RE: [Air-l] Re: howard dean, social movements and clay shirky
Who's we, and why do we think their is an us? Constitutional mythos?
I wish there was a we.
-robert
This debate serves as a just reminder that the US elections have a considerable effect outside the US. Electionwise, though, those of us who are not allowed to vote in US elections because we live outside the US are even further from 'we' status. To us, 'we' are, in fact, 'you' :o) Forgive me, it has been a long week. Best, Charlie -- Charlie Breindahl Ph.D. Student, Copenhagen + Malmö Web: http://staff.hum.ku.dk/hitch/ http://www.creativeenvironments.mah.se/ Phone: +45 35 32 81 14 Mobile: +45 51 92 15 98 E-mail: hitch@hum.ku.dk "For the modern Don Quixote, the windmills have been preprogrammed to turn into knights" - Janet H. Murray
Yes, the US elections have a substantial effect worldwide. And I think many Americans realize this. However, 'we' are not in the center of the election process anymore than 'you' are. Yes, Americans are closer than the rest of the world, but the power to put someone in the presidential office is orchestrated by political strategists and elites. 'We' are bombarded by their preferred messages via the press. (The media doesn't lie, except in a few rare instances. The press is often manipulated though.)So how do we pick the real deal? These days it takes considerable effort to wade through all that spin (enter the Internet as one tool. Which is more informative: blogs, white papers posted online, databases, google search results, OR George W. Bush's website?). It takes mucho critical analysis about the issues too. Sadly, though, I don't see that happening on a large scale in the US, which is why social movements are so important. If the majority of Americans can't dig deeply into the info then others must do so -- to become the deciphering system for the populace. It's the traditional two-step flow system (opinion leaders and what not) in reverse. That's how the power of the vote is regained. As is, all I hear is: Dean screams too loud and Kerry looks electable. That's how 'we' vote. -robert On Fri, 30 Jan 2004, Charlie Breindahl wrote:
Who's we, and why do we think their is an us? Constitutional mythos?
I wish there was a we.
-robert
This debate serves as a just reminder that the US elections have a considerable effect outside the US. Electionwise, though, those of us who are not allowed to vote in US elections because we live outside the US are even further from 'we' status. To us, 'we' are, in fact, 'you' :o)
Forgive me, it has been a long week.
Best, Charlie -- Charlie Breindahl Ph.D. Student, Copenhagen + Malm�
Web: http://staff.hum.ku.dk/hitch/ http://www.creativeenvironments.mah.se/ Phone: +45 35 32 81 14 Mobile: +45 51 92 15 98 E-mail: hitch@hum.ku.dk
"For the modern Don Quixote, the windmills have been preprogrammed to turn into knights" - Janet H. Murray
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Hi, Just interrupting some marking for a quick response --- "Robert M. Tynes" <rtynes@u.washington.edu> wrote:
Yes, the US elections have a substantial effect worldwide. And I think many Americans realize this. However, 'we' are not in the center of the election process anymore than 'you' are. Yes, Americans are closer than the rest of the world, but the power to put someone in the presidential office is orchestrated by political strategists and elites. 'We' are bombarded by their preferred messages via the press. (The media doesn't lie, except in a few rare instances. The press is often manipulated though.)So how do we pick the real deal?
These days it takes considerable effort to wade through all that spin (enter the Internet as one tool. Which is more informative: blogs, white papers posted online, databases, google search results, OR George W. Bush's website?). It takes mucho critical analysis about the issues too. Sadly, though, I don't see that happening on a large scale in the US, which is why social movements are so important. If the majority of Americans can't dig deeply into the info then others must do so -- to become the deciphering system for the populace. It's the traditional two-step flow system (opinion leaders and what not) in reverse. That's how the power of the vote is regained.
As is, all I hear is: Dean screams too loud and Kerry looks electable. That's how 'we' vote.
-robert
On Fri, 30 Jan 2004, Charlie Breindahl wrote:
Who's we, and why do we think their is an us? Constitutional mythos?
I wish there was a we.
-robert
This debate serves as a just reminder that the US elections have a considerable effect outside the US. Electionwise, though, those of us who are not allowed to vote in US elections because we live outside the US are even further from 'we' status. To us, 'we' are, in fact, 'you' :o)
Forgive me, it has been a long week.
Best, Charlie -- Charlie Breindahl Ph.D. Student, Copenhagen + Malm�
Web: http://staff.hum.ku.dk/hitch/ http://www.creativeenvironments.mah.se/ Phone: +45 35 32 81 14 Mobile: +45 51 92 15 98 E-mail: hitch@hum.ku.dk
"For the modern Don Quixote, the windmills have been preprogrammed to turn into knights" - Janet H. Murray
_______________________________________________ Air-l mailing list Air-l@aoir.org http://www.aoir.org/mailman/listinfo/air-l
_______________________________________________ Air-l mailing list Air-l@aoir.org http://www.aoir.org/mailman/listinfo/air-l
__________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! SiteBuilder - Free web site building tool. Try it! http://webhosting.yahoo.com/ps/sb/
Hi, Sorry about the first premature post - there's a hair trigger keyboard here. Just interrupting some marking for a quick response to the above issues. 1. In Australia the US election continues to be a high ranking news item in all media, and a topic of discussion amongst people with an interest in politics - including numerous opinion pieces. The difference might be that the perspective often adopted is what each candidate is likley to mean for US-Australian relations. Throughout the US election ( if the pattern of the past is repeated)it will continue to be a constant news item, often pushing domestic issues into the background. I would have to say that the Dean Scream incident has been regarded here as a bit of non-event, the man shouted at an election rally, so what? is the general reaction. The Australian media has therefore focused on why the US media has made such a big deal about it, and more generally - if you will forgive me - a sense of disbelief that a candidate could be so easily dismissed. 2. Media and Dean Scream and technology. I found this letter from a Dean supporter on www.tompaine.com which gives an interesting perspective about the issue and it reminded me to think about the role of technology in contributing to media perception about events (recalling picture cropping, editing, studio lights, and so on). ( NB I have no favoured democrat candidate myself, as I don't know enough about them, so I am not promoting HD!) Dean's Demeanor Re: Doug Ireland's "Iowa's Lessons " From: Larry Jordan I took my 13-year-old daughter to the post-caucus Dean rally in Des Moines Monday night. It was her first such political event. We are both mystified by the pundits like Mr. Ireland who claim that Dean came off like a crazy man. The ballroom was filled with a frenzied crowd that had been chanting, waving flags and streamers and making so much noise that a hoarse Mr. Dean had to shout in an attempt to be heard above them. As close as we were, we still had trouble hearing him. I noticed he used a hand-held microphone which, due to its directional qualities, probably wasn't picking up and conveying to the TV viewing audience just how much noise there was in the ballroom. Trust me. It was ear-splitting. I also thought Dean's energized performance on a par with a pep rally before a football game. He was feeding off the electricity in the room. Moments after he left the stage, Governor Dean walked over to me and clasped both my hands in his after we high-fived. He was calm and gracious when talking with my daughter, who was so impressed by him. This man was not out of control in the least. He was pugnacious, to be sure, and determined. You would be, too, after seeing Mr. Kerry co-opting your campaign slogans and supporters, plus waging a war of dirty tricks in Iowa that was little noted by the national media. Little noticed, too, was that the born-again Kerry voted FOR the war, FOR the Patriot Act and FOR the $87 billion Bush asked for to extend the war. Dean's fault may be that he is TOO candid, and his words are parsed for any political advantage an opponent may gain by twisting and distorting his meaning. Regards, Collette Snowden __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! SiteBuilder - Free web site building tool. Try it! http://webhosting.yahoo.com/ps/sb/
participants (3)
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Charlie Breindahl -
Collette Snowden -
Robert M. Tynes