A Site For Sore Eyes - and Minds

by Dr. Ellen Brandt

Both the Internet and the United States need a "GOP Mother Site" to balance news feeds, search engines, and social media too closely bound to the interests of the Other Side. 　

It's been a long time aborning, but various GOP media activists, who've been working in isolation from one another and getting nowhere fast, are finally making coordinated moves to establish a central Republican "Mother Site," which would provide a full spectrum of social media applications and also serve as a central linking point for All-Things-GOP.
　
We've been talking to a number of such media activists, several of whom have run little-visited sites or Groups within large social media universes, like Facebook or LinkedIn, for years.
　
While not everyone agrees on how to proceed or what to include, one thing we all can agree on, because it continues to be (in frustrating fashion) true: Republicans are still treated as second-class citizens on much of the Internet and at all the major social sites, despite our being the respected advocates for at least 1/2 of the American population and despite our overwhelming success in the election just past.

This is no longer acceptable, and worse - it is no longer necessary. There is no reason whatsoever we should not put aside our differences - philosophical, operational, or "turf"-oriented - and create a social media "Mother Site" for all Republicans or those interested in our Party, its agendas, its members, its prominent figures, and its candidates.

We have long believed that the designation Party of Yes is the best possible name for such a site. Others will be less enthusiastic, of course, so let us tell you why:

Party of Yes doesn't imply that all Republicans are supposed to agree on everything - or anything! In fact, we believe that in many ways, the opposite is true: that a healthy political Party - like a healthy culture, a healthy economy, and a healthy nation - depends on allowing and, indeed, relishing the widest possible Freedom of Action, Freedom of Speech, and Freedom of Thought.

Perhaps never in our nation's history has such a worldview - such a Human view - been more important, as adherents on the Other Side attempt to push their Thuggish and Elite theories of "political correctness" to such extremes, they threaten the eradication of virtually all our major institutions - academia, media, the Internet, and, perhaps, American Culture itself.

As a meme and a theme and words to live by, Party of Yes implies that Republicans are now the Guardians of Freedom itself. We welcome discussion. We welcome civil and courteous debate. We welcome all viewpoints and all voices, especially those which feel they have been stifled by Censors-for-the-Elite on some other sites. And we welcome to our Party those (now many) who feel it is finally time to take a stand against "political correctness" in all its deleterious and ultimately dangerous forms.

We had hoped the idea of a GOP social media "Mother Site" would catch on during the election year of 2016 and that it might attract widespread support and modest but necessary assistance and funding from the RNC, various State and local GOP entities, groups backing candidates, PACs, think tanks, media companies, and conservative and faith-oriented NGOs.

Alas, it was not to be! But we believe the extraordinary events since the election, and especially since the beginning of the new Administration, now make the establishment of such a site nearly imperative.

It is crystal clear that there is simply too much anti-GOP - and many would say, anti-American - bias in the news feed components of most major social media and even supposedly "hard" news sites.

While Republicans - and many Independents - want to continue to belong to and utilize many of these sites, some of which have excellent and perfectly neutral applications as part of their makeup, a large number of us would also like to have a site we can link to on our dashboards and favorites lists and go to first when we access the Internet.

We want a comprehensive site where news feeds are unbiased and unprejudiced; where we can choose to read stories from sources we trust and shun those we do not; and where we can catch up on current events on a real-time basis, without getting so angry at the slant, we throw rocks at our computer screens or hurl our tablets and smartphones at the nearest wall.

Content-wise, we would love to see regular political news from GOP adherents and activists in all 50 States and local venues, especially from those based in "flyover" country - which these days, just happens to be Republican country. And we want to give a much louder and stronger voice to those Americans - currently, again, overwhelmingly Republicans or GOP-leaning Independents - who have been denied a consistent voice, because the Thug-Elite considers them (or should we say, US!) 'Deplorables" or "Necessary Road Kill" on the path to a more and more Dystopian economy and culture.

Although it will take time to do so, with help, the "Mother Site" should also begin to develop its own Republican Search Engine, which can supplement existing search engines, whose proprietary algorithms - or something - seem to be preventing them from correctly classifying and ranking news and features and authors and topics important to GOP'ers with the same care and weight they give to those coming from the Other Side.

We'll try to anticipate the question you're burning to ask : Why do we need an independent GOP "Mother Site," instead of one sponsored by the Administration itself, the RNC, a leading PAC, a leading think tank, or a leading existing news site?

Let's return to our Party of Yes meme, theme, and worldview: That in light of the current state of this nation, Republicans are now the Guardians of Freedom itself. Almost by default, we have become the champions of completely open discussion, debate, courtesy, and healthy give-and-take, because the Other Side has barricaded itself behind of wall of "political correctness" and "litmus tests" so pernicious and downright scary, people of reason, compassion, faith, and human empathy are becoming more appalled at its Big Brother aspects day-by-day.

For this reason, we believe we need a social media site which maintains arms-length distances from both the current - and future - Republican Administration(s), as well as from the RNC, which, for different reasons, are wont to take hard - i.e. closed-from-debate - positions on agenda items, proposed legislation, GOP candidates, and State or local matters.

Leading GOP or GOP-leaning PACs very often have set agendas which are by nature exclusive in some way, rather than open and inclusive. Think tanks, while apt to welcome a wider range of thought and expression based on ongoing research, also generally have somewhat specific missions and agendas.

And the top GOP-leaning news sites, some of which are excellent, have as their main goal attracting attention from both readers or viewers - or from other news sites and search engines - which means that they naturally give far more emphasis to certain themes and stories than to other themes and stories, which they believe will attract only narrow or specialized audiences.

In addition, most of the major news sites allow advertising of one sort or another, often as their major means of financial support. By nature, advertising limits the extent to which a site or channel can be totally independent. This is, in fact, a very hot topic of discussion right now among "Official MSM" outlets large and small. Heavy censorship is rearing its ugly head at several sites, including sites with a strong social media presence.

The Republican "Mother Site" we propose will, of course, welcome all sorts of links to all of the above - and financial assistance and support from some of them, including the Administration, the RNC, and PACs, as well as from State and local branches of the Party.

But once again, our major goal is to become a one-stop social media site, similar to LinkedIn or Facebook, but specifically attractive to Internet readers, viewers, and general users who are Republicans or GOP-leaning.

Here are some applications the GOP "Mother Site" should include:

***** E-Mail: Users of the site should be able to exchange E-mails with one another and - significantly - with both officeholders and candidates nationwide; State and local Party officials; RNC officials; and principals of the various linked entities - from news sites to think tanks to PACs to individual blogs - which choose to link to the site.

***** A Publishing Application: The usage at LinkedIn, for one, has picked up considerably since their site began to allow users to publish articles and circulate them to both connections and the general public. We think a publishing application geared specifically to all Republicans, across the spectrums of research, thought, and opinion, should become popular quickly.

***** A Video Application: Similarly, we want to include a video editing and disseminating feature, along the lines of Google's YouTube.

***** A Real-Time News and Features Feed: Because our feed will be monitored and edited by fellow Republicans, it will naturally favor a GOP slant on the news and features which appeal to GOP viewers and readers. We will aim to be inclusive, however - but not prejudiced and biased, as are most of the "Official MSM" feeds, whose editors seem to favor the Other Side's viewpoints and agendas by a wide margin.

***** A Groups Facility: Because we want an "open" E-mail application to be part of the site - promoting inclusiveness - users of the GOP "Mother Site" will not have to connect or become "friends" with each other in order to participate fully. But we would like to have the option of individual users setting up and joining smaller groups for purposes of specific kinds of contacts and conversations.

***** A GOP "Commerce" Component: We will not allow the usual kind of advertising on the site, although PACs and other groups lobbying for specific "opinion" purposes should be able to do so on a fee-based basis - garnering wider support for a State or local ballot measure, for instance. But we'd like to have an on-site Store where everyone and anyone - including groups allied with the Administration or the RNC - will be able to sell creative, interesting, and fun merchandise with a GOP theme. Mugs, mousepads, hats, sweaters, cards and stationery - if it's fun, adorable, and Republican, it can be sold here.

***** A Republican Search Engine: As we mentioned above, everything that appears anywhere on the site should begin to be indexed and sorted from day one, leading to the establishment of a handy and useful GOP search engine over time.

Of course, among the main advantages - and attractions - of a GOP "Mother Site" is its ability to provide current and updated links to All-Things-Republican.

We hope every major GOP-oriented news outlet, large and small, will want to link to the site. So, we expect, will GOP bloggers and authors of books; sites narrowly focused on GOP issues; think tanks; PACs; university and college-based entities allied with the Party; faith-based groups allied with the Party; and purveyors of GOP-themed paraphernalia.

We also want both the Administration and its numerous units and the Party and its numerous units to link to the "Mother Site." We hope to provide links to key officials within Federal departments and agencies and State, county, and local branches of the GOP - as many as wish to participate.

We also want both elected officials at every level and candidates at every level to be able to utilize the site regularly, linking their speeches, articles, white papers, and news of legislation and initiatives they're sponsoring.

Assembling and maintaining all this wonderful material will require at least a small staff, which can grow as the site grows. All staff members should be Republicans and support the Party fully and enthusiastically - no disgruntled "holdovers" here!

Naturally, I would be delighted to administer the site and also serve as its Editorial Director, providing original material on a real-time basis. We are also in frequent discussions with other well-known GOP activists who are very interested in developing such a site and eager to participate as staff members or regular contributors.

Although all should maintain an arm's-length distance from the site to preserve its complete independence and integrity, initial funding needs to come from somewhere, and we hope that "somewhere" will include the Administration, the RNC, State Parties, PACs, think tanks, academic institutions, and the major news outlets who will link to the site.

We believe the initial budget can be exceptionally reasonable, since everyone who has expressed an interest in participating - including me - wants such a site to succeed, because we think it is desperately needed and can become an immense success over time. We need to be paid something for all the time we expect to put into the venture - but that something can be relatively little. We are patient and willing to grow with the site.

What might be very helpful is the RNC, State Parties, or PACs "lending us" some of their crack IT people to assist with the initial site set-up, although much can now be accomplished with off-the-shelf components. The most difficult parts of the site to set up efficiently may be the publishing and broadcast applications and the search engine component. We are certain we can use some help with those!

So how should we now proceed with the development of our proposed Republican "Mother Site?" As we mentioned, a group of leading and well-qualified GOP activists, most of whom already have Internet sites of their own, have been discussing the establishment of such a site for several months.

It may now be the time to hold a conference, possibly in Washington, where those already in the mix can directly discuss and start implementing the "Mother Site's" establishment with representatives from the Party, the Administration, leading PACs, think tanks, and news sites, and other interested possible participants.

We can introduce a budget, decide on initial staffing, and begin to elicit both funding and other sorts of assistance from everyone who can give it.

We are publishing versions of this initial description of the "Mother Site" both in the Party of Yes blog series at Google's Blogger and at LinkedIn, where we maintain a Party of Yes Group and where I have perhaps the strongest and most prestigious connections network of Republicans on the site.

Many of my connections are involved in broadcasting - radio, television, or podcasts. So I am hoping several of them will ask me to appear on their shows in the very near future, in order to discuss the "Mother Site" and the Party of Yes concept, as well as the Road Kill Nation theme, which I am developing as a possible book and documentary. (Read about it in the next story at the Party of Yes blog.)

With several appearances and the subsequent "buzz" we hope they will cause, the proposed "Mother Site" can be launched very quickly and efficiently, we fervently believe, particularly if some television networks and major news sites give us some air time and print - or cyber - inches.

We welcome feedback from those who read this piece and further suggestions about what you, as fellow Republicans, want and need from a comprehensive GOP "Mother Site."

Long live our Party of Yes!

　

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