Cosmic Sitcom™

Tragic Flaw Behind Young Republicans' Hope to Rebuild

Mon, 10 Nov 2008 12:43:16 -0800

In the face of last week’s crushing defeat at the polls, a group of prominent young Republicans has challenged the Republican National Committee to truly transform itself, with technology an important focus.

This makes a lot of sense but as I read their manifesto on their Web site, Rebuild the Party, it became painfully aware to me that they aren’t really focusing on transforming the GOP in substantive and strategic ways, but in merely tactical ones that sidestep the ideology and divisiveness that turned so many voters against them. Here’s what they say:

[Without change,] the Democrats’ structural advantages, including their use of the Internet, their more than 2-to-1 advantage with young voters, their discovery of a better grassroots model, will be as big a threat to the future of the GOP as the toxic political environment we have faced the last few years.
This is the first indication that these folks only see the structural and tactical as what needs to be transformed. And that tossed-off reference to the “toxic political environment” of the past few years completely ignores the GOP’s own contribution to the toxicity, and how that turned voters against it.

Priority No. 1 – The Internet
In a fitting analysis, the neo-Republican coalition declares:

Barack Obama and the Democrats’ ability to build their entire fundraising, GOTV [get out the vote], and communications machine from the Internet is the #1 existential challenge to our existing party model.

And it says that taking back the electorate depends on:

Recruiting 5 million new online Republican activists.
Holding local campaigns and parties accountable for winning their own districts and counties.
Opening up the GOP’s technological ecosystem to entrepreneurial outsiders.

These are all good ideas but they avoid the issue of what it is these new online activists are supposed to advocate for. The Republican platform is merely about opposition; people need something to be in favor of. And the traditional Republican issues — smaller government, fiscal responsibility, strong foreign policy, keeping government out of people’s private business — have all largely been abandoned in the wake of the Bush administration’s craven lust for executive power and its obeisance to the social priorities of the radical Right.

Power to the People? Really?
The coalition notes that Obama’s campaign showed the power of “mass connectedness,” bypassing traditional power-brokers. Putting faith in the Internet requires a revitalized GOP that puts its faith in networked individuals by

Using a volunteer-to-volunteer approach to build the grassroots.
Raising funds from a network of millions instead of raising millions from a network of a few rich people and corporations. “Right now, we cannot compete with the Democrats' scalable online fundraising machine and if this is not corrected our party will face a long-term financial deficit.”
Recruiting 25,000 high-level activists — a few thousand to run races and the rest embedded throughout the country to keep the GOP “strong and relevant in local communities.”
Reorganizing the RNC so that e-campaigning is an integrated part of its operations, not a mere add-on.

Again, this analysis focuses on improving the party’s framework without getting at what’s at the heart of Republican defections. The coalition hints at this in this passage, however, but unfortunately goes no further:

Moreover, our candidate recruitment should focus less on a candidate's ability to collect $2,300 checks or to self-fund than on the strength of their message.

The critical question remains, what is it the Republican Party, post-2008, is going to stand for?

Not New Ideas, New Candidates!
“Without inspiring candidates with clear messages to rally around,” the coalition says, “all the strategies and tactics in the world will be for naught.” Unfortunately, its plan only focuses on the candidates, not the clear messages.

The party needs to consider no seat a safe one and run a 435-district, 50-state race. It also needs to build the strength of its back bench by recruiting good (and young!) candidates for state legislatures.

Here’s the problem: The Republicans successfully built local infrastructure through the 1980s and 90s by recruiting candidates for key local races, especially school boards, where conservatives tried to chip away at sex education, evolution and other dangerous things for young people to know about.

That tactic worked (and could still work) only with right-wing Christian fundamentalists because, again, these people know what they’re fighting for. The party itself needs a coherent, positive message, and this coalition isn’t providing one.

Oh, and By the Way, It’s All About The People
As an “afterword” (of all things!), the coalition urges the GOP to embrace a “Politics of ‘Us’”:

Obama tapped the Internet successfully because he made it about “you” and “us” not “me” and “I.” You were invited in. You were a key part of his campaign/movement. ... Because of the Internet, “us” becomes a force more powerful than any in politics. The ability to donate or volunteer instantaneously online gives the millions of “us” more leverage than even the most connected group of insiders.

This is an important departure for Republicans, who have long touted themselves as the party of “individual liberty,” except, of course, where it contradicts fundamentalist Christian thinking. But will the GOP really give up the money from big business and donors that it accepts in exchange for giving them political power and access? That may be a bigger trade-off than the party is willing to make right now.

And in a final fit of irony, the coalition makes the mistake of assuming Obama is just another dreaded tax-and-spender, and that’s where they continue to miscalculate what is Obama’s appeal.

Obama’s victory could be a blessing in disguise for conservatives. ... Obama as President would act in ways that contradict the bottom-up culture that fueled his campaign. In the campaign, it was “Yes We Can.” In the White House, it will be “Yes, Government Can.” Obama's top-down government control of the health care and the economy will give conservatives an opening to once again recapture the mantle of distributed citizen activism. Obama campaigned against the establishment, and now he is the establishment.
 Obama didn’t campaign against the establishment. He campaigned against how George Bush had twisted and usurped the establishment. He campaigned on a return to the constitutional principles that undergird and strengthen our society.

Consider the irony that the “top-down government control” of the economy the neo-Republicans decry was instituted by a Republican administration. And that a majority of the public wants the government intervening in what’s clearly been the failure of a barely regulated financial structure.

This coalition should beware of drawing today’s Democrats with yesterday’s crayons, as simply wanting top-down government control. We believe in dynamic markets and strong civil society, too; we just think government — accountable to the people, unlike profit-driven private-sector institutions — should play a leadership role, too.

Obama-rama, über-iPhone, Twitter Grades 'n' Other Stuff

Fri, 7 Nov 2008 01:15:32 -0800

OBAMA WEB SITE READY Obama’s transition team is ready to go with Change.gov, a Web site explaining the president-elect’s agenda and offering information about the inauguration and even how to apply for jobs with the new administration. Wow. Transparency. What a concept.
iPHONE WINS! The iPhone beat Blackberry in J.D. Power & Associates survey of business users. They preferred the iPhone’s ease of use, design and features. Apple’s smartphone led sales in that category last quarter; Blackberry plans new models to fight back.
SARAH AIN’T SO SMART After the election McCain campaign staff reveals how woefully unprepared Sarah Palin was to be vice president. Cases in point: She thought Africa was a country not a continent; she couldn’t name the three countries that are parties to the North American Free Trade Agreement. Hint: They’re the countries in North America.
DO THEY GRADE ON A CURVE? Twitter Grader compares your Twitterificness with other users. Earlier today, my score was 55 out of 100. Now it’s up to 60. I plan on getting better and the badge below is updated in real time.
KUDOS TO SOUTH PARK for turning around a new episode that featured the election results within 24 hours of Election Day.
OBAMA SPAM It’s a good thing I (a) tend to ignore spam, even when I’ve signed up for it from the Obama campaign, and (2) have a Mac. Why? Because evildoers took advantage of all the viral Obama victory speech videos floating around the intarwebs to attach malware to emails with subject lines like Obama win preferred in world poll and return addresses like news@president.com.
GUN NUTS GO NUTS over what they believe is inevitable new gun controls from the Obama administration. The New York Times reports gun sales surge on buyers’ concerns.
OTHER SHOPPERS, NOT SO MUCH Double-digit sales declines last month don’t augur well for the holiday season as the recession well and truly sets in. Retailing analyst John Morris told the Times, “You walk the mall and consumers look like zombies. They’re there in person, but not in spirit.”
PROP. 8 WORSE FOR ECONOMY THAN RECESSION The gays’ über-fabulous weddings are over in California, leading those in the marriage business to worry about the economic impact of embedding discrimination in the state’s constitution.
INSIDE THE TENT PISSING OUT That’s my vote on what to do with turncoat Joe Lieberman. The recovering Democrat who nearly (some say should’ve) became McCain’s running mate is not high on his former party’s popularity polls. Even so, with a sub-cloture majority in the Senate, the Dems should keep him on their side (Lieberman had been caucusing with his former party even though he’s officially an independent). Think of it like Reconstruction.
OK FOR TROOPS TO FIGHT FOR FREEDOM BUT not exercise it. The Pentagon restrained Stars & Stripes (an independent newspaper) from reporting on troops’ public reactions to the election.

A Subversive Move Against iTunes

Fri, 7 Nov 2008 00:35:19 -0800

So, is this the best way to subvert iTunes?

The free AppleScript, Advantageous, allows you to use iTunes to find the music you want but switch to Amazon’s sometimes cheaper, higher-quality and DRM-free music store to buy what you want.

Say you want the latest album from those cute serious musicians, the Jonas Brothers.

Jonas Brothers’ album on iTunes (AAC and DRM): $9.99
On Amazon (MP3 and DRM-free): $8.99

After installing Advantageous, just pull down iTunes Script Menu and select Buy From Amazon.

Zip on over to your Web browser and there’s your JoBro album, $1 less than what iTunes charges (though on a per-song basis, they’re the same price at 99 cents).

Amazon’s music store has been up for a while offering higher-quality MP3s without the restrictive DRM on many songs purchased via iTunes.

And another thing...
It bugs me, by the way, that iTunes won't let me create iPhone ringtones from music that I've purchased from them, even though that's built into the software. Not even for money. Whereas I can create ringtones both willy and nilly from unprotected MP3s. For this, iTunes earns a:

Major Update to File-sharing App for iPhone

Wed, 5 Nov 2008 15:30:01 -0800

One of the iPhone apps I wrote about the other day [“My Favorite iPhone Apps (So Far)”] has a major update available today.

Discover is an application that uses Safari (or, presumably, any other browser) on your desktop to facilitate file-sharing. While you still have to manually type your iPhone’s IP address in your desktop browser’s Address Bar, the new version offers a streamlined and more powerful interface to share files between your computer and your iPhone.

The new version also lets you mount your iPhone as a WebDAV network drive (i.e., it shows up in the Finder as a shared device). Though you can connect right from your desktop using your Mac, Discover’s makers recommend using a WebDAV-enabled FTP client like Transmit to make the connection as speedy as possible.

On the Mac, you can use Command-K in the Finder to make your iPhone appear on your computer’s Desktop.

In Windows, you can use the “Map Network Drive” feature on the Start Bar to connect to your iPhone.

The connection process is nicely detailed in the Help section in Discover’s iPhone app.

Discover’s major competitors in the App Store are the also-free Briefcase Lite (there’s a more powerful $4.99 version, simply called Briefcase) and the $6.99 Air Sharing (it actually mounts your iPhone on your desktop as a wireless hard drive).

Discover is made by B-Base Development Inc. Discover is free because it’s ad-supported.

A Historic Day

Tue, 4 Nov 2008 23:21:47 -0800

America spoke its mind tonight, battered and bruised by the abuses of a Republican administration so craven in its seeking of power. The world literally rejoices as it sees America reinvent itself yet again.

This nation may still suffer its racist roots, but we’re not utterly stupid. It was clear who had the better ideas in this election, and Americans are, if nothing else, a practical people.

What of the GOP now?
What’s left of the Republican Party? Only the far right, a minority that finds its voice in the musings of Sarah Palin, who insists that if you’re not white and from a small town you’re not “really” American. I guess the voters think differently.

So what should be come of the Republican Party? We certainly need a vital opposition but they should be opponents fueled by realistic ideas not angry and reactionary ideology.

Unlike the Democratic Congress in Bill Clinton’s administration, today’s Democratic Party returns after nearly a decade of rule that rewarded the rich and distracted the poor by focusing on so-called culture wars.

The role of technology
Obama’s victory rested as much in technology as anything else. His campaign circumvented the stranglehold the existing power structure (that includes traditional Democrats, too!) had on reaching out directly to voters and giving individuals the opportunity to have a say even while only being able to donate small amounts of money themselves.

“It was a profound leap forward technologically,” McCain campaign strategist Steve Schmidt told the New York Times. “Republicans will have to figure out how to compete with this in order to become competitive again at a national level and in House and Senate races.”

And they will, don’t you worry. Every Republican consultant worth his or her salt is going to reverse-engineer what Obama did and turn it to their own ends.

Our first black president
Everyone’s so impressed that we elected a black man president, but don’t forget that we actually elected a half-white man. The distinction is important because it highlights the reality that in our still-racist society looking black means you’re black. It also highlights the reality that Obama is a man who has moved through and understands the contrasting worlds and perspectives of white and African-American communities.

And unlike most American blacks, Obama himself is not descended from American slaves. His father was a Kenyan. I wonder how that difference affected his campaign.

A Campaign Disconnected from Reality?

Sun, 2 Nov 2008 19:17:06 -0800

On the eve of a watershed election, New York Times columnist Thomas L. Friedman correctly wonders why both campaigns have avoided discussing the “actual challenges of governing that will confront the winner the morning after.” Friedman writes:

Watching [the Obama-McCain debates] in the context of the meltdown of the financial system was like watching a game show where the two contestants were kept off-stage in a soundproof booth and brought out to address the audience without knowing the context.

While both Obama and McCain have put forth general principles for how they plan on dealing with the economic crisis, Friedman criticizes both for trying to portray their answers as free of pain for regular folks — McCain through tax cuts for everyone, and Obama through tax cuts for everybody but the rich. “Neither is true,” Friedman writes.

Neither campaign stood ready with answers for the financial meltdown. In reaction mode what seemed to matter most to voters was not answers but attitude. Don’t whine; Americans have always tended to favor personality over intelligence in their presidents.

What made McCain unsettling was his cockamamie campaign “suspension” — intended to demonstrate his bipartisanship and resolve, but actually coming across as craven opportunism. Obama, on the other hand, didn’t have much to say, other than “calm down, we’ll work this out.” While not a lot of answers were forthcoming, his stay-the-course attitude convinced a lot of voters he had the temperament to be president.

You can criticize both candidates for their stances, but remember that this crisis, like most things in the world of finance, rests upon articles of faith, and it was faith that was in much shorter supply than credit.

The causes and effects, the domino theories, the computer modeling to describe what went wrong with the economy are difficult even for economists to unravel. Two presidential candidates late to the party weren’t going to be able to produce solutions so quickly.

Given that, what has come to matter to most voters is not who has the best solution — it’s too early to know that — but which candidate is more believably optimistic. And by “believably,” I mean which one has shown he will approach the crisis with the right mixture of resolve, intelligence and collaboration to steer the right course?

The right course, of course, is the one that restores people’s faith in our financial institutions and vice versa. Both those things have to happen before we’ll be all right. Not to mention that McCain’s choice of Sarah Palin did nothing to reassure most voters that she could lead this country out of this kind of crisis should something happen to McCain.

Friedman comes to the same conclusion, as he nods and winks his presidential endorsement for us readers (the Times prohibits its columnists from formally endorsing candidates):

First, we need a president who can speak English and deconstruct and navigate complex issues so Americans can make informed choices. We have paid an enormous price for having a president who could not explain and reassure us during this financial meltdown.

Second, we need a president who can energize, inspire and hold the country together during what will be a very stressful recovery.

Third, we need a president who can rally the world to our side.

Can anyone read that and not see Obama? McCain continues to focus on all the wrong causes for the financial crisis, he persists in preying on voters’ fear instead of rallying them to band together, and almost no foreign nations want to see him become president after the way Republicans have snubbed the rest of the world.

My Favorite iPhone Apps (So Far)

Sat, 1 Nov 2008 22:50:25 -0700

Sorry, Verizon, but after six years I jumped at the chance to get a 3G iPhone. None of your products offered hardware like this and coverage that includes the part of upstate New York where I spend weeks at a time, formerly bereft of both mobile phone and Internet access.

I bought my iPhone on September 30, so I’ve had it a full month now. I’ve been trying out a bunch of the apps, pretty much just the free ones since I’m not making much money these days. Here are my favorites:

Social Networking
Facebook — The app replicates almost all the functionality of the social-networking Web site. In some ways it’s easier to navigate than the “real” site. Shaking your iPhone forces an update to the Facebook page you’re reading.

Twittelator — This Twitter client’s chief competitor, Twitterriffic, is great on the desktop, and the iPhone version is pretty. But it falls flat in such features as posting photos via twitpic.com. Twittelator auto-generates a caption for your photo from the accompanying tweet. Twitterriffic unfortunately leaves your twitpic caption-free.

Fliq — A flick of your finger shares photos and contact information with other iPhone users. Downsides: Connectivity sometimes requires a few tries, and the person you’re trying to share with has to have Fliq, too. Upside: It’s free for everyone to download!

Productivity
Briefcase Lite — This handy app lets you transfer files to and from your iPhone and your desktop Mac via a local WiFi network. You can browse through your desktop computer’s hard drive. The free “lite” version only lets you do it via a local network. The full version lets you do it via the Internet. It also lets you view a wide variety of desktop files (e.g., Pages, Keynote, Numbers, MS Office, MP3, M4V and PDF).

Discover — Similar to Briefcase Lite, but it uses Safari on your desktop to facilitate file-sharing. Downside: You have to manually type an IP address in your desktop Safari to access the iPhone but you get immediate access to your iPhone’s files. Connectivity isn’t as easy as with Briefcase but sharing files is more intuitive.

Jott for iPhone — This amazing app lets you record your voice. Jott transcribes your voice into text with incredible accuracy then places your memo in a list that you can manipulate. You can also use Jott to post onto various popular blog services, and to post onto Twitter using a phone call.

WritePad — This application is still in its early development but it lets you write directly onto the iPhone screen and it converts your writing to text very accurately. Some of the editing gestures don’t quite work consistently but it augurs well for the future of text entry free from the constraining iPhone keyboard.

Music
FlyCast — Streaming audio from 500 channels. When I was stuck in Vermont without a TV, I was able to stream the audio from second Obama-McCain debate.

Last.fm — A lot of Americans use the similar Pandora but I like the friendliness and ease of use from this British online music service.

Midomi — Hum or tap the song you’re trying to remember the name of, and Midomi will suggest which one it is from its 17 million-song database. The similar Shazam only works with recorded music. Midomi’s like magic.

Entertainment
Rimshot & Crickets — Simple but useful sound effects for good, bad and really bad jokes. Besides the sounds in the name of the app, the latest version also offers a sour trombone for the truly horrible jokes — all by pressing the big red button.

Showtimes —This app uses your Location Services to find the movies and theaters nearest to you. No having to find the ZIP code of where you’re at like with other Web-based services. Downside: No links to purchase tickets.

Travel
Google Earth — Discover how wonderful a multi-touch interface can be with the iPhone version of this popular desktop app. You really feel like you’re flying above the earth as you navigate.

Urbanspoon — Finding a place to eat is fun. Set some parameters and a part of the town you’re in and shake the iPhone. Like a slot machine it serves up a random dining option. If you know where you’re going, its search engine is good, too.

Reference
Wikiamo — This lightweight app lets you browse and search Wikipedia, with the display customized for the iPhone’s screen.

Constitution for iPhone — Sure the Bush administration is whittling it away, but it’s a good idea to have the U.S. Constitution handy to remind others what we actually mean when we talk about freedom.

Obama ’08 — The Obama campaign’s iPhone application isn’t just brochureware. It actually provides timely information, interactivity and a powerful sense of connection.

Figuring Out the ‘Undecided’

Sat, 1 Nov 2008 11:54:01 -0700

BELLEVUE, Wash. — The eastside suburbs of Seattle aren’t known for their overwhelming population of Democrats, but my Halloween was spent phoning them up to remind them to vote, and encouraging them to vote for Obama and the Democratic ticket here in Washington state.

As you might expect on a Friday night, especially on Halloween, most people weren’t home, so I left a lot of messages on voicemail. I got one refusal because I didn’t speak Chinese and a couple of hangups (cowards).

Interestingly, the Caller ID on the phone I was using identified me as Darcy Burner, who’s running for the Congressional seat in this district. A couple of people greeted me as Darcy; I had to disappoint them by saying I was calling from her combined campaign office with the Obama campaign (our script identified us as calling from the Democratic Campaign for Change).

So I finally came to the final call of my three-hour shift, to a male voter in his 50s who was listed as independent. He decided I was just the person for him to vent his political confusion.

He confessed to generally leaning Republican but could not get enthused about McCain, chiefly because of his questionable judgment in picking Sarah Palin as his running mate. On the other hand, he had some deep-seated reservations about Barack Obama.

He was concerned about Obama’s tax plan, though it appeared to me that he really hadn’t investigated them too well. He refused to believe he had been the beneficiary of any tax cuts under the Bush Administration. I had to Google the legislation on my iPhone in order to prove to him it had happened.

He really bought the narrative the McCain campaign has pressed about Obama “hating America” like as his former preacher, Jeremiah Wright, allegedly does. “Come on, sir,” I said to him, “don’t you see that line of attack for what it is, an attempt to scare you, to make you vote against your own self-interest by appealing to a nonexistent and race-based fear?”

One of the campaign workers slipped me a Post-It at that point — “51 minutes! You’re a trouper.” The kid spelled trouper right, too, which thrilled me no end.

The dude on the phone bemoaned outsourcing of jobs overseas and demanded to know how Obama planned to deal with that. I’m pretty well-read on Obama’s positions but didn’t have the specifics in my head, so i turned to my trusty iPhone, where I had recently downloaded the Obama ’08 application from the App Store.

The application has a section labeled “Issues,” where you can read brief position statements on everything from education and energy to job and taxes. I was able to quote him specifics on the issues he was concerned about.

At one point, however, he asserted that he didn’t believe in a globalized economy. “You may not like it, sir,” I told him, “but surely you can’t believe the reality that it exists and that we have to deal with it.” He admitted he couldn’t refuse the fact we are competing in a globalized economy. I challenged him that his calls for protectionism smacked of a fear that we somehow couldn’t compete with other countries. He recoiled at that and started sputtering about Obama’s wealth redistribution. I noticed whenever I started making headway with him on one topic, he’d quickly switch to another.

So I finally asked him to let us settle at least one issue before the call was over. “Let’s stick with this one, then,” I said. “You say you’re afraid of outsourcing and that other countries can out-compete us because of their lower labor costs, and that you want specifics from Obama about job and taxes, so let’s review what his positions are:

“Some jobs may continue to go overseas, but Obama is proposing that we invest our resources, our taxes into programs that actually result in growing the economy, creating wealth, creating jobs. Number 1, through investment in our country’s deteriorating infrastructure; if we can’t move goods how can we remain competitive. By definition, those infrastructure jobs are domestic jobs; you can’t outsource them.

“Number 2, through education. One of the ways we can compete with lower-cost employees is through high productivity, and a more highly educated workforce is a more productive one, and we get that by making higher education more accessible to more people.

“Number 3, Obama’s proposed investment in alternative energy meets two objectives — creating domestic jobs and ultimately stemming the outflow of dollars for foreign oil.”

After a moment of silence, he switched to lamenting the Japanese takeover of the domestic auto market. Sigh. I took solace in the topic-switch signifying I’d made a dent in his thinking. His parting shot: “My vote probably won’t count anyway.”

I replied, “Sir, please. We’ve spent the last hour and 10 minutes debating these issues pretty passionately. Do you really expect me to believe you’re the kind of man who would sit in his comfy chair at home and let someone else go out and determine your future for you?”

He ended the conversation without committing to voting for Obama but he seemed less scared of the prospect.

What Makes a Political Interview a 'Grilling'?

Sun, 26 Oct 2008 19:18:10 -0700

A recent interview of Joe Biden by Barbara West of ABC affiliate WFTV in Orlando, Fla., is being hailed by folks on the right as a “grilling” featuring questions that the Democratic vice-presidential nominee “couldn’t handle.”

Really? Watch the clip and then consider the following:

Mismanaging High School HIV Outbreak

Fri, 24 Oct 2008 10:05:52 -0700

Normandy, Mo., lies at the center of a public health crisis shrouded in unnecessary and potentially dangerous mystery.

CNN reports that someone — no one’s saying whom — has informed public health officials that as many as 50 students at the school may have been exposed to HIV. No one’s saying who might be infected, naturally, and no one’s saying how. That last part is a big problem.

The most important thing in a public health crisis is accurate information. Instead, Normandy officials remain tight-lipped about how infections may have occurred. Given the various ways in which HIV can be spread, wouldn’t it be a good idea to be as specific as possible in helping high school kids avoid risky behaviors.

Health officials wouldn’t say whether the infected person was a student or affiliated with the school, only that the person indicated as many as 50 students may have been exposed. Besides sexual activity, HIV can be spread through intravenous drug use, and even piercings and tattoos.

Without this information, the school community has fallen prey to paranoia. Amid of a flurry of secret testing to hide their identities, students regard each other with suspicion, canceling Homecoming dates and such, worried about who’s hiding his or her HIV.

My favorite part of the CNN report? The link to one of their cheesy, user-generated iReports, “Parents need to talk to their kids about sex.”

You think?