Shock And Awe - The Power Of The Press

This last week has been quite a trip for this neophyte blogger. The shock is that Carla Johnson chose to use me in her AP story on senior bloggers. The awe has been the response. CNN, Fox News Radio, Yahoo Headline News and so many papers other than USA Today. The ultimate was this morning when hub conceded I'm now world famous - the Billings Gazette picked it up. Now all the relatives will see it!

What interests me most are the responses. I've heard from people all over the country; a young man from India and a 20 year old living in Chile. My hits nearly doubled. And the comments that were left were for the most part about postings I had made; not the seniors blogging issue.

As Bacchus and I took our constitutional this morning I thought a lot about how this isn't about me at all but rather Dave Olivera's concept of blogging. I'm not a student of blog sites but I haven't stumbled across one like his. It occurred to me what a great public service it has become and how successful it could be on the national level.

In some respects its like a daily letters to the editor page. Better, though, because it promotes discussion. He feeds us headlines of interest and importance on both a local and worldwide level. He leaves us with wild cards for our own ideas. He highlights blogs from those of us who have something of value to say; for those postings that don't click, interested parties still have easy access to blog sites through his list of links. What better form of "freedom of speech" can there be? One can remain anonymous or identify yourself. I figured if I was going to have my say I might as well let people know who was saying it. I understand why more prominent folks choose otherwise.

With blogging moving forever forward in the dispensing of news and opinion what better format could the citizenry have on a national or worldwide level. Wouldn't you really like to hear from Susie or Joe Citizen in any country what they really think about our government and our policies? And be able to discuss it with them? How 'bout the GI who can't say how he really feels about the war or what's really going on at his level without fear of repercussions from superiors? Wouldn't it be great not to have to take the word of politicians or pundits who insist they have a finger on the pulse of the people yet haven't been outside the D.C. city limits in months? To be able to have the same discourse with people everywhere that Dave provides for our community?

For those of you reading this from other than Huckleberries site please check him out - http://spokesmanreview.com/blogs/nhb. Or click my link to Huckleberries. It will be well worth your while.

And to my Blogfather, Dave Olivera, thanks for the opportunities you've provided me. This one's for you. Take it to the next level. There's a whole lot of us here to help.