ryansutter·net

• Favorite news story of the day: http://tinyurl.com/5be35c #

• @kidelle What can I say? I knowz my frendz! #
• http://tinyurl.com/62z5tf #
• @PastryPrncss Duct tape is SOOOO sexy. Whatchoo talkin’ about Willis? #
• Why I not got GMail themes? #
• @substars I checked out another GM account that I don’t use and it has them, but not my regular account yet. Wonder how they pick? #

• @cindyivy Just tell Dani to go to sleep… #
• At Szechuan Star #

I hate the TSA (that’s Transportation Security Administration, for the acronymally challenged).  When Syd and I went to Miami they pissed me off at each airport, setting me off on profanity laced tirades and stealing $30 worth of my property for no valid security reason whatsoever.  At the very least, if the TSA is allowed to steal my fucking property they should have to fucking well give it back to me when I arrive at my fucking destination.

It is therefore with great glee that I share the following link which proves what I’ve been saying ever since 9/11; the shit the TSA does (making you take your shoes off, searching your bags, not letting you bring shaving cream, etc) is pointless, accomplishes nothing, wastes tax dollars, does nothing to stop terrorists and only pisses off innocent people like you and me.

Read it here.

Anybody who has read my blog in the last 6 months is well aware of the fact that I have been supporting President-Elect Obama.  I keep reading things and seeing things about his upcoming term as President and they say lots of things about him being a “centrist Democrat” and talk about his governance in sort of traditional political terms, saying that his Presidency isn’t likely to be the sea change that people seem to be looking for.  They point to his appointments of Clinton people to various positions within his transition team as evidence that he’s not really bringing change.

I think they are missing two points, one minor, one major.  First the minor point.  If Obama brings back some Clinton style leadership that WOULD be change from the previous eight years of Neo-Con leadership.  I don’t think that’s what he’s doing though.  He is ultimately The Man but he’s making sure to install people with some experience to work for him because that will help him be more effective.  I think it’s smart.  I also think it doesn’t say a whole helluva a lot about the policy decisions he will make, just that he’ll have experienced people to help carry out his agenda.  The major point, however, the big difference that we’re already starting to see and that we saw in his campaign is what is starting over at Change.gov.

Obama intends to give weekly radio addresses, something that goes all the way back to FDR, but he’s going to put them on YouTube.  Think about that for a second.  The f-ing POTUS is going to be be on YouTube.  By his own choice.  Not in parody videos made by Jib Jab.  He has a blog over at Change.gov.  Hell, he has a website and a Twitter account.  What difference does all that make?  This is Presidency 2.0, a Presidency that will be transparent and intimate and give everybody a sense that they are involved in the process of running the government.  This is the major difference between Obama and all the other candidates that have come before him.  The fact that he’s black is a big deal for a number of reasons, but the fact that he’s communicative, that he’s listening, that he’s out there on the Web like a real person, is the big difference.  Obama will make decisions that I disagree with, I know it.  He already has.  But the way he’s using the best communications tool our species has yet devised, the Internet, as a tool not just to get elected but as a tool to govern is truly revolutionary.  The Internet really burst on the public scene in 1994 and it has altered our world in innumerable ways.  In the 14 years that the Internet has shaped our country, we’ve been under leadership that has not capitalized on it as a communications tool.  In a world of social networks which allow us to connect to all the people in our lives, we have still been unable to connect to the people who take the highest levels of leadership within our culture.  That is changing, that has now changed.  Obama is the first networked President, the first person who has leveraged the most powerful communications force we have, and that is the true revolution.

I expect Obama to make some mistakes and make some good decisions, but one thing he will have if he continues to engage in this connected style of interaction is a true mandate, a two way street with the American people, and a real chance to leverage the wisdom of crowds to get things done.  I don’t know that I am explicating my point well, but I do know that there is something going on here that has never happened before.  A President on YouTube every week, who publishes a blog, who tells us all what’s going on, treats us like adults and tries to weigh our concerns in his decision making processes is massive change compared to the closed, insular, paranoid, opaque leadership we have suffered under for the better part of the last decade (and maybe more, maybe several decades, maybe as long as this country has existed).  Obama is already conducting a bold experiment and it’s been predicated on the idea of trusting the American people to be mature, intelligent, and civic minded.  That approach got him elected.  A continuation of that approach could truly revolutionize politics in this country.  I can’t wait to see how this plays out.

• I poured kettle cooked chili lime peanuts on a tuna salad sandwich for lunch… strange, but surprisingly tasty #

No, the subject line is not a joke.  (Potentially NSFW)

“It is proper to doubt.  Do not be led by holy scriptures, or by mere logic or inference, or by appearances, or by the authority of religious leaders.  But when you realize that something is unwholesome and bad for you, give it up.  And when you realize that something is wholesome and good for you, do it.” - Buddha

• @kidelle You can always call it The Hoov… #
• Best Swedish language pop record in my collection: “Plan 714 Till/Pop Pa Svenska” by Komeda… #

Where did my comments go?!?!??!?  You’re no doubt asking yourself.  Fret not, dear reader, I have decided to integrate the Disqus comment service and at the moment I haven’t transferred existing comments over to the service.  I will be doing so, however.  In the meantime, comment away with Disqus!