Lots of people visiting here after the occassional issue of “waaaah it’s so hard to be a left wing blogger when we’re in government” flared up yet again , and some fellow scribblers were kind enough to point to me as an example of a “good” Labour blog. It’s jolly d. of them.
As to the meat of the debate though, let me just say the following:
Yes, it’s harder to blog in government.
I couldn’t care less. Don’t give a monkeys.
Blogging just isn’t that important.
behold the awesome power of opposition bloggers.
I’d gladly trade eternal blogospheric domination by Dale, Fawkes and attendent sprites for an extra year of a Labour government.
You could probably bargain me down to a couple of months, if you tried hard enough. OK, 42 days. No, that’s my last offer. Fine, a month? hey, come back here. A fortnight then. A measly little fortnight? Pleease?
Sure, if Labour were in opposition, I’d probably find it easier to get the Sen fizzog on the gogglebox at 1am for the News reviews, and I’d be able to write some really biting and satirical stuff about Theresa Villiers hair, while others would probably be able to get cash from Atrios Eschaton style fundraising, get more attention for Josh Marshall style investigative journalism, or encourage people to turn up for council campaigns with Daily Kos style activism.
I’m sure all that, and more, would be possible. in opposition.
Yet a nagging feeling tells me that such significant triumphs would not make up for the fact thatevery day I’d be waking up to News Stories that began “The Conservative government today decided…”.
Conversely, I’m sure Iain would be utterly distraught to see his vistor figures tumble as he replaces Andrew Rawnsley in the premium commentary position in the Observer (or whatever fate awaits him in a Tory government).
We can already see this process in microcosm – Tory Troll, Dave Hill and Boriswatch are emerging as three of the best, most energetic and interesting blogs around as they uncover the reality of the Johnson regime at City Hall. I’m sure they’d agree with me* that they’d rather not be writing about the idiocy of Boris, but instead amusing themselves by watching Andrew Gilligan climbing new peaks of rage each day as Ken extended the Congestion charge zone to Harrow and used the money to buy thirty new bendy buses.
So it’s simple really. Actual power is better than internet power, every time.
The more time those of us the left spend helping to hold on to actual power the better. If we fail to acheive that, the rest will just be whistling in the wind.
* Dave Hill might not, as he’s a proper journo, not a Boris hating loon like the the other two)
13 Comments
July 7, 2008 at 8:48 am
I had a look at Tory Troll and its drivel Hopi .He appears to be about twenty , I`d say and tediously keen in a shiny shoed apple for lefty teach
What you do not like to admit of course is that blogging is an essentially individualistic pursuit and the collective hive brain that the left reacts like a vampire in garlic farm. I like your blog and I like Bobina Pipettes (pre op) , I think in their different ways they engage outside the nest and have some warmth about them but you are both on the game , not real pepes , like me .
Its always fun being a left wing politician isn’t it , fighting for good and all that , the sour bit is living under a left wing regime when you can never be worth anything yourself and in return for safety you have to hand your adulthood in.Thats why you are unlikely to get many voices from the battery chickens outside . We are not numbers and will always dominate this sphere for that reason.
July 7, 2008 at 8:52 am
Hopi mate, that picture is AWESOME.
July 7, 2008 at 9:27 am
This one’s even better
http://stuff.orly.ch/img/blog/dont_worry_sir_i_m_from_the_internet.jpg
July 7, 2008 at 9:53 am
You’re quite right Mr S, blogging may be full of sound and fury but it signifies nothing. There’s some cod psychology way back on my defunct blog about why right-wingers blog so nicely. Something to do with their liking to be part of an “in crowd”, obsessed with “breaking news” or having little secrets and with not understanding big numbers. The latter leads to them failing to understand that, just because everyone down the golf club or commenting on Iain’s blog may agree with them, it doesn’t necessarily mean that all of the other 60m UK citizens (to say nothing of the world’s 6b people) also share their dotty views.
I do hope that something else can be found to drive Andrew Gilligan into climbing new peaks of rage each day. Suggestions on a postcard perhaps…
July 7, 2008 at 12:48 pm
not understanding big numbers
Like the £50 billion Darling is borrowing you mean ? Big numbers are the same as small ones with noughts on the end . I must admit though I never met anyone who actually agreed with me until I discovered the blogasphere
July 7, 2008 at 4:02 pm
As one of the Boris-Watchers, I would certainly agree with your assertion about us.
When I set up Stop Boris, and subsequently found myself blogging morning, noon and night about all the holes in Boris’s campaign and reasons why he shouldn’t be elected, I couldn’t wait for 1 May so I could get my life back again.
It was a real pleasure to get so many hits, especially in the last week or so before the election, but that pleasure was as nothing compared to the pleasure I’d've taken if Boris had been kept away from the reins of power.
The fact that we’re stuck with him for four years now means the best I can do with the unfortunate level of knowledge about Boris I’ve gained in the past year is to continue to scrutinise him, and fortunately being part of an anti-Boris collaboration makes this a rather more manageable activity to fit around normal life, even if I am quite possibly the only person in Britain who has a Sky+ Series Link set up for BBC London News.
But you’re absolutely right: I would rather never see the word WordPress again and have Boris out of City Hall than see BorisWatch’s web stats shoot through the roof and get my (anonymised)face on the Sky News paper preview. (Er, I used to Sky+ that too actually, but there are only so many hours in the day…)
July 7, 2008 at 5:10 pm
One of the greatest opportunities of the internet is that it gives one the ability to scrutinise power. The accessibility amd diversity of information has never been matched.
Obviously, surveying the past of Ray Lewis and the problems of the Routemaster is a fair long-jump from Greg Palast, but it fills a gap.
“But you’re absolutely right: I would rather never see the word WordPress again and have Boris out of City Hall than see BorisWatch’s web stats shoot through the roof”
We still can’t see them, can we. And to think, we might be more popular than Guido, Iain Dale and Jesus combined *coughs to death*.
July 7, 2008 at 7:14 pm
Newmania: “I must admit though I never met anyone who actually agreed with me until I discovered the blogasphere”.
This is one of the most unintentionally insightful sentences I’ve ever read about the popularity of Tory blogs. The Tory blogosphere looks like a huge community of like-minded people, but it’s actually a very small community of like-minded people who talk a lot, at great length.
July 7, 2008 at 8:15 pm
The Tory blogosphere looks like a huge community of like-minded people, but it’s actually a very small community of like-minded people who talk a lot, at great length.</i.
I see , so the best way to spot a mighty host is to seek out the absence of observable activity . You didn’t get many Valentine`s cards at school did you ?… Just a guess
July 7, 2008 at 8:20 pm
Ben, mr sb,
Thanks for dropping by – I’m glad you agree (not least cause I’d have looked thick if you hadn’t).
I don’t want at all to minimise the impact blogs can have. Anyone whose read josh marshall for the last couple of years will have seen how important they can be – it’s just I think that really they’re new forums for old qualities, like muckraking, grub street or pampheteering. All are honourable activities, but far less significant than winning and holding actual power (at least if you’re a politician – muckraking is a pretty decent vocation in and of itself)
July 7, 2008 at 9:03 pm
I’d get to practicing your whistling if I were you, wind or no wind.
July 8, 2008 at 8:59 am
[...] in The left Hopi Sen and others have written on the difference between Labour supporting and right of centre [...]
July 10, 2008 at 10:06 am
[...] Hopi Sen analysed the mighty power of the blogosphere, Labour’s David Clelland became the hero of the beleagured bag-carriers who have to answer constituency correspondence, and the UK Polling Report looked at the impact that Spelman and the recent raft of Conservative sleaze has had on their poll ratings. Still, the Tories should be grateful that the scandals are financial rather than sexual: remember, it’s the pelvic thrust that really drives you ins-ay-ay-ane. [...]