Re: <nettime> More thoughts on the American election

[John Hopkins <jhopkins@neoscenes.net>]

>I'd heard the name, but I couldn't figure out what the big deal was. The
>policy difference between Obama and Hillary made me wonder why anyone
>bothered.
>
>...
>The first time I heard him speak I was struck with simultaneous joy and
>fear: I believed him. I don't mean I believed what he said, or that I
>agreed with his policies, but rather, I believed that he believed what
>he said, that he was sincere.

Thanks Wade for that narrative -- I think it is VERY important for people to
listen carefully to anecdotes NOT punditry in this moment, and perhaps in every
moment.  For it is in those idiosyncratic words, formed by the individual,
where we as others have to grope for meaning, and form an opinion on what this
person is saying and consequently what they are about.  The important thing is
that we have to THINK ourselves.  I am tired of pre-formed ideas being
constantly spewed by a wide variety of mediated voices.  The voice which is
artificially amplified is speaking more for the techno-social system that
provides the amplification than for any individual reflecting their presence in
this world.

I hear you Wade.

cheers,
John

here's a photo I took the last time I was at the White House (on the occasion
of a state visit from a now-convicted criminal Head of State, Andreotti of
Italy).  The first Bush regime, the president stage center, the press to his
left, state guests to his right, and members of the 5 branches of the military
in a solid line, bowing, between the citizens and the president.  I title it
"Fealty to the President."

http://neoscenes.net/1990-08-22_fealty_to_the_pres.jpg

and consider this audio

from a previous president, Eisenhower, 1961, his last words to the
Military-Industrialized Nation

http://neoscenes.net/travelog/audio/2004/1023_mil_ind_speech.html

a couple fragments of the puzzle.


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