participatory democracy? (fwd)

[Michael Hoover]

> To: Michael Hoover <hoov at freenet.tlh.fl.us>
> 
> © 1998 CMP Media Inc.
> 
> The congressional e-mail servers are getting a half million messages a
> day as December draws to a close. These are messages from people
> concerned about
> impeachment, providing a level of input never before seen in American
> history. What are they saying? It's hard to say, because no one is
> reading those messages. Congress, it seems, can't keep up with its own
> constituents. It could well be that the American people have decided
> heavily for or against  impeaching the president, and nobody knows. The
> White House staff won't know, either, because the correspondence office
> has fallen hopelessly behind the volume of e-mail there. Suddenly, the
> Internet has produced a participatory democracy, but no one can be
> heard.