Tuesday, September 18, 2007

Don't tase me, bro.

Some fast observations from today's Washington Post:

- It looks like Newt Gingrich is the latest politician to hop on the Second Life bandwagon. While the idea of an explorable online campaign headquarters is appealing, I really wish we could get some of the candidates to establish a presence in an online world more condusive to debating the tough issues. Azeroth, for instance. Who wouldn't pay to see Clinton and Giuliani hash out their differences amidst the unforgiving winter of Alterac Valley? Shoot, I'd pay twice.


Lok'tar, fiscal conservatives.

- If you haven't seen this, where've you been?



Now, granted: Andrew Meyer is, by all accounts, a complete dingus. Some reports peg him as a perennial attention-seeker who was known for interrupting campus events, an idea which the Post uses to explain why people were clapping for the cops before UF's finest started going all "Rodney King II: Electric Boogaloo" on the kid.

Also granted: the kid may have resisted arrest, which technically gives the cops full discretion regarding the nastiness level warranted.

That being said, what? Has it really come to this? I mean, six cops? Was that really warranted? I'm all for acting in the interests of public safety, but this is just the limit. Testing out the equipment on a politically charged but otherwise harmless kid is completely out of line. Bravo to the students of the University of Florida who are taking action in defense of Meyer. Big ups, Gator Nation.

Funny, too, that people like this never seem to get the shit kicked out of them, but people like this do.

About the only positive outcome of this whole thing is the entry of the phrase "Don't tase me, bro" into the English lexicon. Somewhere, a t-shirt is being made.

- Finally, the Democrats are coming close to completing their much talked-about Atlas Project, a comprehensive information gathering effort aimed at streamlining the campaign strategy process by adding in a hefty dose of history. Does it strike anyone else as odd that a project like this had to exist at all? Shouldn't the Democratic Party have been archiving all of this stuff from the beginning instead of traipsing through basements in Michigan? And, why stop at 15 states? Frankly, I'd like to see this whole project extended to include the rest of the country. That way, the Dems could devise some sort of moderated, intra-party strategy wiki for use in election efforts for years to come. Obviously, the sheer fact that they're having to undertake such a project shows that the need is there. Action, therefore, is a must. Well, I think so, at least.

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