Campaign 2008, Control, and New Media
Hillary Clinton is bringing daughter Chelsea out on the campaign trail in Iowa but won’t let her speak to the press. Predictably and quickly, this has lead to the absurd as she turned down an interview request from a 9 year old Scholastic News reporter.
Thus is the politics of control. In a hot presidential race, one statement, one moment can change fortunes forever. Just ask Howard Dean. The Clintons have always sought to protect and shield Chelsea from the press and I understand and empathize with that but if you don’t want to get shot, don’t go near the battlefield. If they are going to bring Chelsea along and make her part of the campaign in that way, than she is in the game, like it or not.
I don’t like the overly controlled and manufactured politics we have today. It’s almost impossible to get any kind of real read on a candidate. I’d love to hear from Chelsea and I’m sure other young people would too. She’s a smart girl for goodness sakes, let her speak. People are so afraid of making a mistake and the press is too quick to judge.
I has been said this is the YouTube campaign, but don’t let that fool you into thinking this is a new media campaign. We have had some “YouTube debates” but that’s just window dressing on a campaign that is still controlled by and manufactured for the old dog media. If anything, new media has intensified the control because of the way bad news can spread like wildfire across the Internet. We will not have a new media election until candidates are allowed and are courageous enough to let down their hair and let us see their real selves. Until control is broken down. Not until blogs, audio and video podcasts are treated as equals in the process and not a side show like the YouTube debates were. We’re getting closer every year and I hope someday we are able to break through and have a true new media election.
Keep your pants on! Vt. town bans nudity
Small Vermont town bans public nudity.
It took an elderly man wearing only a fanny pack and wandering through the center of town last week for the Select Board to decide it had seen enough.
Couldn’t they just say, you can’t be nude if you’re over the age of 60?
Beckhams - Is This News?
The Beckhams arrive in LA. I guess this is big news for alot of people. I couldn’t give a rats ass.
Cindy Sheehan vs. Nancy Pelosi
Just when you thought you couldn’t get any more liberal than congresswomen Nancy Peloci; along comes Cindy Sheeman. The anti-war activist who lost her son in Iraq wants Pelosi to start impeachment proceedings against President Bush in two weeks or she threatens to run for her seat in congress.
First things first. I Feel for Mrs. Sheehan. She lost her son in a crappy war that Bush has royally screwed up. Liberals are desparate to impeach someone mostly because they’re still pissed about what happend to Bill Clinton and want revenge. Bush is an idiot and has messed up most of his second term, but he hasn’t done anything that would warrant impeachment. Further, impeaching Bush isn’t going to take him out of office nor change his mind about the war. It will not bring home any troops any faster. It’ s an impractical lashing out by a frustrated group of people. I would rather congress spend it’s time figuring out how they can change of course of the war in a practical and sane way. It’s just not as easy as some people think.
Shehan has no chance to overtake Pelosi. Pelosi has the support of the party, she has experience, and for better or for worse, she hasn’t completely screwed anything up yet. Putting a wild eyed maverick with a single purpose in office is a very very bad idea. San Fran voters are a bunch of nut jobs to be sure, but I don’t think they’re that foolish. Cindy Sheehan looks more like a crazy lunatic with her wild publicity stunts than a serious thoughtful person with something interesting and useful to say.
No Bong Hits 4 Jesus
The Supreme Court has ruled against a student in Juneau, Alaska saying the displaying of a banner reading “Bong Hits 4 Jesus” could be interpreted as promoting drug use and therefore in violation of school policy. The student was suspended from school as a result.