Transparency

Apparently "Openness" and "Transparency" mean something different in the Obama White House. The video below is from a press conference in which Chip Reid (with the help of Helen Thomas) debate the legitimacy of an upcoming 'Town Hall' meeting in which the audience is pre-screened (invited) and the tech-savvy questions (twitter and facebook) come through a screening process before they reach the President.

Protest Plane

Hey everyone, there's a Photoshop contest (of sorts) at the Daily News (New York). They want people to add AF1 to photos of New York with Photoshop rather than flying over the city costing tax payers hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Here's my quick submission. Vote for me here.

A Country Full Of Idiots

I usually don't comment on the politics, but this caught my attention; everyone seems to be up in arms about this magazine cover. Barack Obama doesn't like it and John McCain doesn't like it. I read an article on another site reporting that even the editors of The New Yorker were concerned that the average person on seeing this cover wouldn't get it, and could be offended or misunderstand the intent. My first thought upon seeing the cover was that it was funny, followed closely by how unusual it is to see such a pointed cartoon so prominently displayed. Then when I read the news story about the controversy surrounding the cover, that's when I got offended. Barack Obama, John McCain and The New Yorker all think I'm a stupid idiot. Sure, what they say is that we're a country of idiots, but I kind of take it personally and only hear myself being called an idiot. If a magazine realeases a cover making fun of all the attacks aimed at one candidate, then why would that candidate complain? If it is obviously a piece of satire, why would the opposing candidate complain? If it's funny, creative and eye-catching, why would the magazine itself distance itself from the cover? Of course I know the answer to all three of these questions, maybe asking them with such naivete is what makes me an idiot...