FiveThirtyEight on the Internets

From the talented Nate Silver:

Let me advance a proposition for you. It's going to be a controversial one. Ready?

The proposition is this: the Internet is really important!

OK, so I'm joking -- sort of. That tagline sounds so ... 2006. But I think people may nevertheless be overlooking the importance of the Internet in shaping the political landscape that we have today. In other words, a lot of the things that feel "new" about politics circa 2009 are in fact new, but have a lot more to do with information technology than is generally acknowledged.

Rest the rest. I think Silver's right, but I take issue with his conclusion that politics isn't changed in anything but appearance. I think the media has changed politics and polarization - the past partnership won't work now that media is so changed, and that it's time to update the politics to take advantage of new media.

Free Speech, Jack Bauer style

This makes me proud of my country:

The genre of the right-wing pro-torture thriller is on a roll, propelled by Beck and Limbaugh. Jason Zengerle has a terrific piece in the new TNR on the phenomenon:


With Chapter 50 of Pursuit of Honor, Flynn appears to be angling for a new level of conservative street cred. The chapter finds Rapp sitting in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee, which has asked him to explain his torture of a Saudi terrorism suspect. After being scolded for his “immoral techniques” by Carol Ogden--a California Democrat (and thinly veiled send-up of Barbara Boxer) who “moved in the elite circles of her party, listening to the trial lawyers, academics, and the nuttiest of the crazy special-interest groups”--it’s Rapp’s turn to address the committee. “[W]hat do you think is more morally reprehensible,” he asks, “dislocating the arm of a terrorist … or sticking a steel spike into the brain of an eight-and-a-half-month-old fetus and then sucking his brains out[?]”

As much as I don't care for the polarizing, ridiculous commentary, I'm glad to live in a country that tolerates its own citizens calling each other evil. I will continue to work against such calls and feelings, but it will be with a smile on my face, and thankfulness that even the most crazy must be convinced (or ignored) and not arrested.

Thompson House

Settlers in Israel

Something to remember, in reference to this:

There are a LOT of Israelis and Palestinians living in the Middle East, and despite the high number of publicized attacks, life is still possible and regular for many of them. That's not to say that there aren't constant injustices, like rocket attacks or discrimination at checkpoints (which aren't equivalent), but for the most part, the people are normal. They aren't all bombing or displacing or war-making; that's just all we hear about.

New Posts Below!

I screwed up, and published some posts for tomorrow under today's date. Therefore, look below to see them.

WWNPR - The TSA

Why we need process reform:

The TSA's screening system is not and, under current conditions, cannot be completely effective. The "bomber" who got some explosives aboard was blocked by one of two factors that have made us safer in the air (not my list:

1. Reinforced cockpit doors and pilots who won't open them.
2. Aware and vigilant passengers.

Granted, some level of screening makes sense, if only to keep idiots from bringing a gun aboard, and in that sense, I think our screenings are appropriate. The idea, though, that we should put laptops away in the last hour of flight, and whatever else, is absurd, as if the idea that the TSA should prevent anyone from secreting explosive in their rectum, or in our shoes.

See Brian Williams:

On other flights, no luggage is allowed beneath the seat in front of you.  On still others, no one is allowed to have any reading material for the last hour of the flight.  Blankets and pillows?  If you can find one, just don't keep it in your lap.  All of this is in response to an incompetent would-be terrorist who lit portions of his private parts on fire while on final approach to Detroit on Christmas day.

That these ridiculous rules could attain power is my first presentation of why we need process reform.

Stetson

Rove's Divorce

This is needless and foolish.

Yet, like so many of his like-minded pious comrades, Rove seems far better at preaching the virtues of "traditional marriage" to others and exploiting them for political gain than he does adhering to those principles in his own life:

The logical outcome of such articles is going to be forcing prominent social conservatives to stay in unhappy marriages, and that's just dumb. If someone feels that they should limit someone else's civil rights, then you push that argument back in the civil arena. If they believe something as a part of their religion, it should, generally, stay out of the public sphere. There's no need for such personal attacks - they may feel good, but they accomplish nothing.

Furthermore, its just mean. Does anyone think Rove would prefer to divorce? Goodness, indeed.

The Media and Palin

Ezra Klein:

One of the jobs the media does is deciding what true things count as news and what true things do not count as news. That should be easy, but since newspapers need to sell copies and cable programs need to secure viewers, there's a tension with the fact that some news is boring, while some not-news is really interesting. Palin sneaks onto the front page because she seems to square that circle: Her utterances seem like news (former vice presidential candidate and 2012 hopeful Sarah Palin says ...) but actually aren't. The continuing irony of all this is that for all the enmity between Palin and the press, no one has a closer and more mutually beneficial relationship than Palin has with the media, and no equivalently powerless political figure receives anything near the free coverage that the media lavishes on her.

Spencer

No Internet!

Christmas Day brought a different sort of gift: a tree fell down the block, pulling over a few utility poles and some cables out of homes, along with parts of the walls. Whoops. No one was hurt, but AT&T is taking is sweet time getting everything restored, so I sit at the Coffeeshop, catching up with Facebook messages, notifications, wall posts, and Twitter feeds, as well as 109 blog posts on Google Reader.

I'll be drafting more in the future, but these three days have been a reminder: as much as I value my online activities, life can go one without them, and is often simpler for it.

Southworth