratic and capitalist society. After all, a military is dealing daily with issues of life and death, security and intelligence. In addition, every wholly socialist society has either failed outright, or at a minimum, has left the majority of its citizens behind. Mr. Zuniga says he is for opportunity and against the selfish conservative and capitalistic idea of individualism. Yet, the destruction of self-interest in socialist societies has always limited opportunities to the elite and never afforded it to the masses. Cuba may have universal health care (unless of course you are of African descent), but masses of Cubans have no job opportunities and cannot even afford new shoes. The Danny Glovers and the Harry Belafontes of this world, who have plenty of resources and who are not among the left-behind, find these ideas irresistible.
For a dose of some opposition thinking you can go to http://www.instapundit.com/, a blog begun by Glenn Reynolds in 2001. Unlike the daily Kos, Instapundit is not politically partisan, but it does espouse more conservative, often libertarian views. Mr. Reynolds has also written a book, Media, An Army of Davids: How Markets and Technology Empower Ordinary People to Beat Big Media, Big Government and Other Goliaths. This is more in tune with American society For a history of blogs you can go to http://www.law.yale.edu/outside/pdf/Public_Affairs/ylr50-2/Reynolds.pdf. In addition there is http://http://littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/, and those guys in jamies who brought down the mightly Dan Rather. It is a good idea to get some idea of how these blog creatures work in order to maximize their effectiveness for a specific purpose and of course it is always a good idea to know what the opposition is saying. Several printed publications, such as National Review have blogs, but again they are not conducting partisan grassroots operations, and this is what I am looking for and what the GOP needs.
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posted by Gunston Hall Moderator at 9:54 AM
2 Comments:
The power of blog sites are undeniable. I am a busy civil litigator in Northern Virginia and a political junkie. My daily routine is to review read the leading liberal and conservative newspapers online in the morning to get an idea of the most commericial news topic. Then, at lunchtime and at the end of the day I read the blog to truly discover the truly newsworthy topics and the thoughts and opinions of the grassroots. To underestimate the importance of blog sites is to be alive in the 21st century and deny the importance of the computer or color television. Happy Blogging All!!!
Nice site, Thanks.
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