Obama's Firewall Chats (Youtube)

abomb · November 14th, 2008, 02:17 PM

Coming to YouTube. And I just made up "Firewall Chats".

Obama's Transparent Presidency: Weekly YouTube Addresses

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/1..._n_143805.html

President-elect Obama's office gave the media a new way to present him as Franklin Roosevelt 2.0 by announcing Friday that it will be posting weekly addresses - fireside chats for the web generation - on YouTube.

The first address will appear on Change.gov this Saturday, after it airs in audio. An Obama spokesperson says that this innovation is just the beginning of the digital, transparent presidency. The plan appears to be in the mold of what the campaign did with videos like "Four Days in Denver" and Campaign Manager David Plouffe's conversations on the state of the race. These videos allowed supporters to feel like they had a direct connection to the campaign, a connection that bypassed the media. Already, the Obama team has made good on the post-election plan. It posted a video from Valerie Jarrett, one of Obama's transition chairs, discussing plans for the new administration.

conraddobler · November 14th, 2008, 02:39 PM

I still have a lot of hope for the man.

In the words of my coworker, "man the dude can't do any worse than the last guy unless he gets out a freaking shovel and starts digging."

Donald · November 14th, 2008, 03:18 PM

Oh hell. I love this man!

Linderbee · November 14th, 2008, 03:50 PM

I actually predicted (to myself, darn it) that he would do something like this. I am not surprised in the least.

Oh, and abomb...

on the "firewall chats"

Donald · November 15th, 2008, 12:48 AM

Upon reflection, this is a watershed moment in American politics.

In the white house, a man will reside who understands and gives two craps about the Internet generation, which spans a wide range of "generation whatevers." This stuff is important to so many people of so many ages.

God, please...don't let the office change this man. Please. He's our best hope in bringing politics back to the masses. Doesn't mean we will solve our monster problems, but this stuff is a wise and important step in letting the people back into the realm where rich old wasps have dominated for so long. Even at a teeny tiny level such as this, it is a good sign. It's a sign that what he says, he actually means.

I've said for a long time that if Obama is who he says he is, he will be a great leader. And we need a leader in the worst way, even if sometimes I don't jive with his views on some matters. I'm not so naive to think anyone would be "me" in office. I'm very happy if we get a "kinda like me."

LoyaltyisaCurse · November 15th, 2008, 09:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by abomb

Coming to YouTube. And I just made up "Firewall Chats".

.

Better TM it in a hurry!

cheesebeef · November 15th, 2008, 09:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by conraddobler

I still have a lot of hope for the man.

In the words of my coworker, "man the dude can't do any worse than the last guy unless he gets out a freaking shovel and starts digging."

lol.

AZZenny · November 17th, 2008, 03:22 PM

I was reading in the NYT that Obama is under a lot of pressure to give up his blackberry and even abandon emailing people because everything written is discoverable -- "for heaven's sake, don't forward on anymore lame jokes, Mr. President!" However, while I'm sure there'll have to be all sorts of cautions and protections in place, I hope he resists the push to drop email access to his close friends. It would be one more step towards isolating him, and if he gets really cut off from normalcy, all is lost.

One of the best sections of the PTSD conference I was at was about the effect of 24-hour protection on politicians, and also on their protective officers. The absolute loss of privacy, loss of any spontaneity, of direct contact, and the constant sense that there must be a real threat or they wouldn't be there all cost the protected person socially, emotionally, and ultimately, politically. ("You can never open your own front door. You can't argue privately with your spouse, you can't impulsively decide to go for a walk in the rain, or run to the Dairy Queen with the kids. It becomes so much easier to let someone else do the shopping for family gifts. You almost have to become either politically more cautious, or defiant, and without even realizing how you are changing your worldview by virtue of the drastically curtailed world you must live in. etc.")

conraddobler · November 17th, 2008, 07:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AZZenny

I was reading in the NYT that Obama is under a lot of pressure to give up his blackberry and even abandon emailing people because everything written is discoverable -- "for heaven's sake, don't forward on anymore lame jokes, Mr. President!" However, while I'm sure there'll have to be all sorts of cautions and protections in place, I hope he resists the push to drop email access to his close friends. It would be one more step towards isolating him, and if he gets really cut off from normalcy, all is lost.

One of the best sections of the PTSD conference I was at was about the effect of 24-hour protection on politicians, and also on their protective officers. The absolute loss of privacy, loss of any spontaneity, of direct contact, and the constant sense that there must be a real threat or they wouldn't be there all cost the protected person socially, emotionally, and ultimately, politically. ("You can never open your own front door. You can't argue privately with your spouse, you can't impulsively decide to go for a walk in the rain, or run to the Dairy Queen with the kids. It becomes so much easier to let someone else do the shopping for family gifts. You almost have to become either politically more cautious, or defiant, and without even realizing how you are changing your worldview by virtue of the drastically curtailed world you must live in. etc.")

Email goes both ways.

You can't use it because it's a written record of what you knew and when you knew it.

It's not that you're going to lie, it's that people are going to blather things at you that they shouldn't.

He can get used to regular calls and talks.

It has to be done that way, converstations can be disputed, emails cannot.

He'll regret it fiercely if he does use a blackberry, he may not even see what's going to do the damage.

It's a lonely job, I wouldn't want it.