Yearly Archives 2004
On Meet the Press yesterday, the L.A. Times's Ron Brownstein predicted two possible fallouts from Condoleezza Rice's 9/11 testimony and the release of the "Bin Laden Determined to Strike" memo. One major issue was the interpretation of Rice's under-oath claim that the memo was "historical" in light of the memo's mentions of current and future activities by al Qaeda and anti-terrorism investigators. The other was a focus on why the president and his team didn't do more to respond to the information in the briefing, for instance following up for more about the reported 70+ active FBI investigations into al Qaeda. But it seems to me that the biggest fallout, politically, for Bush, Rice et. al. is the continued erosion of the White House's overall credibility in the "War on Terror." The wartime footing of the administration and its stated and unstated claims to the moral high ground--over Democrats, critics,…
Was talking with Joe Goldman about the uphill nature of bringing dialogue to communities and cultures that are starting to see the need for constituent input and grassroots interaction, but that may not quite be there yet. Often, some "stakeholders" like the idea and some don't. Everyone will hear you out, but few will pull the trigger and create real engagement opportunities for citizens, employees, members. We still see the same thing in the online world. Some groups and businesses are rushing to keep their Internet plans up to date, or to finally overhaul after years of doubt and low priority. But plenty more remain baffled, tentative or misled. And even among groups that start planning with open minds, there often turns out to be more division and ambivalence among various decision-makers than initially thought. This tension between prospects and progress is inevitable. Joe said "We're creating a market," then…