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Phil Windley
pjw
Phil Windley's Technometria

» Leavitt as America's CTO

There's been considerable discussion about Obama's intention to appoint a Chief Technology Officer for the United States. Count me as a supporter of that move. It's almost cliche to say that Technology plays a vital role in the US economy and our place in the world.

Of course, when I say CTO, I mean CTO and not CIO. And I think that the job would be vastly different than what CTOs do in a high-tech business. America's CTO would be focused almost 100% on policy issues. After all that's what government does.

To be qualified, you need to (1) pass the ethics tests, (2) understand how technology relates to government and the public in a wide range of areas, and (3) be a policy wonk. Items (1) and (3) disqualify most of the people who've been suggested.

Given these requirements I think Mike Leavitt, the current Secretary of HHS would make a great CTO. He understands technology very well and relates it well to policy. He'd be an able spokesman. I can imagine no one better. Of course, he's a Republican--in fact his name has been put forth as a candidate for the next Chair of the RNC. Still, if I got my wish, that's who would be the CTO.

Tags: politics mike+leavitt obama cto

4:45 PM under cto , mike+leavitt , obama , politics

» Obama to Ditch Blackberry and Email

A story in Sunday's NY Times about Obama surrendering his Blackberry caught my attention. Until Jan 20, 2009 whatever he writes on it is private. After that, it's all public. Who among us could live with that kind of requirement? Not many.

It's a sad irony that we've constructed a public world--and believe me, this extends far further than the President--where public figures must eschew the kinds of tools we all lean on every day. I know of what I speak. I used to work in Governor Mike Leavitt's office and "channel" was a constant thought in the back of everyone's mind. Pick the wrong channel for certain types of messages and you might find yourself answering questions you'd rather not.

You might be thinking, "if you're honest, you've got nothing to fear!" Oh how I wish that we true. The fact is that there will be people out to get Obama who care nothing about the truth. That's true of anyone in public life.

Here's the acid test: anything that would take more than two sentences to explain is something you'd rather the other side not get a hold of an twist. If you need 5 minutes to counter their 30 second sound bite, you lost.

So what will Obama do? The obvious answer is give up the Blackberry. But Obama has surprised before in like situations; maybe he'll hold onto it. If you're curious about what this might feel like, go back through the last week's email and consider whether you'd post them all online. Then reconsider that thinking how someone opposed to you and your agenda might twist them. It's a sobering exercise.

Tags: politics obama egovernment

4:27 PM under egovernment , obama , politics

Hans Fugal
no nic
The Fugue :

» Go Vote!

It's actually still election day eve here, but by the time most of you read this it will be November 4. I don't care who you are or how you want to vote, it's important that we all vote. I don't care if you know your candidate(s) will lose. I don't even care if you want to vote for SUPERDELL! Get out and vote, if you haven't already.

Then if you have geek tendencies you might enjoy doing what I'll be doing tomorrow night: compare the excellent statistical predictions from fivethirtyeight.com with how things actually play out. He has an hour-by-hour guide to election night at Newsweek.

by Hans Fugal at 5:57 AM under america , democracy , election , mccain , obama , republic , superdell , vote

Phil Windley
pjw
Phil Windley's Technometria

» Buckley Voting for Obama

This is old news by now, but it's new to me. Christopher Buckley, son of William F., has declared his intention to vote for Obama over McCain. Says he concerning McCain:

John McCain has changed. He said, famously, apropos the Republican debacle post-1994, "We came to Washington to change it, and Washington changed us." This campaign has changed John McCain. It has made him inauthentic. A once-first class temperament has become irascible and snarly; his positions change, and lack coherence; he makes unrealistic promises, such as balancing the federal budget "by the end of my first term." Who, really, believes that? Then there was the self-dramatizing and feckless suspension of his campaign over the financial crisis. His ninth-inning attack ads are mean-spirited and pointless. And finally, not to belabor it, there was the Palin nomination. What on earth can he have been thinking? All this is genuinely saddening, and for the country is perhaps even tragic, for America ought, really, to be governed by men like John McCain---who have spent their entire lives in its service, even willing to give the last full measure of their devotion to it. If he goes out losing ugly, it will be beyond tragic, graffiti on a marble bust.
From Sorry, Dad, I'm Voting for Obama - The Daily Beast
Referenced Wed Oct 15 2008 08:32:13 GMT-0600 (MDT)

Concerning Obama he says something I've expressed to several people:

But having a first-class temperament and a first-class intellect, President Obama will (I pray, secularly) surely understand that traditional left-politics aren't going to get us out of this pit we've dug for ourselves. If he raises taxes and throws up tariff walls and opens the coffers of the DNC to bribe-money from the special interest groups against whom he has (somewhat disingenuously) railed during the campaign trail, then he will almost certainly reap a whirlwind that will make Katrina look like a balmy summer zephyr.
From Sorry, Dad, I'm Voting for Obama - The Daily Beast
Referenced Wed Oct 15 2008 08:33:15 GMT-0600 (MDT)

I've read both of Obama's books. I believe he's smart and decent. I've hoped, like Buckley, that if elected Obama will be smart enough to avoid the pitfalls of Democratic party thinking.

This is, of course, dangerous ground. Hoping that someone will be smart enough not to follow the policies of the Democratic party into hell is a poor bet. Especially since Obama has shown little independence from them over the course of his time in the Senate or during his campaign. Still, given the polls today, it's likely that hoping for sanity is our best bet--poor or not.

Tags: politics obama

4:36 PM under obama , politics

Hans Fugal
no nic
The Fugue :

» Debates

I'm neither a republican nor a democrat, and I like to refrain from delving into politics on my blog (except perhaps in the case that it's tech-related).

I have indeed formed an opinion about the candidates, though I'm still pondering some of the issues and third parties. Get Fuzzy today just about sums it up.

So while I'm talking politics I might as well enumerate the issues on my mind.

Privacy and Freedom, particularly of the flavor that has being stripped from us like mad since 9/11. Airplane "security", the Patriot Act, terrorism in the name of fighting terrorism, etc. Nobody's talking about this, I'll have to research their records, but I'm guessing McCain at least will fail this test.
Technology savvy, or at least technology humility. Technology plays a huge and increasing role in the world, the economy, and the lives of many of us (especially me). Lawmakers and presidents have shown an amazing inability to grasp what is possible and impossible with technology, let alone what is wise.
Intelligence and Wisdom. Frankly, things are just complicated. No set of ideals, even the ones I hold, are going to work if blindly adhered to. Ideals must be guidelines, and in the end any public official has to make lots of judgement calls. I want someone who will weigh the issues, consider alternatives that fall outside his idealogy, and listen to the smart and wise (and often contradictory) people that he (hopefully) surrounds himself with.
Be a good neighbor. The rest of the world pretty much hates us by now. I could care less if people hate us for irrational reasons, and don't believe we're in any sort of popularity contest, but I believe it's important to our economy, livelihood, and very existence to be a peaceable, approachable, respectable, intelligent country instead of a warring, arrogant, ignorant, laughing stock country. It's not entirely fair, but people do judge the whole lot of us by who we elect to be our leader. This also affects me directly, since I interact with people from other countries regularly.
Fix the bits of the system that are broken, e.g. Change Congress. McCain likes to tout himself as a maverick and reformer, but I'm far from convinced. I doubt either candidate will take us very far here, but if this issue comes into play it will be part of my decision, and may influence my local selections more.
The economy, the war(s) and foreign policy, health care, education, pronunciation of "nuclear", grandmas, babies, and world peace.

In case you couldn't tell, McCain has already dug himself into a pit in my mind. I get a much clearer picture of where Obama stands, and sense more intelligence and willingness to ponder from him, although I don't necessarily agree with some of the policies on his platform.

I think it's important to realize that we are voting for people not issues. We live in a republic, which means we elect people to take care of stuff for us. We want them to represent our interests and ideals, but I think it's more important to want them to have integrity and be smarter than most of us when it comes to solving the problems that they are asked to solve. Because of the wide spectrum of things that come to the table (technology, justice, foreign policy, etc.) we can't really expect to find one person really good at all of them. So we need to find a person that will surround himself with smart people and be able to discern good ideas from bad. In short, we're voting for a leader, not a set of policies or anti-policies for the next 4 years.

by Hans Fugal at 2:12 PM under campaign , debate , issues , leaders , mccain , obama , policies , politics

Phil Windley
pjw
Phil Windley's Technometria

» Why the Democrats Keep Losing Elections

The thinking typified in this post is why Democrats keep losing elections. They can't accept the facts, so they make up reasons like dirty tricks, or cheating, the complicit media, or (GASP!) a vast right-wing conspiracy. The real reason, however, is fairly simple. In the last 40 years, Democrats have won when the fielded a centrist candidate and lost when they fielded a liberal candidate.

This year, they've got another liberal candidate (although one with lots more appeal than Kerry, for example) and they're behind. So they start making excuses earlier than ever. That may make them feel better but as any troubleshooter knows, if you don't correctly identify the cause of a problem, you'll never get the fix right. So, they keep on losing election after election.

I'm sad to see this, because while in the short run it will keep Republicans in the White House, it's not good for the system. Having a large group of people disaffected because they thought they were cheated is not good for America.

Tags: politics election08 obama

8:50 PM under election08 , obama , politics

Von Fugal
no nic
ATOM von Fugal

» McInsane, My Favorite Nickname

Now ain’t that depressing? I think everyone has probably heard by now that Romney has officially endorsed McCain (aka McPain, McInsane, McShame). I would say I cannot believe it, but in fact I do. Merely because the more I found out about Romney the more I realized he is just the mormon version of McCain. I don’t want to believe it, but I do. Romney has lost any ounce of my respect he heretofore had, where before I somewhat generously if hesitantly gave him the benefit of the doubt. Now it’s come to this and I have to believe that sane people will not follow Romney’s endorsement. If this all isn’t depressing enough, here’s another video. This one at least has some hope to go with it.

Your choices are now McCain, Huckabee, Ron Paul or whoever wins the Dem. nomination. I used to lean towards Obama as a second choice, not that I’d ever resort to a second choice, but with fozzmoo’s recent article I fear he’s not much of a second choice at all. Obama is to Clinton as Romney is to McCain.

To be honest I’m not entirely well educated on Huckabee, but I hear he blew the lid off with high spending in Arkansas, and his admitted ignorance on things war doesn’t help much either. I hate to say I told you so, but it looks like Ron Paul is our man, so please go out and make a difference.

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by Von Fugal at 3:52 AM under 2008 election , campaign , government , iraq , mccain , obama , politics , president , romney , ron paul , war

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