Public Please

I just payed $3.95 for a bit of political voice at Congress.org, a political website run by non-partisan and for-profit Capital Advantage. They call it a soapbox commentary, and it’s a pay-per-comment service that advertises your political perspectives to those who are learning about a particular politician. In my soapbox commentary, Restore Habeas Corpus, I call on citizens to hold Senator Chambliss and Senator Isakson accountable for their legislative roles in the illegal detention of Guantanamo Bay prisoners. I point out that both legislators have repeatedly legislated against habeas corpus, the right to a fair trial concerning ones detention. Without habeas corpus, prisoners like those at Guantanamo Bay, can be detained indefinitely without charge and without a fair trial.

Congress.org offers two ways for people to publish their political views to fellow citizens and elected representatives: Letters To Leaders and Soapbox Commentary. Letters To Leaders is a free service, which allows you write an email letter to politicians. It then publishes your letter on the web, along with other letters sent to the same politician. Since these letters are somewhat difficult to search and browse, it becomes increasingly unlikely that a fellow citizens will read your letter as the number of letters increases.

Hence, the Soapbox Commentary, which allows people to pay a small fee to advertise their perspective to fellow citizens for a limited duration (30 days). It is not clear what happens to these commentaries after they expire. I assume that they will disappear from the site, and that their is no public archive of them. Since my commentary may be removed after it expires, I have archived a screenshot of it using the Firefox plugin Screen grab!:

What do sites such as Congress.org mean for popular political communication betwen citizens and governmental officials? And what is the rhetorical strategy for this communication?  Does it make sense to develop for-profit services for the public to effectively communicate with elected representatives?  Does our democracy depend on websites such as Congress.org to filter and project the voices of its citizens?  Are we now entering a new world of micropayment politics?

Tell us what you think.