Politics: NetCenter08 - GOP YouTube Debate

I have been very caught up in things lately so I apologize for the lapse in posting.

I think this video is an excellent representation of the possible future of media. Dubbed "NetCenter08," It is 2 new media personalities: Dan Manatt from Politics TV.com, and David All from TechRepublican.com to discuss the latest CNN Republican Presidential debate which used YouTube questions.

It looks to me like they are talking on webcams much like the old media talks through satellite links. These two webcam videos are then composited together with some graphics and footage from the debates. It is a really good use of widely available, relatively low cost, technology to create the look and feel of your typical news debate. Because it is coming from the netroots rather than TV producers, this conversation feels more authentic to me. I hope we see more of this format. Todays TV media feels more like a pro wrestling circus among elite media pundits and hosts. That is what the old media thinks is good television but it has been done to death. This new media technology can bring more diversity to the national conversation. That is what this site is created to celebrate.

As for this CNN YouTube Debate, I like the national town hall format that it represents. The problem for me is in the details, however. Stalin once said that it's not who votes, it's who counts the votes. In this case it's not who asks the questions, it's who chooses the questions that make it in. There were 5000 submissions for this debate. CNN chose somewhere around 34 questions without any input from anyone but CNN. Now, do you think if CNN had a list of questions they wanted to ask ahead of time that they couldn't find one of the 5000 that asked it for them? What's to stop them? In that sense this whole thing feels more like an exploitation of the new media as a pool for low cost content ideas and as a marketing gimmick rather than an authentic tool of democracy. In that measure, it troubles me.

I have the same issue with Current TV. They talk about democratizing the media by letting anyone submit things but that is useless if some group of staff TV producers then gets to choose from those submissions and sit down with editors and change the perspective, or cut stuff out and put on their own graphics to "punch it up". How is this any different from approaching any producer anywhere to pitch our work? The democracy is in letting the people decide what goes on the air and putting it on as chosen. It is not bestowing people with the privilege of pitching your video to a media person. In this area both CNN and Current TV are failing the democratic potential of the web media. When these old media and new media representatives decide they will have the guts to put real democracy into the process, then they can talk about how great and innovative their ideas are. Until then they are just selling used cars with a new paint job.

If you want to see real political democracy in action go to 10questions.com THAT is a YouTube town hall forum worth praising. Both PoliticsTV and TechRepublican and tons of other netroots organizations are sponsors. On that site you submit YouTube videos and then vote for the ones you want and the top 10 are presented to the candidates to make their own response videos. The submission and voting phase is over but the questions chosen are all good and it will be nice to hear some answers. You also get to vote on how well each candidate's answers to the questions are. So far Mike Huckabee, Rona Paul and John Edwards have agreed to participate. Barack Obama also answered 1 question by putting in a clip from one of his speeches as an answer. You can send a mass email to every candidate from their website. Please do so if you want to support real democracy in the new media.

News: Water As Fuel

Here is an interesting YouTube upload of a local news story about a man who has put together a hydrogen fuel cell that breaks down water. There is a bit of controversy in the YouTube comments, as to the authenticity of this technology but I think it is, at very least, worth seeing the kinds of concepts that are out there.

Hat Tip to Color Miracles for the video

Journalism: The Real News: - Iraqi parlement demands timetable for withdrawal

This is a pretty significant story. The Iraqi parliament has voted for a timetable for the US withdrawal but Maliki the prime minister of Iraq has ignored it and pretends that it is a non binding resolution. This effectively ignores the Iraqi constitution which says that the Parliament's resolution is law without a veto. Imagine that. . . what kind of country has a president that ignores the will of his congress. . . . oh wait. . . nevermind. . . moving on. .

Everybody is all excited now that Musharraf, Pakistan's dictator in chief, has suspended their constitution. Unfortunately, America has helped provide an excellent role model in Iraq. Bush stands at a podium and says if the government wants us out we will leave but all the while they have their inside man keeping that from happening. Isn't this whole spreading democracy to the middle east thing grand?

Politics: Davis Fleetwood - Las Vegas Democratic Debate - CNN Stacks The Cards

My thoughts exactly. This Nevada debate looked like a scripted sham to me. The audience was stacked. Dennis Kucinich got 5 minutes worth of time while others got three times that much. Who the hell boos when candidates try to point out the differences between them and others? Who the hell thinks that pointing out that a candidate is a corporate democrat with huge ties to insiders and lobbyists is "mud slinging?" That is a very important distinction to make about a candidate and any audience that boos and hisses when that is pointed out is a fake audience that is stacked with supporters. CNN also stacked the questions. They bullied a teenager into asking a stupid diamonds or pearls question when she wanted to ask a serious one.

Our elections have become a crock and I really hope we somehow manage to get it back from these entrenched insiders who are blatantly gaming the system.

Philosophy: Eight Year Old Cracks The Code To Happy Thought

Is it really this easy? Isn't the bowl still part of your thoughts? lol

Music: Tommy Emmanuel - Classical Gas

This is some mindblowingly good guitar playing.

Politics: The Real News Network - Impeaching Cheney

The Real News Network senior Editor sits down with David Swanson, the founder of www.impeachcheney.org

He is hitting all the nails perfectly in this issue. I am deeply ashamed and outraged at the Democrats in congress for sweeping Kucinich's impeachment resolution under the table in the cowardly manner that they did. I think they are some of Bush's biggest supporters these days, even when his own Republicans are abandoning him.

Pelosi and Hoyer should be removed from office as far as I am concerned for breach of their oath to protect the constitution. Impeachment is not a political decision, it is not something you promise to take off the table any more than promising that prosecution of criminals is off the table. If any district attorney made such a proclamation they would be run out of office by a screaming mob with torches and pitchforks. The fact that Nancy Pelosi is able to promise such a thing about impeachment is a testament to how out of touch our citizens and politicians are with the law.

Comedy: Zefrank - Writers Guild Strike

Zfrank is a very prolific and popular internet personality that did a daily show for a year between 2006 and 2007. It is by far the most prolific comedy web show I have ever seen to date. His works range from commentary to stand up comedy to music videos and responses to viewers. I like him because he has a great delivery and a lot of different talents that he brings to bear.

Comedy: Red State Update - Nascar Tips For Democrats

I love these guys.

Video Activism: Plisko - What is supporting the troops? (the commentary)

This is the full length commentary I recently created about supporting the troops. I have decided to break with Current TV. Sorry Mr Gore. They have abandoned their original vision and they are now trying to be and uber hip wannabe MTV network that dictates everything rather than a special and unique interaction between web producers and a TV outlet. The above version is from Metacafe which will pay me if I get enough hits so feel free to link to it or visit the metacafe page where you can get the embed code and rate the video, which is also important to it's success.