Thoughts on Obama: The Audacity of Dissent

Obama's first year has been a mixed bag; McCain as an alternative would have been disastrous. But I had hoped for something better--that he wasn't a neo-liberal like Clinton, that he would be intellectually honest about issues like healthcare and war, and that he would act fast on behalf of small businesses and the middle class.

My hopes haven't been fulfilled, mostly. My friends on the right will say "aha!", but my disappointment has nothing to do with their own views. My friends on the left are already claiming that it's guys like me that are hurting Obama without giving him a proper shake. But the decisions made now will have impact for years. Should we wait to comment?

Here are a few of my misgivings about this administration.

Obama claimed during the campaign he would only increase troops by two or three brigades (10,000); the increase is 30,000 on top of an earlier increase, alongside of another six to ten thousand from other countries. The troops will likely cross into Pakistan without permission, of course, which means we're invading our third country in 8 years without a declaration of war or provocation. All this to go after a few hundred terrorists in caves. Strategically, this should be an intelligence operation if anything, but the fact that the US continues to invade other countries unilaterally and without declaration of war troubles me. I backed Obama in 2004--wrote the check, shook his hand, and enjoyed his campaign. When he came out with his healthcare plan in 2007, he started to lose me, but with no other option (Clinton was such an obvious corporatist) I was happy to back him, and we'd work on the healthcare plan. Wrote the check, wore the button, rallied my friends. Except then we were excluded--single-payer advocates were deliberately kept out of the discussion and policy formation, as though the only point we had to make was that the private insurance industry and market approach had failed the country repeatedly. It's an important point, but we've analyzed the industry for many years and have developed quite a few great solutions to common, avoidable issues. But Obama didn't want us at the table. When I say Obama, I also mean Rahm Emmanuel and the other neo-liberal corporatists. The administration is disingenuous when it says it wants the best ideas from the brightest minds, yet excludes the leading ideas and minds from the discussion, but allows people like Baucus, Dodd, and Lieberman to frame and define the debate. I'm a capitalist--a serial entrepreneur working on yet another business. I'm pro business, whatever that means; business can be the vehicle for our highest aspirations. But the business control, the corporate control of our elected leaders must stop if we are to have moral, sane, ethical, wise leadership for the benefit of the people. Instead, we have a continuation of policies that benefit the few at the expense of the many. There is no shame in pointing this out so early in his presidency; the decisions made this year will have lasting impact--much of it quite negative.

Hope is good; I have hope for the country and this president. But as dad liked to say, we can hope in one hand and piss in the other, and see which one fills up first.

Update

I've been writing a lot less over the past few months, and coding more. Between coding, supporting a few startups, and joining the School Board, I don't have much energy for writing. I plan to change that after the holiday.

• The School District of Lancaster doesn't have a social media strategy. Board meetings are not live-blogged, tweeted, or even recorded. I'll be thinking about what's possible--and appropriate--over the next few weeks. What are the benefits? Issues? Where should we draw the line? I think it's a real opportunity to get the community engaged and involved, and to increase the transparency throughout SDL. It should also create the space and media for teachers and students to advance their own ideas. Ultimately the district is run by the administration and governed by the Board, but good ideas can come from anywhere.
• If I blog about SDL in any detail or with any regularity, it will likely not be from this blog. I'll provide a link if it's on another blog.
• I am not a source for inside information; if the info hasn't been expressed publicly, you won't hear it from me. That said, I will express my thoughts about the SDL, what I think needs to improve, and ideas I and others have. I invite your comments and ideas as well.
• Programming is fun, except when it's not. It's not fun when I make stupid mistakes that kill hours of time trying to fix them. Yesterday I made a rookie mistake (Steve will appreciate this) that cost me 3 hours of testing and researching: I was using old data and hadn't backed up the sample database. So what worked before no longer worked as expected. And of course I thought it was the code, which it wasn't, until I tried to fix it, and then it became the code. It's days like that...ugh.
• Release early, release often. I've broken the first rule. It's time--within 2 weeks, I'll release the first beta, and it will not likely be closed. Techcrunch had a decent article about the folly of "stealth" companies. Mine isn't stealth, it's just not ready to release without annoying you and embarassing me. But it will be soon.
• So we know I'm still fat. Of my numerous flaws, not showing up voluntarily to exercise at some facility a mere 4 blocks away is among the top. Yesterday I had a meeting with the City Y manager, so I put on the sweats and sneaks and headed over. We spoke for a half hour, and I did cardio for a half hour. First time in a month. Felt good. She wants me to sign up with a personal trainer, but I asked for an appointment schedule rather than a training schedule--I just need the obligation and I get out of the office, apparently.
• I don't like reality TV, but we've been watching the Biggest Loser, and I have to say it has helped. But I still need the appt.
• I do miss being an athlete; the last time might have been 6 years ago when I was surfing and biking almost daily. If only Lancaster had a nice left break...

Update

I've been recovering from Monday's oral surgery, so really didn't do much this week. My face is still swollen, but it's improving daily. Unfortunately it's still hard to focus, so I've gotten very little done.

In the meantime I've been reading a few books; I seem to be able to read, but not to code. One of the books is a programming guide; I'll learn something, try it out, and find that while I understand it I don't have to focus to integrate it into the app. That's the downside of pain meds.

The other books I'm reading are both worth mentioning. "Whatever it Takes" is about The Harlem Children's Zone, a project that has dramatically improved the prospects of over 10,000 kids growing up in Harlem by pushing parents to teach their kids at a very early age.

The other is by my friend and high school mentor Dexter Chapin. "Master Teachers: Making a Difference on the Edge of Chaos". The writing is folksy, opinionated, and inspiring. Dex has taught in many different kinds of schools in the US and Africa, and has served in leadership positions in several schools and districts. If you're in education, it's worth the read, even if you don't agree with some of his conclusions.

I wish I had the focus today to write proper reviews, but I simply don't. So the update:

• If you're young, get your wisdom teeth out while you're still young. It sucks, but it sucks less than if you're an old fart like me. Recovery is 2 to 3 days as a youngster, 5 to 7 as a 42-year old.
• Serving the School District is one of the most intriguing and important things I've done. The district is large and complex, and has a lot of problems. But it has a lot of great things going for it, including Superintendent Pedro Rivera and his CFO Matt Pryzwara.
• I'm kicking around a few ideas about social media, the district, and the board. Let me know your thoughts about this. We have a great opportunity to open up the process and expand the flow of ideas and information.
• After Thursday's Education Committee meeting, it seems clear to me that the Board and district remain committed to the IB and Arts programs, which was a concern expressed to me by a number of people. We're committed to all the kids in the district.
• Brett Favre is still my favorite player to watch. He loves to play, and at 40 he continues to play ball like it's a backyard match, with the occasional perfectly placed NFL bomb to a barely open receiver who, more often than not, catches it. Pure poetry over rock.
• TV really sucks. WITF is pretty good, but could be better. But I've really enjoyed the Sunday morning Harvard Justice series, and the PCN coverage of the Luzerne County juvenile justice hearings--amazing lack of transparency, accountability, and oversight. Topped only by the deep pain and irreversible damage to over 5,000 teens wrongly incarcerated for profit and greed.
• Looking forward to getting my head back on straight. Lots of work ahead this month.

Miscarriage of Justice

I've had a rough week--wisdom tooth extracted and some related oral surgery, the pain and swelling that comes with it, and the daily dullness that comes with pain meds.

So I've been watching TV, which I find barely tolerable. The most interesting TV has by far been C-Span, PCN, and WITF.

Most of today I've been watching coverage of the Luzerne County Juvenile Justice System Abuse hearings by the PA Interbranch Commission on Juvenile Justice, which was prompted by the indictments of two judges on corruption charges earlier this year. 22 people have been charged for official corruption so far, according to this.

The short explanation: the judges received kickbacks from a private correctional company for sending kids to jail.

The short explanation does nothing to relate the human toll: kids sent away from their families for crimes they didn't commit, or for crimes they did commit that typically do not rise to the level of incarceration, or for petty violations of parole.

The systemic breakdown is stunning. Judges had such little morality, oversight or accountability that they could be bought by the private company. Children were put in jail without the benefit of defense attorneys so a private company could make money. Parents were separated from their children, given little explanation, and charged for the pleasure.

Many of the kids continue to suffer psychological issues from the inhumane treatment. And some kids were raped. "My daughter has no goals anymore, no hope in life. Our family just fell apart..." because of the judge. Parents weren't notified of hearings. Kids were incarcerated for long periods of time, several hundred miles away.

So my week really hasn't been that bad. I haven't been locked up arbitrarily for someone's personal gain, and the swelling is going down. A lot of these kids will never recover.

For a detailed explanation of what happened, read this interview with attorney Bob Schwartz.

Inc Magazine Mention

I didn't know about this.

Update

I haven't had much time to blog and likely won't for a while.

• Gigged at Chameleon last night for a fundraiser for local drummer Tommy Leanza--had a great time, and my throat is sore.
• Getting a wisdom tooth out in a few hours--hopefully it goes well.
• School board is interesting--really like it, and am starting to understand how much impact we can have.
• The startup project is moving along--I'm coding fulltime now and enjoying it.

Founders & Time

I just posted over at the work blog about founders who overwork, including me.