peelman.us

I love this comment from the OpenCongress link: Read more…

So I have to give kudos to the guy running packetlife.net. Its a great site for networking nerds like me, and he’s got some really awesome cheatsheets available. But he had a post this week that really struck a cord: Why network neutrality is a big deal. I dumped a less-edited version of this into the comments, but I wanted to flesh out the thought and post it here as well.

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You know, we forget sometimes…in all the talk about democracy, we forget that it’s not a democracy, it’s a republic. The people dont make the decisions, they chose the people who make the decisions. Could they do a better job chosing? Yeah. But when you consider the alternatives… — Josiah Bartlett (Aaron Sorkin), The West Wing

I was just watching some old episodes of The West Wing, which I’m known to do occasionally (especially on boring Sunday afternoons), and I have always loved this line. To anybody more curious, it comes from the sixth episode of the second season, titled “The Lame Duck Congress.” It was far too long to fit in a Tweet, and wouldn’t have the same impact if i had to disjoint it and spread it across tweets…

And I’ll say it again:

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I want to say three things, then I will do my best to never mention politics on here again. Well, at least for a while.

1) I want to point out, for those who may not have noticed: When McCain mentioned Obama, his rallied supporters booed, and hissed. When Obama mentioned McCain a fair amount of cheers could be heard. There is bitterness, there is resentment, but I find it sad and completely ridiculous that people boo, especially when their proposed leader was trying to be diplomatic and do the admirable thing.

2) Sen. McCain’s concession speech was the first time I think we’ve heard the real John McCain speak since he announced his candidacy.

3) A quote, from Obama’s Acceptance Speech:

“Let us resist the temptation to fall back on the same partisanship and pettiness and immaturity that has poisoned our politics for so long. Let us remember that it was a man from this state who first carried the banner of the Republican Party to the White House, a party founded on the values of self-reliance, individual liberty, and national unity. Those are values we all share, and while the Democratic Party has won a great victory tonight, we do so with a measure of humility and determination to heal the divides that have held back our progress. As Lincoln said to a nation far more divided than ours, “We are not enemies, but friends, though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection.” And to those Americans whose support I have yet to earn: I may not have won your vote, but I hear your voices, I need your help, and I will be your President too.”

– President-Elect Barack Obama, Acceptance Speech, Nov 4, 2008

For the first time in history, the Democrats are now the majority in the Senate and House, as well as having a sitting President. Can we TRY to not fuck this up and show all these conservative assholes what can be done for a country when the government moves in A direction, whenever you think its right or wrong, rather than sitting around on its laurels arguing about things? Argument is good, Debate is good. But there needs to be conclusions reached at some point and we haven’t seen a whole lot of them in my lifetime (however brief it has been to date).