For most people with bittersweet memories of the late 90s, any buzzword that pertains to the Internet brings up bad memories of worthless stock options, wiped out savings, perhaps unemployment and a fleecing of some investors by crooked Wall Street executives.

Now while there was a significant artificial layer of fraud in the late 90s, underneath that vile layer was a true revolution in the way human beings acquire and disseminate information. Information WANTS to be free. That’s the nature of information. It want to travel at the simultaneity of light speed. That’s what electronic and networked media accomplishes. Of course I’m not breaking any new ground here. Marshall McLuhan was talking about this in the 60s. Oh if he were alive today.

So when the word ‘Blog’ saturated the media this past two years, most people thought ‘Oh great, yet another empty calorie buzzword that will be used to fleece greedy speculators out of their retirement’. I have to admit, I felt the same way.

Then something happened. As Bush entered the middle of his first administration, the American public began to ferociously debate issues. The war was becoming very real at this point, and those of us who thought Bush was merely saber rattling suddenly realized these guys meant business. Many people become active in finding out just what the hell was going on. Where were passionate citizens debating these topics? Where were they getting their information for debates? Where were they educating themselves? The Blogosphere became important.

Now I’m not saying it wasn’t important before this period, but indeed as the issues in front of us suddenly meant life or death for thousands of young American soldiers and tens of thousands of Iraqis, the debates become fierce.

As the drunken orgy of ‘Shock and Awe’ commenced, something amazing happened. I saw Iraqi citizens BLOGGING. Most people didn’t see the significance of this, but I did.

I saw American soldier BLOGGING in real time. This was something that has never happened in the history of human warfare. Citizens back home eating freedom fries were getting direct, real time information from people on the ground not filtered though CNN. Recollect the first Gulf War. That war was broadcast on CNN. This was a revolution in itself. But it was a heavily filtered view.

Watch the evolution–

WW2 was brought to our eyes though newspapers and Gov’t sponsored ‘newsreels’ in movie theaters–completely one-sided.

Vietnam was broadcast in bits and pieces on major TV networks. Suddenly, Americans saw glimpses of how horrible war could be.

Gulf War 1 was fought on Cable

The War in Iraq changed everything. Suddenly there were WEBCAMS in Baghdad available to anyone with a network connection. Iraqis were blogging. Soldiers were blogging. And the American people were suddenly given immediate and unlimited information. Pictures surfaced of Iraqi civilians being slaughtered by bombs. Videos were distributed in real time across the Internet of BEHEADINGS. Anyone with a network connection could now see what was happening in some tiny dungeon in the middle of Iraq. This was completely unprecedented and it changed everything.

Fast forward to the election of 2004. The Blogosphere becomes the world’s largest Peer-Review network in the world. If you put something up defending Bush or Kerry on a blog, you would have your argument dissected by thousands of vehement bloggers on the other side. Then…. Dan Rather.

Now this to me is one of the most significant events to occur in communication ever. Dan Rather and 60 Minutes – a legendary bastion of mainstream, respected journalism – was absolutely brought to their knees by… are you ready for this? BLOGGERS. This network of ‘amateur’ journalists uncovered the sloppy (some say intentionally inaccurate) reporting of the ‘memo’ regarding Bush’s stay in the National Guard. This was a significant step toward Blogging as a mainstream channel of information. You may or may not agree with the Right – but you have to give credit where it’s due. They are just as powerful and savvy in Blogging as the left.

So… KEEP BLOGGING PEOPLE. Driving Socrates is going to spread its net across borders and bring in thoughtful people around the world to share with up new perspectives and help educate us when we aren’t informed. The global debate is here – welcome.