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Thursday, July 31, 2003
Better than a hole in the ground 
| | Nice to see somebody's finding a use for those camera phones. |
Tingle check
| | While I appreciate what Dean has been able to do with the Web, my gut is telling me that in five years, Karl Rove and the Republican political machine will turn this same collection of technologies into something to be feared (particularly if they lose to Howard Dean in 2004). Doc is getting the same tingle I am. Remember, all technology can be subverted, it is not an end in itself nor is it inherently good. We have yet to see the real darkside of the Internet and it is my guess that this will be one of its aspects. |
| | I dunno. I see no sign so far that the White House even begins to understand the Net, in spite of the excellent source of support it has already provided from the followers of Glenn Reynolds, Andrew Sullivan and countless others on the right. But maybe I'm missing it. |
| | (For what little it's worth, I've heard exactly nothing back from the white house from either of my emails sent on July 19. Nor do I expect to.) |
| | However. One of Bush's virtues, I believe, is his uncomplicated authority. He is clearly a Leader In Charge, commanding a level of unity and loyalty that is without modern precedent. His communications staff does an excellent job of projecting singular messages. Listening to his press conference yesterday morning, I was impressed at how well he does that himself. I'm convinced this is less a matter of strategy than of the man's nature. I'm also convinced that this is echoed in his support on the Net, even if he and his staff are not personally engaged with that support. In a de facto sense, it's a good strategy. |
| | The Net is too peer-to-peery, too chaotic, too complicated, for Karl Rove to "manage," beyond the obvious fundraising possibilities, which I'm sure 'ol Karl is looking at very closely. |
| | There is no doubt that we are seeing the beginnings of networked democracy. As Phil Windley and I talked about a few weeks back, networked democracy isn't just about elections. It's about governance. While we're highly focused on the former right now (and will be through November of next year), it's the latter that will prove the Net's pudding in politics. |
| | I have faith in networked democratic processes, including the ones we have hardly begun to see. If there is a darkside to the Internet in politics, I believe the lightside will expose it. |
| | Bringing matters to light is what we do here, one way or another. Better to link a million candles than curse the darkness. |
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