Democracy

Be careful of our barnacled, crusty cynicism and the cavalier rabbit hole it could lead us down — away from the longest-running success story in human rights.

Democracy works only if political leaders put the common good ahead of personal interest. There is zero evidence Trump would even be equipped to deliver on this, should the interest in it ever be made to enter his mind.

Read more

Some of the more interesting bits

From Obama‘s State of the Union speech, 2015:

  • End of Afghanistan β€œmission”
  • Appeal to double down on middle-class economics
  • Increase availability and provide tax credit for quality childcare
  • Getting paid sick leave laws on the books
  • Wage equality
  • Raising the minimum wage β€” β€œIf you truly believe you could work full-time and support a family on less than $15,000 a year, go try it.”
  • Lowering cost of community college to free
  • Asks companies to provide more job training, hire more veterans
  • Bi-partisan infrastructure plan to attract businesses / industries
  • Trade deals in Asia, Europe β€” β€œ95 percent of the world’s customers live outside our borders, and we can’t close ourselves off from those opportunities.”
  • Precision Medicine Initiative β€” pursuing cures for cancer, diabetes; personalized health information
  • Free, open, and fast Internet
  • Colonizing space β€” β€œnot just to visit, but to stay.”
  • Closing corporate tax loopholes brokered by lobbyists
  • Opposing Russia, supporting Ukraine
  • Opening relations with Cuba
  • Halting Iran’s nuclear program
  • Legislation around cyberattacks, identity theft, and child data
  • Pursuing climate change solutions, including getting China to commit to limiting their emissions for the first time
  • Free speech; religious rights; LGBT rights
  • Shutting down Guantanamo
  • Transparency on surveillance; civil liberties vs. counter-terrorism
  • Marriage equality
  • American values vs. partisanship
  • Plea for a better politics
  • Appeal to debate and reason on divisive issues: abortion rights, immigration, voting rights, police brutality
  • Mic drop β€” β€œI have no more campaigns to run.”
*where* are my dragons?!?!

President Obama’s tech-centered State of the Union: full text, and digital rights concerns – Boing Boing. p.s. cool visualization of Twitter mentions during the speech (via srogers @ cartodb)

Read more