Breaking News: Bloggers not simply drooling drug addicts in Osh-Kosh B'gosh's

Gotta love this little photo from Newsweek online [1] :

Power of the Blog: Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman stands a good chance of losing his August primary thanks to heavy blogger backing of his opponent, Ned Lamont

Everyone among the establishment MSM is just plain slack-jawed, scratching their hairy primate heads and frothing at the mouth wondering how a loose collection of left-wing wackos in pajamas banging away at laptops from their parent’s basement can have such a profound effect on the political landscape. The reason the MSM fails to understand the power of online activism is that they have completely bought into the right-wing myth characterizing the driving force behind revolutionary movements in the U.S.

While the 60s were undoubtedly an apex of anti-war activism, the right wing has always taken the most extreme elements of this era, drug addled hippies, to characterize anti-war and liberal movements as fringe wackos who are out of touch with the mainstream. But these people were never more than good-hearted moral support for the organizers of the anti-war movement. The real backbone of these periods were the professors, lawyers, professional activists, artists, etc. who published magazines, organized agitations, wrote heartfelt music, etc. These people were smart, motivated, politically savvy, and clever enough to develop some clout.

In contemporary politics, bloggers are the modern extension of one of the major power sources behind the 1960s antiwar efforts. With the ability to reach millions every single day, there is little doubt that we are a force to be reckoned with [1]. There is little doubt that bloggers pose a major threat to both the establishment media and the existing political gatekeepers.

If we were really an irrelevant fringe outside of the mainstream, then wouldn’t it be best to simply ignore us?