Tag Archive for 'McCain'

Completely Off Topic

Published on October 13, 2008 in Apple, New Media, New Politics? and Politics. 1 Comment Tags: , , , , , , , , , .

These are some off-topic thoughts I had while writing up a post for my New Media, New Politics? class. I know I haven’t been posting much, and that’s entirely my fault. So much as happened in my life, I don’t know where to begin. These thoughts will have to do for now.

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Over the long weekend, I had three quick thoughts that I wanted to pass along.

One. Last week, Chicago Public Radio’s darling, This American Life, did the world a favor by running an episode carefully explaining the current financial crisis. If you have any doubts in your mind about what caused the crisis, listening to the show will be one of the most helpful beneficial things you’ll do this month. The This American Life website says the hosts will, “…explain what happened this week, including what regulators could’ve done to prevent this financial crisis from happening in the first place.” I highly recommend it; it’s both entertaining and intellectually rewarding.

Two. The level of hatred in this race really saddens me. When I look at some comments or rallies on both sides of the fence, I don’t see civil and democratic disagreements. In fact, I don’t see anything. I feel disturbing levels of hatred and malice towards the opposing candidate. Hate isn’t a partisan issue. Lies aren’t political. They’re despicable. The trends, frankly, are disturbing, and I hope that both candidates try to turn it around, whether or not they’re actually able to.

Three. Tomorrow, Apple CEO Steve Jobs will announce updated laptops. Besides being an avid follower of politics, I follow the technology industry. In my observation, no one is better at stealing the news cycle than Steve Jobs. He puts any political campaign to shame. Just watch for that tomorrow, in addition to the banter between the Obama and McCain campaigns.

That’s all. Have a great week, everyone!

Thus Far

Published on October 2, 2008 in New Media, New Politics? and Tufts. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , .

This is a repost of my forth blog post for the New Media, New Politics? class I’m taking this semester at Tufts.

Remember, the class requires posts that essentially discuss other blogs’ actions and reactions in the political arena, which is why I link to many different sites and write in an unorthodox format. Nonetheless, I feel the content is useful.

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This class at Tufts isn’t my first venture into blogging. In fact, it’s not the first time I’ve written online about politics. It is, however, the first time I fully understand how the technological innovations of new media are having a real political impact.

I started blogging in July of 2007, as per recommendation of a friend. It was a chance for me to learn about the technical components of an interactive website, improve my writing style, and establish a healthy “Google rank“. In these aims, I’ve been measurably successful, and I have no regrets about starting my blog sixteen months ago. I recommend the venture to anyone.

As the sole author of a personal blog, my experience tracking the posts on a slew of left-of-center blogs is eye-opening. To me, a blog was an online mechanism and outlet for distributing thoughts. What hadn’t dawned on me, or what I failed to fully understand, was the power of the medium. On the partisan blogs I’ve been keeping current with, readers aren’t limited to just reading posts. They could be voices, sources of donations, or foot soldiers.

For instance, in the last month, I’ve watched Daily Kos divide its attention between reporting on the ever-changing Presidential race and the vital-but-forgotten downstream races. The staff of Daily Kos have made it clear that they believe the downstream races are just as or more important than the Presidential race. Everyday, a slew of posts are dedicated to reporting on the poll numbers from these state and local elections and what readers can do to help the Democratic candidates, from volunteering to donating. The sum of money they’ve raised for these downstream races in their initiative, Orange to Blue, is impressive. Regardless of where one stands on the website as a whole, they’re likely executing wisdom in focusing their attention in a relatively neglected sector.

The Presidential election of 2004, when I was a mere freshman in high school, is the earliest I remember paying attention to and understanding politics. Through rural New York public school indoctrination, coupled with my own observations about the media, I came to my own “media is the forth branch of government” conclusion. Although I’ve appreciated the notion that the spread of the information exerts an unbalanced influence on public opinion, studying the relationship between blogs and mainstream media sources has affirmed my view. In fact, I think it has unlocked a new level of understanding for me.

It’s been fascinating watching stories and memes jump from partisan blogs to the established sources. Not long ago in real-time, but ages ago in blog-time, left-of-center blogs were calling the McCain campaign out on its barrage of untrue television advertisements. Days later, when the pressure to report on the untruths was insurmountable, the New York Times ran a piece on it, resulting in the McCain campaign’s “war on the media”.

The journey, thus far, has been both fascinating and fun. As we near closer to November 4, it’s bound to get even more interesting.

Forget Obama and McCain, This is Huge

Published on September 23, 2008 in New Media, New Politics?, Politics and Tufts. 1 Comment Tags: , , , , .

This is a repost of my second blog post for the New Media, New Politics? class I’m taking this semester at Tufts. I voice concerns in this post that should be keeping Americans awake at night.

Remember, the class requires posts that essentially discuss other blogs’ actions and reactions in the political arena, which is why I link to many different sites and write in an unorthodox format. Nonetheless, I feel the content is useful.

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In recent weeks, the left-of-center blogs’ primary focus was to progress their political agenda by helping elect candidates who support their values. It’s easy to forget that they’re still able to write dozens of posts a day during non-election season. The last few days have been a partial taste of that phenomena, grouped around the looming bailout of US financial firms on their last legs.

Regardless of where one stands on the Bush administration’s proposed measures, most can agree that they’re unprecedented. Headed by Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, now a household name, the Bush administration is proposing a bailout in the amount of $700 billion. This sum may or may not faze you, but it certainly has some left-of-center bloggers up in arms.

The Democracy Now! blog, a popular liberal blog based on the prominent liberal radio program of the same name, quoted Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders yesterday:

For years now, they’ve told us that we can’t afford — that the government providing healthcare to all people is just unimaginable; it can’t be done. We don’t have the money to rebuild our infrastructure. We don’t have the money to wipe out poverty. We can’t do it. But all of a sudden, yeah, we do have $700 billion for a bailout of Wall Street.

After coming across that quote on the Democracy Now! blog, I was surprised when it wasn’t reposted on one of our canon left-of-center blogs. Who better to advocate the ideology and goals of the left-of-center blogs than the first self-described socialist to be elected to the U.S. Senate?

Even considering spiking oil prices, the McCain campaign’s lies and Mr. Obama’s access to the media, the Bush Administration’s proposal is the most urgent news story of the week. If you’re not yet convinced, the devil is in the details.

At least one left-of-center blogger flushed out these details today. Ezra Klein writes a detailed post on the “five worst problems with the bailout bill“. Although his criticisms are too detailed to properly quote here, Mr. Klein’s focus is the bill’s implementation. The attacks range from the economic principles the bill evokes to mend the crisis, to its giving Mr. Paulson “almost unlimited power with virtually no oversight” on his journey.

After taking a few minutes to read Mr. Klein’s post, you may still wonder why I claim this issue supersedes anything else involved in the Presidential election this week. Simply put, the economic effects of this proposed legislation will be felt for decades, and like many other legacies of the Bush Administration, it is precedent-setting. It fundamentally changes the power of the Treasury Secretary, a position appointed by the President. Even if we could assume 100% trust in Mr. Paulson, no one can predict the potential ethics violations and financial exploits of future Presidential appointees.

It’s safe to assume that the bailout will dominate press coverage for several days. It remains to be seen to what extent Mr. Obama and Mr. McCain will get in on the hoopla for political gain.

Returning to my sense of urgency, I hope that either or both candidates use their political clout to derail the fast-track this proposed legislation is on right now. If this legislation passes “as is”, we may be left wondering what happened to the principle of checks and balances that our founding fathers held so dear.