Randy Paul runs a great blog that specialises in Latin America, but he has dug up a quote from American founding father James Madison that might be (or should be) the guiding motto of political blogging:
“A popular Government, without popular information, or the means of acquiring it, is but a Prologue to a Farce or a Tragedy; or, perhaps both. Knowledge will forever govern ignorance: And a people who mean to be their own Governors, must arm themselves with the power which knowledge gives.”
Yes, despite the fact that it sometimes looks more like a contact sport than knowledge governing ignorance, there is much in the blogosphere to enlighten us.
Jason Soon talks plainly on a number of topics including the economics of open source software and the pros and cons of a flat tax.
Indonesia had elections this week and Alan at Southerly Buster covered it in a number of posts, including this analysis of the results. Keep scrolling down the page for more. Also on Indonesia watch was The Swanker, who gives the latest counting here, and discusses some of the background issues here.
Before Iraq there was Afghanistan and after Iraq there will still be Afghanistan, as Martial reminds us in this series of posts that are a diary account of his recent visit there:
“It is my impression that the Taliban, at long last and two years late, are on their last legs. It is crucial to not let them off the hook this time. But, as good as that news is, it is important to be prepared for the violence which is likely to break out once the Taliban are known to be broken.”
This sort of firsthand account is priceless, and Martial headed back to Afghanistan on Monday so there will no doubt be more blogging on the topic.
Seeing we have a bit of theme going here about blogs as sources of political knowledge, it is definitely worth mentioning Simon’s post about the Chinese government trying to ban blogs.
In local politics, Chris Sheil wondered if there was trouble in paradise for Mark Latham and continued his invaluable series, the Shorter Gerard Henderson. Steve Edwards had a close look at Latham’s recent foreign policy speech and concludes, amongst other things, that “it is mostly a rehashing of old Keating era slogans based on some outdated premises about how global and regional ‘institutions’ ought to work.”
Rob Corr pointed out the idiocies in the voting system used in the recent NSW local elections and also caught Peter Costello out in another case of phoney GST scaremongering.
Gary Sauer-Thompson, who often covers environmental issues in detail, tells us that Wilson Tuckey is “placing barriers to the public policy shift to a sustainable Australia.” And speaking of “sustainability” Keith Suterexpands the concept.
Internationally, it was all Iraq all of the time as violence surged. The growing unrest prompted John Quiggin to argue that “that the most plausible option for a stable allocation of power in Iraq is a de facto two-state solution in which the Kurds get effective autonomy and a share of the oil and the rest of Iraq gets a government which will be dominated by the Shiites.”
I had some follow up thoughts on John’s comments at my place.
But really, the most informed comment about Iraq comes from a Juan Cole who says:
It seems inevitable to me that the US military will pursue a war to the death with the Army of the Mahdi, the Sadrist movement, and Muqtada al-Sadr himself. They will of course win this struggle on the surface and in the short term, because of their massive firepower. But the Sadrists will simply go underground and mount a longterm guerrilla insurgency similar to that in the Sunni areas.”
As the blogs of the right will probably seek to portray all this as nay-saying and gloommungering, let me point out that the Iraqi Olympic team has a new logo. Yay!
On a gentler note, Boynton continues her endless search for meaning and introduces us to this handy engine for discovering what ails you. James Russell reproduces a comment that explains the internet and alsofarewells David and Margaret from SBS.
Barista is briefly interested in Robert Mitchum’s bum and also recommends Realtime, while the Living Room continues its series of blogtips, which are becoming an invaluable resource for new bloggers.
Finally, Meg Lees is continues to lead the way for bloggin politicians. But she should get serious and add a comments facility.