Ok. It just hit me. I just set myself up with the goal of blogging for each of the next 72 days about government information that will court and spark, to steal a line from Joni Mitchell, in order to get people excited about their constitutional structures and the best values of civic information.
What was I thinking?
So, here is what caught my eye today, from the Nov. 9, 2008 “After the Imperial Presidency” article in the NYTimes Sunday Magazine (http://www.nytimes.com/pages/magazine/index.html.) But it wasn’t just this article, there was another that, juxtaposed with the Presidency one — Check Cashers, Redeemed — that struck me there might be some lessons here about government information and neighborhood services.
In a very real sense the constitutional functions work because it requires the president and congress to exhcange trust and information — much like a bank’s liquidity — and either part of the relationship freezes up, or ignores the other — then we have severe information dislocation.
Libraries and other cultural institutions are like local branches in this national information exchange. The technology and social organization of these institutions should work hand in hand to keep the citizens constantly informed of what is happening inside their governing bodies.
Again, the opportunities are out, if we can just risk and grab at the opportunity.
Talk to you on Day 71 — an hope we start getting some two-way traffic going….
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