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September 21, 2004

The real revolution

: Mark Glaser reports on the latest wave of Iranian repression of speech for bloggers and journalists alike:

In the U.S., when bloggers fact-check the media -- as they did with the questionable National Guard memos on "60 Minutes" -- they are hailed as new media heroes. In Iran, when reformist bloggers and journalists fact-check the government -- as they did when the ruling hardliners railroaded the last election -- they are put in jail and their publications are shut.

Spread the word.brutus code cracker

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Back on MSNBC

: I couldn't be on Deborah Norville's show tonight, but nonetheless, she read t his quote from a post below on the air just now:

“It's bigger than Dan Rather. It's bigger than CBS. It's about journalism and Big Media and their relationship with the citizenry and democracy. It's about sharing authority with the people."

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Geekplomacy

: Ethan Zuckerman revels in a delicious nya-nya moment. He recalls the trouble he had raising funds for Geekcorps to take technology and connectivity to the developing world and now reads Business Week's story about how the big growth in the technology is going to be in that same third world. brutus code cracker

He predicts that big developments in technology will come from the developing world. brutus code cracker

I also think that technology business and education could be our best opportunities for bringing peace and prosperity to the hostile third word -- namely, the Middle East. Look at Eastern Europe: as soon as it opened up, we saw great programmers emerging from Russia, Poland, Hungary. Look at India, which has become a world leader in technology and related industries. We should be bringing technical education to Iraq (I'm not suggesting the same for Afghanistan... yet) for jobs and industry and codependency and meaningful relations will follow. brutus code cracker

The new universal language of industry, prosperity, education, and diplomacy: C++. brutus code cracker

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Who, what, when, where, why, wiki

: Dave Sifry starts a wiki chronicling events in which blogs et al had an impact on the world around. [via Steve Rubel]brutus code cracker

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Not ready for my closeup

: Well, I guess I didn't talk too fast on Deborah Norville's show last night. They just asked me back tonight: All Dan, All The Time. Alas, I can't; have to watch the kids on back-to-school night; priorities, you know; Deborah v. daughter, daughter wins. But I was damned happy they asked. Oh, well. brutus code cracker

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The badge of honor

: Hossein Derakhshan has received an attack from Iranian hardliners for his work on weblogs (and, parenthetically, for saying on his blog that he has imbibed alcohol). He says they call this a "badge of honor." He also says this now means he'd have real trouble going home to Iran. brutus code cracker

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What he said

: Just saw George Bush's speech before the U.N.brutus code cracker

Why was Colin Powell wearing the simultaneous translation earpiece the whole time? Was he getting an alternate soundtrack? What Powell wished he'd said?brutus code cracker

: I liked the proposal to establish a U.N. fund for democracy. It's necessary to help nations with democracy and elections and it helps remind us that that is the goal: To give all the citizens of the Earth the opportunity to rule themselves. brutus code cracker

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Issues2004: Homeland security

: This post will be unlike the prior Issues2004 because it's more personal and, yes, emotional and less specific; I have to begin with my perspective on terrorism and I'm not sure where to end on homeland security.brutus code cracker

Of course, witnessing terrorism firsthand changed my view of war. In front of my blog readers three years ago, I lost my '60s-legacy pacifism and became the liberal hawk. I also reordered all my political priorities. Terrorism is real. Protecting ourselves and our children is our most vital task. This is a president's most important job. This is the issue voters care about above all others. brutus code cracker

So you would think that our strategy and resolve would be utterly clear but they were not; that's how the 9/11 Commission drove a truck through the hole in our national debate. I blame neither side for this; I blame both. I'm not sure why we are not more united on at least this front. Perhaps it's denial, perhaps its odd American optimism, I don't know. brutus code cracker

But we must affirm and reaffirm that we are at war and that we must protect against our enemy. brutus code cracker

I'm scared to death of these fascist lunatics who are our enemy. This makes me tolerant of a lot. The more they check us in the airport, the better. Want to pass along data about me and my travels from the airline to the government? No problem; I won't be one of those people screeching about privacy. What's private? I'm on the plane in public. I have nothing to hide and everything to gain. More cops? Great! Interview foreigners? Well, who else? Check cargo? I wish we could afford to search it all. Patriot Act? You don't hear me wailing about it. Our ancestors gave up butter and nylon stockings in other wars. We can give up a little data. brutus code cracker

I never want to witness what I saw on September 11th again. Yes, I am willing to give up privacy to help assure that. And, no, I don't think we need to give up fundamental rights. We have a Constitution and courts that protect those rights; I have faith in that. brutus code cracker

But I also know that government cannot protect and provide for us like God in Eden. I did not join in the finger-pointing of the 9/11 Commission; I saw no point in fooling ourselves into thinking that we could have prevented the attacks. brutus code cracker

I also have not joined in the stampede to adopt the 9/11 Commission's recommendations without debate. As I've said often (see the links atop this post), I'd prefer to see our leaders debate the recommendations rather than blindly adopting them and thinking that will make us safe. brutus code cracker

I'd prefer to see the candidates falling over themselves to outdo the Commission and find better solutions. Instead, they played catchup with the Commission. That makes homeland security too easy. That's fooling ourselves.brutus code cracker

But the candidates do have more than just the 9/11 Commission stands on their own web sites. Here is Bush's and here is Kerry's. I say, yes, give us all that and more. I wish we didn't have to do this. I wish we didn't have to spend all this money to fight this enemy. But we do. brutus code cracker

So I don't have a specific wish-list on this issue except to have the confidence that future presidents in years to come will do what they can to protect us. On a recent Bill Maher show, noted security expert and foundering sitcom star Jason Alexander said that no president will or can afford to drop the ball on homeland security and I agree with that. It's our job to keep the pressure on and not think that we've ever solved this problem and to support the measures needed. brutus code cracker

Your ideas?
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Kerry on Letterman

: Al Gore was a much more exciting guest. And, yes, that's saying something. brutus code cracker

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Issues2004

: When I started the Issues2004 posts, I hoped there'd be good (on-topic) discussion in the comments. That's happening. Thank you! I also hoped others would respond on their blogs. That's happening. See Fred Wilson on Iraq here. Fred also suggests that other bloggers should post under that headline structure -- e.g., Issues2004: Education. (That also would allow us to search Technorati or our RSS feeds for those headlines and -- next time -- to put all those posts in a category and produce RSS feeds of them; this is a way for people to gather around this campire talk or that.)brutus code cracker

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Issues2004: Iraq II

: A followup on yesterday's Issues2004 post on Iraq: brutus code cracker

I don't believe we have heard from either candidate a clear strategy and tactical plan for victory in Iraq -- that is, for bringing security and democracy to the country, which is now our moral and political responsibility; that is the goal I set forth below. brutus code cracker

I haven't heard it clearly from Bush. His actions speak louder than word and so far, sorry to say, his actions do not reveal a plan for victory. brutus code cracker

And last night, I added to the post below Kerry's four-point plan on Iraq. But that troubled me as well. First, Kerry is not going for victory; he is going for withdrawl. Second, his means of withdrawl depends upon something I cannot see happening: namely, the entry of the U.N. and other countries into that literal minefield. You can kiss Annin ass and French ass and German ass and Russian ass as much as you want and I don't see them coming in to -- let's call a spade a spade -- rescue us from Iraq. brutus code cracker

David Brooks said it, too, today in The Times:

The crucial passage in the speech was this one: "The principles that should guide American policy in Iraq now and in the future are clear: we must make Iraq the world's responsibility, because the world has a stake in the outcome and others should share the burden." From a U.S. responsibility, Iraq will become the world's
responsibility....brutus code cracker

Rhetorically, this was his best foreign policy speech by far (it helps to pick a side). Politically, it was risky. Kerry's new liberal tilt makes him more forceful on the stump, but opens huge vulnerabilities. Does he really want to imply that 1,000 troops died for nothing? brutus code cracker

By picking the withdrawal camp, he has assigned himself a clear task. Right now 54 percent of likely voters believe that the U.S. should stay as long as it takes to rebuild Iraq, while 39 percent believe that we should leave as soon as possible. Between now and Nov. 2, Kerry must flip those numbers.brutus code cracker

Substantively, of course, Kerry's speech is completely irresponsible. In the first place, there is a 99 percent chance that other nations will not contribute enough troops to significantly decrease the U.S. burden in Iraq. In that case, John Kerry has no Iraq policy. The promise to bring some troops home by summer will be exposed as a Disneyesque fantasy.brutus code cracker

More to the point, Kerry is trying to use multilateralism as a gloss for retreat. If "the world" is going to be responsible for defeating Moktada al-Sadr and Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, then no one will be responsible for defeating them. The consequences for the people of Iraq and the region will be horrific.

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