The blogosphere and the body politic

Earlier this morning, I was thinking about the blogosphere, the internet and the amount of crap floating around. I was unusually discouraged having discovered that someone devoted an entire post as a rebuttal to my rant against the emoticon; a feeble counter to my assertion that those who feel compelled to abuse the emoticon do so because they cannot convey their messages in a suitable, written format. I was discouraged and soured. As with anything and everything in life, when you start allowing the less than intelligent play, the waters become muddy and the enjoyment wanes. People have to sift, unnecessarily, through crap to find the true gems which inspire thought.

Watching Meet the Press this morning, I realized that I was wrong in my earlier assessment of the internet. Yes...there is still a lot of nonsense to filter through, but there is some good coming out of the the blogosphere, as well.

For those of you living under a rock, there is a very important Primary election on Tuesday in the State of Connecticut. Up for grabs is a Senate seat which has been occupied by Joe Lieberman (D) for an eternity. His challenger, Ned Lamont, is taking Sen Lieberman to task. The media is all over this like flies to shit and, as usual, the Lieberman campaign is engaging in whiny, entitlement tactics to prove its merit. For the record, it is imperative to note that I have been less than fond of Senator Lieberman since the 2004 Presidential Primaries. His posture and presentation during the debates was so off-putting, I lost all respect for him. Senator Lieberman parades around with an overwhelming sense of entitlement, seemingly demanding that the American public support him as he has served for many years in the Senate.

What Senator Lieberman and the rest of the lot in Washington fail to understand is that there is no entitlement to serve. Simply because you have been elected once to a position does not guarantee your being elected again.

The Lieberman campaign is a monument to the Democrat party's failings in elections. It is reactionary. It spends most of its time countering the questions put forth by its competition. It does nothing to address current issues, except whine and complain that its chosen candidate is not being treated fairly.

There is no concept of "fair" when you are speaking of the future of our country.

Contrary to Lieberman's belief that he is being singled out and smeared, the body electorate is tired of the entitled, smug carriage of current law makers. This election is not anti-Lieberman. This election is Anti-Incumbent. There is a world of difference there. Any incumbent with a firing synapse should be shaking in his/her boots with just cause. The American public is deeply disappointed in the performance of Congress. Jim Dean of Democracy for America illustrated that very clearly this morning on Meet the Press. The Establishment is still turning its ear to the American public, the body electorate. Lanny Davis, author of "Scandal: How 'Gotcha' Politics Is Destroying America," faults the blogosphere with promoting falsehoods and lies.

Has it not occurred to the inside the beltway types that the blogosphere is comprised of average, American citizens who are disgusted with the status quo in Washington? Instead of countering the blogosphere, trying to find fault with this counter-culture and medium, why are they not listening to those who are blogging? After all, these are the people who will turn out and vote. These are the people with a vested interest in our Nation. To claim that the blogosphere is distorting the truth is overlooking a very basic concept in advertising...the needs of the consumer.

The Primary in Connecticut is more than a primary. It is about more than poor Sen Lieberman running the risk of losing his dear post in Washington. It is about a war weary public and the distrust of those "pigs at the trough" who have been ignoring the needs of the very public it serves (or is supposed to). It is about a shift in value set. It is about the right of the voting public to affect change and take back power.

It is about our survival and should not be denigrated and made light of by those who live in fear of losing their precious jobs and power.

Since 2004, I have made a habit of voting against every incumbent to prove a point. I am not trying to state that all current pols in DC are worthless, lack an ear for the concerns of the American public or are not sensitive to the issues of the common man. I am saying that I feel most of our politicians fall into that category. Democrat or Republican...the voters need to send a message to Washington that we will no longer passively endorse a status quo that is failing our interests so dramatically.

To Senator Lieberman: stop taking this as a personal attack on your character and start learning that people are just not pleased with you. I do not live in Conneticut but I have not been pleased with your representation of the people you serve. You endorsed the war in Iraq. You do support George Bush. You made your decisions and you need to accept the consequences of your actions. I am not saying that you will lose. I am suggesting that you, along with your cohorts, start listening to the disenfranchised. We are serious. We do have the power to send you packing. We will do so in earnest if you do not change your methodology. The American public deserves better than what you and your counterparts have been offering us. Stop listening to the lobbyists, stop listening to your larger contributors and start listening to those you serve. Otherwise, you will be relieved of your duties and relegated to writing whiny novellas and missives of how you managed to phuck yourself out of a job and phuck your constituents along the way.

The "evil" blogosphere is a representation of what ails the general public. It is a powerful voice of the body electorate and deserves to be heeded, respected and valued.