No one should know more about the power of the blogoshere than Democratic Congressional Candidate Leslie Byrne (VA-11).
According to the Washington Post, she's been trolling cyberspace for the youth vote since 1999.
Over the past two weeks, I've been raising issues regarding the use of inflammatory, incendiary, and, arguably, unhealthy dialogue taking place in the comment thread on several blogs in Northern Virginia linked to Democratic congressional campaigns. And, whether you agree with me or not, I have also attempted to point to some similarities between the way Senator Obama has been treated by the MSM and some HRC surrogates and the way some Byrne staffers have behaved during your Democratic primary. You may think I'm a troll, perhaps.
I definitely have an agenda.
On Tuesday, March 14, Governor Kaine hosted a Town Hall Meeting in Roanoke, Virginia, where he had this to say about the reach of the blogosphere: "kids are pretty much three clicks away from anything these days."
Governor Kaine was responding to a question regarding the role blogging should play in local and national campaigns this ferocious political season and the responsibility of bloggers, and the candidates who support them, to tone down racially charged rhetoric and be more mindful of the images they post.
To promote the constructive use of this powerful medium, the Harvard School of Education has developed a curriculum designed to promote the safe, effective use of technology, like blogs, wikis, and open threads, to encourage students to engage the blogosphere in a meaningful way.
Likewise, the folks at Technorati have been following the blog phenomenon and its impact on education very closely. In fact, the Online Education Database, an aggregator for educational blogs, notes that the use of blogs in education has increased over 600% in the last few years (See the links below).
Thoughtful educators have been pimping the blogosphere in their classrooms for several years now. University of Virginia Professor Sandra B. Cohen at the Curry School of Education has been pushing this issue lately. According to her students, Cohen recognizes the promise held by blogs, particulary, in at-risk schools where student interest in school subjects can be enhanced by the thoughtful use of blogs, wikis, and other communication tools. One of Cohen's recent converts is Kevin Finch, a teacher at Roanoke City's Ruffner Middle School. Finch is the site director for the special education program at Ruffner.
"We're in the stages of completing a blog that will be password protected. My kids are begging me to hurry up. They know a lot about the world just from the stuff they read on the web," says Finch.
Finch hits the point home: "Some of my middle school kids won't read a book, but if I use the internet as a learning tool, they seem to want to get involved more."
Harvard, UVA, the Governor of Virginia and at least one special ed teacher understand how blogs can enhance our children's education. Why doesn't Leslie Byrne?
I emailed the Byrne campaign regarding my observations in a string of hyperbolic posts at Scrutiny Hooligans, a political blog in North Carolina that comments on stories of local, regional and national interest. Some NoVA bloggers have asked me to go back where I came from, suggesting the positions of candidates running to serve in one of the two representative bodies in the United States Congress should be of no interest to people in South Virginia or North Carolina.
Despite these comments, the Byrne campaign was polite enough to email me back.
Leslie Byrne had this to say (or write) about the use of blogs in the classrooms of Virginia high schools:
I would think that a busy fellow who teaches AP Language and Composition could find other examples from which to teach than blogs but it's your class.
The Virginia SOLs covering the subjects of History and Social Science and English are up for revision in 2008 and 2010, respectively.
I am challenging the Virginia blogosphere to pressure our legislators in the Commonwealth, as well as some candidates for seats in our federal government, to revise state standards of learning and certain provisions of NCLB to reflect the growing importance of communicative technology like blogs in our public school classrooms.
As bloggers, what do you think about the comment from the Byrne campaign above? How can we raise awareness about technology and education? How should VA SOLs be revised to reflect what many teachers are already doing in their classrooms?
Maybe we'll even hear from Leslie Byrne. She may want the chance to clarify her statement above.
Yes, I'm grand-standing.
Your candidate, brother or sister Jsrutstein, has served on education committees and, even, launched her public career as a member of the PTSA.
I'm curious about her take on the issues of technology and education.
This is a highly influential blog, not only in NoVA but across the state, and raising awareness is what blogs are intended to do. At their upmost, blogs should open public discourse in ways that encourage candidates and their supporters to engage the issues so that voters are fully informed about where their candidates stand on crucial issues.
Because this is a popular blog, the supporters (campaign staffers) of all four candidates in your primary check this blog daily. Believe me.
Tattle-tale? Okay, that's new. Yes, the folks that moderate Gerry's blog were kind enough to let me make a point that make get your attention.
I must respectfully disagree with you about the importance of educational issues in your primary. But we can agree to disagree.
You are free to doubt my motives and my commitment to educational leadership.
As to the post at ScruHoo: what is good for the goose is good for the gander.
P.S. Every time I hear a progressive or a Democrat mention media bias creepy crawlies run up and down my spine. Maybe you are not old enough to remember, but that was the clarion call of the Moral Majority in the '80s and the mantra of the Gingrich Revolution that cost Democrats control of Congress.
For the record, I'm male.
Assuming your motives are as you state, I'm guessing we only disagree about tactics, timing, and choice of forum.
Nice rhetorical trick, but it's not that education per se is unimportant as an issue for VA-11. I think that incorporating blogs into the curriculum, as compared to the other issues, is unimportant. Moreover, even if the Byrne campaign sees that issue as more important than I, posting admittedly hyperbolic statements and getting a dismissive e-mail in return hardly proves anything.
The most charitable spin I can put on your efforts is that your punishing Byrne for having the best campaign blog and for her supporters have the best supporter blogs. If you really see the power and growing influence of blogs, especially for high school students, you could have just as easily been positive and encouraging instead of negative and critical.
Finally, I really hope I'm wrong about the Washington Post favoring Connolly in this race, but there's absolutely no doubt that the Post favored Tom Davis, long past the time when he deserved it, if he ever did.
The most charitable spin I can put on your efforts is that you're punishing Byrne for having the best campaign blog and for her supporters having the best supporter blogs.
and it was such a good sentence, too.
I'm going to take my time with my next comment, even if it means someone else beats me to the punch.
Combining blogs and teaching proper English is a tall order.
You're very ambitious.
Please do me a favor and visit my class blog (it is for students, generally, but we have opened up the comments to the public, with moderation of course).
The fastest way is this:
http://blogs.roanoke.com/round...
Leave a comment there, jsrutstein. You sound sane enough, I'll let it through.
Man, when a Muslim student of mine stumbled upon a site called 'Jews Against Obama' almost directly from the Byrne blog roll, I decided to pursue this issue further.
Sorry, but my intention is not to help Gerry, Denneny or Lori. Leslie needs to clarify her statement.
A little snark (hey, it's Easter): Leslie and her supporters should be able to multi-task and consider a panoply of voter concerns.
Just saying.
Deuces.
VA-11 is too big and diverse to ever measure the impact, if any, on Byrne's campaign for having NLS as part of her blogroll. If there's any negative impact at all, I guarantee it's outweighed by far by Ben's pro-Byrne and anti-Connolly efforts. In any event, it's going to be hard between now and June 10 to gin up a robust debate about Byrne's blogroll choice, especially here at RK, where you're going to find many more degrees of separation before you encounter hate sites.
I'm confident Byrne is the best candidate in the race, even if education were the only issue, but I encourage her and my fellow supporters who know more of the details to weigh in on this issue.
Happy Easter!
First is the general issue of blogging and education. This sounds like a great topic, one that's being pursued independently by many educators and one that should be addressed at more official/government levels (be it local, regional, state, or perhaps even federal). The biggest challenge I see with introducing blogs (or any internet based sources) into an educational curriculum is that the internet is notoriously inaccurate. Whether intentionally deceiving or simply unknowingly spread, inaccurate information is everywhere. I would think (although I've been a teacher) that approved text books have gone through some sort of vetting process - thereby resulting in reasonably accurate material. Doing that with the internet would be somewhere between difficult and impossible. So whatever standards are put in place would have to deal with the Wild West aspects of the internet. But done properly, the internet and blogs specifically are great educational and informational tools for students.
Second is the issue with Leslie Byrne. As jsrutstein points out, you should be spending equal time with all four of our candidates on this matter. I have no problem with you getting involved in the discussion based on your location, but I do have a problem if you've for some reason singled out one candidate. And from your post it certainly appears you're only focused on how Leslie will deal with the blog/eduction issue. I suggest you follow jsrutstein's advice and contact all four candidates to get their detailed opinions/positions on this matter. And then, if you do have a favorite, feel free to post a diary giving all of us the details of what they all said and why you came to the conclusions you did. Even if it's not the one most of us support (Leslie), an honest effort to find the best of four in regard to your issue will be greatly appreciated. But just to come on here and ding Leslie is not really being fair - and not an example of the good blogging you wish to teach your students.
Yes, information gleaned from the internet, blogs in particular, can be biased, inaccurate, and unreliable. So what I'm going for is some language in the SOLs that empowers teachers to invest time and resources into figuring out ways to mitigate some of the potential for the dissemination of information of questionable veracity in blogs and provide students with the skill set necessary to navigate potentially treacherous waters.
As to Connolly: let me tell you one thing. I replied to his "First Negative Attack" post on his weblog. I said something to the effect that I am a "one-man force." Once you hit post or send, etc., you have to live with what you've posted. In this case, I send another comment clarifying my statement and begging Connolly to take the high road as your primary rolls on.
THAT COMMENT WAS NEVER POSTED. Why, I can't tell you. But it was my intention to clarify my post and I was not afforded the opportunity to do so. I thought you should know that.
Basically, they started out offended by the way Ben Tribbett was treating Obama on Not Larry Sabato. Ever since, they have been trying to smear Leslie Byrne, in guilt by association, because Ben is a supporter of hers.
Also, they complained to me because I have Isophorone, a Jewish conservative Republican, listed on my blogroll. That's the one click away from Jews Against Obama, a group that I obviously disagree with. They are not on my blogroll and never will be.
However, as I told Hank, I believe in diversity of opinion and have lots of people on my blogroll precisely because I disagree with them. Having to dispute those with differing ideas makes you better at arguing your own position.
But if anybody ever left a racist comment on my site, I'd delete it as soon as I saw it. Indeed, I've done so in the past.
The point, though, is that Hank is not a troll. Nor is Gordon. In personal emails, I have come to respect Hank. And I do encourage you go to his link to his school's blog project and even to check out Scrutiny Hooligans.
But I still think that before he keeps hounding Leslie, and possibly harming the campaign of the most progressive candidate in the race, he ought to educate himself on Virginia politics, especially in the 11th CD.
And the Washington Post is not the best guide to use. It truly has its biases. It is a centrist, pro business, pro free trade, pro NAFTA, anti union newspaper. In fact, they've tried busting their own unions.
Their animosity toward Leslie Byrne is based on those biases, not progressive one.
Gerry Conolly, on the other hand, is also pro business, pro developer, and has the support of the Chamber of Commerce. There is nothing wrong with that. I think he's proud of it. But he is the more centrist candidate.
He has done some really good things on environmental issues, including his Cool Counties initiative. And he's anti-war in Iraq. He's a good Democrat.
But Leslie is the more liberal candidate and has the backing of most of the unions. So, if a fellow progressive is attacking her from the left because he's offended at Ben, it just doesn't make sense to those of us living in Northern Virginia.
That's where Hank is losing us.
I've been planting flowers in the yard with my daughter this morning.
Earlier this morning, I emailed the Alexander and Denneny campaigns as Brother J suggested. I asked them (politely) if they would leave a comment here at Raising Kaine.
We know they (or their staffers) read you folks.
Karen, thanks for the links you left on my class blog. I can't wait to use them in a mini-lesson when we return from Spring Break.
On the NLS front: We've actually emailed each other a few times and he is working hard to find a time to visit my class to lead a discussion on the use of satire in political commentary, ala Mark Twain to the Daily Show to--dare I say it--Not Larry Sabato.
Ya'll are pretty good sports up there.
Still haven't gotten a comment from Leslie. ;)
1) How would you have voted on the war funding bill that the Democrats passed in May?
I would have voted against the war funding bill. I have been on record since January, 2003 as being against the war and the occupation of Iraq when a dozen former members of Congress and I sent a letter to President Bush not to embark on this foolhardy war.
2) What is your position on the Protect America Act that went through Congress in August, the bill that extended the President's eavesdropping power?
I would have voted against it. Warrantless wiretapping, cutting courts out of the process and giving the power to the administration, under any fair reading of the Constitution should be illegal.
3) What is your position on retroactive immunity for telecommunications companies?
I'm against immunity. The telecommunications companies who complied (not all did) have some of the highest priced legal talent available. They should have asked for a court ruling before handing over their customers records. I was very pleased that the US House found their voice on this issue.
It is an interesting back-and-forth. Though Byrne holds a majority among NoVA progressive bloggers, the Connolly-guys seem to be out with minor force as well.
That seems to me to be the problem in the Connolly, Alexander, and Denneny campaigns. In other words, those camps do not have near-enough presence in the local blogosphere (Denneny's getting better). Leslie eats grassy roots for breakfast.
She knows what she is doing. She is building the future of the Democratic Party for NoVA. She may not win as the polls suggest (Connolly doesn't have to "troll" the blogosphere; he has the Fairfax County machine to churn out loyal voters), but she is doing something important for the ongoing battle to keep Virginia purple.
Candidate Leslie has all the right progressive credentials: the war, health care, etc.
What she is lacking . . . well, I don't know her personally only what I read in Brother J's favorite rag WaPo, what I've found in my research and through some phone calls, so I'll leave you guys to debate the finer points of character.
I wish we could pause for a moment and really consider my pet issue in the diary (educational blogging and the VA SOLs), but I'm being selfish. Ya'll have an election to win.
You need to help Leslie shift the conversation over the next 2 1/2 months to something monumentally important to the citizens of Fairfax County and the surrounding areas.
Do you guys ever throw a Blogapalooza or some such thing where you get out in the open and put some flesh on the ground?
Attract some attention.