First Door on the Left

Joe Trippi:

Together in electric dreams

America’s two political parties may not realise it yet, but in their current form they are nearing obsolescence. As technological advancements continue to bring more and better tools for communication, citizens are increasingly empowered to come together in common purpose and reject the current political system that seems designed by the two parties to keep us apart.

There was a time when to have any hope of winning office a candidate needed to run within either the Republican or Democratic party. To come from one of the major parties meant that a candidate inherited a dedicated donor base and an organisational base as well.

The 2004 presidential campaign proved that those days are nearing an end - and it is the ability of hundreds of thousands using the internet to connect with each other that makes it so.

Howard Dean raised more money than any Democrat in history before a single caucus or primary had been held. Almost all of the money raised by the Dean campaign came from outside the Democratic party’s established donor base - most of it over the internet. The same is true of the 650,000 activists that joined the Dean campaign from outside the Democratic party’s established structure.

And yet Dr. Dean did not win a single primary, proving that 650,000 activists do not win national elections.

Even if I happen to be one of them.

Don’t get me wrong. I think a third party would be a wonderful thing, especially given the “culture of corruption” that is so clearly evident in both the Republican and Democratic parties today.

Unity08 is a good start.

U.S. Wants Companies to Keep Web Usage Records

The Justice Department is asking Internet companies to keep records on the Web-surfing activities of their customers to aid law enforcement, and may propose legislation to force them to do so.

The director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Robert S. Mueller III, and Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales held a meeting in Washington last Friday where they offered a general proposal on record-keeping to a group of senior executives from Internet companies, said Brian Roehrkasse, a spokesman for the department. The meeting included representatives from America Online, Microsoft, Google, Verizon and Comcast.

The attorney general has appointed a task force of department officials to explore the issue, and that group is holding another meeting with a broader group of Internet executives today, Mr. Roehrkasse said. The department also met yesterday with a group of privacy experts.

The Justice Department is not asking the Internet companies to give it data about users, but rather to retain information that could be subpoenaed through existing laws and procedures, Mr. Roehrkasse said.

While initial proposals were vague, executives from companies that attended the meeting said they gathered that the department was interested in records that would allow them to identify which individuals visited certain Web sites and possibly conducted searches using certain terms.

It also wants the Internet companies to retain records about whom their users exchange e-mail with, but not the contents of e-mail messages, the executives said. The executives spoke on the condition that they not be identified because they did not want to offend the Justice Department.

Feel free to draw your own conclusions. While you may.

U.S. Accused in More Iraq Civilian Deaths

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - A third set of allegations that U.S. troops have deliberately killed civilians is fueling a furor in Iraq and drawing strong condemnations from government and human rights officials. “It looks like the killing of Iraqi civilians is becoming a daily phenomenon,” the chairman of the Iraqi Human Rights Association, Muayed al-Anbaki, said Friday after video ran on television of children and adults slain in a raid in Ishaqi in March.

Al-Anbaki’s comments came a day after Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki upbraided the U.S. military over allegations that Marines killed two dozen unarmed civilians in Haditha, calling it “a horrible crime.” They were his strongest public comments on the subject since his government was sworn in last month.

U.S. commanders have ordered new ethics training for all troops in Iraq. But the flow of revelations and investigations threatens to undermine Iraq’s new government and public support in America for President Bush’s management of the war.

While I agree with those who say we should wait until all the evidence has been presented and properly investigated before passing judgment, it appears more and more like John Kerry told the truth way back in 1971. Bad stuff happens during a war.

The bad stuff is not limited to our side. The other side has committed their share. We should not, however, be using that as an excuse. We’re supposed to be the good guys, remember?

Update from ABC News:

U.S. Military Denies New Abuse Allegations at Ishaqi

Horrific images of Iraqi adults and children have fueled new allegations that U.S. troops killed civilians in the Iraqi town of Ishaqi. But ABC News has learned military officials have completed their investigation and concluded U.S. forces followed the rules of engagement.

A senior Pentagon official told ABC News the investigation concluded that the allegations of intentional killings of civilians by American forces are unfounded.

Military commanders in Iraq launched an investigation soon after the mid-March raid in the village of Ishaqi, about 50 miles north of Baghdad.

Maj. Gen. William Caldwell will make a statement about the Ishaqi allegations today in Baghdad, ABC News has learned.

More from the ABC News article…

Today, Army Brig. Gen. Donald Campbell explained to reporters what he thinks could be behind these incidents.

“Well, I’d say it’s difficult to pin down specifically, but obviously, when you’re in a combat theater dealing with enemy combatants who don’t abide by the law of war, who do acts of indecency, soldiers become stressed, they become fearful,” he said. “It’s very difficult to determine in some cases on this battlefield who is a combatant and who is a civilian.”

Campbell said the military will investigate the allegations.

“It doesn’t excuse the acts that have occurred, and we’re going to look into them,” he said. “But I would say it’s stress, fear, isolation and, in some cases, they’re just upset. They see their buddies getting blown up on occasion, and they could snap.”

No doubt.