Wed - December 10, 2003

Letter to the Editor


I know some of you blog readers are wondering when I'm going to go back to talking about life, computer, acting, etc. Well, when I'm a roll I've got a single track mind.

I found it interesting contrasting actual events (I watched a lot of speeches and the debate on C-SPAN yesterday.) and the way they are reported by the media. I'm embarrassed to admit I've been mostly unaware of this discrepancy. I was inspired to write a Letter to the Editor of the Coloradoan (the local Ft. Collins paper) in response to the AP article they posted about the debate. Here's the text of the letter:

I'm becoming painfully aware of how much a poorly worded story can distort the news. Too often I read "the news" and accept it as truth without consideration.

Last night I watched the Democratic debate on TV. Normally I just read recaps of these events in the newspaper, but this time I actually took the time to hear what was being said. Then I saw what showed up on the front page of the morning newspaper.

The front-page article stated that eight candidates ganged up against Dean and Gore because of the surprise endorsement. This description invokes images of Democratic candidates fighting each other, and leads the casual reader to conclude that all Democrats are savage and chaotic.

In contrast I observed Ted Koppel, co-host of the debate, asking the candidates really pointed--almost nasty--questions about when the obvious losers were going to drop out of the race. These candidates were forced to defend their own campaigns' relevance, and their responses were as tactful and diplomatic as possible. This was reported as "ganging up" on the front-runner, and it just isn't true! They even showed a remarkable level of dignity and unity when telling Koppel to stick with the important campaign issues.

I urge all news "consumers" to periodically spend time following actual events and educate themselves on the difference between truth and media interpretation.

Posted at 12:56 PM     Read More  


Tue - December 9, 2003

Democratic Debate: a Reaction


Okay, I know there's little likelihood that people are going to swarm to my site to read MY reaction to tonight's Democratic debate, but I'll write it anyway.

In all I was impressed by the Democratic Candidates. I was afraid that there would be a great amount of in-fighting and bickering, and I was glad to see that it was (mostly) not the case. I was surprised and impressed by some, disappointed and annoyed with others. The Candidates did a nice job of working together to point out when they felt Ted Koppel's questions were getting off-topic, like reactions to endorsements, polls, etc. It was hard to address 9 voices in 90 minutes and still try to get into any detail. But I think the debate served its purpose in illuminating what the candidates were like and what they were about.

Because of this last point, I would say that nobody "won or lost" the debate. Some could have done better, but all achieved their goals of getting their message across, and I think that's the most important thing.

Let me give a brief of what I thought of all the candidates:

John Edwards: Man is this guy a doofus! He has only one simple platform, and I think he stole it from Arnold Schwarzenegger: "Special Interests run this country. I'm an outsider so you can trust me. I'm the only man who will say 'no' to special interests." Dude! Do you have a position on anything or do you want me to vote for you just because you're a nice guy? And if you're a Senator, how does that make you qualify as an outsider?

Joe Lieberman: While I'm pissed off at people, let me rail against this guy. What a jerk! He is so obsessed about Howard Dean! Maybe one can excuse him due to the fact that Gore just shafted him. (Since he was Gore's running mate in the last election.) The more annoying thing is that he will say downright false things about other candidates' platforms and put words in their mouths. I've read analysts say this of him before, and I got to see it first-hand tonight. Personally I don't agree with his stance that the Iraq War is right, as is our occupation, and I think his tax cut ideas are moronic, but at least they set him apart. If you totally agree with his platform and you're not bothered with his apparent character, go ahead and vote for him.

Richard Gephardt: He will say these things that sound so good and so right, and you'll catch yourself nodding and going "hmmmm!" but afterwards you can't figure out if he said anything at all. He says broad generalizations and platitudes, but he gives no specifics. I think he's hoping that a "really nice, trustworthy, glowing demeanor" are enough to get his votes. He keeps saying "I'm the only one who can fix these problems" but never gives any details. This is the style that got George W (and Ronald) into office. The strange thing is that reading Hillary's autobiography, it sounds like he's actually pretty savvy to the workings of congress. Maybe that's what a "career politician" is.

John Kerry: Okay, time for a compliment. Kerry presented himself well, acted respectfully, didn't show neurotic tendencies, made good points and showed himself to be an all around good guy. His points were right on. I'm still a Dean supporter, but I could see myself rallying around this guy if he became the candidate.

Wesley Clark: Time for another compliment. I was seriously impressed with Clark. I believe that his insight and understanding of the Middle East dwarfs every other candidate. And as much as he is superior on foreign policy, he shows almost zilch in terms of domestic policy. A few interesting things to note: he's a Rhode's Scholar which at least places him in the "not a dumb 'good old boy'" category. He used to be a Republican until he fell at odds with his political party. I think he could capture the most Republican swing votes, but I don't think he knows how to work with congress and he doesn't have a good enough grasp on domestic issues.

Dennis Kucinich: Kucinich is articulate and doesn't say empty, vacant things. However, I consider his answers to be a bit silly and unrealistic. His only platform I came away with was "Give Iraq to the UN and pull all our troops out immediately." I'm sorry but that's just unrealistic and everybody knows that. Such a position would codify the Republican vote (and much of the Democrats) against us. He seems idealistic and unrealistic, and although I haven't read his website yet, I didn't come away with a belief that he really knows what he's talking about.

Carol Moseley Braun: I love this woman! There's no way that she's going to win, but she seems determined to make sure that her voice is heard. (And I think her voice represents some that aren't represented by the others.) I think since she doesn't have any illusions of becoming President, and that allowed her to stop worrying about making her statements into mini-commercials. She mentioned (along with Kerry) the importance of making sure the Democrats aren't divided. She sounds like a real healer. (No wonder she's an ambassador.) She was simply delightful to listen to, and I'm really happy to know she's in politics.

Al Sharpton: Now I understand what the analysts say: he's simply fun to have in a debate because he knows how to make colorful points. As much as I like his oratory skills (Reverend, go figure) and as much as--like Braun--he represents voices that deserve to be heard, I don't think he demonstrates much policy understanding, either foreign or domestic. Sorry Al!

Howard Dean: Since I'm a Dean supporter, I figured it would be fairest to put him last. I'm afraid I was a little disappointed with Dean, but only on a technical point: too often (like many others) he did not answer the questions directed at him and instead turned his time into Dean-commercials. He said some specific things about Iraq that I assume make sense (I don't know enough to evaluate his specifics.) but I'm a little worried that he's going to come across as incapable in foreign policy. This is why I think a Dean/Clark ticket would be unbeatable. Still, I'm annoyed that Dean didn't answer the questions.

Ted Koppel: Okay, he wasn't a contender, but he took part in shaping the debates. I agree with the candidates that he tried to go into "media interest" issues about campaign speculation. I salute the candidates for keeping Ted on track. Isn't it supposed to be the other way around?

C-SPAN callers after the debate: Another collection of idiots. Can anyone call in with a salient point to be made about the topic in hand? (In this case, the debate.) Sadly, hearing their thoughts stole my hope in a reasonable American Public, and I wonder if we're doomed!

Well, that's about it. I generally think Dean, Clark or Kerry could lead a decent race against George W. I think a Dean/Clark ticket (or Dean/Gore) would be optimal. Howard needs to brush up his foreign affairs debating skills and make sure he doesn't appear to dodge issues. And in general, I think we all need to pull together once this is over, put aside hard feelings and work together to win in 2004.

Posted at 07:50 PM     Read More  

Go Team Dean, Huah!


It felt so good to wake up this morning and hear that Howard Dean got the Gore endorsement. I believe that our biggest enemy is not George W (he comes in second) but apathy. People tend not to rally behind a lost cause, even when they tend to empathize with the underdog. The best thing is to show the country that there is a strong, unified front behind a single Democratic Candidate.

I'm also annoyed that every other candidate seems preoccupied with "Dean Bashing" rather than focusing on their own agendas. I really haven't heard any other candidates' platforms--just their whining about Dean, and their attempt to pick up support in specific demographics. There are two things I really like about the Dean Campaign:

1. Although there's the constant appeal for financial donations, the Dean campaign doesn't give me impression they only want my money. They let me know what I can do for the campaign (other than opening my checkbook). In the letters I'm writing to Iowa democrats where I ask for their support and involvement in the upcoming Jan 19 Iowa caucus, there's not a single point in which I ask for their money. I'm willing to bet some of them are reading my letters today, puzzled because I'm not telling them where to mail their checks.

2. Dean talks about the issues and his goals. Yes he does criticize George W's actions quite a bit, but he doesn't bicker like the other Democratic Candidates.

The more I read Hillary's autobiography (and I'm trying to read it with a critical eye so I can judge what is factual and what is a biased spin on events) the more I realize Dean is going to have a damned hard time once he gets elected President. I really think this country is in the midst of a Civil Cold War where a Republican congress with sabotage decent legislation, not because they disagree with the legislation, but because they can't allow a Democrat to look good. I really think there's a war going on, and it's going to be a long and bloody one on our own soil.

May we live in interesting times.

I'll end with something cute I just found. Someone made a bunch of little commercials that are blatant knockoffs of the "Apple Switch" campaign. I think they would be great commercials to actually air, but I suspect Apple wouldn't let them get away with it.

Posted at 10:27 AM     Read More  


Mon - December 8, 2003

Brainstorm


I've got an idea, and it may not work, but there's the most remote possibility that it might actually be a really great idea that could make a significant political impact. I'm writing it here really as a way to get it out of my head so I can examine it further. First, some background.

I. I've been reading Hillary Rodham Clinton's autobiography Living History. I'm struck by the parallels between 1992 and today, especially with the economy and with Health Care. My conclusion so far is this: no matter how well-meaning a President is, congress has the power to neuter him. Thus, although Howard Dean has done wonderful things in Vermont, the simple fact is that state legislatures are not nearly as polarized as the federal government. Conclusion: It's not enough to change the Presidency, we (meaning Democrats) must retake Congress.

II. The Republican Party has one thing going for them: they are organized. The article I mentioned a few days ago on the redistricting shows that they have the meticulous organizational power to obtain a stranglehold on Congress. They work as an entire unified body while Democrats seem to have a much harder job organizing. Conclusion: The Democratic Party must find a way to organize and achieve the larger goal of systematically winning local congressional races.

III. The paradigm-breaking phenomenon that typifies the Dean Campaign is the use of the Internet as a tool to bring together and organize vast numbers of smaller organizations. Our successes suggest this is a valid model, and I suspect that we are about to demonstrate even bigger successes once the primaries start happening. Conclusion: This technology paradigm might be what we need to achieve the takeover of Congress.

IV. The "Dean Phenomenon" (in this I mean the people) have already shown the ability to rally behind a smaller campaign. In the last meetup I attended there was mention of a "really cool guy" named Mike Miles who was considering (or maybe he already declared) running for an opening senatorial seat here in Colorado. There were many people (myself included) who showed instant interest in seeing what could be done to help his campaign as well. There was also an article I read today about how the Dean campaign put up a link to support some other congressional candidate and the Dean supporters wired up $50,000 over the weekend toward his campaign. Conclusion 1: If we can avoid (historical) infighting between factions of the Democratic Party once Dean is declared the front-runner and the Dean Team folds in with the rest of the Democrats, maybe we can use Dean Team Style Approaches to run and win a lot of congressional battles. Conclusion 2: We need a global Internet tool that can help us organize.

Why do we need such a tool? I'm glad you asked!

My biggest managerial success was against a project so huge and with so many targets and interdependencies that it just seemed too daunting. We had a very small team, and we had to do the impossible. I got to work every day before 6am and focused my first two hours to refreshing our "Project at a Glance". I used a combination of a hand-built groupware (Exchange) application for my remote teams and an enormous wall-sized white board to show a color-coded view of what we had accomplished and what we had yet to do. Every day I refilled the wall with a perspective of our target, and I swear we pulled off the impossible over the span of a year.

This tool served two purposes. First, it allowed us to always keep our eye on the goal so there was never a moment where we didn't know what needed to be done next. Second, it allowed us to keep our focus over an extended period of time. (Third, I didn't have to micro-manage. It was pretty obvious what each person needed to do next.)

So what groupware tool would help achieve this goal? What information do we have to see?

At a glance, we would need:
1a. The ability to keep a running tally of The Big Picture. How many contested seats are available? How do we stand (in the polls) on each seat?
1b. The ability to see this over the next 2, 4, 6... years. We must get as many victories in November 2004 as we can, but then we must somehow preserve our intention and energy to refocus on 2006 and 20008. We need to see seats that will become available (or vulnerable) throughout the next several years.
2. To track all the potential candidates out there that we might be able to support.
3a. A database of both our people (Democrats) and their people (Republicans), both incumbents and new challengers. For each person we should have easy access to...
3b. their political platform, with cross-referenced information on
3c. their voting record or past accomplishments, and finally
3d. Links to every article written about them.

That tool would allow every local Democratic group to organize and, when necessary, pull resources from the larger body to win local elections.

What's in the way? Well, such a database would have to be HUGE and the human resources necessary would require an army of dedicated to complete. But guess what? We (Dean people, Internet people, Open Source people) are legendary for our ability to mobilize unfathomably large armies of people.

What's the tool? Wiki.

For those of you who are not in the know, wiki is part technological marvel and part social phenomenon. It is this giant hyperlinked document system that has decentralized means for armies of people to contribute, edit, correct and refine a large document. The best example (in my mind) is the Wikipedia which is one large multi-language encyclopedia that has been fashioned entirely from decentralized volunteer efforts. The thing is amazing. Just go take a look at it and look up any topic. This is no screwy little kid's game. This is professional quality encyclopedia with over 180,000 different topics.

With a nominal amount of time, effort and equipment, we could create a wiki-research tool that would give a strategic assault, complete with research materials to the grassroots level, and with it we could level the political playing field.

Okay, I sound like a silly dreamer. But you can't deny that both the wikipedia and the Dean campaign are spectacular social phenomena that you wouldn't believe it if you didn't see it.

So that's my idea. I wonder if it's worth pursuing.

Posted at 04:23 PM     Read More  

Hypothetical Phone Call


I just submitted a "soapbox" article to my local Fort Collins newspaper, the Coloradoan . I thought it was cute so I'm posting it up here.

Aggressive Economics or Identity Theft?
by Murray Todd Williams

I'm amused to hear the political ads that are already targeting the Democratic candidates, especially Howard Dean. The biggest message I hear is "The Democrats will raise your taxes!" Sadly, I suspect this simple message may be enough to scare people into voting for the incumbent. I don't see "the people" paying any notice to the deficit spending that has gone on. It's like this nebulous concept that belongs in some obscure footnote.

In my view, the consequences of this runaway spending is more terrifying than Saddam Hussein. I've some up with a hypothetical scenario to illustrate my concern. This is a telephone conversation between me and a customer service rep from the Bank of the People:

BOP: Bank of the People, how may I help you?

ME: I'm calling because I just got this strange credit card statement in the mail.

BOP: Let me just look you up on my computer... okay, there you are. Now, what's your question?

ME: Well, it says here I owe $26,000.

BOP: Wow. (pause) Yep, that's what we're showing, too.

ME: I didn't spend $26,000.

BOP: I'm sorry, but my records show you have.

ME: On what? I've slashed my spending on education, on all my home maintenance projects; I stopped giving to that volunteer clinic down the street. If I spend $26,000, why don't I have anything to show for it?

BOP: You've been fighting terror. You should feel good about that. But that's okay, much of the money has gone to provide U.S. jobs that are rebuilding Iraq.

ME: What jobs? I'm out of work. My brother is out of work. Most of my friends are out of work.

BOP: Do any of your friends work in defense?

ME: No.

BOP: Oh... Well, hey! I've got some good news.

ME: What's that?

BOP: You don't have to pay all at once. In fact, we've sent you a check for $300 to make the first few payments. They're rather small payments. Just a couple hundred a month.

ME: I don't care how small the payments are. I didn't spend that money. Listen, someone else took out this card in my name! This is identity theft!

BOP: I'm afraid my records show the card was properly authorized.

ME: By whom?

BOP: The Congress of the People.

ME: This is crazy!

BOP: Sir, your payments are going to be rather small. I don't see why you're so upset. You'll hardly notice them.

ME: How much is this going to cost me altogether, with interest?

BOP: It depends on the interest rate and the length of the loan. We haven't locked those in yet.

ME: Why not?

BOP: We're showing new charges still appearing up on your card.

ME: Okay, let's say I paid this over the next 30 years at 5% interest. How much would that cost me?

BOP: Let's see... I'm coming up with just over $50,000. That's assuming a 5% rate.

ME: Where am I supposed to come up with that kind of money?

BOP: Sir, your monthly payments are quite low. I understand your budget is tight. Why don't I just increase your credit limit?

Fiscal responsibility and reduced spending used to be the platform of the Republican party. Now somehow it has been coopted by the Democrats. If you think you can't afford to have your taxes raised, what makes you think you can better afford this new runaway debt?

Posted at 10:39 AM     Read More  

Weekend in the Mountains


I know everyone in the world thinks I'm insane for this, but I rather like being a morning person. My alarm went off at 5:30am this morning. I got up, went upstairs, set Mom's thermostat to raise the house temperature up to 70 degrees (The thing isn't working right on its own.) and then crawled into bed. Got up again at 6, went into the kitchen and got the coffee brewing, and sat down to check what was new on the net.

I know Mom loves to wake up to the smell of fresh brewed coffee; you'd think she'd get a coffee maker with a timer. Anyway, just knowing that by getting up 30 minutes before her and having things brewed I can do a small nice thing for her—it makes the effort worthwhile.

On Saturday I attended the memorial service for my committee member's son who died in that hiking accident. I never met the boy, but his accomplishments were amazing. I think about 200 people showed up to the event—it was standing room only—and I'm glad his family was able to see such support.

Afterwards, Mom and I went up to the cabin for a short little retreat and to select a Christmas tree. Now that there's a cabin on the property we have to be much more diligent about making sure the undergrowth is thinned out so we can defend against a forest fire. That makes it a lot easier to justify killing a tree for the Christmas holiday because we try to pick a candidate that should be taken down anyway. We got a "little" 7 foot tree that didn't have much of a future because a couple larger trees had grown around it and were stealing its light. It's strange because I would swear that tree couldn't have been more than ten years old, but after cutting it down and counting the rings it appears to have been about 40! Yes, I'm feeling guilty.

Saturday evening we stopped near Red Feather Lakes to attend an informal dinner of some of Mom's UU (Unitarian Universalist) friends. I wore a "Howard Dean for America" pin, and it didn't take long for people to ask a few questions and direct the conversation to the 2004 election. It was no effort for me to assume the role of "Howard Dean Campaign Public Speaker" and address the issues.

In this case it was really preaching to the choir, at least with respect to convincing the people that our current administration was a nightmare. The bigger challenge by far was convincing them that there was a candidate (Dean) who could make a difference. MY GOD I had no idea how crippling Apathy could be. There was an old guy there who thought he was so damned cute by constantly pooh poohing everything I tried to say, stating that all politicians were the same (self-serving and corrupt) and that all Americans were too stupid to listen to reason, etc. etc. I got a little miffed and told him to go find a spade and start digging his own grave, and that I was thankful that young people didn't share his sentiment.

Mom's talking about going with a group of Dean supporters to Iowa in early January to go door-to-door and convince people to support Dean in the caucus. I'm pretty damned proud of her for getting involved like this. In April I might try to take the time to do the same thing in Arizona or New Mexico. Meanwhile, I'm hand-writing letters to Iowans. The Iowa group is saying that the handwritten letters are making the single largest difference, so I'll keep it up.

Go Team Dean! Huah!

Posted at 07:30 AM     Read More  


Sat - December 6, 2003

More Political Rants


Okay, yes I've got a burr up my ass. First of all, I encourage everyone to read this article about gerrymandering which is a fancy term for congressional redistricting in order to favor one political party. It has turned into an art (and science) and the Republicans have obviously been much better at it. In a way maybe I can't blame them. After all, wouldn't I do the same thing if I could secure Democratic Dominance. I'd like to think I can recognize when a system is out of control. Anyway, everyone should read it.

Another interesting item: a pro-Bush political organization has just launched a really nasty anti-Dean commercial playing in Iowa. For those of you snoozing, Iowa is considered one of the critical states in the primaries. If Dean wins Iowa then it significantly helps him win overall.

Here's a link to the commercial in Windows Media or RealOne format . And here's an article that discusses the background of the commercial.

Now here's where it doesn't add up: the Bush team has always claimed that Dean would be easy to beat, and that in fact they hoped he would win because he wouldn't stand a chance. But it the Bush team wants Dean to win, why spend money on an anti-Dean commercial in Iowa? Either the Bush supporters "forgot to carry the 2" or they were lying and they perceive Dean to be the biggest threat! Aha!

Go Team Dean! Huah!

Posted at 07:54 AM     Read More  


Thu - December 4, 2003

Attending a Howard Dean Meetup


I went to a "Howard Dean Meetup " last night. I'm one of those people who has lots of opinions and always intends on becoming politically active one of these days, meaning tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow.

Actually, I'm being a little hard on myself. This year I've slammed my congressional reps with letters regarding the Iraq War, the human rights assault by the Patriot Act and similar efforts by the Justice Department, and I was instrumental in bringing the local Colorado legislature to the attention of some serious concerns regarding a bill whose wording could have been abused by ISPs to control how people use the Internet. (The bill was pulled at the eleventh hour, reworded and passed in an acceptable form.)

But for months I've been procrastinating about getting involved in the campaign to elect Howard Dean in 2004 . Back in July I had visited all the websites of the major Democratic contenders to see what their positions were and whether any of them could be a serious contender against our currently appointed President. I was seriously impressed with what I saw in Howard Dean. His website was organized, breaking all the important issues down and responding to each one with concrete plans backed by empirical evidence supporting the ideas, and many references to success stories from his tenure as Governor of Vermont. Every other candidate had vague slogans, little concrete intelligent discussion of the issues, and in many cases I completely disagreed with their (vague) positions.

I became part of the movement that really believed in a presidential candidate. For a while I thought he was too good to be true and wouldn't be electable, but I've turned around over the past month.

Well, back in July I mentioned to my mom how impressed I was with this guy, and after I returned to Los Angeles, Mom kept listening to what he said in interviews and during the debates. When I returned to the homestead this week I discovered that she was volunteering on the local campaign, making donations, and attending fundraisers. (She got to shake his hand during a breakfast in Boulder.) She was going to the monthly "meetup " last night so I figured I would attend.

It was an interesting experience. As I said, I've never been politically active before so this was new to me. The people seemed very organized and motivated. We watched a videotaped speech from Iowa, saw a presentation about the concern of recent electronic voting devices (namely the Diebold system that I keep hearing about on Slashdot ) and then we did some letter writing.

For those of you who aren't aware, "we" are focusing on winning the important New Hampshire primary and Iowa caucus. The most effective tactic has been having Dean supporters hand-write letters to all the registered Democratic voters in the two states. Apparently people really respond to getting a hand-written, personalized letter in the mail. Well, I'm much happier to write letters than to knock on doors so I slammed out two letters last night and took another twelve addresses home. I figured I can write two letters per day for the next week.

This experience has motivated me to go to the next "meetup" in Los Angeles when I return. As I get older, I find it increasingly important to become involved in the world around me. It also fills me with a surprising amount of hope and motivation.

As an unrelated side-note, I believe my masters defense is finally locked down for next Friday, December 12th at 10am. Ironically this is the absolute last day I could have defended the thing, but I swear that wasn't my doing. Regardless, I feel confident now that all will go well, and I will finally get to put all this nonsense behind me.

Posted at 10:18 AM     Read More  

©