The Coming Digital Presidency

Ranjit Mathoda writes "Marc Andreeson, the cofounder of Netscape, met Senator Barack Obama in early 2007. Mr. Andreeson recalls, "In particular, the Senator was personally interested in the rise of social networking, Facebook, Youtube, and user-generated content, and casually but persistently grilled us on what we thought the next generation of social media would be and how social networking might affect politics — with no staff present, no prepared materials, no notes. He already knew a fair amount about the topic but was very curious to actually learn more." As a social organizer and a lover of new technologies, Mr. Obama could be expected to make good use of such tools in getting elected, and he has done so. What may not be as obvious is that Mr. Obama appears to have a keen interest in using such technologies in the act of governing. And whether Mr. Obama becomes president, or Mrs. Clinton or Mr. McCain do, these new tools have the potential to transform how government operates."

Comments

Which is why Obama won't have my vote

[the computer guy nex]

What may not be as obvious is that Mr. Obama appears to have a keen interest in using such technologies in the act of governing

I'm assuming Barack is not interested in setting up a facebook group for just members of Congress. I'll bet he will introduce legislation regulating these applications.

I am not interested in a nanny state. I want to be in charge of raising my children, not the Government.

Re:A bit presumptuous, no?

[kellyb9]

Myself, I'll be voting either Green or Libertarian, depending on who's on the ballot in Illinois. Mine will be a protest vote against our Corporate-owned government. So essentially you'll be voting for McCain then? Good luck with that.

from an engineering standpoint

[zappepcs]

it is clear that to rebuild D.C. you need to sweep away the rubbish from the old system to bring in the new. The 'new' in this case include new technology that bypasses the current old boy network. New voters that are not yet tainted by the old boy network. New rules of political interaction (via technology and new voters), new representation for those previously under-represented... in short a revolution. Communication has always been part and parcel of war. The side with the best communication always has an advantage. Technology brings that to any political revolution that would happen in the USA.

I think of such things as good but I wonder how long before the right wingers begin calling him the antichrist?

Re:Facts

[Doc Ruby]

Those preachers have the "guts and conviction" to recognize that a collection of cells in a womb that isn't conscious isn't a human being. They might still be mired in superstition, but at least they're not tricked into thinking that everything with a human shape is a human.

Hey, my imaginary all-powerful spirit tells me to believe that a new soul is created whenever two heterosexuals agree to go on a date. When you don't have sex on a date to provide a living vessel for the new soul, you've just damned that soul to never live, never get to heaven. You people have destroyed more souls than can be counted. But that's crazy, so you don't see me pretending that you should believe it too, no matter how many ignorant suckers I could talk into marching for it if I had a budget.

Meanwhile, "pro-life" Republicans like you are desperate to send American soldiers to kill and die for nothing but lies and greed. You set yourself up as judges who take the lives of accused criminals, even when many are proven to be executed without even being guilty. You demand politicians who strip government of its powers to protect people's lives and health, leaving the weak to die early and suffer while they live, so some rich corporate owners can squeeze pennies from them.

You will force Congress into a special session, fly back a vacationing president who's otherwise too busy to go to work while New Orleans drowns, so they can force a braindead woman's family (Terry Schiavo's) to suffer through yet another public extension of her living death.

You faithy Republicans have nothing to say worth believing about life or death, except that you've screwed up both for the country as long as you've been allowed to.

Re:Facts

[Doc Ruby]

And so we get some preaching from you. About how somehow "my side" is to blame for pharmaceutical pollution. It's really hilarious to see a faithy Republican like you claim "the Left" is responsible for environmental damage. But par for the course to hear some kind of contrived argument that it's "divisive" for judging people like you whose unregulated guns and trucks are actually killing people every day, and even threatening our entire civilization.

I don't claim "moral" superiority. I claim intellectual superiority, and whatever kind of superiority honesty gives me. You can claim only the lies and hypocrisy that Republicans earn with your projections of all your own worst fears about your own major malfunctions onto the people who care to tell the truth about you, who try to stop the damage you've unloaded that everyone can see is destroying everything you touch.

You "Conservatives" have squandered everything we had. You had unopposed power for as long as anyone ever gets any power in this country, and you screwed everything up. You've got no one to blame but yourselves, so of course you're twisting into knots looking for ways to blame anyone else.

And no one but the 25% who still think Bush is god believes you. Zero tolerance for you faithy, crooked Republicans. No more letting you drag the country into an extreme Right corner from which you hold out a hand in fake "compromise" to drag us even further rightward. Your day is done, even though it's too late to keep you from doing irreparable damage. Don't expect any more chances until you learn to live like adults in reality, not your faithy echo chamber.

Re:He's Not a Racist

[ahabswhale]

Your comment about the slave votes has nothing to do with it. The constitution wasn't written and approved until well after the FUCKING REVOLUTIONARY WAR WAS OVER. Learn your goddamn history. Slavery had nothing to do with the FOUNDING of the country. Learn vocabulary too. Do you want a history lesson about tea parties and taxation without representation, etc? That's what FOUNDED the fucking country.

You're just pissed because I'm right. All you do is spout bullshit that has nothing to do with the points I was making, which were:

Wright is a racist fuckhead.

Here's let me repeat my original argument in case you missed that...

Wright is a racist fuckhead.

Feel free to come up with a valid argument of how I'm wrong other than "I've never heard those statements so it doesn't fucking matter to me" or "I'm too lazy to watch the fucking videos". Seriously, you actually think you use logic in this discussion? Cute.

Finally, I don't give a flying fuck about Libertarians. I'm guessing you think you know my politics so you throw shit like that out there for me to chew on but I have a very rare political stance so don't pretend to know me -- you don't.