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Obama bemoans 'diversions' of IPod, Xbox era

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Re: Obama bemoans 'diversions' of IPod, Xbox era

#51

Post by hugh3 »

ebiester wrote: post #47
hugh3 wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Actually I kinda think stupid ideas like birtherism are deliberately given air by the Obama operation. I don't mean that in a "conspiracy theory" sense, I just mean that politicians would rather engage loudly with the silliest of their opponents rather than the most sensible. By focusing attention on the few loonies who oppose Obama, Obama attempts to associate opposition to Obama with looniness. If birthers didn't e…

The birthers are only the easiest example. Look at the health care debate. I am sympathetic to a capitalist-based reform, but the fundamental problem is that even the moderately informed had difficulties following the real issues because the media failed to actually tell people what the public option was! I've heard multiple anecdotes (I know, not a representative sample) where someone "came up with" the public optio…

On the other hand it's not like the Democrats were going out of their way to explain what was in the bill either. Instead, they spent most of their time talking about how "reform" is "necessary" (without acknowledging that many types of reform are possible) and even more time demonizing any opposition as either ignorant hicks or shills paid by the insurance industry.

You won't find any disagreement from me if you say that the level of political discourse is too low. You will find disagreement if you try to claim that Barack Obama has a genuine desire for it to be higher.

Re: Obama bemoans 'diversions' of IPod, Xbox era

#52

Post by ErrantX »

hammerdr wrote: post #27
silentOpen wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He's not placing the blame on the tools any more than you or I would bemoan the hours 'lost' to Hacker News. It's a longer view, step back. We do need to come to grips with the social changes that are occurring and the implications of our present and future digital lives. Our man-made environment isn't the problem, it's our evolutionary memory combined with the phenomenal acceleration of information technology.

I disagree because of this one line in his speech: "none of which I know how to work" which reads like the classic politician's way of distancing him- or herself from the technology (and have heard from technophobic politicians-- http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/06/11/mccain-admits-he-do... ). Whether its true or not isn't really the point (do we seriously believe Obama wouldn't know what to do with a iPad, iPhone…

The article deliberately highlights that as an aside - and none of the transcripts have it in them (that I can find). I can't find a video that covers the portion of the speech but it could well be a joke - or a bit of irony. It reads that way.

Re: Obama bemoans 'diversions' of IPod, Xbox era

#53

Post by tokipin »

ebiester wrote: post #47
hugh3 wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Actually I kinda think stupid ideas like birtherism are deliberately given air by the Obama operation. I don't mean that in a "conspiracy theory" sense, I just mean that politicians would rather engage loudly with the silliest of their opponents rather than the most sensible. By focusing attention on the few loonies who oppose Obama, Obama attempts to associate opposition to Obama with looniness. If birthers didn't e…

The birthers are only the easiest example. Look at the health care debate. I am sympathetic to a capitalist-based reform, but the fundamental problem is that even the moderately informed had difficulties following the real issues because the media failed to actually tell people what the public option was! I've heard multiple anecdotes (I know, not a representative sample) where someone "came up with" the public optio…

you really couldn't expect anything different considering how all-out the opposition went, combined with the fact that people respond to negative statements easier than positive statements. it's never a good combination for the people trying to Change things

i noticed some lessons have been learned, though. you can see this learnination in how the financial reform has played out, with the president full stop calling out the opposition's assertions as false

Re: Obama bemoans 'diversions' of IPod, Xbox era

#54

Post by tokipin »

hugh3 wrote: post #51
ebiester wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The birthers are only the easiest example. Look at the health care debate. I am sympathetic to a capitalist-based reform, but the fundamental problem is that even the moderately informed had difficulties following the real issues because the media failed to actually tell people what the public option was! I've heard multiple anecdotes (I know, not a representative sample) where someone "came up with" the public optio…

On the other hand it's not like the Democrats were going out of their way to explain what was in the bill either. Instead, they spent most of their time talking about how "reform" is "necessary" (without acknowledging that many types of reform are possible) and even more time demonizing any opposition as either ignorant hicks or shills paid by the insurance industry. You won't find any disagreement from me if you say…

well, the president had what i think was at least a couple dozen speeches on why it was important, and in many of them he was quite detailed. and the kind of reform that republicans were proposing was in the opposite direction... towards deregulation

but as i said elsewhere, when you have one side poisoning the well and otherwise completely pulling shit out of their ass, the other side doesn't have many easy options. the negativity drowned out the actual info

also keep in mind Fox is a propaganda network that many people take seriously

Re: Obama bemoans 'diversions' of IPod, Xbox era

#55

Post by tokipin »

indrax wrote: post #18

>"With iPods and iPads and Xboxes and PlayStations, -- none of which I know how to work..." What the hell? This sounds like Bush. What happened to the guy who was in love with his blackberry?

what the heck. are people really this dense? it's an obvious joke. just wait for the video to come out

Re: Obama bemoans 'diversions' of IPod, Xbox era

#57

Post by hga »

patio11 wrote: post #41
hugh3 wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For Noam Chomsky, like other radical leftists, the idea that the working class is deceived and distracted is part of an anti-cognitive-dissonance package to explain why the supposedly-oppressed masses fail to share his political opinions. Obama isn't nearly as extreme as Chomsky politically, but come from the same sort of intellectual heritage.

Thus the corollary: when the Revolution comes, the workers will need to be lead by those who are intellectually capable of leading them, and academic Marxists will take their rightful place in the cosmos as rulers of all they surv... first among equals. This has basically been the totalitarian promise for a couple of centuries now.

Except that the promise is also a lie, for the academic Marxists get slaughtered when a real gangster like Stalin uses the instrumentality they've created against them.

A fitting end, too bad so many innocents have to die or suffer in the process.

Re: Obama bemoans 'diversions' of IPod, Xbox era

#58

Post by cynicalkane »

ebiester wrote: post #42
marilyn wrote: post #23

Obama's arguments here remind me of Noam Chomsky's thoughts on sports: Sports keeps people from worrying about things that matter to their lives that they might have some idea of doing something about. And in fact it’s striking to see the intelligence that’s used by ordinary people in sports [as opposed to political and social issues]. So much chatter to distract us from the important issues of the day.

The issue is that, with sports, people at least have a chance of being on the winning side. Cheering for the sane public transportation team, in most cities, is like cheering for the Cubs. You know you're never going to win.

With sports, people at least have a chance of being on the winning side...

...cheering for the Cubs. You know you're never going to win

What you seem to be saying is that the Cubs aren't proper sports players... not that I disagree...

Re: Obama bemoans 'diversions' of IPod, Xbox era

#60

Post by wanderr »

patio11 wrote: post #44
sachinag wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The birther stuff, in particular, is a great example of nonsense that perpetuates. On a policy level, we were hijacked by the death panel nonsense. Debate the public option and minimum coverage requirements and subsidies - sure - but the death panel stuff is just nonsense designed purely to distort the debate. If you don't get how having to deal with stuff like that at the expense of substantive debate harms our nati…

I have an alternative theory: Obama is contemptuous of video games and iPods because Obama is contemptuous of video games and iPods. The hip, with-it, I-use-Twitter Obama that so many folks fell in love with? That was the poll-tested messaged-massaged for-marketing-consumption version.

He's married to his blackberry. Not remotely surprising that he's not into i* products.
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