"NEW YORK (AP) — Transition officials call it Obama 2.0 — an ambitious effort to transform the president-elect's vast Web operation and database of supporters into a modern new tool to accomplish his goals in the White House. If it works, the new president could have an unprecedented ability to appeal for help from millions of Americans who already favor his ideas, bypassing the news media to pressure Congress."
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gfM9zjyAkvCrig1-pSPe71NoLkmwD94DK6O81
I find that heartening and scary at the same time. Heartening because I'm a big proponent of democracy and I see the Internet as a great tool for enabling and sustaining that. Scary because I also see the Internet as a great tool for the dissemination of misinformation and propaganda.
They say that JFK was the first president to use TV to his advantage. Looks like Obama will be the first cyber-wise president.
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So Obama and his supporters are smart enough to realize that the media is not always fair in their dissemination of facts.
If the people want to watch a half hour youtube and listen to what he says, they are hopefully smart enough to understand the content and decide for themselves whether it is feasible or just BS.
I guess I'm finding less negatives in removing the media from telling me "all the news that is fit to print."
I agree about the media. I have never read nor heard as many lies and distortions of facts as during the past election. Easily over 590% of it was lies and attacks. Bile, venom, and vitriol blasted at the electorate every day. God bless America.
There once was a time when the politicians lied to us and we depended upon the media to then reveal the truth. Unfortunately, the "journalists" of today have dropped any pretense of objectivity and join in the mud slinging. And it hardly stops with the elections. The gods of ratings and readership dictate that journalists continue to pander to their audiences. All you have to do is read the local "news"paper to see how distorted things have become. (First criterion: does it offend our advertisers? Second criterion: does it fit our agenda? Third criterion (maybe): the public's right to know.)
I appreciate Obama's appreciation of the net. And my concerns about his use of the web are not partisan. I'm just saying that an online message from "your president" could easily become a message from Big Brother. Just because journalists can no longer be trusted is no reason to start trusting politicians. I no longer trust the police to protect me or even deal fairly with issues in my neighborhood anymore either, but that doesn't mean I'm now going to trust the criminals. It just means that I'm on my own. Indeed, we all are - and we'd better find ways to connect and communicate (as in the Web) outside of the old, established methods because they've been corrupted by special interests.
No, a crook won't tell you the truth, but neither will a newspaper, the TV, the president, the mayor, or the police chief. They're all in it for themselves now, lying, lying, and lying more. The common man has never had more ways to connect to others, but has never been more alone.
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