I received this note today from Chris Taylor (no relation). His riding EDA wrote up this piece for a newsletter that was distributed to the membership. Nods like this are quite encouraging.
The Conservative Blogosphere
Now the above sounds more like something gooey than something electronic, doesn’t it? But it could be the most important development among conservative grassroots in North America since the first tavern was built!
You all know about the Internet, and the World Wide Web. Well, a “blog” (short for “weblog”) is just another kind of website, programmed to make it very simple to publish one’s thoughts and photographs as one comes up with them. An online diary or “log”, in some cases, and commentary about current events in others. A few go so far as to provide political or philosophical commentary, and among those “bloggers” conservatives seem to be in the majority! Taken all together, they are referred to as the “blogosphere”.
And there you have it. A way to get around the so-called liberal monopoly in the news media, or better still, to hold them to account. Each blog lists a “blogroll” of the author’s favourite blogs, and thus the best of them are all connected to one another in a virtual web of excellence. The best bloggers, who publish clear and thoughtful posts daily or even more often, are viewed by thousands of, including many journalists. It takes dedication, and there is no reward but honour from your peers — but is that not true of all grassroots activism?
In fact, some Conservative Members of Parliament, including Monte Solberg and Stephen Fletcher, have blogs on their own websites. And there you will see a refreshing frankness and spontenaiety found nowhere else in politics.
Many if not most of the conservative blogs in Canada are listed by BloggingTories.ca. Some of the best bloggers in Canada belong to the ring of Red Ensign Blogs, like Stephen Taylor (whose statistical research is awesome). Some are self-named, like Stephen Taylor’s, while others have way-over-the-top names like Shiny Happy Gulag. Many are thoughtful and funny, some are outrageous, and most of them will make you think.
And if you think something has been left unsaid, or that there is a niche unfilled in the “blogosphere”, then you can easily start your own blog, either by registering at blogger.com or by downloading blog software for your own website from wordpress.org. With daily dedication and thoughtfulness you can be famous too!
Paul Connor