Saturday, January 24, 2004

Here's a social software smart mob concept. People should vote for Howard Dean because he made such a fool of himself on national television. Here's your chance to blow up the media monopoly. Think of all the brain cells that will burn in New York and Washington. Save the smart bits for the Web, when you're on radio or TV you must act like an idiot. It's a meme. Make it viral. We love you Howard. Let's do a logo. Pass it on!  

The Village Voice gets it. "Howard Dean's now-infamous concession speech after the Iowa caucuses might have gotten him dubbed as a loony in the mainstream press, but on the Internet it’s making him a rock star." 

So does the Democratic Underground. "It isn't Howard Dean who is acting strange - it's everyone else." 

Tracy Adams hiked a volcano in Guatemala! 

Chris Lydon is on Minnesota Public Radio tomorrow night with a show called The Blogging of the President 2004. Guests include Jerome Armstrong, Atrios, Ed Cone, Max Fose, Gary Hart, Jeff Jarvis, Josh Marhsall, Kevin Phillips, Richard Reeves, Frank Rich and Andrew Sullivan. 

I told Chris he should interview Patti Smith about weblogs. "Outside of society, that's where I want to be." Maybe Cyndi Lauper?  

Carol Moseley Braun at Dean HQ in Manchester. 

There's a germ of a great idea in Jim's post above. At every Dean rally he should recite the names of the states. Then roll up his sleeves. Then jump around. Then scream yeaaaggghhh!  

This article by Dick Morris really frosts my flakes. "The concerted efforts of the Clintons and the national media have consigned the Vermont governor to history." Hey isn't Clinton history? What about Dick Morris? What's so great about Dick Morris? 

Political Wire: New Hampshire Race May Be Tightening. 

God bless modern medicine. For the last two days I've had an ear ailment that left me virtually deaf in one ear and partially deaf in the other. Nothing permanent or life-threatening, but it's hard to feel normal without hearing, and with the disorientation that comes from that. So today I dragged my ass down to the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, run by Harvard, part of Mass General, and got the treatment. First they irrigated my ears. Then vaccuumed them. It worked. My ears are sore, but the hearing is back, along with a very nice optimistic feeling. Moral of the story -- don't use Q-Tips in your ears.  

AP: "Best Western will offer free high-speed Internet in all 2300 of its hotels in the United States, Canada and the Caribbean." 

Everyone's talking about how poorly Wesley Clark handled the question about Michael Moore's assertion that President Bush was a deserter, but, mes amis, how about the bigger question. Was he? 

AP: "A spam-free world by 2006?" 

Philadelphia Inquirer: "Republican researchers have a raft of information to use against Kerry." 

Not that this is going to make any difference to anyone, but if I were a New Hampshire voter I'd vote for Dean to send a message to the television networks that they can't control my vote. What did Dean do? And what are we putting up with in our President? You think the Dean whoop sounds awkward? Listen to any speech by the President. You think he gets angry? And you think Bush doesn't? I'm sorry but I don't like being lied to, and the WOMD thing was a lie, right? Does anyone say it wasn't? (Except the Bush people, of course.) Now I'm just one voter, who unfortunately lives in Massachusetts, not New Hampshire, but if I can figure this out, why can't Wolf, Jeff, Judy, Aaron or Ted? It's time to start voting against the media tail wagging the electoral dog. I don't think it matters if you're liberal or conservative. You have a vested interest in making up your own mind, and not being programmed by the networks. 

Howard Beale: "All human beings are becoming humanoids. All over the world, not just in America. We're just getting there faster since we're the most advanced country."