stevenberlinjohnson.com: Why The London Plot Helps The Democrats (Or At Least, Why It Should Help Them)

I hope the Democrats (or at least the anti-Iraq-war Democrats) are smart enough to recognize the Gatorade bombing plot actually supports their position on the war on terror. (Or, to put it less kindly, gives them an opportunity to actually formulate a coherent position, at last.) They should be saying something along these lines:

This plot demonstrates the seriousness of the threat posed against us, and, if all the early indications prove to be right, the continuing existence of the Al Qaeda network. It also demonstrates that top-notch law enforcement work, coupled with international collaboration -- and, yes, some wire-tapping -- can truly make us safer. If we had been in charge after 9/11, we would have devoted our military and law enforcement resources exclusively to tracking down Islamic terror networks, with the highest priority given to hunting down Osama Bin Laden. We wouldn't have introduced the huge distraction of Iraq, which has both been a terrible drain on resources and lives, and made us many new enemies in regions where we need more friends. If you elect us this fall, we promise a renewed focus on the enemies that actually threaten us directly. While we can't immediately withdraw from Iraq, we propose a steady re-allocation of manpower and money from Iraq to the immediate threats on American lives. We believe in the war on terror just as firmly as the Republicans do. We just think it should concentrate on capturing terrorists, not rebuilding the electrical grid in Bagdhad.

The Basics

I'm a father of three boys, husband of one wife, and author of five books. In early 2007 I went and foolishly got myself a day job running the hyperlocal community site, outside.in that I co-founded the year before. We spend most of the year in Park Slope, Brooklyn, though I'm on the road a lot giving talks. (You can see the full story here.) Personal correspondence should go to sbj6668 at earthlink dot net. Media requests should go to Matthew.Venzon at us.penguingroup dot com. If you're interested in having me speak at an event, drop a line to Wesley Neff at the Leigh Bureau (WesN at Leighbureau dot com.)

Live SBJ

Recent Essays

The War On Error
Discover column on the web's bottom-up response to Katrina.
Air Purifiers For Data Smog
Discover column on software that helps you focus.
Why The Web Is Like A Rain Forest.
Discover column on Web 2.0.
Finding "Lost"
London Times piece on the mysterious hit show "Lost."
The Urban Long Tail
Discover column on the diversity of cities.

My Books

The Ghost Map
The latest: the story of a terrifying outbreak of cholera in 1854 London 1854 that ended up changing the world. An idea book wrapped around a page-turner. I like to think of it as a sequel to Emergence if Emergence had been a disease thriller. You can see a trailer for the book here.
Everything Bad Is Good for You: How Today's Popular Culture Is Actually Making Us Smarter
The title says it all. This one sparked a slightly insane international conversation about the state of pop culture -- and particularly games. There were more than a few dissenters, but the response was more positive than I had expected. And it got me on The Daily Show, which made it all worthwhile.
Mind Wide Open : Your Brain and the Neuroscience of Everyday Life
My first best-seller, and the only book I've written in which I appear as a recurring character, subjecting myself to a battery of humiliating brain scans. The last chapter on Freud and the neuroscientific model of the mind is one of my personal favorites.
Emergence: The Connected Lives of Ants, Brains, Cities, and Software
The story of bottom-up intelligence, from slime mold to Slashdot. Probably the most critically well-received all my books, and the one that has influenced the most eclectic mix of fields: political campaigns, web business models, urban planning, the war on terror.
Interface Culture : How New Technology Transforms the Way We Create and Communicate
My first. The book I wrote instead of finishing my dissertation. Still in print almost a decade later, and still relevant, I think. But I haven't read it in a while, so who knows what's in there!

Comments

This is so obvious it makes me want to cry....can you take over the democratic party platform please....please...please!?!

Posted by: chris Larry | August 11, 2006 at 09:18 AM

I'd change "Islamic terror networks" to just "terrorist networks."

I believe that part of the reason that the Democratic message has become so diluted is because on regional levels, the party's base has been polarized through urban sprawl. Politicians find themselves in the tough position of trying to please both an urban core constituency and the households, who as soon as they could afford to, fled the urban core.

I'd love to see the introduction of a metropolitan party. If the US political system was more open, I think you'd see elected officials from both camps sign up and shed the legacy obligations (big unions, religious right, etc.) of both the Democrats and the Republicans. Of course, the new party would probably end up having to be completely underwritten by NYC, LA, San Francisco and Chicago...

Posted by: MKM | August 11, 2006 at 07:32 PM

I wouldn't make the concession in "and yes, some wiretapping." Opponents of the NSA spying program aren't against wiretapping. Get a warrant, watch the bad guy, catch the bad guy, the more the better.

Opponents are against wiretapping without warrants and in general against government surveillance without legislative charter and judicial review.

Posted by: Adina Levin | August 12, 2006 at 12:21 PM

Of course, that assumes that the majority of voters is open to rational arguments. Which really is not the case - it is an old adage in politics that international conflict is great for diverting the populace from domestic problems.

Posted by: Robert 'Groby' Blum | August 12, 2006 at 03:13 PM

Um, didn't most of the Dems vote for the war in Iraq?

Posted by: Sir Winston O'Boogie | August 14, 2006 at 01:53 AM

Ha! I'm keeping Gatorade Bombing Plot in my arsenal of 'useful terms to keep from falling for this scare business'.

Posted by: marrije | August 14, 2006 at 04:36 AM

To be fair, you ought to repair the electrical grid in Baghdad since you destroyed it.

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