I have been trying to post to the blog in the last 24 hours and I keep getting sidetracked. Blogging while on the road is one of the hardest things in the world. Especially if, like me, you have to deal with every technology meltdown imaginable.

When I first started this odyssey a week ago, I was happy to have had in hand a "smartphone" that allowed me to stream video live. It was so freeing to be able to use a phone to give people an on the ground look of what I was witnessing and experiencing right there, right at the moment. But the camera broke and, worse, I have no idea how it happened. I left it charging overnight and the next morning it was just not working. Totally random act of technological non-compliance.

Relying on one piece of equipment can be devastating and I had prepared with an extra camera and audio recording equipment. What I was not prepared with was another mobile to not only phone but the internet. It's why last week I had so much trouble blogging. I had to run around Denver looking for T-Mobile that would outfit me with another phone instantly. It's how I ended up with the baby in the photo to the right.

Bloggers are some of the most gadgetfied people in the world. To report from wherever and whenever, we need to have instant access to the internet. In places like Philadelphia, it's awesome to be a blogger because there's municipal wireless access to the internet everywhere. And it's for free too! But in places like Denver and St. Paul, the burden of internet access either falls on the shoulders of coffee shops or on the bloggers themselves with a nifty piece of equipment like a "smartphone" and an extra fee for unlimited internet access in their monthly phone bill. In other words, "gonzo" on-the-ground blogging is not democratic at all. It can be costly, especially in rural and inner city areas where there is no internet access at all.

I say this because as a digital rights activist, I am very much aware of the privilege I have as someone who has so much access to technology and who even gets paid for blogging. At home not only do I have access to more than four computers, but I also have broadband internet access as well as mobile. And in times like my media and tech meltdown, I have the resources to get another camera or piece of equipment.

The so called "citizen journalist" from the "revolutionary" blogosphere just doesn't exist. Citizen journalism as in on-the-ground reporting and blogging is just not democratic and easy for the masses. We're just not there yet.

It's the reason why it struck me as a huge negative the lack of free internet access in Denver. I can understand the logic of Republicans with their "leave the market decide" mantra. Democrats, on the other hand, have been all about bringing "change" to the country by making it more democratic.

Well, Obama not the DNC failed miserably by not making the internet not only more accessible to little alternative media outlets like my culturekitchen media blogs. They failed to make media more democratic and accessible "to the people" by not providing wireless internet access during their own "big party" and convention.