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PrintMay 13, 2010
Obama; Free yourself from distractions - like information
Obama's "million-mouthed dog," Organizing for America (OFA), was especially busy the week leading up to Obama's commencement address at Hampton University on May 9, in which he bemoaned information technology as "a distraction, a diversion, a form of entertainment."
On May 6, the OFA blog encouraged its 13 million supporters to engage in the "fun" technology of the President's twitter account:
One of the great features of Twitter is the ability to create lists of people or organizations you follow. It's a fun and useful way to organize the jumble of information that arrives in your Twitter home page each day and to find new accounts to follow based on common interests or associations.Then on May 7, OFA director Mitch Stewart asked members to "speak out" with a bark "too loud to ignore," saying: "We want to overwhelm the phone lines of Republican senators, who are threatening to stand in the way of Wall Street reform." With a click on a link and the input of a zip code, members could easily locate phone numbers, view a suggested script, and report back to headquarters on their progress.
Currently President Obama's Twitter account includes a list that links you to the local Organizing for America accounts for all 50 states. You can find a lot of helpful information here to get involved in supporting the President's agenda for change, tailored specifically to your home state...
More than 66,000 Twitter users have added President Obama to their lists. If you haven't already, add @BarackObama to one of your own.
OFA threw a bone (or perhaps a tug on the leash?) to supporters the day before the commencement on May 8 with another weekly, specially-produced video address by Obama entitled: "Heath Reform Starts to Kick In." As a special treat, slow-learners could read along with the captioning provided at the bottom of the screen.
Obama, in his commencement speech, warned graduating Hampton students:
...[Y]ou're coming of age in a 24/7 media environment that bombards us with all kinds of content and exposes us to all kinds of arguments, some of which don't always rank that high on the truth meter. And with iPods and iPads; and Xboxes and PlayStations -- none of which I know how to work -- (laughter) -- information becomes a distraction, a diversion, a form of entertainment, rather than a tool of empowerment, rather than the means of [epantsapation].Recall back in the early days of this never-ending campaign how strongly Obama feels about these "distractions."
Obama further counseled Hampton graduates:
With so many voices clamoring for attention on blogs, and on cable, on talk radio, it can be difficult, at times, to sift through it all; to know what to believe; to figure out who's telling the truth and who's not.Americans must need a "Truth Czar," like Cass Sunstein, to ensure this information is provided by only approved and licensed breeders.
In the meantime, we can only hope that pesky teleprompter receives better spelling training. Unless "epantsapation" was just some sort of distracting computer glitch.
Following his Hampton address, Obama emailed another special video message to the kennel to ask for support of his nomination of Elena Kagan to the Supreme Court.
Heel, America.
