There is a lot in the news. One, we’ve got Iran in a mess. And two, we’ve got some real idiots compromising away real health reform. Three, we’ve got some real idiots compromising away on regulations that could save us from another recession like this one in the near future. Enjoy!
High Definition Democracy
georgia10, Daily Kos
The concept of citizen-selected leadership itself is ancient, but we are witnessing today the latest chapter in how technology is strengthening that democracy, one byte at a time.
One need look no further than the 140-character updates streaming in from Iran on Twitter, the photostreams pouring in on Flickr, and the blossoming Facebook pages to understand and appreciate the revolutionary effect social media has had on how civilizations engage in and react to democracy.
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But the internet provides something more. Where print, radio and TV have permitted political and community leaders to “get their messages” out to the masses, they are largely one-dimensional methods of communication. With the internet, however, we are seeing for the first time how multi-dimensional technology allows not just for the amplification of a “message” by those at the top, but it also allows for the creation of sub-messages, anti-messages, and other reactions by the masses.
In other words, we have moved from the era of citizen passivity – reading or watching or hearing about current events – to the era of citizen proactivity, where individuals are empowered to opine on, report on, dispute, support, or organize around those current events.
Iran’s Day of Anguish
Roger Cohen
Ahmadinejad won as the Interior Ministry was sealed, opposition Web sites were shut down, text messages were cut off, cell phones were interrupted, Internet access was impeded, dozens of opposition figures were arrested, universities were closed and a massive show of force was orchestrated to ram home the result to an incredulous public.
Overnight, a whole movement and mood were vaporized, to the point that they appeared a hallucination.
For more Iran analysis, see this: Khamenei: The Power Behind the President.
Social Networks Spread Iranian Influence Online
Brad Stone & Noam Cohen, New York Times
Iranians are blogging, posting to Facebook and, most visibly, coordinating their protests on Twitter, the messaging service. Their activity has increased, not decreased, since the presidential elections on Friday and ensuing attempts by the government to restrict or censor their online communications.
On Twitter, reports and links to photos from a peaceful mass march through Tehran on Monday, along with accounts of street fighting and casualties around the country, have become the most popular topic on the service worldwide, according to Twitter’s published statistics.
This is why the internet is amazing. If you aren’t engaging online, you aren’t doing as much as you can to make this world a better place for regular people.
What the President had to say:
Obama and the Politics of Short Memories
E.J. Dionne Jr., Washington Post
As long as the global economy was crumbling, business held back and even welcomed the infusion of hundreds of billions of government dollars to prop up the system. Business leaders, like everyone else, were frightened to death. They welcomed Big Government’s exertions to keep the banks alive and gin up consumer purchasing power.
It is an odd tribute to the short-term success of Obama’s recovery effort that the business lobbies now feel free to return to the old-time religion of bashing government and singing the praises of the unfettered marketplace. You might expect the corporate guys to show a little gratitude to the government that bailed them out. But that’s never been their way. They’d rather pretend that the past nine months were a bad dream.
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The Obama administration, which has largely had things its own way so far, would do well to take this declaration of war seriously. Until now, Obama has been able to occupy the broad middle ground of American politics. Many who were unhappy with how aggressive the government had to be to get the economy rolling nevertheless accepted the need for Washington to act boldly.
Stay the Course
Paul Krugman, New York Times
The debate over economic policy has taken a predictable yet ominous turn: the crisis seems to be easing, and a chorus of critics is already demanding that the Federal Reserve and the Obama administration abandon their rescue efforts. For those who know their history, it’s déjà vu all over again — literally.
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To sum up: A few months ago the U.S. economy was in danger of falling into depression. Aggressive monetary policy and deficit spending have, for the time being, averted that danger. And suddenly critics are demanding that we call the whole thing off, and revert to business as usual.
Those demands should be ignored. It’s much too soon to give up on policies that have, at most, pulled us a few inches back from the edge of the abyss.
He just explains it so well.
And some health care videos for you to enjoy; the first is Obama speaking passionately to the dumb AMA, and the second is Howard Dean firing back against the stupid co-op compromise.
