Compassion in Politics: Christian Social Justice, Non-Profits, and Life Theology

A couple of days ago I created a short compelling diatribe of why the Republicans should step up to the debates and stop worrying about the clear color-coded threat level posed by snowmen. Doesn’t the patriot act cover that anyway?James Kotecki of Emergency Cheese has a much more compelling video (love) letter to Mitt that I thought I would. (I just wish James had a sweet 80’s rock ballad playing in the background & some nice eye twinkling for dramatic effect) Open, honest, sharing, community. Aren’t these the watchwords of new media and democracy? I invite Mitt to step into the digital public square in spite of the scary digital hobgoblins that clearly await around every corner.Ps. If you like James’ antics. He’s carried on interesting discussions of online sexual harassment, race, Fred Thompson, and the other presidential candidates. I suggest diving into the archives from when he used to broadcast from his Georgetown dorm room, but he might prefer you check out his “Top 5″ interviews including John Edwards and Ron Paul For a white boy he brings generally brings the flavor and the funk to politics.

The Huffington Post assembled a group of folks to blog the debate and fact check the debate.    We used Campfire and PBWiki to collaborate.  This was a great exercise.   Here are my takeaways….  

• Virtual Collaboration = Good. This collaborative process was a lot of fun, very personal, and everyone in our virtual media watch room agreed it was a great experience.

• Rocking Collaboration Technology!  I highly recommend both Campfire and the PBWiki is exploding with bells and whisltes to make it a true multi-media.  They have a very easy to use “how-to” video that guides you through the easy to use tech.  Also, 25 Ways to Use PB Wiki may inspire some ideas about wiki use.

• Self-organizing Woes-Unfortunately, since this was so new, we didn’t have any model for what they were looking for.  I wrote for the lower part of a wiki, and other folks wrote for the top half–so there was a little bit of disconnect.  I didn’t feel folks needed my editorial voice to click on links.

• No Model-A model or simple instructions (2-7) detailing what you need is imperative for high quality, consistent looking materials.

• Just a tip-I arrived about an hour early in one of the three collaborative chat rooms, which allowed us sketch out formal responsibilities.  This was critical.

Have you had any experience good, bad, or indifferent with collaboration technology?  Campfire?  Something from Google or 43 folders?  Do you think this technology could be better used in a particular area?  Have a great link about its potential or taking advantage of it?

While the citizen participation, passion, and creativity was refreshingly innovative, over a third of the questions dealt primarily with personal questions rather than the future policy direction.  I don’t go to the voting booth to determine whether a candidate sent their kids to or took an airplane to the debate, I vote on the marrow of the issues and the.  Other issues are distant thirds, fourths, and fifths.  After all, that’s their constitutional mandate.  Or did I miss something in Government 101?  Maybe, I just think these “Gotcha” questions are cheap shots that don’t really reflect the vision of compassion as expressed in policy choices.

This cutting edge use of user created content was a fun twist on an old concept –a political mashup if you will.  This is one of the first times that a mainstream media outlet, like CNN, has been integrated traditional media (in this case debate coverage) with new media such as YouTube in such a dramatic and meaningful way.  At the end of the day I lay the blame for the poor questions at the feet of poor decision making by CNN folks.  They would have made these decisions irrespective of where the questions came from whether it be editors, audience, or you tube. 

One of the best questions of the night was a question about how to reform the process of voting to enhance the fairness and legitimacy of elections.  If Starbucks can get it right, why can’t we get it right at the ballot box?  One of the scariest questions was from a wife-beater clad guy who clutched the barrel of his semi-automatic weapon proclaiming it to be his “baby” and asking about gun control issues.  He was basically a case study for why we have gun control and waiting periods.  I certainly hope this isn’t who folks are talking about when they talk about Joe six-pack.  People with trigger fingers scare me a bit, but I guess my Christian faith calls me to love them, even as I encourage others not to adopt their lifestyle(s).

Your take?  Your thoughts?  Your perspective?  What did you think?  Good questions?  Bad questions?  Worst questions?  What were your takeaways? Did you like the new format?  And who won?

Very excited about the YouTube/CNN Debates this fine Monday evening at 7pm ET.  If you want to stay updated on todays festivities, you can check out James Kotecki’s Emergency Cheese or You Tube’s own Citizen Tube. You can even post your own post-debate responses at CitizenTube. 

The most up cnn-yt-header.gifto the minute mainstream media updates will probably be provided by the folks at Google News  But if you prefer to get your info from the horse’s mouth, CNN will be more than willing to oblige you.  Technorati and Google Blog search can steer you in the right direction for the latest percolations from the bloggosphere.  I didn’t see anything new about the debates posted today at Open Left  or Mydd   when I last looked at 6am eastern…but my guess is that will change.  

After the debates, tune into Blog Talk Radio for post-debate commentary.  They’re sure to have lots of pithy political commentary.

The kind folks at YouTube would probably like me to point out their terms of use for the debate video.

Questions for you folks in the blogg-o-sphere: 

Are the YouTube debates a help or a hindrance?  Will the candidates go out of their way to appeal to the youth and gen-y vote?  Anyone have any ideas on who will win or what it will take to win? Will John Edward’s post-debate online conversation community be effective?  Anyone got a favorite to win, place, or show?  Which candidate will have the hardest time adapting to the more youthful audience?  In other news, when will those dark horses in Tennessee finally announce their candidacy?  

 I’d like to hear what you thought afterwards as well…..

More posts to follow……I’ll rest up a bit…..and then get back to blogging and answering comments….