Does posting to a public blog versus posting it to Free Republic provide any protection at all from others taking and using it?
I understand what you are trying to do, but I don’t understand how it provides any difference.
When you post to a blog it gets time and date stamped.
A private site, such as FR, it can be argued that the admin changed the date stamp. A huge public site, well, that gets tinfoil hat levels fast if you try to argue it.
I’ve been on both sides of the copyright wars. I’ve been accused of plagiarism and I have had entire articles ripped off.
If it was something I was paid for - which means copyright goes to the person paying, I just report it. Their problem, not mine. I do write the odd pro bono piece for another conservative site and I formally assign copyright to them from time to time. Makes it their problem, not mine.
But my own stuff - I have time and date stamps for everything. I can be a tad possessive at times :) Sticking it up on the blog or google docs leaves a paper trail.