Politics
Entries related to things political.
My comment about Nicco and EchoDitto...
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Mon, 08/28/2006 - 20:52(Here is a comment that I added over on EchoDitto's blog concerning the decision of their CEO to take a leave of absence.)
I have known Nicco since he worked with the Dean campaign and I was a volunteer. I have been a client of EchoDitto. I consider Nicco a friend and EchoDitto a firm that I respect. How Nicco and EchoDitto address his support of Sen. McCain is not a simple issue.
Individuals have a responsibility to think about whom they will support and then to show their support. Nicco has said that he supports John McCain. I applaud him for standing up for what he believes. Personally, I do not support Sen. McCain. I don’t see how people can. But that is politics and I hope there will be a vigorous debate.
Corporations have a responsibility to their stakeholders. They need to act in such away as to maintain profits, treat employees fairly and not alienate clients. Unfortunately, too many corporations do not act responsible in all these ways. Political campaigns have responsibilities to the candidates and their supporters. One responsibility is to find the best services, and using a firm that has a CEO supporting a candidate from an opposing party may not be in the best interest of the campaign.
I believe that Nicco and EchoDitto have acted responsibly in confronting the clash that has occurred. I applaud both, yet I still hope that someone can get Nicco to look beyond McCain’s work on campaign finance reform and question whether or not, in the big picture, Sen. McCain is someone that should lead our country.
Superfund, made personal
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Sun, 08/27/2006 - 11:46(Originally posted on DailyKos.)
On June 30th, 1992 a Burlington Northern train derailed while crossing a bridge over the Nemadji River near Superior Wisconsin. A tank of benzene ruptured and over 40,000 people were evacuated. To paraphrase an old quote, the evacuation of 40,000 people is a statistic, the leukemia of one is a tragedy.
This was brought home to me today as I read Barbara’s Diary on DailyKos about her sister Betti. Her diary starts off, “What do you do when you begin your Saturday like most others with heading to ride my horse and work on some horses and you receive a call from your niece saying that her mother (my sister-Betti) is in NICU bleeding in her brain.”
She goes on to talk about “Betti having been diagnosed with AML (an acute luekemia that is pretty deadly) due as a result of a 1992 train derailment in Superior, Wisconsin that dumped TWENTY EIGHT THOUSAND TONS OF BENZENE...this happened a mile from her farm.” Betti is 51 and has no medical insurance.
There has been an outpouring of support for Barbara and Betti on DailyKos and I am adding my prayers for Betti and for everyone who is touched by this tragedy. But I also wanted to find out a little bit more about the whole story.
Killer Coke and Mentos
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Thu, 08/24/2006 - 12:16I’ve been so busy with the Lamont campaign recently that I really haven’t had a chance to keep up on what is going on in Massachusetts, or on some of the wider more popular online trends. Today, however, I took a chance to try and catch up.
I started reading a little bit about some ‘Killer Coke’ campaign. Apparently one of Deval Patrick’s opponents is trying to criticize Patrick for having worked for Coca-Cola. It is a strategy that I really don’t understand.
I’ve heard people talking about how we need to move our politics to a real discussion of issues and not simply choosing our politicians the way we choose Coke or Pepsi, but making an issue of a candidate working for Coke just doesn’t make sense. Is Patrick’s opponent trying to alienate all the Coke drinkers in Massachusetts? How about the people who drink Minute Maid Orange Juice or Dasini Water, two other Coke products?
Ned meets folks at the New Britain Polish Festival
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Sun, 08/20/2006 - 21:29
The YouTube Election
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Sun, 08/20/2006 - 11:24(Originally posted on various blogs in various formats,
OAC,
The Official Lamont Blog
and Greater Democracy.)
Today’s New York Times has this article,
The YouTube Election.
But YouTube may be changing the political process in more profound ways,
for good and perhaps not for the better, according to strategists in both
parties. If campaigns resemble reality television, where any moment of a
candidate's life can be captured on film and posted on the Web, will the
last shreds of authenticity be stripped from our public officials? Will
candidates be pushed further into a scripted bubble? In short, will YouTube
democratize politics, or destroy it?
Well, for me, good campaigns don't resemble reality television. Sure, some people may try to use something like YouTube to make their campaign like reality television, and most people will recognize how vapid such a campaign really is.
No, good campaigns resemble the political discussions over Sunday dinner. We all tried to be polite, no matter how hard it was. We struggled with issues. Sometimes, we might even admit that we had said something wrong.
