Blogging - the future

I had no idea how successful 'blogging' can be in connecting with other people. No longer are quotes taken out of context or without the qualifications that change their meaning. Neither can the 'blogger' escape his or her words. I learned lessons about this last week after I published a page under the heading "Policies would be nice, Mr Cameron". My fellow AM, Peter Black republished it on his blog which attracts many more people than mine - because he thought it might cause me a bit of a problem. And then Lee Waters, who presents Waterfront used it to 'discomfort' Nick Bourne in an TV interview on Thursday. And then,on sunday, I logged onto ConservativeHome.com, the blog run by Tim Montgomery which reaches hundreds of thousands of people and there was one of my 'tongue in cheek' blogs reprinted in full.
What is good about a blog is that I feel able to say what I genuinlly believe. A blog is personal and is what I actually think. In the debating chamber I sometimes vote against what I believe because I am subject to the party whip. Well, the whip does not reach my blog. If I think Welsh students should have to pay top-up fees as they would if they lived in England, I can say so in my blog. If I think that thousands of Welsh students are going to Welsh universities instead of the best university for them simply because they do not have to pay top up fees is a most unwelcome development, I can say that as well. Over recent years politics has become pitiful as the party spin machines have taken over. The blog is the alternative route for free thinking to survive - and I am only now beginning to realise how much I am going to enjoy it.