On Sunday night, 60 Minutes aired a fascinating segment about the quiet danger of computer hackers' ability to bring cities and countries to their knees. Ten years ago, it was something that "might happen". Today it's real. And it's happening.
Did you know that computer hackers from a foreign country put two cities in Brazil in complete darkness for hours in 2005 and 2007? Did you know that computer hackers (working for a consulting company in the US) were able to remotely blow up a piece of equipment in a power plant?
This is what the future looks like and it's a bit scary:
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Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Monday, November 9, 2009
The White House Thinks the Future is Cao
As we've all seen by now, the House passed the Healthcare Reform bill on Saturday night. It was a monumental achievement and has been discussed ad naseum in the blogosphere. But there is one angle that I haven't seen many reporters or bloggers discuss.
The White House pushed the only Republican to vote for it, Rep. Joseph Cao, very hard. They sweetened the deal. A lot. And I think it's a sign.
They're going to do exactly the same thing to get the one thing they want in the Senate: Sen. Olympia Snowe's vote. And I'm not sure that's a good sign for the bill.
Cao was fairly easy since his district is overwhelmingly African-American and heavily Democratic. Snowe represents the entire state of Maine which, while supportive of Obama and progressive policies generally, is fairly moderate (see: Gay Marriage vote last Tuesday).
This leads me to believe that the White House is very serious about the whole bi-partisan shtick (to the point of obsession) and will do whatever they can to get her vote. If that means including a trigger, so be it. If that includes scaling back other portions of the bill to fit whatever her "conservative" mode is for that particular day, so be it. If Democrats don't like it, so be it.
This strategy is not about getting a good bill, it's intended to show political compromise and bi-partisanship on the part of the Obama administration. Instead of saying in public they'll do this without Republicans through reconciliation if they have to and then work with Republicans under the radar to get their votes (a strong negotiating position), the White House is doing the opposite. It's letting Republicans set the negotiations and the framing...and in the end, we all lose because of it.
Memo to the White House: let the bi-partisan shtick go; it won't get you any votes if the bill stinks. And once you've ditched that, grow a little backbone, will ya?
The White House pushed the only Republican to vote for it, Rep. Joseph Cao, very hard. They sweetened the deal. A lot. And I think it's a sign.
Not only did they offer those assurances, they also pushed to have the Stupak amendment included so they could get his vote (something he said in other interviews was the only way he'd even think about voting for the bill).Cao said the Obama administration invested considerable time in him. He said President Obama spoke with him for "a period of a couple weeks" and that Obama's staff spoke with him "on a number of occasions."
The final pitch came Saturday around noon, when Obama called Cao and apparently offered assurances that he would help economic recovery in his district, which is mostly minority and poor. Obama got 75 percent of the votes in Cao's district in last November's presidential election.
They're going to do exactly the same thing to get the one thing they want in the Senate: Sen. Olympia Snowe's vote. And I'm not sure that's a good sign for the bill.
Cao was fairly easy since his district is overwhelmingly African-American and heavily Democratic. Snowe represents the entire state of Maine which, while supportive of Obama and progressive policies generally, is fairly moderate (see: Gay Marriage vote last Tuesday).
This leads me to believe that the White House is very serious about the whole bi-partisan shtick (to the point of obsession) and will do whatever they can to get her vote. If that means including a trigger, so be it. If that includes scaling back other portions of the bill to fit whatever her "conservative" mode is for that particular day, so be it. If Democrats don't like it, so be it.
This strategy is not about getting a good bill, it's intended to show political compromise and bi-partisanship on the part of the Obama administration. Instead of saying in public they'll do this without Republicans through reconciliation if they have to and then work with Republicans under the radar to get their votes (a strong negotiating position), the White House is doing the opposite. It's letting Republicans set the negotiations and the framing...and in the end, we all lose because of it.
Memo to the White House: let the bi-partisan shtick go; it won't get you any votes if the bill stinks. And once you've ditched that, grow a little backbone, will ya?
Building the Liferaft
Sometimes there are moments in our lives that push us in one direction subconsciously before we even realize what we are doing or why. Those are the moments of BIG CHANGE. Yet, we sometimes don't even recognize we're making decisions that will change our path. There is something deeper, that push, that we don't see until after all is said and done.
And that's what makes "Mad Men" on AMC such a great show. We get to see that push from the outside. And it's a story we believe.
In the season finale, I saw the ground shifting under all of the characters' feet and could feel the momentum through the television. And my heart raced a little bit. For some reason, I thought their BIG CHANGES and their adventure.....was mine. I felt it.
And that's what makes "Mad Men" one of the best slices of drama that's ever aired. And we're better off for it.
(photo: NYT/AMC)
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