Archive
August 11th, 2004
Blogging the Republican National Convention
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Wed, 08/11/2004 - 17:24(Initially published at http://www.greaterdemocracy.org/archives/000161.html)
After my experience blogging the Democratic National Convention, I have been spending time thinking about what I want to do during the Republican National Convention. I have been offered credentials by the Republican Party, and I sort of doubt that I will. I have asked around to see if I can find some other way to get credentials through working with a more traditional medium, but nothing has materialized.
However, as I discovered last time, much of the story takes place outside the convention hall, and I suspect this will be even more of the case with the Republican convention. Today I received an email from the New Democratic Majority about a Progressive Tourism Bureau that will be set up at a performance space called The Tank.
The Progressive Tourism Bureau is “an exciting collaborative project during the Republican Convention in New York of [many organizations] … to give protestors a direct route into the massive grassroots effort underway to win this election and to build an enduring progressive coalition at the local and national levels.”
August 9th
Transformations
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Mon, 08/09/2004 - 12:07For years, I’ve been putting up webpages, writing articles and blog entries, but it has always been as a renter, as part of some other site, and not as a homeowner. My writing has been my passion, but not my vocation.
I’ve kicked around ideas of writing books or articles, and I have various pieces under construction, but they’ve languished on my hard drive. Last month, I received an invitation to be a credentialed blogger at the Democratic National Convention. It was a wonderful experience and I hope many of you read some of my commentary over at Greater Democracy
August 7th
The good that men do
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Sat, 08/07/2004 - 10:12This was initially published on Greater Democracy
In Shakespeare’s famous eulogy of Julius Caesar, Mark Anthony proclaims, “The evil that men do lives after them, The good is oft interréd with their bones.” The actions of so many of the veterans of the Vietnam conflict are a great illustration of this. When John Kerry came back from Vietnam, he testified about the evil that men had done, in hopes of curtailing this evil. Some veterans reviled Kerry for this, and still attack him.
Many people still have a difficult time finding the good in the Vietnam conflict, and Vietnam veterans are long over due recognition for the good that they have done. Bill Clinton’s lauding of John Kerry saying ‘Send me’, is a great step in addressing this lack, especially coming from a person who avoided serving in Vietnam. John Kerry, appearing on stage with fellow veterans and ‘reporting for duty’ moves this step forward.
So, it is ironic that those who revile Kerry for his efforts to bring the troops home thirty years ago are resorting to focusing on the evil in an effort to hide the good. John Kerry has called on us to honor all that is good in what the Vietnam veterans have done and it is very disappointing that people who would benefit most from such a call are doing exactly the opposite.
July 8th
Convention Coverage, another view
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Thu, 07/08/2004 - 06:22(Originally published in Greater Democracy)
In Convention Coverage is a Failed Regime and Bloggers Have Their Credentials, Jay Rosen writes: As far as I know, no one has a convincing notion of what a political convention is , anymore, or why 15,000 people are there to cover it.
He goes on to talk about the convention as either a news event or a media event. This feeds into the discussion going on about how journalistic the bloggers will or should be.
January 23rd
The Howard Howl, Dean Scream, or barbaric yawp
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Fri, 01/23/2004 - 05:00(Note: Originally published on my MovableType Blog. Moved here for consolidation)
Yesterday, I had breakfast with Britt Blaser ( http://blaserco.com/blogs/) and Doc Searls (http://doc.weblogs.com/).
On the train in, I noticed the USA Today article, “Dean scream gaining cult-like status on Web” (http://www.usatoday.com/news/politicselections/nation/2004-01-22-dean-usat_x.htm)
I thought a little about this on the train, and started thinking about my comments about this. Years ago, Primal Scream therapy was a popular fad. We were encouraged to express our excitement, disappointment, joy, anger. Of course those of us from New England never really bought into it. We’re a little to restrained to go in for stuff like that.
But I think there is something important going on here. I started composing my thoughts in my mind:
Are you tired of politicians creating the largest tax hike on our children through the government running up massive deficits and calling it a ‘tax cut’?
Try a Howard Howl.
Are you grieved that over 500 loyal Americas have died in Iraq because of ‘misinformation’?
Try a Dean Scream
Do you want to issue a wakeup call to an American populous that has stopped caring enough to vote?
Try a ‘barbaric yawp’
