Editor’s note: Below is an open letter to our President from guest author Edo Segal, a concerned web geek who cares about the future of our democracy. It is followed by a proposal and a new website for anyone who thinks they know what #obamashould do (cynics please skip post).
Mr President,
On the night of your acceptance speech, just before you walked on stage, “you” sent out an email saying “i will be in touch soon”—but you disappeared and all we were left with was the strange feeling you get when your older brother ditches you for his cooler friends. Does it take you winning a Nobel prize to get another direct letter from you?
Where’s the attention? The yes-we-can attitude, making us feel we can be good again? It seems that since you made it to the Oval Office you have been too busy at work, and our relationship has really suffered.
I recall that as the election results where announced, there was an epiphany that hit the pundits and us web folks at the same time. “He’s going to govern this way” we all thought. What we meant was that you will continue the evolution of direct democracy beyond using the Internet for fundraising, heralding a new age of direct access to the citizenry. A new age of democracy where the President has your email and can talk to you directly. An age without intermediaries and pollsters—just us and that cool guy who’s running the country.
Regardless of our political views, almost everyone in this country was in awe of how you came to be in office and changed how elections are won forever. But for the readers of Techcrunch, the people who grease the wheels of our progress online, it feels like after the hangovers were over and you moved on to set up your transitional government, from that day, what was a highly effective and motivating direct relationship with your supporters, an emotional relationship that was predicated on a real connection evaporated. And what we were left with was the most effective spam bot in the world (Gmail doesn’t block it) . This is wrong in so many ways, let me count just a few:
1. Stop asking me for money: Why are you still asking me for money? I think I am not alone in being confused with the notion that you are still asking me for money after you were elected President (I know why you need it intellectually but not emotionally). I mean at this point, I feel like you should be paying me back with change and not billing me every week. I pay a big bill every April that should just about cover it.
Using the “Network” purely as a means to raise money without the additional layers of engagement and relationship is offensive. We are the network. By just using email as a system to raise money you loose the soul of the connection you established with millions of people.
2. Your singular focus is distracting: While there has been much discussion about the administrations’ notion of taking on multiple fronts at the same time, the online channel recently has been fully saturated with a singular purpose of supporting the very important policy goal of universal healthcare. But in doing so, you have played into the hands of your opponents. The grind on Capitol Hill and the levels of complexity that are involved in making this happen, and the time it takes are not a recipe for engagement—they are a recipe for disaster. You are losing your audience and failing us on a major promise of direct democracy.
When I explained my support for you at the very early stages of your campaign to bewildered people who didn’t see how it could be possible for you to win the Presidency, I articulated that regardless of the specific nuance of your policies, the fact you have the power to motivate people in this way is priceless. You demonstrated that you can build on top of the best practices of prior online campaigns (Dean). Delegation to really smart people culminated in the most effective campaign financing system in the history of democracy. But if you don’t keep watering the soil from which your support stems, that direct relationship, you will not be able to make the historic policy changes you seek. Your base is eroding as you focus all of your communication channels on a VERY heavy piece of legislation. Don’t spam us, engage us.
3. The promise: From the perspective of the history of media, the level of engagement you can generate through the Internet has typically been reserved for occasions of war and violence, for times of strife and conflict. Like the days of WWII when people huddled around their radios to hear the comforting voice of their leaders. Imagine applying the same level of engagement that won’t just fuel death destruction and line the pockets of the military industrial complex, but rather will power true change, growth and improve the quality of life for all people. This is within your grasp if you follow through and use the medium appropriately.
Mr. President, beyond the content of your ideas, now is the time to extend the way you govern as we all heard you promise. Make us care again. Online engagement is the key to fostering the support you need to accomplish your policy goals. Engagement is the key to maintaining your base as you mount these vast campaigns. Getting the government to set up a network of Web 1.0 sites is a start, but we need much more. If you continue to spam us and recycle old speeches off a teleprompter into email (like you did with the Nobel eMail) you will lose your base, but if you step up to the challenge and continue to take risks and push the envelope in structural ways that only you can, your greatest legacy could be more than enacting historic legislation or winning a premature prize. It could be the very way our democratic process works and how we view government.
Margaret Mead: Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.
That is my letter to Obama, but it is not enough. The notion that we will evolve the very essence of democracy beyond the already achieved goal of changing campaign financing and moving power away from private interests is profound. I truly believe it may end up being the greatest piece of innovation we are collectively offering the world in the coming decades. But to make additional progress, you and I need to step up. If each of us contribute a bit of creative energy we can accelerate this evolution by a generation
In the past, the main skills that effected political outcomes in the communications realm were polling, copy writing, speech writing, and directing and producing for radio and television. But today and in the future, the most potent creative skill-set is that of creating online connections. Yes, I’m talking about you. Our professional careers depend on our ability to create platforms that engage millions of people and constantly grow that level engagement. The readership of this blog constitutes the highest concentration of such competency on the planet. We spend our lives creating platforms that aim to engage millions of people.
We get it, it’s tough for government to take risks and thus political innovation moves at a glacial pace. Maybe we can give the pols a hand, help speed things up a bit.
Rather than just rely on comments and the ill will of the trolls, I took a little initiative and with the help of the good people at iGeneration who volunteered their time to build Obamashould.org, a site for the community to contribute ideas to the President. Please spend a few minutes there and voice your opinions in a constructive way. Or just tweet your ideas with the hashtag #obamashould. The site will track retweets, and the ideas gathering more support will float to the top automatically. Its like an http://www.ideastorm.com/ meets tweetmeme.com and uservoice for our President. BTW, Mr. President, if you want the source code, it’s yours. If you are a developer and want to contribute to the project please join us. We will take the best ideas that surface to the top from there and get them built by the community. We may even launch some of them here on Techcrunch in a few months.
Let me throw out some #obamashould’s to start the ball rolling. Click the YES re-tweet button if you support it!
Idea 1: What you did to get us, you need to do to keep us. Keep a weekly Youtube post that gets emailed to the base. It feels like you are becoming hostage to the status quo of what presidential communications has always been. For both the Y Generation and many of us older folks, the notion of what constitutes presidential behavior is changing rapidly with your actions serving as the main catalyst. communications is when in fact you are the one that is supposed to re-invent it. It’s not a presidential address in the conventional sense of the word. Give us genuine direct talk over words tested with pollsters any day. A direct candid discussion about a given topic once a week that is not read off a teleprompter is priceless for the continual sense of a direct relationship. Just flick open your laptop in the oval office or in your study at night and talk to us. Have a small panel of trusted advisers review it, and if no serious red flags are raised post it and email it to us. The value of genuine conversation from a man with your insight will way overshadow the shortcomings offered in the prose. You will probably say things you will regret, but the damage done will be dwarfed by having a continued sense of renewed personal relationships with your citizens. If you do this, they will be there when you need them. Retweet to vote up or Comment Here
Idea 2: Engage the people via email and ask them for their opinions, not just their money. Have a weekly poll question that is linked to social media (twitter, facebook), creating a viral engagement engine. In addition to the immediate policy objectives, you need to understand that such engagement is not only a means to an end, but an end in itself. Retweet to vote up or Comment Here
Idea 3: Give $500 of your money to charitywater.com (Video) and send out an invite from their system to everyone on your mailing list to do the same. Tweet it, put it on facebook. Show people how they can use the web to effect positive change in the world and do good again. Why not? That single email will effect millions of lives around the globe. Giving changes people, help them give and start that chain reaction of good will. Use your power to promote things that have to do with generosity of spirit, not just hard core policy. This is a way to lead through example and not just talk in the abstract about the need for volunteerism. Your effect on the world cannot be reduced to a series of policy wins and losses. Different from prior Presidents making public their charity contributions, doing this via a digital medium is like clicking a button that activates a viral system and magnifies your contribution a million-fold over the web. Retweet to vote up or Comment Here
What do you think #obamashould do?
Go to www.obamashould.org and please contribute ideas now. If you want to join a vibrant open source community of people that are passionate about helping evolve democracy online, we need your help. Join us here.
Guest author Edo Segal (@edosegal) has launched and sold several companies. In 2000 he founded eNow, a search engine for the Real-time Internet in an age that predated RSS as a popular medium. As such he has had a decade to think about its implications. He ultimately sold the company (renamed Relegence) to AOL in 2006 and today runs an Incubator/Investment vehicle called Futurity Ventures. He recently launched a new search engine for wisdom.
Photo credit: Flickr/White House.
he should endorse techcrunch!
Put it on #obamashould at http://www.obamashould.org or just tweet that with #obamashould. Thanks
Edo, You believe that turning your life over to another will absolve you of having to get out, truly interact with others, and do the hard work of accomplishing your dreams.
Even worse, you want to convince others that they can’t accomplish any of their own wishes and goals except through you and your lame website, just as you believe you can’t accomplish anything without your dear leader.
Congratulations, you’ve created a new line item on your resume, and look, convince the leftists and TechCrunch to post about it.
But in fact you’ve accomplished nothing, convinced no one, and will help nobody. You speak to the converted, and insult the unbelievers.
I’m guessing you were taught in a public school full of union teachers. In case you don’t know, this is not how America was built, how dreams become reality, how leaders are created.
Good luck to you, but I rest knowing you’ve done nothing here but shout into the wind.
Not really. If you can take one piece from a post or article and run with it…then it has value
“Yes, I’m talking about you. Our professional careers depend on our ability to create platforms that engage millions of people and constantly grow that level engagement. The readership of this blog constitutes the highest concentration of such competency on the planet. We spend our lives creating platforms that aim to engage millions of people.”
I have been reading posts on techrunch for almost 2 years now. The numbers and its influence just keeps growing. It is a great platform to engage people. Just look at the comments.
Yeah Right ,
Knowing Edo well – I’ve never met a single person who’s worked harder to make their dreams come true. Very few have been as successful.
And yes, this may have not been the way America was built. I guess that’s why the public schools don’t work.
I don’t disagree that Edo worked hard to set up a website that serves himself.
What will it accomplish? Nothing.
The current president worked hard to get himself elected.
What has he accomplished? Nothing.
Isn’t that Edo’s point in the first place? The president is a failure, let’s all get behind him.
Working hard is not the same as being successful.
Only in socialist states are people rewarded without accomplishing anything. Oh, and they get Nobel Peace Prizes as well.
I honestly think this is a great idea…. but…. is it possible for those who disagree with Obama to post their #Obomashoulddo ?
What if you are conservative? What if you don’t like the pubic option? What if you want smaller US debt?
I think this is too Obama focused and not government focused enough… It should be more focused on the office of the president or congress, not a particular individual there, but its a start i guess.
Also, if this idea does not allow for discord or descent, then it is not as good as it can be… and I actually WANT the public option, but it will not be won if the other side can not voice their argument. I truly believe that the Public Option will work if the downsides of it are also addressed adequately.
Actually that is the entire point, its not a site for cheerleading. As long as the ideas are constructive and not just offensive like some other stuff on the internets, its all fare game. And the best ideas will float to the top if the ecology is right. (or not) But if you don’t try we will never know. Failure is an option. If we are too afraid to fail we never innovate and progress is not made. Its a dialogue…
why are we posting politics on techcrunch… makes no sense… suprising no one had a #bushshould website or tt going… simply amazing
that “me” really throws me off.
It belongs here because they are using technology and the internet to try to push the government to use technology to have its citizens be engaged in the process (as opposed to be more participants only during the time to vote them in or out).
with that said, i will restate what I have already posted here, that this idea is too Obama focused (which is funny because the author states that Obama is to focused on healthcare). The idea of government using technology to allow its citizens to speak their mind and effect law is a good one…. just make sure that its not for people who agree with government but also disagree with it.
This is a good idea, its just too Obama focused. maybe there should be something made that focused on the government and not theindividuals who run it currently.
short and well said. everyone wants to get on the obama band wagon without even thinking first. people get carried away with superficially cool celebrity endorsed topics that have little to no significance to their industry.
I dont think so.
Obama is a great person an can save the world.
Vote for it here: http://www.obam...uld.org/idea/58
Obama walks on water. He is going to to pay for my kids, give me free health care, and pay for me to go for school. Best of all, I don’t have to work for any of this.
No, big corporations are going to do that.
I’m always amazed at people who think government and taxes are evil but are willing to be governed and taxed by private companies.
If only American priorities were free health care and education… These are some of the things that the power of the markets won’t fix.
The link for your username shows that you have failed to keep your own website up, and have hidden your portfolio.
Not surprising you’d be spouting socialist rhetoric here. The ‘power of the markets’ have shown you to be a loser, so naturally you want everything for free.
Good luck with that.
Well, at least now we know that you can always tell a pinko, leftist, commy liberal hippie by the condition of his or her own website. Good to know, you drooling, rabid “conservative” (such a misnomer, IMO).
Has anyone else noticed how judgmental and easily irritated “conservatives” are? Seriously. It’s disgusting. They have no patience or tolerance for anyone or anything that is not exactly in line, thought for thought, word for word, and action by action, with their own “beliefs”, which are not beliefs at all but strict, inflexible judgments, usually screamed out in high decibel.
Thou shalt, thou art, thou will…gag me. I have no problem at all comparing a “conservative” to the Publicans and Pharisees of Jesus’ time, nor do I have any problem comparing them to the Taliban and to Al-Quaida – are “conservatives” inflexible? Check? Intolerant? Check. Irrational? Totally. I’m no big Obama fan, but you guys need to get a life.
The powers of the Market have actually been very generous. That’s why I don’t have to keep my site up.
You should learn to love yourself a little (I know it must be hard) so you’ll be able to show others some compassion.
You are talking about the power of the individual, yet you’re whining over one line asking cynics to PLEASE skip this post? Nobody can tell you what to do, remember? Man up.
you cannot be serious?
alright give me all the shit you own that was made by major corporations that “taxed” you to own.
I, in turn, will give you all my shit that the government has given me for paying my taxes.
I win. Have a great life.
That shit is your health, your children’s education and your security. It’s the money they spend on fat bonuses after they’ve been bailed out. It’s the health claims that are rejected automatically.
Now, government may not be efficient – but doesn’t it make more sense addressing that then putting your well-being in the hands of entities that place your well-being in the lowest priority?
I for one don’t want the horrific gov healthcare they have in the UK and Canada, and will also have to pay for my 4yr old to attend private school to avoid being ruined by the teachers union and their obvious political agenda.
YOU are a great person. YOU can save the world.
Quit bowing to some fool in Washington, get off your *ss, and do something constructive.
You want to pretend your doing something by putting your name on a mailing list, or twittering some inane comment, but when your messiah fails to act, you get the luxury of saying HE let you down.
Get off the couch, stand up for what you believe, march, knock on doors, run for office.
YOU are the answer to fulfilling YOUR dreams.
“You want to pretend your doing something by putting your name on a mailing list, or twittering some inane comment,” …or posting angry fascist rhetoric on TC?
Let’s all applaud Yeah Right for really making a big difference by convincing us nasty “libtards” to stop “worshiping Obama” by insulting us, calling us all socialists who can’t think for ourselves.
Really, Yeah Right, what are you doing to make a difference? Of course, you seem to think that one person can’t make a difference even if that person is POTUS.
Can you hear my eyes rolling?
“save” the world. Pray tell, from what and by what method? Magic? Clueless.
Obama should abolish the death penalty.
It’s the 21th century and he won the peace nobel price.
Those three facts sound rather ridiculous together…
No death penalty should be there?
How you can leave a person who harms innocent civilians (Osama)!
Vote for it here: http://bit.ly/w0UHR
@above,
Stop spamming….
He is too much obsessed with healthcare ,I expected him to win it hands down but he is struggling.Same can be said about Afghanistan also!
Edo – great post, I totally agree. Obama needs to reconnected with his voters. People want to contribute, and be engaged, but they need some focus and direction.
Hmm…a letter begging Obama for attention.
Obama = cad
Tech Geeks = the pump-and-dump slut
I specifically asked you to skip post, cant you follow simple instructions?
Hey, Edo, take a hint:
HE’S NOT THAT INTO YOU.
Good lord.
If you don’t like people commenting on your writing, then don’t write.
Wow. Alright, I’m a supporter of the president and this “open letter” has a tinge of “pay attention to ME!” written all over it.
Firstly, let’s not pretend you’re the only person sending the president, who is not able to send email, letters and correspondence. He has said, publicly, that he is only given about 10 letters a night out of the THOUSANDS a day he receives.
Secondly, let’s not even pretend that the president is still in control of the OFA organization. He’s not. Yes, the organization exists in order to support the president’s agenda, but he’s no longer directly responsible for it.
My third point is why on earth would he need to send us a weekly address when he already posts one to the whole of America? Should he only talk to the people who support him?
The president and his staff have engaged an online audience in ways that have never been done before. They have allowed us to submit suggestions to the president, to vote on important matters and video in questions which he answered.
Perhaps you know better than the President and his highly paid, highly educated, political advisors, but I wouldn’t be willing to bank on it. If your support of the president is conditional on receiving daily/weekly marching orders and constant direct communication then you should probably be questioning the strength of your support—not the president.
Also, concerning telling Obama what he should do. The last time he solicited questions or ideas from us at large there was a massive movement by pot smokers to ask him to deal with the subject of legalization of marijuana.
Perhaps he would feel more comfortable asking us for our ideas if we could show we weren’t acting like a bunch of drug obsessed teens who couldn’t care less about the real issues like health care.
Actually, a loud voice in that movement is law enforcement who are sick and tired of crowding the legal system with strung out potheads who would really just benefit from some counseling if and when they make the commitment to quit their addiction. It was pretty irresponsible for the President to just shrug off the problem.
It amazes me that someone actually believed what Obama (fill in any politician) was saying! How old are you people? It’s about power. They will say and do whatever is needed to get into power. It is hilarious to see someone is actually upset that a politician is not sticking to the campaign. Haven’t you silly idiots seen this movie before? Don’t worry it will be in theaters again in 2012. He will love and listen to you again when he needs your votes.
You might be better off finding someone who seems to instill your ideals in their past actions not just what they say during a campaign. The voting public knew nothing of who this president was before voting day, so how can you be upset with what he does?
Buy reading this article I see that this guy projected what he thought Obama was instead of seeing what Obama is. The writer seems to have a man crush on Obama.
btw: the USA is a Constitutional Republic not a direct democracy. This is high school level learning. Or you could even notice it in the pledge of allegiance? You should know this at your age. Stick to tech, you appear smarter writing about that.
I am guessing that he believed the Obama presidency was supposed to usher in the age of direct democracy. Most that think like this don’t want the Constitutional Republic because it places too many limits on the government, which doesn’t allow for all of the so-called “progressive” changes they desire. Assuming that they are in the majority, they think that this direct democracy approach will usher in all of the big changes they’ve been craving. Of course, the problem with direct democracy is that it is temporary. The majority is used merely to get the candidate of choice elected. But once this occurs, the powerful special interests set the agenda–not the masses that elected him/her. And yes, the wicked wicked corporations that were railed against during the campaign suddenly become friends behind the scenes.
You can ask for it, but the Prez can’t deliver. You perhaps forget that the USA is a representative democracy, not a direct democracy. If you truly want a direct democracy change the constitution. However, be careful what you wish for.
Is TechCrunch becoming a political blog now? I come here to get away from politics and loose myself in the happy world of gadgets.
Should we expect this trend to continue?
Well said, everyone wants to be a pundit these days.
This. Everyone time I read a politically charged TechCrunch article I lose interest in this site that much more.
It’s mistake to consider President Obama incapable of affecting real change. Any one who says so is “niave.”
The reason why everyone is ‘up in arms’ now is because there are certain aspects of his agenda that ARE being advanced. Like it or not, he has the power to make it happen… either directly or influentially.
Comparatively, the entire world can agree that President Bush ran this country into the ground… Yet you suggest that President Obama “can’t deliver…” Hmmmmmmm
This post is an awesome read, and I certainly hope President Obama get’s a chance to see it.
I am one of the one’s that feels a little short changed… but still believe in change. Can it happen? It is happening already, just not the way we expected for it to.
With that said, a President who brought us all in by engaging us, will keep us by doing the same…
President Bush was known as president who wouldn’t listen… (so says fmr VP Cheney). I don’t believe that will be the legacy of President Obama…
The concept of “cynics please skip post” is funny but also fairly sad. I’m pretty familiar with the concept that brainstorming activities shouldn’t evaluate ideas while they’re being created, but at the same time I feel like you’re just trying to silence the debate.
Fair comment, bring it on!
Edo, edit the post to remove the ’skip post’ statement.
Be a man.
Be a man and stop harassing someone for simply asking people to have a civilized discussion.
Edo did not ask you not to express your opinion. He only asked you to do so in a thoughtful manner.
Take a deep breath. Edo is not trying to kill you. He’s trying to talk with you. You may not agree with him. Take another breath. Talk back. Now, doesn’t that feel good?
Get a sense of humor man, it will really help you in life.
Yes, we all get the idea that your website is a joke. But do you have to punctuate it by calling people who disagree with you ‘cynics’ who should just go away?
Be a man and take the criticism.
Whining at the President because he’s not living up to your expectations? Did you seriously think the guy would be different than any other president?
You hard core Obama supporters are truly pathetic and it doesn’t shock me that you want to silence the debate here. If you’re going to blog about politics then expect and WELCOME a debate.
And you call conservatives closed minded? Stupid.
I will say this is not about Obama but about the future of how we run our democracy. Or at least i hope it is…
It would be if we had a democracy. We live in a republic, essentially. In a real democracy we would be asked to weigh in on nearly every issue, and if you think people are upset and crazy now then you haven’t studied what’s happened in past democracies. Democracy breeds crazies, gives voice to fringe elements in society, and forces everyone to basically internalize their politics in such a way that they need defended at treasured ideals.
Our founding fathers knew this and that’s why they designed the federal government to basically be primarily an aristocratic republic with the exception of the election of House representatives and state government.
A pure democracy fails the second that the people realize they can vote to abolish taxes
You’re wrong. But keep trying, because your failure will not stand in the way of me getting out and accomplishing my goals.
Be sure to check out the SNL list of Obama’s accomplishments to see which of us is really winning…
Have you been to a Tea Party?
Hey wingnut, would you mind and go sip your Palin koolaid in the corner over there while we setup our Socialist regime?
Edo: “this is not about Obama”
Who believes that?
You put forth paragraphs where you try to speak directly to Obama, and then say “this is not about Obama”.
You call the hashtag #obamashould and then say “this is not about Obama”.
Seriously? Are you stupid? Do you think we’re stupid?
Give us some credit, dude. Stop lying in support of your own website.
Yeah Right seems to brain that hasn’t been brainwashed.
Oh no Edo, what are you going to do!?
He’s proven to be quite different in a variety of ways. But don’t let me get in the way of your cynicism.
Yes, he’s very differently accomplished nothing, unlike the 43 presidents who preceeded him.
Isn’t that the very reason for Edo’s website?
This president is a failure, who is accomplishing nothing? Hurry, twitter, so that he will do something, anything?
Can’t you get the idea that YOU have to be the one accomplishing things, getting things done, acting?
You are an American. Act like one. Twittering does nothing. Signing up for spam email lists does nothing.
Accomplish your own dreams, and quit sucking your thumb and shouting at your parents, I mean government, hoping they will do the things you were supposed to do when you grew up.
Be a man. Be an American.
Out of curiosity, what have you done to effect change?
You mentioned a Tea Party above. What did that change? That’s no different than the “liberal hippies” protesting at college campuses and War Memorials.
So what have you done?
If you equate attending Tea Parties to your writing a twitter post, then you shouldn’t be surprised that this president has accomplished absolutely nothing.
He’s accomplished nothing not because he doesn’t want to, as Edo implies.
He’s accomplished nothing because he’s been stopped at every turn by people who get off their *ss and do something real.
Now go back to your meaningless twittering and facebook, and pretend you’re a human being.
I’ll be out there stopping this agenda.
I dare you to work against me. Seriously. I want you to. I mean that. Be an American, get out of the house, accomplish something.
I dare you.
Must be a nice view from that high horse of yours.
I agree people need to get out and be active to effect change, but you make awfully big assumptions about what I and others do.
I applaud the fact that you’re active, although I suspect that you’re probably on the opposite end on a few issues vs me. But I don’t applaud the holier than thou attitude.
Fair enough. I’ll see you out there, brother.
‘Yeah Right’ As a person attempting to engage in an honest conversation with you let me first say that I appreciate and understand your enthusiasm about what you believe.
That also said you affect no change, nor alter hearts and minds, when you approach the situation with this kind of hostility and out-and-out provocation.
The President has one of the most ambitious agendas ever to be put before the United States of America. The truth is that already in this short amount of time whilst very little of any substance may seem to be accomplished more headway on almost every major area of his campaign has been made already than has ever been historically made. The health care reform principle is demonstrative of this—never before have we been this close to passing something.
Also, to suggest that Americans aren’t doing anything by using a variety of means to lobby their legislators and government officials is a little disingenuous. Revolting and “getting out there” have almost always in American history been the acts of vocal minorities who feel very strongly. As an activist myself, I’m a part of a vocal minority and I participate heavily where possible.
But what do you honestly mean by suggesting that people are somehow less American than you? The Tea Parties have shown themselves to be little more than the festering of radical anti-government feeling, racism, and to some extent libertarianism. They’re really just a bunch of angry people who aren’t quite sure what they’re angry about, but they sure know who they’re angry at.
Twenty percent of this president’s term of office is over. Being “this close to passing something” is not, in fact, passing something. It means that this president is accomplishing nothing. Edo’s website points that out dramatically.
Edo’s website implies that doing the same things that got the president elected can be used to get bills passed and run the government. I disagree.
More importantly, I have grave reservations about those who would turn their lives over to someone or some leader, demand they do something, then act surprised when they don’t. “Make me feel something”? Yes, I call that un-American. Edo’s website, and his statements that I’ve outlined here, are simply un-American.
It is un-American to act based on the beliefs of others. I am calling on people, liberal and conservative, to act on their own convictions. Did you see the post by the guy who said that “Obama will change the world?” That’s pathetic, and yes, un-American. I don’t care his politics, he’s not an American.
I applaud your activism, the root word of which is “act”. We agree that activism means more than tweeting.
Not for a moment do I believe I am converting people to a cause here. In fact the opposite. No one will change their political views because of anything I’ve written here, and I would be ashamed if they did.
You agree that tweeting alone won’t change minds, but you’re worried that I won’t be able to change minds by speaking here? This makes no sense. I’m not even trying.
I have said, and continue to put forth, that to think tweeting and facebooking will change anything is preposterous, and more dangerously, to think that you can elect a leader as a wish fulfillment is un-American.
Please don’t turn your lives over to Obama, or any leader. Continue to be active, work against him when he’s not acting on your agenda, as I worked against Bush when needed.
I point to Tea Parties as one example of how conservatives are out in the streets. I agree it’s a mish-mash of messages right now, but they are out there, in more ways than just the Tea Parties.
Where are the liberals? They are behind their keyboards pretending to be effective, happy to be “this close to passing something,” and waiting for the president to “make them care about something.”
Don’t like what I say? Tell a friend. Face to face.
Believe me, this writing is easy. Saying these things to a human, face to face, watching their reaction, that’s hard.
I say this to everyone here, not you Adam, have you done it today?
YR
Telling anyone, at all, that they’re not an American by virtue of behavior is simply not true. That’s not a sound, or convincing, rhetorical device and it will only serve to turn people off to what you have to say. If you want to yell at people, you’re doing an excellent job. If you want to convince people, you’re certainly headed in the wrong direction with your rhetoric.
Also, are you somehow implying that the written word is incapable of convincing others to change? Isn’t the written word just an asynchronous conversation taking place between author and reader? To deny the written word the power to change hearts and minds is appalling.
I will say this about the power of social media. they’re still new, but already have a demonstrable effect on how the news media work, and how the advanced world conducts its affairs. Don’t deny media their power, you’ll be sorry you did it in the end.
You wrote “By just using email as a system to raise money you loose the soul of the connection you established with millions of people. ”
Did you mean “By just using email as a system to raise money you lose the soul of the connection you established with millions of people. ” ?
Can we go back to the techcrunch core business? I would think that the President has enough to do than sending emails to Schonfeld.
a very timely post. I totally agree. I can only imagine what fox news would say about taking a weekly poll on facebook about how to run the country but it is just a matter of time before collaboration defines government decisionmaking…perhaps a long time though.
anyways, I too am getting a bit tired of getting solicited for dough. I feel like a damn fool for giving money to Hillary. a damn fool.
idea #1 has legs except that he already does it and no one really listens: http://www.whit...weekly_address/
those are good people over at igeneration!
great post
I read RC because it is about technology and technology will set mankind free. Either political posts like this one don’t belong one TC or I don’t belong here.
It fascinates me the people like the above bloggers actually believe in this man. Let me give you geeks a lesson about politics. Politics is about power….acquiring it and using it to dictate peoples’ lives. Why the hell would brilliant geeks who comment on this blog want the government to tell them what to do? I thought that technology (and the entrepreneurs who drive it) is about freedom and giving people the tools to make their lives more efficient, fuller, and happier, without depending on what the government feeds us.
You think Obama’s politics is consistent with these values? You are in for a rude awakening these next few years geeks.
Because in order for society to function properly we have, in general, agreed that some balance of public/private interests must be met. Government has been the tool through which we balance this equation historically.
These geeks are asking the government to enact legislative priorities, or let them know how to help get legislative priorities enacted. I take no issue with that.
I agree, he’s asking for a call to action.
But read closely. He’s asking for action ‘from the president’ not from individuals.
Look at these lines, directed at the president:
“Make us care again.”
Seriously? MAKE me care about something? Am I so stupid I have to be told what to care about?
“if you step up to the challenge and continue to take risks and push the envelope…”
Why can’t I step up? Why can’t I take risks? Why can’t I push the envelope? Is the president the only person who can accomplish anything?
Why can’t individuals do the heavy lifting? Because most liberals think that government means nothing more than putting someone in charge of their lives, then complaining when they don’t get what they want. This leads very quickly to despotism.
If you turn your life over to someone else, don’t be surprised if they don’t do what you want. If you’ve told everyone to shut up in order to put that leader in place, don’t be surprised if he someday tells you to shut up when you complain that he’s not doing what you want.
Edo is surprised that the president isn’t doing what he wants.
Soon Edo will be surprised that his website isn’t being listened to in the White House.
Edo is begging for action not from you as a geek, he’s begging for action from the president, and asking you to join him in that begging.
It’s sad, pathetic, and incredibly dangerous to turn over your power to the government in that way.
First of all, thank you for clarifying more honestly what you mean. I think you have made some legitimate points here.
No one, and no one at all, should wait to be acted upon before they feel motivated. However, I also believe that what Edo is saying here is that people have been disenfranchised by the realization that their political involvement essentially ends with the election season—when we trust that our elected representatives will begin the work we hired them for.
Which begs the question: Why hire them at all? I think if we look at the root of it we hire them because they are skilled legislators in most cases. Many are lawyers, and thusly have an understanding of the law that we do not. It has always been the American way to propose good government.
When this country was founded many were involved in the creation of it, but only a few men—trusted by the communities they served—were tasked with defining it. We are still defining it today, determining what works and what doesn’t.
With that said I am reminded of a rather famous quote from a rather exceptional president: Franklin Roosevelt. When faced with the demands of a reforming organization the president said:
“I agree with you, I want to do it, now make me do it.”
With this line he solidified for the public record the notion that some degree of popular support and pressure will be necessary for anything to be done. Today this is done through twitter, facebook, open letters, and so on. Calling this begging is rather disingenuous rhetoric, and I trust that you are better informed than to honestly suggest that. If you are not, then you are a hypocrite.
We are in near agreement, though I do not believe that twitter, facebook, et al., have a substantive effect.
I have seen, when I ran for office, when I have gone door-to-door, when I attended Tea Parties, when I have printed flyers and handed them out, I have seen what really works. I mean really, really works.
There is soft support, where people read twitter and nod there heads, and then there is the true support that comes from convictions and beliefs, and drives you into the streets.
I am out there. I welcome you to be there as well, regardless of your beliefs. It’s the only way to get things done that really works in the long run.
Isn’t that the very point that Edo is making? Isn’t he pointing out that those who softly supported this president have fallen back to sleep?
Get out there and do something. Act on your beliefs. It’s the only true method for accomplishing your goals.
There are a number of digital tactics that have shown to have a high degree of effectiveness in provoking legislators to vote and behave accordingly. Yes, getting a ton of people together and supporting a cause is effect. This is why there was a very large celebration in Charleston recently for our Senator (Rockefeller) who has been championing a strong public option in the senate.
I have also canvased, and gone door to door, and stood on streets holding signs. In addition to doing all that I’ve penned letters, attended meetings, and so forth.
Yes, acting on one’s beliefs is important if one intends to see them enacted, but not everyone is as motivated as you or I. Many from every walk of life have little concern for the politics of the day unless they have something in it for them. As much as you and I are motivated to act, and motivate others to act, imagine the extreme of that. If everyone were trying to motivate each other and there were no one to listen.
Most of the people in this thread have been happy to share their opinions, but that doesn’t mean they hold the conviction of them that you or I do. Simply let them be, or try to persuade them to act if you think they are willing. Degrading, insulting, and acting hostile are not the ways to win favor or motivation.
Glad to see you out there, brother.
“Because in order for society to function properly we have, in general, agreed that some balance of public/private interests must be met. Government has been the tool through which we balance this equation historically.”
Perhaps it’s time to change that balance.
The Internet facilitates an unprecedented dynamic web of voluntary associations. Maybe “public” doesn’t have to mean “government”?
Politicians are about getting elected and reelected, and what happens in between is secondary. Reliance on such critters is an exercise in futility.
I don’t have faith in the internet as an institution on which to build governing capacity. I think government can use it as a tool, but it’s been shown that all too easily any web system is open to gaming, disruptions, etc.,
And while we can disparage politicians in general it is because the work they do is largely boring to the public unless there is scandal or controversy. That ignores the rather important service they perform behind the scenes which is to legislate in some fashion.
I’ll say this I don’t see democracy as an advantage, and neither did our founding fathers. In fact during the time of the founding fathers democracy was essentially a greek word for mob rule. It was not considered to be a good governmental system because of how quickly it devolved into mob-like behavior.
Our Republic has its frictions, but it has proved to be a workable system capable of slow, but steady, change.
Thank you to all of the people like Edo who not not only talk about what the government can do to be more responsive but are actually proactively working to improve the situation.
Below is a list of 50 “doers” in the Gov 2.0 world…people who are implementing change: http://kevincur...v-20-doers.html
Pathetic cattle, unable to think or act for yourselves. That’s a liberal for you.
Your post describes only actions that you or others can take to help turn your lives over to someone else.
What Obama should do? Why not what YOU should do? What are you, a mindless drone? What kind of fool really prays to some fool behind a desk in Washington to make their dreams come true? Conservatives don’t do that. We get out, rally, write letters, run for office, and lead lives of example.
In case you were taught in a public school, let me remind you that this is a government ‘of the people, by the people, and for the people’. Shouting at your dear leader to motivate him to do something that you ought to be doing yourself is not how things get done.
Pray to your messiah if you like, but doing so in simply un-American.
Act for yourselves, you big babies.
Hi Yeah Right,
what did Daddy tell you yesterday about not taking your pills?
shhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
stay beautiful and quite. Ok OK. i realize that’s too much to ask. just be quite.
Typical liberal. Everyone who disagrees should just shut up. Or be silenced, or arrested, or shot.
The irony of someone promoting a website about ’speaking out’ by saying ‘cynics please skip post’ and ‘just be quiet’ is incredible.
What kind of leader does that get you? Castro? Mao? Stalin? Obama?
What kind of people are you? You’re certainly not convincing me to join your wonderful cause by first telling me to sit down and shut up.
Have more kool-aid, boys.
While I agree with 95% of what you’re saying, and also laugh at people who admire “Politician 3432B”, I think it’s utterly moronic that you actually believe that “liberals” act one way, and “conservatives” act another.
The most intelligent people don’t define themselves by the political spectrum.
Right, we disagree, so I must be an idiot, or not one of the ‘intelligent people’.
Liberal-speak.
Not everyone – just you – and for sheer stupidity and boredom. Please crawl back to that little shed in your backyard where you keep your trophies
I really feel like you lack historical honesty with this statement, Yeah Right (can I call you YR?).
“Conservatives” to the extent that the mindset exists were quite willing to happily surrender authority and power to a conservative president by the name of George W. Bush.
So, rather, what you’re saying is that conservatives are willing to challenge the government with open letters, meetings, etc., whenever they disagree with the government—not at all times. If anything you should be congratulating many here on attempting to keep the pressure on their administration even during the time it’s in office—something conservatives have not done.
Good point, liberals do need to keep the pressure on their president. I agree with that. I am working hard to stop his agenda, and believe me, it involves much more than twittering.
Do you really think the president reads twitter? Will a snarky twitter post really help? Will following Edo’s lead, and turning over your support to him really help? Good luck with that.
I don’t think the President is capable of keeping up with the sheer volume of material directed at him. That said, I know there’s a staff of people who are there to sum it up for him in easy to understand reports.
That said, I think the White House and his staff have done the math and determined that twitter can be statistically significant at times. Particularly after the media blitz it received earlier this year. It’s a tool, much like any other tool, and should not be relied on too heavily but should also be used.
Edo;
Leaving aside the baseline mentality of “politicians”, and assuming the highest level of selfless motivation and leverage, the real issue here is “scalability”.
Many ideas, mentalities, lifestyles, communication techniques, etc that work in smaller, more homogeneous countries simply are not workable when talking about a country the size and diversity of the US.
Sure the Obama web machine produced results when the desired result was very singularly focused: get Obama elected. People of all races, genders, lifestyles, etc who shared the lovely, but detail-less dream of “change”, could be galvanized to take a singular action of either sending money or simply “spreading the word”.
But now that those words need to translate to specific areas the president must deal with (how to reform health care, how to deal with radical militants, etc) and most of these issues are very polarizing. Given the large and wide-spectrum audience a presidential website commands, maintaining “topical coherence” would be next to impossible, as it will likely be a struggle just to maintain a good signal-to-noise ratio. One need only see what happens on TC comment boards when Arrington makes a novel suggestion or takes a stand, and that audience represents a small fraction of a percent of what the president would attract.
It would take a army of staffers a large amount of time to read every suggestion, cull the useful bits, formulate a meaningful plan, vet it and turn it into action. By that time, the presidents term would be effectively over.
While it is a nice idea, like any Very Large company, the US is simply too big and too ethnically, culturally, and financially diverse to be effectively led by a single leader on the actionable basis you suggest. Even a single issue like health care would devolve into a pitched battle, as it already has.
The presidency is mostly about projecting US symbolism, and for a lucky few presidents, making one or two truly effective changes to American society. To seriously expect ONE person to have the bandwidth and motivation to be able to effectively comprehend and grapple with many large-scale issues, formulate action plans around them, drive that action plan through all related parties, while maintaining the type public-facing bi-directional communication you suggest is simply not practical.
Thank for a thoughtful comment. Innovation will continue to happen in this space. I wonder what shape it will take.
As someone who works in heart of online political fundraising, I take many of these ideas to heart. I think they’re all pretty good.
But, the post is extremely short-sighted.
The money: You have a direct competitor in the GOP who doesn’t care what you do. If you stop asking for it, they won’t. The race for money never ends. With elections every two years, presidential every four, it’s extremely important to build the war chest early.
Online fundraising has now established itself as an integral part of the overall fundraising battle.
If you stop asking for money in emails, even years out from poll dates, you lose the money war, and you lose elections. That’s what this comes down to.
Email is by far the best online money making device for politicians. Nothing else comes close. So until you come up with a better strategy to make money, it’s not going to stop.
I agree with you. I am not suggesting to abandon it. But there has to be more. There is more to winning then making the money. Need to keep your approval up and motivate people into action in innovative ways. Need to keep engagement levels up. That doesn’t have to end with the election season.
Pathetic. Truly pathetic.
Still believing in phrases…
Here you go …
1) yes we can (yippee)
2) change (amen brother)
Erick: Please, check your self-indulgence. Health care is critically important to average working people in this country. Tens of millions can’t afford it under the current system. But if you think it’s been the only focus, you really haven’t been paying attention. Nor is it Obama’s fault that you’ve lost interest and don’t understand why organizations need money.
Think of this a a TEACHABLE MOMENT
- you elected him
- he has not done what you want
- he still wants your money
What does THAT teach you.
HAHAHAHA
you must be a racist.
Seriously.
It’s time to open PolitiCrunch. I’d be happy to read posts like this over there, I love politics. But I don’t love politics in places where I go to get away from them and learn about other things.
Please Heather and/or Michael. Just get it done with.
+1
Thank you. This is the only 100% statement on this page.
Actually …
10 million people choose to by flat screen TVs, iphones, and nice cars INSTEAD of buying health insurance.
Another 10 million are illegal immigrants, if you want to insure them, hell, lets just insure the world, the “right thing to do” logic should take you there also.
And them about 10 million are truly destitute and cannot afford anything, I see them in San Fran everyday, apparently all they can afford are cigarettes.
My health insurance proposal
- no pre-existing condition exclusions
- no volume discount
- health expenses (including insurance) are tax deductable (different from hsa)
Erik, you know what? If i want political discussion, i go to a different place. It is interesting that Techcrunch feels the need to be involved in useless political discussions.
I weep for American when I see posts like this.
Edo says he wants to start a dialog, but says that those who disagree with him are just ‘cynics’ who should stay away.
Edo says that this president is a great leader, but sets up a website to convince the president to act because he’s not accomplishing anything.
Edo says that he’s ‘in awe’ of how the president ‘came to be in office’ but doesn’t see the difference between a campaign and running a government.
Edo says that the president’s supporters have an ‘emotional relationship’ to him, but can’t understand that the president’s detractors also have emotions.
Edo is fundamentally disillusioned with this president, and wants to 1) marginalize and belittle those who disagree with the president, 2) shout at the president to get him moving, and 3) use the same techniques used for campaigning to run the government.
Edo is flawed in his thinking, and un-American in his actions.
Americans listen, talk, argue, think, and act.
Edo wants you to listen only to his side, to shut you up, to shout you down, to stop you from thinking, and prevent you from acting.
Listen to all sides. Speak out. Make sure you are heard over those who would prevent you from talking. Think for yourself.
Then, and most importantly, act.
Drop the remote. Put down the XBox/Playstation/Wii controller. Log off.
These are humans out there. Talking with (not down to) and listening to one single person can have an impact far more than any silly twitter post.
Do your job as an American. Listen, talk, argue, think, and act. Don’t let anyone stop you, and do it all with the courage of your convictions.
Be an American.
From Merriam-Webster’s
DEFINITION OF A CYNIC
1. faultfinding captious critic; especially : one who believes that human conduct is motivated wholly by self-interest
hmmmmmmmmmmmm. Sounds accurate to me…
Too much Obama. We might as well make him a winner of every possible contest.
Let’s all vote for him to win the Heisman!
http://promo.es...ismanvote/2009/
Just write “Barack Obama” into the “Other” field.
I voted for him!
“The value of genuine conversation from a man with your insight will way overshadow the shortcomings offered in the prose.” In my opinion, the man is not capable of genuine conversation and has little insight – just as the vast majority of politicians of all political persuasions. We need the people who are willing to do the work at the front, not another windbag draped in red or blue.
As for the efforts of this community creating real change, why not contribute to established, existing projects instead of further splintering resources. http://sunlightfoundation.com/
http://sunlightlabs.com/
Before sending a “letter” to the President of the United States, please proof-read.
“I recall that as the election results where announced,”
“where” should be “were”
As for posting polls to FaceBook: I hope for our nation’s sake that public policy is not left to the “wisdom” of the crowds. Have you *seen* the people that spend a lot of time on social media sites? Yikes.
I base all my thinking on YouTube comments.
What’s wrong with that?
Great post, Edo, thanks for this.
An important thing that Obama did in his campaign and very early days in office was to inspire people to do the right thing.
I think that when Edo speaks of ‘make me care’ – this is what he means.
It is not about dumping the responsibility on the president or government for actions – but looking to them to show the direction.
If over the last year the guidance the government and the lobbyists provided was ‘greed is good’, it’s a bout time and it is what Obama was elected to do, to say ‘good is good’ – not to solve all the problems for the people, but to set the priorities.
What won WWII is knowing what’s right and following through, a moral backbone – not opportunism and greed.
I’m completely confused. You don’t want to ‘dump the responsibility’ on the president, but you want to look to him to ’show you a direction’?
If he choses the direction, and you follow, who is then responsible?
What kind of slave of me are you trying to create? I set the direction for my own life, thank you. I accept responsibility for my own actions, thank you.
If I want to change the direction of the government, I accept responsibility for doing so, and responsibility for what occurs if I have set that direction – and responsibility if I did nothing.
Liberals and socialists want you to think that you are to blame for not following the direction of the government. If they don’t succeed with the czars and takeovers then it must be your fault.
Set the direction. Take the responsibility. You have the power. It is not granted to you because some politician ‘made you care’, or some president ’showed you the direction’. Think for yourself.
Then act. Substantively. Not with a tweet, not by visiting some shyster’s website. Shouting at the president through a website is meaningless. Get out of the house and talk to people.
Be responsible. Set direction. It’s the American way.
If you don’t, others will set it for you.
Boy, the socialists are really out today.
The opposite of greed is subservience. The opposite of opportunism is slavery.
You choose.
Socialism is a great way of government. And America is and will become a Socialist state. There’s no denying that. It’s only a matter of time. Accept it.
Your wingnutty right wing corporations that ruled during the Bush era and that go to these asinine “Tea-Parties” (lol) have seen their last days.
How about those wingnutty right wing corporations that ruled during Clinton’s 8 years in office? Did they all go away and all new ones come in W.’s two terms?
I love how everyone on the far, far left forgets the prosperity during a moderate (at least for 6 years of it) president that was also a member of their own party.
Corporations are evil. Government is good. That’s the theme. Got it. Hmm. Who employs the most people in the US? According to the Dept of Labor it’s the Federal Government: http://www.bls....o/cg/cgs041.htm
Seems like a big (often inefficiently run) business.
What about small businesses that are technically corporations. Are they evil? Is the mom and pop hardware store down the street evil? How about the daycare? Or the hairdresser? I think you get my point. Blaming corporations for your problems is like crediting the government for your successes.
The economic thinking and policies that have ruled the country (let’s call them essentially Reaganomics) for the last ~30 years have introduced much instability in our economy. While they have unleashed great peaks of prosperity (albeit through perverse means) the associated lows have been just as deep, and just as painful.
Honestly the more liberal, keynesian, economies in this world have weathered this recession FAR better than ours. That says something to me.
There are plenty of economists who believe that Keynesian policies prolonged the great depression instead of ending it. Same economists believe the end of the depression (and subsequent prosperity) came about as a result of the war machine of WWII and the follow up boom of people with improved education.
Keynesian philosophies didn’t improve the stagflation of the 70’s at which time the country turned to a new president who eventually brought in “reagonomics” policy.
Personally, I would rather have ups than consist of low unemployment & low interest rates than downs that feature both high unemployment and high inflation.
its so good to hear this M.R president congratulation you are right to have it
Wow, lots of haters! I didn’t expect that while reading the letter.
Anyway, I for one like what he had to say and agree with much of it. Its not perfect, but hell, who is?
This is nothing more than a spam post. Good going, TechCrunch.
a) it’s a free site, what did u expect?
b) it’s sunday
c) personally, i mostly come here for the comments
The ‘free site’ excuse goes downhill when the site is full of ads that are lucrative because of visitors like us.
+1000000000
am i the only one annoyed by these comments? dude, your vocabulary is waaaaaaaaay too limited
Agreed. This post is unworthy of TechCrunch.
It bugs me when people excuse mediocrity. Such a thing only leads to a bland world full of bland people.
Going further, I don’t think this post is just laziness. I think it’s some kind of personal favor. What does Edo have on Erick and Mike that they would allow this kind of payoff for Edo?
maybe i should say ‘cheap’ instead of ‘free’ then. I meant it in a derogatory sense. this site at rare times publishes interesting articles but they tend to mix it with tons of worthless trash.
plus, this is a blog, reputation is not a real issue here. i personally don’t trust it (like any blog) because it is not regulated, does not belong anywhere and regularly crosses the line on favoritism
The word DUPED comes to mind when I read the first part of this article.
It hasn’t even been a year and I’m telling my duped friends, “I told you so”.
Anyone above who says anything negative about Obama is a racist pig, unless you are also black, then there are all sorts of things you are allowed to say.
Liberals are in for a big surprise if they think that tweeting will save you in the 2010 elections. You’re about to run into a true brick wall of grass-roots activism.
Conservatives have been creating adhoc activist groups left and right.
To name a few, the Tea Party organizations, each of which are locally created and controlled. The 9/12 groups, each based on values and principles. The Mother’s groups, based on the idea that moms are the true change in society. The 5000 Year reading groups, which are local book clubs for conservative readers. The neighborhood conservative groups, whose goal is to get to know your neighbors and let them know you share their ideals.
There are more, and each of these thousands of groups is independent. Most meet monthly. They’re not doing it for the cameras, or for the evening news, or for twitter.
More importantly, they’re not doing it to shout to the president in hopes he will “make them feel something.”
These people’s beliefs and convictions are deeply felt, but they’ve never organized themselves into a true force. They are abandoning the Republican party, and promoting candidates who have real conservative values.
Obama, Pelosi and Reid are walking into a buzz saw in 2010, and they don’t see it coming.
Perhaps someone should tweet about it.
If only there were a site to tell the president what he should do about it…
The point is, go to your little site, tweet your wittle heart out, and we’ll see you in 2010.
We’ll be the ones marching. Be sure to tweet about how stupid we are.
If you turn your life over to someone else, don’t be surprised if they don’t do what you want.
If you’ve told everyone to shut up in order to put that person in office, don’t be surprised if that person someday tells you to shut up when you complain that he’s not doing what you want.
Watch this “Environmental Journalists” gathering, where the only real journalist in the room gets his microphone cut off after asking a question of Al Gore:
http://www.yout...h?v=cf-fzVH6v_U
Watch as the White House sends an email to Joe Scarborough asking him to ’stop being an a**hole”, on air, after he questions whether the Dear Leader should have gotten the Nobel peace prize. Classy.
http://www.yout...h?v=7NtCLgtd3rE
Edo, someday someone will ask you to shut down your website because it suggests that the president isn’t doing his best.
Speak out while you can, brother.
Want to understand the Tea Parties? Learn from the Politico. That’s right, Politico.
‘Tea partiers turn on GOP leadership’
http://www.poli...l#ixzz0TdnRKRSV
It ain’t about the person, nor the party, it’s not about the president, and it’s got nothing to do with some fool’s website full of tweets.
It’s about core principles and values.
Got ‘em?
I just need to clarify one thing. America is not a direct democracy and never has been. The founders of our country were afraid of direct democracy because they had seen it in action. Direct democracy is mob rule. That’s why they built representative government, checks and balances, and many other protections into the constitution.
I know the idea sounds nice, but if we ever become a pure, direct democracy, it will be the end of America. Be careful what you wish for.
Well put.
Obama spoke to you the way you wanted to be spoken to (Web 2.0 technologies). But now that he got what he wanted from you, he’s speaking the way all president’s speak.
Politics, on both sides of the aisle, is a machine. Are you really so surprised?
This is why I’m an independent. No politician deserves such blind faith. That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t support the candidates who most closely match our ideals, but skepticism of *all* of those in power is the only way for control to remain with the masses.
This has traditionally been the role of the media, but in an age of direct, unfiltered communications, the responsibility more and more falls upon us, the voters.
Now that’s what I’m taking about. Thank you for this post it was a great point.
I am convinced that digital Rush Limbaughs of the world will never be a part of the solution… Only faciliators and evangelists of thoughtless hate and racism.
Come on, get a life, and follow directions.
This is an encouraging post for people who believe in the possibility of change. CHANGE is HAPPENING! Regardless of what you think.
And people can make a difference. If you don’t think so, you are in the wrong country.
“CHANGE is HAPPENING! Regardless of what you think.”
I agree that people can make a difference, however, if CHANGE is HAPPENING!, why is there a site asking the President to do more of what he promised?
The article seems to be telling me that “Change We Can Believe In”, hasn’t happened yet and people are asking why.
I think the article is saying the exact opposite.
I think it is all about still believing in change, still believing that a difference can be made… hope against hope so to speak.
Has anyone ever made you a promise? You expected them to live up to it right? In this case, all of us who voted for him, believed in hope and change… and still do. And by next election term, want to still believe. But that belief must transform into knowledge… In other words, it is difficult to continue hope without some sort of manifestation. Philosophy calls knowledge JUSTIFIED, TRUE BELIEF. Meaning that what I have believed has come true.
We don’t want to just believe in change, we want to see it. And there’s nothing wrong with expressing discontent, while still being supportive…
Do you guys remember the house flyer scenerio that was bugging Obama during that interview with Brian Williams?
Well, both problems with getting healthcare passed and the issues with afghanistan will meet the same fate as that fly. Let them buzz around all they want now, for tommorrow they won’t and obama will continue on.
Okay, here we go. Let’s be clear to start with: I am an independent and would not have it any other way. I refuse to tie myself to any party because I make up my own mind and do not just go along with what someone says is good for me or is the “right” thing to do. I have served this wonderful country that we live in and I also did not vote for our current president.
That being said, he is MY PRESIDENT…OUR PRESIDENT! Whether or not you voted for him, he is your President. I don’t care if you are red, yellow, republican, or democrat. Because he is OUR President we need to support him. The way our government is set up, the majority rule and they voted for him. When I say support him, I mean do not wish failure on this administration because they are not from your “party.” Before I get trashed in the responses let me be clear. I am not trying to discourage you from voicing your opinion. By all means you should be standing up for what you believe in, but do it in a constructive manner and don’t berate people’s ideas just because you think your way of doing things is better.
Now try not to take that paragraph too hard or out of context. I do not agree with all of the policies that are being put forth nor do I agree with some of the executive decisions that are being made. I do however hope that they are successful, because if they succeed so does our nation. I am thankful for the freedom we have and have put my life on the line to defend it, and I would like to thank those who are currently doing the same.
Enough of that and back to the article. I have scanned through the comments left and I must be missing something. I understand two people can read the same thing and understand it in two different ways, but the following is what I took from it. I think the writer is trying to open a dialog that the supporters of President Obama had during the election, but that has dwindled since. I see nothing wrong with this. It is always good to communicate with our elected officials and just because we have not done it in this way before does not mean it will fail. I will participate in the process and do whatever I can to establish new lines of communication with our government.
Please try and keep an open mind and remember that the things we develop can be used by people on both sides of the aisle and everyone in between. This is a tech blog so let’s try and not to be too partisan and instead try to continue to further the use of new technology within our system of government. Thank you to all those who take the time to read this comment.
Jeremy,
Thank you for a welcome dose of reality. Needless to say I did not expect to get into political debates. As you suggest my intent was to explore how to evolve the platform of how we communicate with our leaders. I would be more than happy if “Yeah Right” or others take this open source project and apply it down the road for future leadership. If its Palinshould.org or Clintonshould.org makes no difference. We are the builders, we build, we create. We evolve the platforms and are happy to do so for all to use. The changes in our process will live on regardless of political affiliation.
Obamashould.org was built by a group of volunteers and the servers are paid for by me. It is a public service and an open source project that anyone can use regardless of their political affiliation. It’s purpose is not to advance a particular agenda but to make our democracy better.
We have received many new approaches due to this post and other people will volunteer their time and help us build even better tools to help us evolve how our democracy works in the digital age without waiting for someone else to do it including the government. In this activity America leads the world through example as our democracy evolves.
Obamashould.org is a site for people to voice their opinion regardless of political affiliation. It is applying some patterns that have evolved over recent internet history for this purpose. An approach that has worked for companies like Dell and others to collect and self organize peoples ideas into useful information without the need for “an army of staffers”. It is not a way to govern but a way to effectively filter ideas. Finally as said in the post it is just a draft of what it could be.
If you believe that we have a role to play in how the digital platform of democracy can evolve, regardless of political views, please join us: http://bit.ly/3KXA15
Dear Yeah right,
would you please consider taking your medication on time and/or going back to high school to be beaten yet again? Your argumentation is so inferior that I find it hard to believe you’re not a member of the late Bush administration and/or a member of the Palin dynasty. Please help us all web lot by getting back to writing hate mail and nasty comments at liberal blogs and at the “big love” site.
Many thanks,
Frank und Frei