British Bloggers Grow Bolder (Unclear on the concept)

Unlike their American peers, British bloggers are yet to take a major political scalp, but there are signs that the growing community of amateur online pundits is becoming an influential force.

Eason Jordan, the chief news executive of the American television channel, CNN, resigned last week following intense blog pressure after he had made remarks about US troops in Iraq killing journalists.

A study of British political blogs carried out by the Hansard Society last year criticised the UK’s main sites for pandering to "internet connoisseurs rather than ordinary members of the public".

"Political blogging in the UK is much more embryonic and exclusive than in the US," said Ross Ferguson, the new media manager at the Hansard Society.

"UK bloggers have yet to decide whether blogging is a means to promote transparency in politics or another tool for party campaigning."

Mr Jordan's professional demise follows that of Dan Rather, the veteran CBS news presenter, who came under attack after levelling accusations over President George W Bush's military service. The subsequent probe by the channel, triggered by blog reports, led to the departure of four high-level executives from the network.

They need to focus on issues that bother Britons about their liberal government. Let them moan about what bothers them but guide the threads toward conservative solutions. The heart of the lion still beats in Britain and I believe that they will surprise the world. I really think that once the British start thinking about solutions and that any truck driver, teacher, soldier or mechanic is free to offer them, they will get very excited. To give an example, there is a home tobacco growing forum and wine making site in England which is in essence a discussion forum site. The person who runs it started it due to the burdens and restrictions imposed on the common man by the government. The site focuses on solutions to topic related problems. The moderator is both strict and encouraging to his members. I know just from visiting that site that the British can run one heck of a discussion forum with much humor and grace. I look forward to visiting a good conservative British site in the future.

jjbrouwer wrote: I can understand them not liking the Americans but what did they have against Jews?

There were three that were the most vocal, an aging skinhead Oswald-Moseley wannabe, a wacko BNP type and a loony leftist.

They constantly ragged on the Jew, who is a woman university lecturer who used to live in London but now lives in Israel.

It was non-stop needling rather than blatant Juseophobia, and what was disturbing to me was that none of the other Brits except for the sysop rose to her defense.

It was left to the Americans to stick up for her.

I place the blame here: http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=16791

"The current diagnosis is the problem is 1) lack of conservatives; 2) cost of internet access through the British phone system. Why don't they just go to the library, like the poor people do here?"

Actually, 2) isn't really a problem. Most of the Internet providers offer a freephone number so you pay your $20/$25 dollars a month and are hooked up. Broadband is also very reasonably priced.

No need to go to libraries as most towns and cities have a plethora of Internet cafes, which are also very cheap.

I think quidnunc's theory is most accurate - simply, that British people are more interested in chatting and socialising online than they are in engaging in political dialogue.

Also, in Britain there isn't the same sort of contempt for opposition parties as there is in America. Democrats and Conservatives in the US often hate each other. But in Britain, people don't get as worked up about politics and there are far more floating voters. Brits tend to be far more cynical about their leaders and usually vote for the party which will give them the best deal.

I was a regular poster on FreeBritannia, and now post regularly on the Sterling Times forum. I can assure you that most of us are not at all racist, and certainly not anti-semitic.

The site is owned and run by an English gentleman of the Jewish persuasion, and most of our posters are pro-Israeli, rather than pro-Palestinian. All of us value the transatlantic alliance and love our US Cousins, but that does not mean we have to slavishly approve everything the USA does. Please come and visit us to see for yourselves!

The Jewish lady who took offence may have done so for one of two reasons:

Firstly, some of us - and that includes me - rose to the defence of a very young Prince who was silly enough to wear a Nazi uniform at a fancy dress party. We did not approve of his choice, but we thought it was grossly OTT to ascribe anti-semitism to a young man who just wanted to be a bit outrageous;

Or secondly, she may have taken offence at having the fact that not all the victims of the Nazi Holocaust were Jewish, though more than two-thirds of them were.

Quidnunc is missed at Sterling Times, but we rejected his heavy-handed style of moderation and did not want ST to be transmogrified into a very different place. He left in some bitterness, and his views about us are as tinged by this experience as you might expect. Again, visit us and see for yourselves. We welcome US members with open arms!

The last post does not describe my country's political scene at all accurately, IMHO.

We have plenty of political bitterness in this very divided country. The countrymen are very bitter about the socialist townies who have made fox-hunting illegal as apart of their class war; socialists deeply loathe the Conservative party, and still hate Margaret Thatcher in her retirement as much as they hate the present leader, Michael Howard. They characterise Howard as Dracula or Fagin - but they righteously deny hating him because he is Jewish.

The Conservatives have not, traditionally, hated their opponents - but they do now! Just read the "Daiy Mail"! www.dailymail.co.uk

Blair is now as much a hate-figure to the right as Thatcher is to the left, and is ALSO hated by the left wing of his own party.

If the English are in despair about politics it is partly because Blair presides over an utterly skewed democracy. A conservative victory is almost impossible to hope for, because the Tories need a ten percent lead over Labour in the popular vote just to get the same number of MPs into Westminster. And even then, Blair would be kept in power by the third-party Liberal Democrats.
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We Conservatives want rid of Blair and all his works, but the hill we have to climb is a daunting one.

The Scots are grossy over-represented in Westminster, and almost all of their MPs are Labour. They have their own Parliament, and run England also through the Scottish- Labour dominated cabinet.

There is so much on this thread that rings false notes with us English conservatives ... but I had better stop now!

Yes, I forsee another decade of Blairism. I'm not sure if that is a good or a bad thing but neither opposition party has really got its act together.

Fox-hunting isn't really an issue that resonates with the British public as a whole. A lot of the country folk who back fox-hunting are probably died in the wool Conservatives anyway.

Blair's huge majority looks as unshakeable as Thatcher's did in the eighties, even with all the in-fighting in his party. It sounds like you might prefer a more European system of proportional representation in the House.

Anyway, good luck with Sterling Times. I can understand your concerns about over-moderation. On a smaller forum, there is nothing more disconcerting for posters than moderators jumping on your every post. Debate is healthy and no one wants an echo chamber in which everyone agrees with everyone else.

Prince Harry made a silly mistake but he's just a kid. He certainly wouldn't be the first kid to dress up as a Nazi, just the most famous kid.

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