'Blogs' shake the political discourse

The Boston Globe ^ | 7/23/03 | Joanna Weiss

[Gothmog]

Oliver Willis, 25, doesn't match the old-school profile of political influence. He's not a rich man or a player in Democratic circles; in the 2000 presidential campaign, the most he did was purchase a Gore/Lieberman hat.

But he has a political platform of his own, a website called oliverwillis.com, which he runs from his sparsely furnished apartment in Dedham. And when he posted an essay there, promoting former Vermont governor Howard Dean for Democratic nominee, he drew a flood of comments from people he had never met. When Oliver Willis talks, it turns out, the blogosphere cares.

[Gothmog]

From this article it would seem Dean and Dems dominate political discourse on the 'net. FR isn't a blog, it's better, but not even a mention.

[finnman69]

speaking of blogs.....

I recommend to all Freepers


http://www.instapundit.com/

http://www.polipundit.com/

[mewzilla]

Well, this is from the Globe :)

[steplock]

There's always ...
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www.arkansas2004.com Vote Democrat! ;>)
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Focus on Freedom
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Arkansas Publik Skulz
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[stainlessbanner]

blogs are overrated.

let the dems write blogs while the conservatives win the election.

[steplock]

That HAD to be a higher power telling me NOT to advertise web sites!

ONLY the first one is a SPOOF site suitable for the text of this string.

Mea Culpa, mea culpa.

[lelio]

Ron Schmidt, a Dean supporter from Minnesota, said blogs give him ammunition for water cooler chat. ''I work on people at the bus stop and work,'' he wrote in an e-mail to the Globe. ''I have the information, and that's what the blogs have given me . . . the POWER.''

If someone started haranging me at a busstop about Howard Dean I would do a windup like Moe Howard and give him a poke in the eye.

[MissAmericanPie]

bttt

[Gothmog]

Yeah, the Globe gets so hyped up about few leftists boring the world with their idiotic nostrums -- but where's any mention of the best political site on the 'net?

[yoe]

What are some of the Blog links?

[jmc813]

You'll probably find this interesting.

[Travis McGee]

How many hits a day do the top ten private 'blogs' get?

How many hits a day does FR get?

[Gothmog]

Exactly. The way this article reads:

Bloggers are cool and increasingly popular
So is Howard Dean
Lots of cool bloggers are Dean supporters, they're popular
Bloggers are cool and interesting
Especially Dean bloggers
There's also some other Dem bloggers (brief Bush mention)
Cool Dean bloggers
Popular Dean bloggers

If they ever wrote an article on a real political force on the internet it would be titled:

"FreeRepublic: Neanderthals and Nazis vent vile hatespeech against women and minorities"

[Gothmog]

I don't know and I don't particularly care, ha ha ha.

[Gil4]

''They call themselves the Green Party,'' Willis wrote in his blog this week. ''We call them poor, deluded souls.''

I agree, except I can't tell much difference between a Green Party candidate and a 'Rat.

[Travis McGee]

Some day the history of the 2000 election will be written, and it will say, "FReepers were the minutemen that saved the Bush election from being stolen by Gore and the DNC goons."

But we don't fit the liberal agenda, so we don't rate a mention.

[egomeimihi]

Blogs are well suited to leftists. It's an opportunity for them to spout off whatever they feel in a self-important manner without fear of having their emotional beliefs challenged. The blog gives the blogger a sense of self importance, that he is "getting the message out" and "making a difference." The vast majority of people could give a rat's ass what he thinks, and if he were to ever venture away from the safety of his liberal campus dormroom to express his views in a public forum he would quickly realize just how distant he is from anything approaching the political mainstream. The thought that his blog makes a difference is as much an escapist fantasy as the notion that Dean can win in '04.

[Mo1]

I guess this is where Chrissy Matthews has been getting his news from .. cause he sure as heck hasn't been paying attention to the real world news

[Libertina]

My my my...rats being touted highly by the extreme left media. Shocker. Guess they missed the political discourse on FR...and that little earthquake "SORE LOSERMAN." hehehe - that means we'll take them by storm AGAIN!

[kimosabe31]

Looks like an outstanding source of left wing "nose pickings".