What's Happening in Washington?

Bill Moyers talks to Glenn Greenwald and Jay Rosen about Washington and the media, and how they are affecting Obama's presidency.

BILL MOYERS: What if all those people out there who supported Obama through the internet actually used that technology to send him a message? You know, ‘Wait a minute. This is going the wrong way. We expect more of you than this.’ What would happen?

GLENN GREENWALD: I think that's one of the things that's going to have to happen if Obama's going to do anything other than essentially blend into the permanent political class in Washington. [...] There was a website that was the sort of center of his campaign. And it was a conduit of lots of anger. And the campaign heard that. I think that's what's going to have to happen, is his supporters on whom he relies for his political power, are going to have to be the ones holding him accountable, by being angry and dissatisfied when he seems to be off the course that he promised he would stay on.

JAY ROSEN: During the age of mass media, the idea of one way, one to many communication, sunk very deeply into the political elites' sense of self. Broadcast the message. Send the message. What's the message? The great thing about the internet it that it runs two ways. It's just as good at enabling us to send messages to them as it is for them to tell us. And I think what people have to do is remember the internet runs two ways, and to use it to tell Washington what to do.

http://change.gov/content/home

http://www.whitehouse.gov/

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.