Perry de Havilland makes the not-very-interesting point that an individual weblog is not democratic. Of course, a single weblog represents the view of its writer or writers. Within the framework of democracy, a weblog is a vehicle for free speech, which helps citizens articulate ideas and make up their minds.
Following up to the de Havilland article, Jon Lebkowsky talks about the role blogging can play in a deliberative process among citizens.
Blogs help generate broader discussion of ideas. But discussion doesn’t inherently lead to convergence and decision-making. Therefore, we need to have explicit processes for leading discussions to…
* reach conclusions that bloggers can use to advocate within the political process.
* form constituent groups, who can actually aggregate influence, advocacy, votes, and (in our corrupt system), campaign contributions.
I made that ‘not very interesting point’ because I was sick of people telling me they were.
Personally I try to use the blog I manage to bugger up the political process rather than advocate within it… like my intermittent ‘don’t vote’ campaign 🙂
Do you think people really mean that?
Or are they just using imprecise language to say that blogging lets many more people engage in public free speech, which is a key aspect of the democratic process?
Freedom of the press belongs to the one who owns the press. Blogging lets more people own a press.
(and I’m struggling mightily against a kneejerk reaction against don’t vote campaigns; I haven’t read your blog enough understand the subtleties of your point; my parents and grandparents fled dictatorships that massacred their people by the millions, so highly imperfect democracies look a lot better to me than alternatives)
Perry is a Libertarian with a large L – they say things like that.
— Former Doctrinaire Libertarian, now mellow small-l libertarian-leaning liberal
I believe it is of the utmost importance that democrats look not at which candidate they like, but rather at which one can defeat King George II. Our current (P)resident has lied to America, Congress, and the UN. He has spoken on TV while the polls were still open in Fla. He has been accused of overseeing the greatest vote fixing scandal in modern times. He has siphoned billions of dollars to big business with massive tax “relief.” He has allowed the worst attack ever on our nation’s soil, under his watch. He has allowed bin Laden and Hussein to escape capture for 778 and 230 days respectively. He has encouraged the three largest one-year defecits in our nation’s history. He allowed the use of chemical weapons (Anthrax from Ft. Dietrich, a US military installation under his command) against his own people (Tom Daschle, NBC, Nat’l Enq.) He has sent over 300 troops to their death without proving any reason (unless you count speculation, lies, conjecture, and forgeries) for their need overseas. He must be stopped in the name of democracy. We must choose a nominee who can WIN, regardless if he stands for every issue we stand for. No Democrat has won the Presidency in 39 years without first being a Southern governor. Since no Southern governors are running at this time, one must think that governors on the whole might stand a better chance than the collection of Senators who have failed recently (Gore, Dukakis, Mondale.) I believe that Howard Dean stands the best chance of winning because he comes from a small state with a rural population. This man can play in Iowa, Nebraska, the Dakotas, etc. He has more charisma and more integrity than his future opponent. Furthermore, the fact that he is willing to stand up to King Geo. II means he has a lot of courage (considering King Geo. I was Director of the CIA for many years.) If this propensity to attack GW Bush and his fourth reich doesn’t get him killed (ala Wellstone, McDonald, Kennedy x2, etc.,) it may help him win the Presidency. Remember, if an uncharismatic Al Gore had won just one of numerous small states he would be President now, and the fighter jets at Langley, VA might have actually scrambled to get the plane that hit the Pentagon. Just remember the victory is not if your particular favorite wins, but if GW Bush and his cronies are removed from office (and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, as Dean would have it.) Remember all of the lies when you go to the polls.
Do you think people really mean that?