Month: March 2003

In January 2001, as the President-elect prepared to assume office, The Onion perfectly captured the future of America under the leadership of George W. Bush:
Bush: ‘Our Long National Nightmare Of Peace And Prosperity Is Finally Over’
The Onion

Bush also promised to bring an end to the severe war drought that plagued the nation under Clinton, assuring citizens that the U.S. will engage in at least one Gulf War-level armed conflict in the next four years.
“You better believe we’re going to mix it up with somebody at some point during my administration,” said Bush, who plans a 250 percent boost in military spending. “Unlike my predecessor, I am fully committed to putting soldiers in battle situations. Otherwise, what is the point of even having a military?”
On the economic side, Bush vowed to bring back economic stagnation by implementing substantial tax cuts, which would lead to a recession, which would necessitate a tax hike, which would lead to a drop in consumer spending, which would lead to layoffs, which would deepen the recession even further.

(Thanks for the link, Summer!)

Joi Ito talks about deliberative polling, which tries to overcome the drawbacks of the type of polling currently practiced (whereby uninformed citizens are asked to give “shoot-from-the-hip” opinions, upon which government policy is then often based).

Larry [Lessig] pointed out some interesting work called deliberative polling being done by Professor James S. Fishkin. Since polling forces people to vote on something they don’t really know too much [about], the data may be statistically accurate, but is not necessarily the best way to promote a democratic system. Deliberative polling takes a diverse group of people, forces them to discuss the issues in small group, in large groups, small groups, over and over again for a fairly lengthy process until everyone has a pretty good idea of the issues and a balanced and educated position. Polls are conducted through the process to track how people’s opinions change. Afterwards, many of the people who have participated become much more active citizens.

This brings up interesting questions, among them whether democracy includes a citizen’s option to be lazy and uninformed. In America (and many other countries), it certainly does. But is this the best form of democracy? A strong and healthy democracy should at least provide options and structures that encourage a more active and involved population.
I’m reminded of an old Bloom County cartoon about polling that, if I had my collection here in Japan, I’d track down, scan and post along with these comments.
More on deliberative polling.

Have you heard about the latest effort by the U.S. government to use reason and logic to convince the world that a war against Iraq is just and necessary?
Reason and logic? That’s for wimps! President Bush and his team of stellar diplomats have more effective means of convincing others to follow America’s lead.
Bribery and threats have been favorite tactics so far. Now, an intensive campaign to spy on diplomats from countries who are either opposed to or undecided about supporting war against Iraq is the latest example of the Bush administration’s clumsy and arrogant foreign policy. It’s astonishing how quickly Bush is squandering any remaining goodwill towards America.
US dirty tricks to win vote on Iraq war
The Observer

The United States is conducting a secret ‘dirty tricks’ campaign against UN Security Council delegations in New York as part of its battle to win votes in favour of war against Iraq.
Details of the aggressive surveillance operation, which involves interception of the home and office telephones and the emails of UN delegates in New York, are revealed in a document leaked to The Observer.
The disclosures were made in a memorandum written by a top official at the National Security Agency — the US body which intercepts communications around the world — and circulated to both senior agents in his organisation and to a friendly foreign intelligence agency asking for its input.

No Comment From U.S. on ‘Dirty Tricks’ Report
Newsday
Uncle Sam’s dirty tricks?
Salon.com
Countries, even allies, routinely spy on each other — nothing new there. But when you add something like this to a long list of recent American actions that show a rough disdain for the opinions and policies of other nations, it just ends up feeding the perception of a new, arrogant, bullying America.
After September 11, 2001, Bush told the world that “you’re either with us, or against us.” He’s certainly working hard to provide plenty of reasons to be against us.
This is big news around the world — everywhere but in America, apparently. It doesn’t seem to qualify as important news at major media organizations in the U.S.