Same as it ever was
Eighty-six years ago, British author and critic, G.K. Chesterton, wrote:
“The whole modern world has divided itself into Conservatives and Progressives. The business of Progressives is to go on making mistakes. The business of the Conservatives is to prevent the mistakes from being corrected.”
We’ve come a long way. Oh, wait…
Love songs, makeout songs + breakup songs
The best part of this photo is the Milwaukee Beast 30-pack.
Last night, on Tuesday Night on KRCL 90.9FM, the theme was love songs, makeout songs + breakup songs. I think it’s a pretty fine indie Valentine’s playlist, if I do say so myself.
For the next week or so, you can hear the show by streaming it here.
I hope your Valentine takes real good care of you, reader.
Why nothing gets done? Blame the internet.
Robert Wright has an interesting piece over at the Times: “The Internet vs. Obama.”
“The personal computer, the Internet and allied technologies have given a new fluidity to political opposition, spawning interest groups almost overnight in response to policy initiatives.”
Essentially, Wright argued that it is so easy for special interest groups to organize via the Internet, and such homogeneity exists within the members of those groups, that it’s too easy for the special interest groups to determine which string to pull to get the puppets all riled up.
“The new information technology doesn’t just create generation-3.0 special interests; it arms them with precision-guided munitions. The division of readers and viewers into demographically and ideologically discrete micro-audiences makes it easy for interest groups to get scare stories (e.g. “death panels”) to the people most likely to be terrified by them. Then pollsters barrage legislators with the views of constituents who, having been barraged by these stories, have little idea what’s actually in the bills that outrage them.”
Wright argued that this has nothing to do with partisanship, but rather that both ends of the special interest group dial are rocking the same strategy.
The end result according to Wright: Nothing will ever get done in government, unless the nation itself is truly in danger.
