Blogs give constituents a new way to access their Senators. People who aren't confident in face to face or phone conversations, are sometimes very eloquent online. People who would never dream of attending a 'town hall' forum, may share experiences with each other in comments, or in diaries. People who would never think of making their living as lobbyists or activists can make an impact with a blog.
Blogging opens up our government to a group of people who may never otherwise get involved. People who previously disliked politics now find that there is an enjoyable way for them to participate, on their own time, in their own homes. Why would Mike Bishop, or anyone else, want to deny these people this method of communication?
And remember, Bishop blocked us when the Senate Democrats announced their intention to start posting on their legislation. Is this not constituent work? Senators present their legislative agendas to the public all the time ... through their websites, letters to the editor, press releases, town hall meetings, etc. Communication with the public is so important that the Senators get Mondays and Fridays off each week, just so they can be in their districts.
Prior to the 2 week Senate vacation in July, Mike Bishop and the Senate Republicans had the Senate rules changed, so that Democrats could not make them return to session. After the 2 week vacation, Mike Bishop defended his actions by saying that they needed the 2 weeks to be in their districts, communicating with the people they represent.
If constituent communication is so important that they need Mondays and Fridays of every week, plus 2 weeks in July, then why wouldn't they embrace a method of communication that would make this process more efficient?
The only difference between blogging and other constituent communications is the method of interaction. There are times when it can be abused, just like there are times when a mailing can be abused. But we don't prohibit written correspondence from our representatives simply because there's a possibility that someone might abuse that method of communication. We don't turn off their phones, simply because they might call their moms in the middle of the day.
Bishop also claimed that BFM was political, and not informational. If you look through the posts here, you'll find that there are many posts here that qualify as informational. For some reason, none of this material matters, because we have other material that is political. Using Bishop's logic, the Senate Republicans should also prohibit every newspaper and magazine with a comic strip or editorial section.
But most of us see Bishop's blog-block for what it was ... a blatant attempt to censor the Senate Democrats. Bishop doesn't care about people "wasting time" on the Internet. As Washington Gardner points out, Bishop pays someone $72,000 per year to develop the "new media". Yeah ... the "new media" ... that's us.
And if they were poking around on Wizardkitten's profile, and they were able to shut us off within a half-hour of this announcement, then it wasn't just the Senate Dems who were spending a lot of time on BFM. |
