Validity of Web-Forms-Based Advocacy Questioned

RobotRunAmok writes "We've all heard that, to better gain a legislator's attention, one should write a letter or send a fax, rather than click off an e-mail. Made sense, no? Well, PC World is reporting that the US Forestry Service is considering taking that truism to it's logical, or perhaps extreme, extension. The Tree People seek a regulation that would allow them to "ignore any public comments on the rule-making process sent to it through Web-based forms." The knickers of the EFF are in the predictable twist. The Issue: Sure, we all know Web-based petitions and advocacy campaigns are bogus, but they made us feel good, almost like we were participating in The Process, so is it really polite to rub our noses in our own ineffectuality this way?"

Comments

Re:Foolishness

[Rick the Red]

Why on Earth do you think this Administration cares about "the voice of the people"? The voice of the people called for Al Gore (admittedly by a small margin). It's only the voice of the powerful that matters to Dubya, and the powerful don't send form letters.