Is the Net breeding the emergence of a DOMINANT Democratic Party?

[TruthIsAll]

We have seen poll after poll on the Net (I had an ongoing thread of CNN polls which were resoundingly against Bush) defying the results of traditional phone-based "scientific" polls. These on-line polls have been called non-scientific, but let us for the moment assume that they actually reflect the opinions of the Net universe, if not the public at large. If so, this tells me that as the Net becomes the primary source of News and Commentary, the DEMOCRATIC MAJORITY WILL GROW BEYOND OUR WILDEST EXPECTATIONS.

Consider this: What if these polls reflect the true feelings of those who get the real news and analysis on the Net at sites like DU and Buzzflash and Democrats.com and the Wage Slave Journal, etc...?

An educated, open-minded individual is by nature disposed to liberalism. You can no longer get the necessary information to determine the truth watching MSNBC or CNN or FOX or the evening news for that matter. But you can get it reading Palast or Bev Harris or Will Pitt and...can I be so immodest to say TIA?

Look at what has been achieved on the Net:
- the facts which have been determined and the unanswered questions NOT even addressed by the 9/11 investigations.

- the powerful movement which began here at DU to expose the ongoing touch-screen voting computer threat to our democracy. Where else would you have learned about Florida 2000, Georgia 2002 and 18181?

- the Internet-driven Howard Dean campaign financing.

- the emergence of a powerful peace movement prior to the Iraq War.

- the rapid growth of Democratic, anti-Bush sites which categorize and summarize his unending crimes, lies and abuse of power. These can be documented in a second using a Google search.

Just a few years ago, his pre-SCOTUS selection biography "Fortunate Son" was banned, never once discussed by the media. Look how far we have come since. Now there are many books about Bush Lies, the basis of which were first recorded on the Net.

- A combination of the Google search tool and inspired analysis by outraged Netizens is leading to uncovering the TRUTH about Iraq, PNAC and the Bush Cabal.

As the NET assumes critical mass in its role as the MEDIA of CHOICE, and the whoremedia, the last gasp of right-wing propaganda, is resigned to the crap-heap of history, are we witnessing a MAJOR political transformation occurring right before our eyes? One in which an EDUCATED populace, having access to a powerful, infinite source of news and analysis, becomes dominant.

A dominant Democratic force so powerful that Bush can never win unless he massively riggs the vote, even more so than Florida 2000. He is preparing for this right now by attempting to steal California via the recall, so he can get Arnie in to protect the Diebold thieves.

Look what the folks in Oklahoma Bush country say about him now:
http://cf.channeloklahoma.com/okl/sh/con_surveycontest_display/sur_results_nt.cfm?contentid=2429127&thissurvey=yes&answer1=2

[Clete]

1. I think you are right.

I'm very critical of the spin on the broadcast media news now. I find that PBS's "The News Hour With Jim Lehrer" is the only TV news that still tries to adhere to journalistic principles.

I hope that the corporate crocodiles who have eaten these outlets, don't figure out a way to do it on the internet as well.

[ElsewheresDaughter]

4. "hope they don't figure out a way to do it on the internet as well. "

:scared:...did ya see the new "ducks unlimited" ad on TV thay are selling themselves as the saviors of the enviroment and wild live...when in reality they are using false advertisment ...they are really nothing more than a hunters club for the corporate elite....but you would NEVER guess it by their TV adj........ays'us 1984
be very careful and find out who and what you really are supporting
these people are decietful and desceptive
http://www.ducks.org/

[Arugula Latte]

5. I've been wondering about this, too

I remember how alone I felt after the rigged 2000 election. I turned to TV to see some reflection of my rage. HAH! Instead what I got was the TV cameras zooming in close on a tight shot of the inaugural motorcade so as to prevent viewers from seeing the protesters who lined the road to express their disgust at The White House Squatter.

How did I keep my sanity? I turned to the net of course. Now, looking back, I cannot BELIEVE how naive and trusting I was of the media and the political process prior to the stolen election. OK. I get it now. Boy do I ever.

Fast Forward 2 1/2 years from the inauguration. I'm in a crowd of 3,000 to 4,000 in Portland hearing Dean rock the crowd. Later that day he'd draw 8,000 or more in Seattle. A couple days later I watch him on C-Span in front of a huge, ecstatic New York crowd. THIS IS MORE THAN A YEAR BEFORE THE FRIGGIN' ELECTION! He hasn't even been nominated! Amazing. He's raking in millions in small donations. Why? Because people are PISSED. The politicos and the media are trying all they can to keep a lid on the boiling pot. But I think it's gonna blow. And we will use the Internet to blow the lid off.

[Unforgiven]

2. KICK IT!!!!

[xray s]

3. The internet is what the founding fathers would call the free press

The corporate infotainment "news" channels of today have no other purpose than to make money and keep people pacified. They are neither "free' nor "press".

The free press, enshrined in our constitution, consisted of citizens publishing articles, pamplets and books on their own presses, free of outside contol. Today we use bandwidth and bytes instead of paper, ink and typeset.

Just as in 1776, and later in Communist Russia, people today are looking elsewhere for news, and are turning to the latest incarnation of "samizdat", the internet.

Kind of makes me :) to be here with you all.

[Upfront]

6. No Doubt

I am far more informed then I was before I got a computer. You may be right, and I hope you are!

[morningglory]

13. Funny thing is, I and a huge wad of people that I personally know

got on line during the Lewinsky/impeachment 24/7 media harangue. After Tanya Harding, Bobbitt, O.J., how much can you take? Now we are here getting the real news! In a way it may turn out to be a good thing. Oh, yeah, Elian, Chandra Levy, etc. When are they going to figure out why their ratings are plummeting?

[Wwagsthedog]

7. How do we reach all the people who aren't on the internet?

They may not participate here because they can't (money, language, interest, old age, whatever) or won't (same reasons plus don't care, sinful, culture, etc.). MHO is that we must beware of relating only to ourselves. Yes, our numbers are large and growing but we have to spread the word beyond our electronic village. Remember that throngs of fundies HEAR the word on Sunday and to most of them bush is a good christian man. Their numbers are growing too. judge moore's stage play in Alabama was a recruiting drive as many observers have noted. We have to take back our country. Lets make it a point to seek open dialogs with those that don't spend any time online. End of rant.

[scottxyz]

9. More papers like Indymedia needed

The Indymedia website also has a hard-copy version. So people who don't use the web can at least get a summary of what was said on the website. Of course it's not interactive, and you can't just click to get a hyperlink to another web page, but at least it's a start.

I think it would be great for more websites to also have a hard-copy version.

Even just printing out the first page of Google News every day and leaving it around bus stops, laundromats, schools would give so much more news to people than the corporate crap we get in the mainstream media.

[morningglory]

14. They are worshipping a graven image in Alabame.

When will someone point it out?

[scottxyz]

8. I got heavily into the Internet Election Night 2000

I don't watch much TV (don't have cable) but I used to read the NY Times almost every day for many years.

On Election night 2000, I was on the web trying to find the results - and I was so frustrated that it was still undecided. Then the days and weeks dragged on - and I started to see that there was very little real news on TV and radio and even in the papers - whereas all the real information was on the web. So I became hooked on the web.

Plus it's a big benefit to be able to instantly post a comment on the web. When I've watched TV and they say something particularly stupid, it isn't very gratifying to blow my top and only the other people in the room hear. One-way conversations aren't very appealing to me.

Now I hardly buy the NY Times at all - and I'm a real news junkie, on the web all day, trying to figure out what's going on, and occasionally posting a comment or a link.

What's going on here is that news junkies want information and facts - they're not interested in just being entertained. When we notice that the corporate media is reporting a bunch of garbage and the real facts are only on the Internet, there's just no point in reading the paper or watching TV if we can't get the information we need fast enough.

For example, after the 2003 Blackout I went right to the web and found out that the whole mess was caused by deregulation, supported by Republican-leaning companies like Niagara Mohawk and FirstEnergy. It was easy to see that this was another example of privatization gone wrong.

Then I bought the NY Times because I had to take a long train ride, and I read a big article about the blackout. No mention about deregulation and privatization being the culprit at all. Just a lot of blather about high-tech computer sensors that would somehow re-route the system at the speed of light if something went wrong.

The old oneway corporate broadcast media needs to realize that we want facts, not fiction when we read or listen to the news. More and more news junkies are drifting away from one-way corporate media now because the non-corporate competition of the internet does a much better job at delivering the facts we need.

[robbedvoter]

10. Thought same when attending the Dean rally.

After all, it was entirely organized on the internet - and the participants were registered on laptops - and here you saw that sea of real people...I am not even a dean supporter, but I was in awe of the power of the internet.
It managed to create an international event in February - "The World says No to war" - and a similar one will happen next year: "The world says No to bush"

[tridim]

11. The Internet is also exposing the lunacy of the right

It's all there in black and white, on Free Republic. I hope DU and FR have many fence sitting lurkers in common.

[Ein]

12. Is the fervor and mass passage of information...

going to continue when a Democrat gets in office? I hope so, I don't wan't any NAFTA deja-vu.

[opihimoimoi]

15. Yes it can be< The net can be the Triggering Mechanism to advance

Sanity and Reason into the spotlight. The Pubs fear this day knowing they are on the weak side of the arguement.

The truth is one thing, the hurt is another. Too many people have been hurt by this Prez. The spin and the photo ops all are of negative value these days, especially since it was revealed he LIED to the AMERICAN PEOPLE. The Pub Headmasters bit off more than they realized when they put this sucker in. He is a loose cannon below decks. Now, even they have a diff time to clean his blunders of the day.