Secrecy and deception meet information and communication

June 14, 2003 1:31 PM

With the wee hubbub that's going on at the moment in our government, it might be nice to take a step back and look at what this means for us Internet users (and more specifically, bloggers). When I pondered this for a moment, my mind drifted to that briefly bearded granola and silicon presidential hopeful of times long forgotten. Well, Al Gore may have invented the Internet (or, as he put it, "During my service in the United States Congress, I took the initiative in creating the Internet"), but it is this man who has truly embraced the medium.

The greatest difference between this man and the cowboy currently shootin' from the hip in the Oval Office isn't about taxes. It's not about health care. And, yes, I contend it's not even about women's rights. The greatest difference between the Son of Bush and the Dean isn't about left or right or conservative or liberal. It's all about the flow of information. [More inside]
posted by Hammerikaner (9 comments total)

It is secrecy and deception that has led to international war and regional instability and has angered the entire world... and a handfull of Americans. What could more sharply contrast this kind of cloak-and-dagger leadership than a daily blog from the campaign trail? In the upcoming election, there will hopefully be many issues that are honestly and openly debated. Failing that, we know there will be political posturing, finger pointing, name-calling, and patritoism questioning. I am of the mind that the tide will be turned by new new media. As a confessed and proud liberal American, I am convinced, and I can only hope, that the turn of the tide will come in via new media.
posted by Hammerikaner at 1:31 PM on June 14, 2003

the Dean link on the post was in error (it should point to Gov. Howard Dean: A Satire).
posted by Hammerikaner at 1:34 PM on June 14, 2003

You are going to get shit for this FPP. That being said, you did a much better job than many (ahem... ME) have in showing why this is an interesting, FPPable subject, and not just a Vote for Krodos! throwaway post.

Everyone would admit that on some level they have entertained the idea that the web will profoundly change not just our daily lives, but also how we function as a society. Anyone telling you that they know it is going to happen right now or soon or whatever is bullshitting you, but history does suggest that insofar as shit happens, shit changes.

The last several months make me think it is starting to go down (this cultural change). I can digest so much damn information. Even the President of the US didn't have access to as much info 20 years ago as we all do today. It would be fucking cool if this election were a milestone of evolution (or some such less hyperbole-driven concept).
posted by Ignatius J. Reilly at 1:46 PM on June 14, 2003

Hammerikaner: Could you please explain, in a few words, exactly what this FPP is about?
posted by davidmsc at 4:25 PM on June 14, 2003

if we wanted you to know, we would have given you a decoder ring. muhahahaha.
posted by quonsar at 5:06 PM on June 14, 2003

Um, I couldn't say it in a few words... that's why it's a few paragraphs.
posted by Hammerikaner at 5:32 PM on June 14, 2003

Zing! Thx, quonsar.
posted by davidmsc at 8:34 PM on June 14, 2003

I suspect people using the 'new media' are "early adopters" (not of Internet, but of these particular technologies). Will the 'new media' have enough time to catch-up for this election?
posted by MzB at 5:34 AM on June 15, 2003

I think Howard Dean should change the campaign song as given by the slate profile. A Little Less Conversation is what we have now. In a political context this send me a, probably unintended, message that says: "I don't want to listen to you."
posted by wobh at 8:58 AM on June 15, 2003