Bloggers take on European elites (EU Constitution vote)

[Robbien]

Mr Chouard did not much care for the EU Constitution, but instead of simply voicing his upset to his neighbours, he wrote an essay and set up a blog to explain why he was voting 'Non'. Just ahead of the vote, his blog was getting 25,000 hits a day and his anti-constitution broadside had been photocopied, faxed and blogged about across France.

Despite overwhelming support for the constitution by the governments of both France and the Netherlands and a huge media campaign by political leaders in both countries, voters have rejected the constitution. And just as the media and political establishment in the US found during last year's presidential election, European elites have now felt the sting of these online upstarts, the bloggers.

. . .

The "Yes" campaigners argued that the blogs were perpetuating myths and half-truths, French internet consultant Stanislas Magniant told the BBC.

But those opposed to the constitution found the internet in general and blogs in particular as one of the ways to get their message out, he said.

"Proponents of 'No' have said the mainstream media have been shamelessly in favour of the 'Yes'. They said the internet was the main area where the democratic debate can take place," he added.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4603883.stm

[neweurope]

1. Yes. The internet is a grave danger to our rulers. They'll do their

damndest to shut it down, on both sides of the Atlantic. While they're crying crocodile tears about China & Co doing just that... PNAC stated that this is one of their plans. From their point of view they'd be crazy not to try and shut it down or at least control it.

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Remember Fallujah

Bush to The Hague!

[Frederik]

4. Yes, total control of "cyberspace"

it's in the PNAC's "rebuilding America's defenses", 2000.

[Dirk39]

2. Myths and half-truths...

That's all you get, when you don't let Murdoch, Springer and Bertelsmann tell you what you think.
Democracy is a terrorist threat to ähhh öhhh Freedom and Liberty blablabla.., but voting is even more dangerous. It should be done for us by Murdoch, Springer and Bertelsmann too.

Hello from Germany,
Dirk

[Robbien]

3. I see Italy is now having second thoughts

EU CONSTITUTION: BERLUSCONI WE NEED A RETHINK
(AGI) - Rome, Italy, Jun. 2 - Prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, speaking about the EU Constitution after the June 2 parade, said: "The EU Council meeting scheduled late in June, will have to study the situation in depth and take some decisions. I believe that we should rethink some aspects of the European bureaucracy". According to Berlusconi after the no to the EU Constitution in France and Netherlands it will be necessary to debate about the too many laws, regulations and bureaucracy in Brussels. "All in all I believe that opening a debate on these issues will be beneficial" he said speaking about the no to the Constitution. (AGI

http://www.agi.it/english/news.pl?doc=200506021613-1152-RT1-CRO-0-NF82&page=0&id=agionline-eng.italyonline