One of the interesting aspects of doing a politically-charged blog is that people forward to me all KINDS of things. One person forwards cute pictures of, say, babies lying on dogs when she thinks I’m getting too stressed-out. (I appreciate the thought.) Other people weigh in by sending articles related to whichever topic I’m ranting about at the time. So far they have been interesting, well-thought articles which add to my overall knowledge.
One person forwarded a piece about the John Murtha Airport in Pennsylvania. It cost millions in tax-payer dollars to build and sits empty, EMPTY, most of the time. If you don’t know about Murtha, he is the Democrat currently under investigation for his ties to a lobbying firm which received tens of millions in earmarks; in exchange (it appears) for thousands in campaign contributions.
Apparently this airport story broke on ABC news. I did not see it. I choose not to get my news from the networks because I believe them to be official propaganda machines of the current administration. And, frankly, the reporting sucks. When I was a newspaper reporter I took very seriously my responsibility to be fair and tell both sides. I felt it was my duty. That happens so rarely now.
You can understand why I do not visit the websites of the networks. In fact, I wonder how many people did see the original story. (Viewership is way down for all three networks, I assume hits on their websites are down also.) The story circulated on the Internet by the National Republican Congressional Committee. Low and behold, two days after I got the email forwarded, the story re-ran on TV.
This tells me the Internet (“new media” in ivory tower-speak) is a very powerful tool. It reaches far more people around the world than a television show on a particular channel. Information is disseminated instantly versus waiting for the five o’clock news cycle. In fact, new media is so powerful television networks hire people solely to research the Internet for story ideas. They can gauge reaction to particular stories by reading various blogs.
Think about it: employees gauging the thoughts and values of the American people just by logging on to the Internet. It’s like free opinion polling. Why? The Internet serves the masses. You don’t need a special degree to use it. If your house is not wired for Internet you can go to the Library and log on. You do not have to file for a special license. You are not constrained by certain bandwidths. You don’t need permission to float your ideas in the wide world of cyberspace. It truly is the last remaining realm where ordinary citizens can freely exchange ideas electronically.
Last month BO announced the appointment of a ‘cyber-security czar’ to oversee Internet security for the government. With identity theft on the rise and hacking becoming more sophisticated this initially sounds like a great idea. But, this appointee will have no Congressional over site and answer only to Obama. And, if initial reports can be believed, this person will have the power (in times of national security threats) to shut down the Internet.
I can see the potential for abuse here. BO can’t stand criticism let alone close scrutiny. The Internet represents a threat to him. The Internet is the one place where people who oppose government policies can express themselves freely. It is the one place where evidence clearly exists to show Americans really don’t like his policies, despite the nightly propaganda. It is the one place where we the people still have the freedom to put forth our ideas without threat of censorship.
Listen, when you start hearing the word ‘regulate’ used in relation to the Internet, just know that it really means ‘restrict.’ I guess we’ll have to discuss politics in the dead of night after we finish our clandestine prayer meetings.
