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The political power of bloggers

By gregladen on November 2, 2009.

From the BBC:

Councillors in a rural town have staged a mass resignation after becoming tired of criticism from a blogger.

We could just leave it at that and know our power. Or we could look at the details more closely:

OK, 11 out of 15 council members of the town of Somerton, England resigned on Tuesday. Blogger Niall Connolly had made accusations on his blog that are a bit beyond me to describe, and the council members who walked out claim that it was this blogging that made them want to quit. The blogger, however, has a different take on it.

Mr Connolly rejected the idea that the councillors had resigned as a result of his blog. He attended the meeting himself on Tuesday.

He said: "If blaming Muck&Brass helps these ex-councillors to sleep at night then that's fine but it ignores the truth.

I don't have a clue what they are talking about.

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Journalist: So why did you all resign?
Former Councilor: The nasty man said some bad things about us! It's not fair and we can't cope! Waaaaah!

From the Beeb:

Businessman Mr Canvin, 61, said: "I'm not going to tolerate it when I'm working for the town.
"I said, 'I've had enough' and handed in my resignation."

Tell me again, what is meant by "stiff upper lip?" I seem to be forgetting how to understand English English.

I need a movie with David Niven in it.

By Crudely Wrott (not verified) on 02 Nov 2009 #permalink

"impossible working conditions"? Seriously, one guy saying nasty things about you is not "impossible working conditions".

Now, one guy saying publicly what the rest of the town's been thinking for a long time, leading to an inability for you idiots to cash out at the grocery store without the cashier telling you that Muck&Brass is right about what an idiot you are.... Well, you can hardly blame all of that on the blogger, can you?

There's a lot more to this story than just 'the lone blogger'. Conflicts of interest abound. The Town Council obstructs Freedom of Information enquiries and spends public money trying to find ways of not releasing public documents. The Council spend £1M+ on a 'community hall' located in the back of beyond on a trading estate woned by the ex-ViceChair of the Council. It sounds so juicy I can't wait for the next chapter.

Regards and best to bloggers everywhere.

Niall

By Niall Connolly (not verified) on 10 Nov 2009 #permalink