Last night the first phase of the Open Gov Initiative came to a close. The brainstorming session on improving intra-governmental efficiency has drawn to a close. What was the result?
The site, found here is rife with right-wingers, voting down legitimate ideas and spamming the discussion board with calls for Obama's BIRTH CERTIFICATE!
Where was the Liberal/Progressive blogosphere as these peons vandalized and tarnished the conduit through which this Administration hopes to solicit ideas from the public?
Seriously! Now I am just as guilty as anybody else, I marginally participated. But I am as angry at myself as I am at the individuals who felt that instead of contributing constructively to the conversation about reforming our government, they would spam and clog up the board with this NONSENSE!
Was it this tarnishing of the board that turned so many of us away from constructively participating? If so, where was the coordinated response? Are we content to sit on our hands and wait to see if Obama saves the day, or are we going to actively shape our own destinies?
This Open Government Initiative is this Administration's attempt merge citizen participation and collaboration with the "new reality." The right-wingers and nut-jobs are out in force, they are active, and they are apparently coordinated. So my question to EVERYONE is, where are the troops? Who will defend this Administration? Who will defend the new government we hope to create?
PLEASE! Go to the site and continue to vote down the offensive, off-the-wall ideas that do nothing but hamper the progress we all hope to achieve!
Open Government Initiative