LibertyAtStake’s Anatomy of the Blogosphere

Or: A Beginner’s Guide to the Blogosphere - From a Certified Beginner

The following words are contained in the song “We’re Not Gonna Take It,” an integral movement in the rock opera “Tommy,” by The Who.

My name is Tommy
And I became aware this year

These words could be the introduction to any number of timely themes for a post today, substituting “Tommy” for any number of people or groups.

• The American people becoming aware of the destructive agenda the Progressive Left has in mind for their country and way of life.

• The Progressive Left, in a panic, as it becomes aware that the American people are becoming aware of their agenda.

• The Democrat Party becoming aware, far too late in the game, it has been hijacked by the Progressive Left.

• The Republican Party becoming aware, perhaps in the nick of time, that principled conservatism is the path to enduring governing majorities.

• Barack Hussein Obama becoming aware, much later in life than most of us, and with far more profound consequences, that voting ‘present’ doesn’t work when you’re supposedly in charge.

• Pollsters becoming aware that if it walks like a Muslim and quacks like a Muslim, a large swath of the public will come to believe their own eyes.

• Team Amnesty, Team Deficit, Team Enviro, and Team Jihad all slowly becoming aware “We’re Not Gonna Take It” anymore.

• Glenn Beck becoming aware he can make money hand over fist by preaching founding principles.

• The criminally biased MSM becoming aware that those patriotic crowds gathering in the in the streets are mainstream America. Oh wait, the time hasn’t quite arrived for that particular theme.

==

This post is not about any of those things (at least not directly). Rather, it is about me becoming aware of a vibrant ecosystem called the blogosphere.

I did not come to it naturally. My own wife of 18 years has labeled me “anti-social.” My own kids have wondered aloud how I could possibly have any friends at all. I have trouble remembering the names of acquaintances and business associates I have not met personally at least three times. Then, if I don’t meet them again for an extended period of time, the cycle repeats. The concept of maintaining a large network of “BFFs” I’ve never actually met is absolutely beyond my comprehension. Trust me, you will not find me on Facebook nor Twitter. And I’m OK with all of that – I am comfortable in my own skin.

On the other hand, a lifetime of professional experience has acquainted me closely with the concept of applying Information Technology to mission directed systems. So, a particular line of thought came easily to me within the past year or so:

• BHO and the Progressives are obviously hell bent on trashing the Constitution ….
• That really pisses me off because I’m a Conservative …
• What can I possibly do about it …
• Well, there’s this TEA Party thing rising up in opposition to BHO and the progressives, maybe I’ll wade into the crowd and check it out ….
• Hmmmm…this TEA Party thing seems quite visceral, but it could possibly use some grounding in the Conservative principles it has tapped into ….
• Well, blogging technology may have matured to the point where it could be possible to reach a lot of these folks with a free blogger utility …
• {Some messing around online}
• Blogspot seems good enough, let’s get started …

==

The first month or so, I felt like Axl Rose's character getting off the bus in the "Welcome to the Jungle" video.




My original design vision for the blog – essentially writing an online book chronicling these intense times – kept me plowing forward. Among other early lessons, I learned how trivial it is to embed videos – so long as the publisher allows it. Seems like a perfectly libertarian model to me – supporting the free flow of information with respect for property rights.

By February my comment board style was taking full shape. The comment board is a place where a guy can have a good opinionated dust up (aka policy argument) without worrying about doing business or breaking bread with the idiot you just called an idiot. Excellent. It’s the Arena. Don’t step into the Arena unless you are prepared to drop the gloves and get dirt and maybe some blood under your fingernails. The really interesting thing is the key to success here is the same key that applies to so much of the rest of life – good humor. The well structured joke at your opponent’s expense is the Arena’s form of “disagreeing without being disagreeable.” Straight up vulgarity remains unpersuasive in the Arena.

I think it was March when I discovered I could use the Feedjit utility to gain some measure of understanding around who was coming to my blog, and use this information to direct my comment board activity to boards that were bringing people to my blog.  I allowed them to do so by signing my comments with my url. Shamelessly whoring my blog? I recall applying that label to the marketing department myself in the past.

For a brief period, I played a little game with Feedjit. Whenever I commented on Huffington Post, within seconds a swarm of HuffPo readers would follow the link to my right wing extremist blog. Then the effect would disappear. It was absolutely unlike any other effect I’ve observed before or since on Feedjit – exactly like a swarm of bees agitated by Dennis the Menace poking at their beehive. Soon my HuffPo account was banned without explanation. Make of this experience what you will. I am bemused by yet another indicator of Looney Left mob mentality.

If the Leftie Astro-Turf Coffee Party is any indication, the Left Wing blogosphere must be a stale and stultifying place to inhabit – with rigid rank hierarchies and top-down driven agendas. It must be a lot like trying to get anything done in any randomly chosen federal bureaucracy.

The right wing blogosphere I inhabit, by contrast, is a loosely knit and eclectic confederation of  individualists gathering together voluntarily. There are the Aggregators and Amplifiers, who keep those of us who are easily distracted on point. The News Analyzers and Policy Opinionators constantly pre-process it all to lend a bit of initial organization. The Humorists keep it entertaining. The Philosophers connect it all to back to founding principles and a roadmap for the future. Bloggers who stay on my blog roll do so because they consistently fill one or more of these roles for me as a reader.

I think I’m settling into a special sub-division of the Philosopher role – the Predictor. I think it fits. I’ve always been opinionated, and never gave too much of a damn what anybody thought of my opinions.

Prediction: 70-12. That’s the November seat turnover count for the House and Senate, respectively. It’s pre-ordained by Newtonian physics, you know.