The political press can run with stories about bloggers being in full revolt over immigration, but it’s not really a case of bloggers vs. the Administration. Rather, it’s a case — like Harriet Miers, Dubai Ports, PorkBusters, etc. — of the Bush Administration ignoring the clear warnings available in the blogosphere. And once again, it’s not just bloggers who think the Administration is crazy. So far, every time they’ve done that they’ve had their head handed to them. That’ll happen this time, too, and if they should happen to "win" and pass their bill, the consequences for the GOP will be even worse. "Bizarre Republican Death Wish?" Indeed.
Frankly, that’s okay with me. I’ve long been unhappy with both Democrats and Republicans. The GOP has been better on national security, though that advantage is fading with time, but overall both parties have been lame and more likely to unite in opposition to citizens’ rights and liberties than to compete in protecting them. I’ve often at least sort-of hoped for a third party that would combine the GOP economic-libertarian strands with the Dems’ social-libertarian strands. I don’t know if the GOP’s self-destruction makes that more likely, but it seems like it might. At any rate, if people really want to commit suicide it’s hard to stop them, and that seems to be the GOP’s main goal at the moment.
It’s always been my contention that the most important function of blogs was to let people know that, despite the official pronouncements from the media and their supposed representatives, their views were actually, in many cases, the majority view, and so they should not act meekly as if they were a small minority doomed to lose but should rather fight like the mainstream representatives of the majority, destined to win, they really are.
That’s how the media and political establishment conspire to push unpopular legislation on the public — by convincing them their views are marginal and could not possibly win, and, in fact, are "extremist" and therefore things to be kept quiet about in secret shame.
What blogs, talk radio, and other non-establishment media are best at is fighting that dishonest meme and thereby letting people know that not only are they not alone, but in fact are part of the true, real mainstream majority opinion. And could, and should in most cases, prevail.
Without some method of national, rapid, widely disseminated messaging, how could millions of people be alerted to the fact that they were in fact the majority and not just a "small group" of "noisy" "extremists" who "don’t want what’s best for America," as the MSM and Republican leadership itself is telling them?
The most dramatic proof of this: A schoolteacher in France brought down the EU treaty by well-nigh singlehandedly rebutting the French media’s and political class’s one-sided, enthusiastic coverage of the treaty, offering no contrary opinion… and little hint there was a contrary opinion in France at all. Everyone’s in favor of this treaty, they told everyone, so there is no reason whatsoever to even bother showing up to vote against it. Resistance is futile.
