Friday, June 05, 2009

Rarely Is The Question Asked Is Our Politicians Computer-Literate?



It's always amusing when politicians get all optimistic and futuristic and talk about things they have only the fuzziest understanding about. With just a few exceptions (Herbert Hoover, Jimmy Carter, maybe Al Gore), when it comes to technology, they're all C students.

In the 60's, LBJ drove NASA engineers to bang their foreheads on the wall when he described how their beloved moon rockets worked, but it was all a labor of love, wasn't it? Ronald Reagan never understood Star Wars, of course, or why it could never work, while nevertheless spending billions on it. And, of course, Al Gore loves the Internet!

Today's technology-challenged pol is Minnesota's Norm Coleman:
"In the end, we need to compete, as I've said before, we need to compete in each and every kind of forum," said Coleman. "And whether it's on the ground traditionally, or today it's in -- it's in the ethernet. It's in the -- you know, it's online. It's in the blogs, it's Twitter, it's Facebook, and the next iteration."
Despite the cramped conditions, if Norm Coleman wants to climb into my computer's cabling and compete in there, then the more power to him! Better that, than his current quixotic efforts to keep Al Franken from taking his rightful place in the U.S. Senate.

No comments:

Post a Comment