Has the internet saved the USA?

[yourout]

I belive had there not been an internet this country would now be a defacto dicatorship or at least the governement would be so far tilted to the right there would be no hope to ever retore it to a semlance of Democracy.

Outside of the internet the mainstream media had devolved into the propaganda wing of the Republican Party until alot of internet based information forced the mainstream media to at least temper it's right wing tilt. This allowed other voices like Keith Olberman to build a base and present other views to folks outside of the Web Community.

So I say to all the bloggers and Web based truth seekers......

Thank You.

:yourock:

[AX10]

1. K & R!

I am pro-free internet.

[againes654]

4. Thats internetS. n/t

[wildbilln864]

Not completely yet........

but it's helped tremendously IMO.
:hi:

[Yupster]

30. Badly hurt our economy though

The internet made it possible for all the outsourcing going on.

When you call about your investment account, and get a guy in Manila, it's because the internet allows her to look at your account in real time. Without the internet, hundreds of thousands (millions?) of jobs would still be here instead of overseas.

[nadinbrzezinski]

2. Don't sing victory yet

we are far from out of the woods

[mudesi]

3. Not yet (nm)

[Nite Owl]

5. I'm sure it has

helped. So much we wouldn't be knowing without the blogs etc., and a lot of action able to be taken.

[Dervill Crow]

6. I really don't know that we've been saved.

Are we making a difference? Looks to me like we have the de facto dictatorship now, but it might just be my depression talking.

[walldude]

7. Yeah but imagine the things we wouldn't know if we didn't

have the net. I agree that we are in deep shit but we wouldn't even know we were in deep shit if we didn't have all this information.

[KansDem]

8. I shudder to think where we'd be right now...

...if it wasn't for the internet.

With the internet, we were able to watch Bush and the neo-cons lie in real time. We listened to their lies as they unfolded, without CorpMedia interference. We knew they were lying as they were lying.

But we still have a way to go, yet...

[BlooInBloo]

9. It certainly has provided a non-rightwing dominated medium for the rest of us....

.... small wonder it came from the universities.

[tom_paine]

10. It is far from clear that the Old American Republic, the USA, is saved

In fact, there is a preponderance of evidence that the oppisite is true, although it can be truthfully said the outcome of this latest round of Libety vs. Tyranny (Bushie this time, not Nazi or Commie Tyranny; and we will all admit that for now it's much nicer in a Bushie Totalitarian State than a Nazi or Commie Totalitarian State) is still in doubt.

But yes, where would we be without it? I shudder to think, but many more would be fooled than the 30-50% still fooled by the Royal and Loyal Bushies even now.

[Warpy]

11. Back in the 60s and 70s, it was dirty purples

in the basement, we all had stained fingers and stank of mimeograph fluid. It was easy to pick us out in a crowd. Flyers were handed out and sent with travelers from college to college.

There's always a way to organize!

[Liberal In Texas]

28. I remember underground newspapers (printed, not mimeo.) some renegade radio on that new fantgled FM,

and some pirate stations, underground film (I wonder what ever happened to some of those prints), and best of all: MUSIC.

I don't know how things would have turned out if the MSM had been as big a problem as they are now. I guess by getting their butts kicked by the truth in the 60s and 70s, they figured out they were going to have to compromise the MSM. And that's just what they've done.

[Oeditpus Rex]

12. The right wing uses the internets, too

Who's to say they haven't used it as effectively as the left? How would one qualify such a thing? :shrug:

[Demeter]

15. And They Don't Succeed With It

Because they don't understand free press or reality too well....

[Oeditpus Rex]

17. They understand the press and the reality they've created

a whole helluva lot better than we do. They've been very successful with those. You think the internet isn't part of that?

[Demeter]

19. The Press is Bought and Paid For

But the GOP hasn't managed to secure the Internet, yet. Not they aren't trying, mind you.

[Oeditpus Rex]

23. No one has 'secured' the internet

Except maybe the porn industry.

I was a member of the working press for 10 years, and I was never "bought and paid for" by anyone other than my employer.

[pretzel4gore]

25. the rightwing, the real rightwing, is small

it's small because only a tiny number in any population prefers privileges for the few at the expense of the needs of the many. The right has always managed to keep away from the simple basis of what differentiates right and left- thus a popular government is by definition leftwing. Amazingly enough, there are many who think that the split is 50 50; as if any 50 percentage could vote for privilege for a tiny number and against public services which they themselves, and their families/friends, need. The USA has long avoided addressing the discrepency of a 'party' such as the gop devoted to embellishing the wealth of the already wealthy yet somehow still remain a potent political force in a nation overwhelmingly made up of working people, who are only a few paychecks from homelessness. 'One wy/man one vote' would give leftwing regimes a permanent advantage, one would think, but the rightwing flourish almost everywhere they aren't outright proscribed (such as in communist countries) simply because, they control the debate and get large numbers of the poorer to vote against their own interest. The internet is leftist cuz there's vast numbers of us who despise privilege (even for ourselves, in some cases) while basic needs (health, education, transport, security etc) of too many people everywhere you go, are unmet.
The rightwing operate on a simple priciplal- out talk the other. That's why some people actually think they are a huge movement, when even in rightwing nation like apartheid south africa, the rightwing could never win a fair election. That's why racism and religion are so prominent wherever the rightwing has to contend on an equal basis....

[tekisui]

13. Saving ......maybe .....hopefully.

[Demeter]

14. Not Yet--But We're Giving It the Old Geek SchoolTry!

Because between the Internet and a military rebellion, something might actually change, or be stopped dead.

[Canuckistanian]

16. I believe you're right

Imagine what would have happened without the internet.

The US Attorney scandal wouldn't have seen the light of day (Thanks, Josh Marshall)

Valerie Plame's outing would have been covered up.

The Abu Ghraib photos were published on the web, ensuring wide dispersal.

The world wouldn't have known about how bad Katrina damage was and how much the problem was ignored by Bush.

The Downing Street Memos would be unknown.

Etc., etc, etc.

Not to mention the THOUSANDS of YouTube videos showing the obvious decline of the democratic process through personal stories and "eyewitness" accounts.

Can you imagine if the NSA spying scandal was just a tinfoil theory? Or the gradual and complete privatization of government services went unnoticed?


OR, at the very least, an alternative viewpoint. What if ALL YOUR NEWS came from corporate media sources???

I shudder to think of it.

[Bitwit1234]

18. You got that right.....

I can not for the life of me understand why the media and the rest of bush's supporters can not see the parallel between Hitler's Germany and the path this country is taking. I suppose Prescott Bush left his blue prints for this monster who stole the white house.

[moondust]

20. My pet hunch.

After Reagan got rid of the Fairness Doctrine (on their behalf) back in the 80s, the right wing (Murdoch) started buying up all the "old media" they could get their hands on believing they'd eventually have a monopoly. It hasn't worked out quite as planned. They didn't anticipate the rise and influence of a democratic Internet.

You may be right.

[AwakeAtLast]

21. 5th K & R for you!

I have had similar thoughts many times as I read the right-wing outrage of the day.

:kick:

[sicksicksick_N_tired]

22. No. nt

[gateley]

24. I've learned more from the internet than I ever did in school, life, TV, news. It's

an absolute amazing resource and I agree that we'd be fucked without it. (My words, not yours).

[undeterred]

26. Remember who invented it.

[grannie4peace]

27. so, so, so true!!!!

and i second or third & more--- lets pray it's not too late---these young internet people are amazing-- i admire the dickens out of them! whew--when i hear the news i get so pissed off --i was bitching bush out over 50 miles of mail route today, i will have to get that under control....i don't want a heart attack, i hope for bush to have something to stop him as it looks like he can't be stopped. :scared:

[CT_Progressive]

29. Hurray for Al Gore!

YES, I know that whole "Gore invented the internet" meme is false.

But, he WAS a key player in brining the internet into existence, that part is FACT.

So, Hurray for Al Gore!