It’s the Hansard Society and the fantastic non-bubble local/issue blogs I’m feeling sorry for at the moment. I’m after three outcomes:

1 – The full transcript should be released early to at least have a chance of skewering off-beam media narratives.
2 – They should *all* be streamed live.
3 – They should *all* be public access by ticket.

Matt

Sigh.

The woman is a dope, as well as a hypocrite. She didn’t ‘attempt to tackle political disengagement’, she just gave a poor, ill thought through speech (which will be completely forgotten by next week) so we shouldn’t feel guilty at, apparently ’shunning’ her.

I’m assming that you’ve read the whole speech in order to talk about the “overall” problem (?)

Can I refer you to my previous postings:

1 – http://tinyurl.com/hazelblears1

Made BEFORE her speech and after talking to the Hansard Society people. Asking why it wasn’t being streamed using the (identified) free and easy services available – as used in the “Organise, Activate, Influence” conference in Dublin last month (it works: I streamed that conference on my blog), including a great long list of politically effective blogs, and making these points:

1. Why is a talk that focuses on the need to re-engage with the grass roots being given by a Professional Politician to others inside the Westminster Bubble, without using a free and easy to use way to engage the grass roots then and there?
2. Why has an attack on Political Blogs been briefed to the Main Stream Media and not to anybody at the grassroots? This looks like an attempt to create a media narrative, combined with a carefully targetted mugging.
3. I can’t help thinking that a Minister who just abolished a swathe of Local District Councils over the wishes of many of their residents, and therefore facilitated a shift of power to far more “professional” County Councillors, is asking for trouble speaking out against the professionalisation of politics.

2 – It wasn’t totally private

http://tinyurl.com/hazelblears2

She’s on the money about political engagement, which was most of the material; she’s on the moon about political blogs, which was a tiny snippet; she’s in denial about Labour’s role in creating a culture of political cynicism.

An attempt to tackle political disengagement shouldn’t be shunned, surely, just because the Minister making it is a hypocrite in some of what she says – any more than we should pour scorn on the Guy Fawkes Walk yesterday just because we may disagree with some of their politics.

Rgds

Matt

I’e posted the full text of the speech here: http://www.tinyurl.com/hazelblears. It is NOTHING like most of the articles.

There’s also a good stunt by Old Holborn here (plus a lot of OTT insults on HB):
http://bastardoldholborn.blogspot.com/2008/11/hazel-blears.html

I pretty much agree with everything she says about Disengagement, but I think that her actions such as closing small Local Authorities in favour of County Councils and NL Centralisation contribute to this problem, and that NL media management (e.g., allowing the coverage to revolve around “nihilistic political blogs” rather than “Disengagement”) is a large part of the generator of cynicism.

Especially small, especially local – political blogs are already showing themselves to be part of the solution if only Westminster Village events which DON’T engage politically like this one would get out more.

I think Sunny may well be right about US right wing blogs – is that the “opposition generates blogs” problem? I wonder if HuffPo will now go for broke to position itself as part of the MSM since it is now a friend of government.

The biggest mistake a lot of bloggers have made on this one is reacting to a few controversial nuggets thrown to the MSM. The BBC have been much better.

Matt

I think that she is confusing disdain for politicians with disdain for politics. It’s a variant on the old chestnut that people who criticised the invasion of Iraq were motivated by some inexplicable hatred of Tony Blair or the Americans. Politicians spend so long talking to each other, and to people who are buttering them to gizza’job, that they are unaware that people actually dislike them for their spin and hypocricies.

I sometimes feel the need to explain my positions, when people (collectively) misrepresent them.

I completely understand that this nuance rather spoils your left-bashing bigotry, so I forgive you.

It pays dividends , honestly

I couldn’t have put it any better than your second paragraph. Perfect.

I thought so.

How so?

Please tell me how liberal = socialist? I’d love to know.

I would say it you’re socially and economically liberal, you’re a classical liberal.

In other words, ’superficial liberals’.

“However we do, in the main, share an equal distrust of conservatives, who by and large are idiots who seek to force their idiocy on others.”

That’s told them.

Discuss.

Please do give it up. We’d be insulted if your stream-of-concious nonsense actually made some sense.

Also, your tired attempts to frame us all as Kool-Aid drinking marxists, really do miss the target my a mile.

I have very, very few socialist tendencies. Many of the bloggers here are free-marketeers, who just happen to be socially liberal as well as economically so.

However we do, in the main, share an equal distrust of conservatives, who by and large are idiots who seek to force their idiocy on others.

Ta ta.

…and the BNP did it in Barking and Dagenham, as well as Stoke-on-Trent (albeit at a local level). It doesn’t really explain how Labour’s going to take the fight to the Tories as an insurgent party, but I take your point.

One other thought re. Blears – I don’t think she realises how bloggers get their (un)deserved reputations – there’s no ‘Central Committee’ saying you can’t set up a blog and build your audience…but maybe Blears is working on that one.

Not a big point I suppose