Senator Tubes, Luddite of the Year
Senator Tubes is at it again. The man who doesn’t get his internets fast enough because his tubes are clogged wants to strip the heart of the internet out of our libraries and schools. No more social networking sites. No more MySpace. No more Facebook. No more any site with profiles and networking tools.
Can you say disenfranchisement?
Some people don’t have their own computers and thus need libraries to access the IRS website, and the DMV, and other vital government services. Many of these require registration and social networking processes. It is how they stay informed, joing activist communities and part organizations.
But worse than that, if the genius of the internet is its ability to create networks of communication and deepen connections with friends and family, then this proposal would keep students from learning how to use the internet to change the world.
And Barack Obama’s site would be banned, too. It lets people create profiles, etc., just like MySpace.
It is curious to note that the Luddites only threw wrenches into the machines that threatened their jobs. And social networking tools and websites are the most valuable assets for citizens who seek to monitor and influence our elected officials.
So the good Senator is trying to throw a wrench into those teeming tubes. He isn’t helping us, he is trying to keep us down and preserve his power to build bridges to nowhere.
- Posted in: Digital Politics ♦ Rants, Raves, Reflections
