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March 06, 2007
I'm Going to Blog on Capitol Hill
By now you know that the once-selective "Blogger Day on the Hill" event organized by the House Republican Caucus has been opened to all Tennessee bloggers. What that means is that I am free to decide to attend, and as of right now, that is my plan.
I have written in defense of a partisan organization's right to include whomever they please, but as it turns out, I'm glad that they further extended the invitation. After all, in a state without party registration, how exactly were they planning to credential a blogger as "conservative," or even "Republican"? As a friend asked at lunch today, were interested parties supposed to enter some kind of tryout phase where they wrote "Republican" posts for the next three weeks? I know Brian Hornback would be able to get in, and Rob Huddleston; but what about Roger Abramson? Kleinheider? I consider Michael Silence a conservative, in essence, but would he have passed muster?
Likewise, if the Democrats were to respond with their own blogger event, I would have honestly felt shut out of both, as an independent. This way, I get to go and cover the proceedings with all manner of writers and thinkers whose opinions vary on "the issues," and whose styles of "covering" things are different, but whose superseding impulse is a common one.
And yes, the legislature is open to the public, of which I'm a member, any time it's in session, but this is a special invitation to a particular group, and let's not confuse the two ideas. I'm excited about this upcoming couple of days, and look forward to reporting to you all just what I find there.
About Blogs , Government | By joe lance | 05:37 PM