[Goetz_von_Berlichingen]

I'm not sure I understand why online political chat is supposed to be an insult to democracy. I'm not even sure what he means by "democracy."

Much is made of the fact that anonymous people talk online about topics on which they are not qualified. So? In the American system, millions of people vote, even though most are functionally ignorant of the issues involved. Online chatter, therefore, is perhaps more representative of mass democracy than the author is willing to admit.

[Jim Noble]

This article is a brief, dumbed-down version of Cass Sunstein's very dangerous book, Republic.com, in which he argues for coercive regulation of the political internet.

You are correct, of course-all of this leftist interest in regulation exists because they are losing badly in cyberspace.