A few nights ago PBS ran a great program on Watergate 30 Years After. They interviewed many of the primary players looking at events from the perspective that 30 years provides.
One of the interesting points was that those involved in the Nixon crimes were people of high personal virtue -- they didn't smoke, didn't drink, didn't chase the opposite sex, etc. But they had no morals when it came to the public sphere. There seemed to be no limits to what they would do to win a political battle. One reporter noted how those in the administration would just lie and lie and lie with absolutely no compunction. If caught in a lie they would just lie some more. They bribed, they bullied, they falesly prosecuted, they blackmailed, they burgled, they ruined people's lives. Watching the show I sadly noted that those were the good old days. It is worse today. As you see from the snippet below, you just can't engage Jeff in any serious discussion. "Evil, stupid and/or ignorant, dishonest, sleazy" indeed. And so very sad. He is a smart guy, but isn't willing to work with it. >No, no Rev, you've got it all wrong. >Your side is brilliant, honest, forthright, righteous, of the highest ethics >and above reproach. >The other side is evil, stupid and/or ignorant, dishonest, sleazy and always >up to something no good. This discussion is not really "off topic." This is an attempt to examine a decisionmaking process that is central to any discussion of how we use technology. It is key to thinking about DMCA, net neutrality, defective software security, false market statistics, etc. If we can't honestly examine the data, we can't honestly come to valid conclusions, and we can't effectively plot a future course. ************************************************************************ * ==> QUICK LIST-COMMAND REFERENCE - Put the following commands in <== * ==> the body of an email & send 'em to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <== * Join the list: SUBSCRIBE COMPUTERGUYS-L Your Name * Too much mail? Try Daily Digests command: SET COMPUTERGUYS-L DIGEST * Tired of the List? Unsubscribe command: SIGNOFF COMPUTERGUYS-L * New address? From OLD address send: CHANGE COMPUTERGUYS-L YourNewAddress * Need more help? Send mail to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ************************************************************************ * List archive at www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ * RSS at www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/maillist.xml * Messages bearing the header "X-No-Archive: yes" will not be archived ************************************************************************
