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November 18, 2003
Ed‘s written an excellent and thorough article on what’s different about the Dean campaign, especially as seen through the lens of marketing. For example:
Using tools like weblogs, Meetup, and the “Get Local” application, which lets supporters create their own Dean events – such as house parties or service projects – without any central control, Dean has subverted the traditional branding ethic with great success.
From Lockergnome comes this link to a page that shows the equivalent clichés in French and English. E.g., “He’s knee-high to a grasshopper” in French is “He’s tall like three apples…
I’m continuing to guest blog at the Corante Many-to-Many site and just posted something on which parts of the new social/political network being created during this campaign season are likely to survive the campaign.
November 17, 2003
Jay Rosen, in a fine piece on what’s wrong with politics, quotes Vaclav Havel:
Many of the traditional mechanisms of democracy created and developed and conserved in the modern era are so linked to the cult of objectivity and statistical average that they can annul human individuality. We can see this in political language, where cliche often squeezes out a personal tone. And when a personal tone does crop up, it is usually calculated, not an outburst of personal authenticity.
Sooner or later politics will be faced with the task of finding a new, postmodern face. A politician must become a person again, someone who trusts not only a scientific representation and analysis of the world, but also the world itself. He must believe not only in sociological statistics, but also in real people. He must trust not only an objective interpretation of reality, but also his own soul; not only an adopted ideology, but also his own thoughts; not only the summary reports he receives each morning, but also his own feeling.
And here’s a snipped from Jay:
It cannot be the case that one-to-many man is destined to run campaigns forever. (And when the fall comes it will be swift and total, like the collapse of the system that threw Havel in jail.)
It cannot be the case that insulting the citizen’s intelligence (“Joe-vember to Remember”) is the smart way to go. (Once someone demonstrates that definitively, we will marvel at how long the premise held.)
But don’t be satisfied with snippets! It’s a damn fine piece.
Rick Klau, well-known Deaniac, has a report that’s partisan yet open-minded and observant, about the Jefferson Jackson Day Dinner where most of the Democratic candidates showed up. (Telling detail: It took 43 buses to bring the Dean supporters in; the campaign had to get a parade permit just to let them to roll in.)
Peter Kaminski runs the Reuters photo of Bush signing the “partial birth” abortion ban. It is striking, as Pete says, because all the on-lookers at this photo opp are dignified old white men. Hey, thanks, guys!
Pete’s also got some cogent comments on the bill.
Here’s a site that every youngster who’s ever downloaded an illegal MP3 must visit. It changed my life. I think it just might change yours.
Dave’s concerned that someone might take this idea seriously even though the site is scrupulously careful to give only absurd instructions on how to do what it satirically suggests. (Let me emphatically agree with him: Yes, sending mp3s through the mail would be a hideous and stupid waste of bits.) I like his counter idea of cutting up your CDs and sending them back to the record companies, though. But I need ’em for backup!
Dave Sifry of Technorati writes:
Right now, we’re adding 8,000-9,000 new weblogs every day, not counting the 1.2 Million weblogs we already are tracking. That means that on average, a brand new weblog is created every 11 seconds. We’re also seeing about 100,000 weblogs update every day as well, which means that on average, a weblog is updated every 0.86 seconds.
Every 0.86 seconds?? Man, I’m really going to have to step up my pace!
(Thanks, Dave, for providing such an outstanding service to us all.)
November 16, 2003
At last! The Zohar is online! As it is writ (on the Web page):
Ever since it emerged mysteriously in Castile, Spain toward the end of the 13th century, the Zohar has enthralled, confounded, challenged, and enraptured readers. Composed mostly in lyrical Aramaic, the Zohar is a mosaic of Bible, medieval homily, spiritual fantasy, and imaginative commentary, or midrash, on the Torah written in the form of a mystical novel. In it a group of rabbis wander through the hills of Galilee, discovering and sharing secrets of Torah: at times they interpret the actions of biblical figures, and at other times, they take center stage themselves through their adventures on the road and their encounters with various astonishing characters.
Joseph Zitt, in an email message, explains:
In creating the translation, [Daniel C.] Matt and his crew worked with a large number of manuscripts and previous printings of the Zohar to put together a close-to-definitive edition of the original Aramaic text. Instead of publishing the Aramaic text on paper, they have put it up online as PDF files… In fact, they have each volume up *twice*, once in simple text format, and once with the emendations of the standard printed text underlined. There is also an introduction explaining how and why they were put together, and pointing to the sources.
My Aramaic is a little rusty (that is, I used to know how to spell “Aramaic” with confidence but now I have to look it up), but it is definitely very cool to see the Lit Web get lit up a little bit more.
Halley wonders if the letter-writing event I’m hosting is still on for this Tuesday.
And how! It’s at 7pm and if you’re in the Boston area and feel like coming by to write letters to undecided voters in Iowa about why you’re supporting Dean, you’re invited. Send me an email for the details.
November 15, 2003
Good discussion this morning on NPR’s Weekend Edition about whether The West Wing has improved this season after the departure of creator and genius Adam Sorkin.
I think it has. I thought the conclusion of the opening episodes featuring the fabulous John Goodman was strong when it turned out [SPOILER AHEAD] that Josh’s fears about Republican abuses were in fact just projections of his own overly-political worldview. The inklings of a legitimate opposition strengthen the show.
On the other hand, the melodramatic split between the president and the first lady seems pretty contrived to me. And there was one moment that Sorkin would never ever have allowed in: Josh stopping a cab so he can yell to the Capitol dome: “You wanna piece of me?” Just plain embarrassing.
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