Politics and Poker

Bob Gibson, the political writer for the Daily Progress in Charlottesville, devotes his weekly commentary column in Sunday's paper to news that political bloggers from around Virginia are going to be gathering in Mr. Jefferson's home town on August 27, under the auspices of the Sorenson Institute.

Gibson notes:

Virginia’s political blogs - a fast-moving feast of news, comments and critiques - are a growing collection of mostly informal discussions and observations in a medium with sites that tend to divide into left and right.

Bloggers are people who keep a running Web log that can resemble a cross between a diary open to the world and a place to post or discuss newsy nuggets. They are often the first responders when news happens. Their opinions tend to be informed and infused with the bite of their views and those of some readers.

There’s plenty to talk about at the first-of-its-kind Virginia blogging conference.

Bloggers have a lot to discuss about their power to inform people and to include various points of view. Many people can be welcomed into the political process through civil blogs that adopt a code of dignity and respect.

Gibson also gives this blog a nice plug:

Bloggers are still mostly independent enough that they will show the government - that creature many view as the most ungainly and inefficient of hungry beasts - the door.

Libertarian blogger Rick Sincere, a fiercely independent and civilized voice of Charlottesville, has a little message for potential government regulators on his blog, which can be found at: http://ricksincerethoughts.blogspot.com.

On the side of his blog is “The Political Bloggers’ Pledge: If the FEC makes rules that limit my First Amendment right to express my opinion on core political issues, I will not obey those rules.”

If the Federal Election Commission tries to crash this bloggers tea party, they may find themselves in Boston Harbor.

For more information about the conference, visit the Sorensen Institute's page on the "Summit on Blogging and Democracy in the Commonwealth."