Last week, the moderators put up in the News Section their desire for you to put a short video together for YouTube. They're running their debate for the Republican candidates, and they mysterious powers-that-be thought it would be cool if someone at U4Prez got their video, asking the candidates a question, used at the debate, and hence shown all over the world on cable television.
I'm awaiting the moderators to announce Kempite's video won yet again, most likely because the moderators will only support a video made by the hand-picked president himself. Hedrick, Lucky, Mejico, anyone else wanting to take a crack at this, don't even waste your time, it's Kempite, or it's no one.
I thought it would be pertinent to turn the tables on this one. Instead of acting like adoring fans, why don't we have these kind of questions asked right here, for the U4Prez candidates to answer? You all are running for President, am I right? Then maybe YOU should get the opportunity to answer such questions.
In this spirit, I pose the following question to all candidates at U4Prez:
QUESTION: There has been some talk concerning a U4Prez Constitution to be written after the general election in November. If you are elected President, what do you think your role in writing such a Constitution should be, and, as a follow up, what is one thing you would definitely want to see put into this Constitution?
Maybe I should have addressed this to Kempite personally. As much as I believe he has been, and continues to be, the largest recipient of moderator favoritism, and there is a firm base of evidence to support this and the "fix", in not wanting to crush everyone's spirit and to actually have fun with the concept, I address the question to all of U4Prez. All are invited to answer this as a comment on this blog or in an email or message to me.
As for me, let me deliver my own answer.
Ever since I brought up the idea of a U4Prez Constitution, everyone I've talked to on the subject not only thinks it's a good idea, they can't wait to get started on it. I truly hope these people are brainstorming ideas, because if and when I do return after the general election, I want to jump in with both feet and really take this on. This is important, because it will be a document letting not only the Internet on the whole where we stand as a community and how we solve the problems we face, it will also tell the moderators what we expect from U4Prez as a website.
There are problems at U4Prez, some are trivial, like being unable to delete a frikkin photo without moderator approval, and some are major, like having a reliable system for counting votes that all candidates can understand. Some of the issues that face us, we can handle ourselves; issues of conduct, harassment, and anything of that nature, I believe we can police ourselves, and we should all take a more active role in such endeavors. But there are other items we simply have no or little control over.
A Constitution would change that. It would lay down a structure through which we as candidates can solve our own problems, can make the moderators more responsive to our needs, and can make U4Prez the sort of vibrant place it was once and could be again.
I am not running for President this year, but were I to win the Presidency in November, I would oversee the creation of a Constitution Convention, much like the conventions when the Articles of Confederation and the U.S. Constitution were written in the 1780's. It would involve all party leaders, past and present, all primary winners, and any other agreed-upon candidates at the party leaders' discretion. I would say, if we got at least the thirty most involved candidates at U4Prez to take part in this, we could create such a Constitution by January 2008, should we start a week after the general election of November 2007.
The role of the President would be to PRESIDE, not to write it herself. She would be the one to set the tone, to organize, to be at the center of the tempest, to calm candidates down, to organize committees and oversee debates. She would also be the one to frame the Constitution to her making, either making it resemble the US Constitution, or to come up with something entirely different. As the Convention wore on, the President would be organizing votes on given sections, piecing these sections together, and at long last, offering a draft the Convention can vote on as a whole.
As in real life, the President does not write law. Legislation begins in committees in the House and Senate. Such committees would do the actual hard work of penning this Constitution. The President can promote some of her agenda, assist the committees, but in the end, these committees would do the nuts-and-bolts work.
One issue I would definitely want addressed in such a Constitution would be vote reform, how votes are cast, how ratings are configured, and more importantly, how votes are counted in a fair, transparent way. Such a process should be made easy to understand, so there is no more wondering how one candidate can beat another under whatever cockamamie condition. It would demand the moderators make the voting process clear to all candidates as they sign up, the moderators no longer surprise us with whimsical changes to the process, they no longer act as if they can make it up as they go, and most importantly, such a process can be challenged.
Ratings are one thing, but however ratings are created, they need to not change at the drop of a hat, with no explanation.
Vote count reform, though, would be my prime issue as President. If we can't trust elections, then what's the point in playing democracy? If no one understands the process, it can only turn to chaos, which is the status quo. If the moderators can change the system in the middle of a run-off, then you can hardly blame me for bringing up favoritism and the fix. Unless there is a designated place where the vote count system is posted, easily accessible to all and easily understood by all, it is subject to corruption and manipulation.
As you can see, such a Constitution would force the moderators to be much more open and honest in how they determine run-off leaders, instead of merely announcing winners at their convenience, producing numbers no one really understands. Such openness would promote trust in the process. A well-written Constitution would state not only how the candidates demand such votecounts to be done, but also what will happen when the moderators blow it, and how the candidates can challenge the results. With transparency, however, I would like to think almost all elections would be considered legitimate, but in cases where a vote is suspect, the Constitution would have guidelines as to what should happen in such an event, and what we demand the moderators do to rectify the situation.
In short, WE have the power to make law for U4Prez and to enforce it.
I'm not saying we should have three branches of government, a bicameral legislature, yada yada. But I am saying, we should have a system in place whereby we can solve crises ourselves, where we work with the moderators, and the President will have a role in upholding and defending this Constitution. How the President does this will go a long way to whether or not she will be re-elected next year, because such a President would have the chance to put some of their principles to practice. Hence, the President is not just someone who won a contest. The President actually will have responsibilties according to the Constitution we all write together.
But this is all speculation, my own daydreaming from my own question.
I encourage all candidates to challenge one another and ask of themselves these kind of questions, not just go around and around ober Washington politics, but the politics within the U4Prez world. How would you solve the problems U4Prez itself faces, were you to actually be elected President in this little world of ours? I offer up the question I posed for you to consider, and I hope to get some sort of feedback on what I ponied up.
And if you've thought up some questions to ask U4Prez candidates, this is the place to bring them up. Never mind the big boys and their canned responses, you know what they'll say, there's no real surprises there. But you've been at U4Prez for a while, you know it for what it is. If you were in a position to improve it, what would you do? What kind of questions would you pose to those candidates who have won a primary and are in a position to win it all? How would YOU answer these sort of questions?
Feel free to comment plentifully on this one.
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Olivia of Arc
My thanks to TheWiz
17 comments:
I don't know about how "We the people" are supposed to take control of a website designed for one purpose. That is Viral Marketing.
Since I was blocked from the site, I was clicking around the U4prez back pages trying to use a proxy server and figured out that Intralink is just a viral marketing group that does work for U4prez, or the other way around.
What Viral marketing is, is explained here through definitions: Viral marketing and viral advertising refer to marketing techniques that use pre-existing social networks to produce increases in brand awareness, through self-replicating viral processes, analogous to the spread of pathological and computer viruses. It can be word-of-mouth delivered or enhanced by the network effects of the Internet. [1] Viral marketing is a marketing phenomenon that facilitates and encourages people to pass along a marketing message voluntarily.[2] Viral promotions may take the form of funny video clips, interactive Flash games, advergames, images, or even text messages.
Whether the website cares about us or not is not as important as using US as a bunch of viruses to use the brand name to advertise for the site freely. So basically we are just useful sandwich boards infecting the internet with U4PREZ tattoed on our asses for the whole world to see.
Of course this works both ways. How many people would see a "Wiz" or "Olivia" video or click on our websites without getting the same exposure from the website that is the host virus.
We need to use this simple fact as a means of hedging bets against the system and the mods. If there was a "Union" of people ready and willing to drop the U4prez tags from their radio shows, blogs, video links, web pages...the infection would stop and the mother virus would have to capitulate to our demands.
Of course there are going to be brown nosers and weaklings that just wanna use this as a chat room. It was sold as some kind of virtual net campaign experience, maybe in the first few months it was allowed to run that way...with people intrested in forming caucus, committees, partisan groups and workable parties.
Does the site really care if we do these serious things or if we just spread the message around, so the advertisers get "juiced"?
What is lacking in participating in such serious participation is the lack of "pay back" by the site itself for good deeds.
What if people actually running for some sort of office like KT, Ferguson or Faustus got their platform link on the main page for a few days like Kempite did for winning a silly video contest. That would up the level of seriousness, so that its just not about playing a game of "Dungeons and Politics", that what we do on the site actually matters in real life.
But first things first...is the policy of how people are dealt with by the moderators themselves. As you said Olivia, you would want the "new government" make these decisions in a forum of our peers to make or break a persons profile or existance on the site. As you were once and I was twice "booted" by the mods for their reasons and other people complaining. It was the at sole discretion of the moderators. If people had to face a judgment of their peers for violations, perhaps they would not be so inclined to martyr themselves and only get to hear the lamentations of the people after the fact.
This is where the executive branch would come in to dole out punishment. If we had a wimpy president, that would allow "anything goes", the people would demand justice. If we had a dictator that kicked out people for "farting", the people would revolt. That would make the job of President really interesting.
As I see it now, there is only one winner and that is the President, according to the site rules. He or She would have to decide probably how much power to hand over to the coming beurocracy. So not to get blamed for making decisions for themselves. Maybe this will grow into different branches for that reason alone.
If you were President Olivia, I could see this happening. Hopefully some jackass doesn't get elected just to use the postion of President for showing off.
Good thread, I hope more people respond.
P.S.
I have access to the site now and will use my Donny profile to vote. Hint hint...write in candidates in October.
The Wiz formally known as Donny, now known as Donny.
Wiz,,,, donny,,, what ever the hell you go by.
you are correct as to the viral marketing of u4prez. that is why i do not participate in any of the contest with any entusiasm since it is really silly to spend hours upon hours working on this little "contest" for $1,000!
my only compliant with U4Prez is they need to make the prize $100,000 so as to make it worth while to spend time on such items.
as far as a constitution,,,, let me know when Myspace or Facebook plan on instituting such a notion.
for u4prez is a privately operated site that is open to the public, for free. if you don't like how the bartender makes you drink do you demand reparations from the bar owner?
nope.
if you go to a baseball game and don't like the outcome, do you call the owner and expect a refund of what you spent?
nope.
you can not dictate to a privately owned site what they should or shouldn't do. they have a terms of service and that is as close as you will get to your constitution.
good luck pissing in the wind
First off Big Daddy, your claim to fame of not spending hours on making videos is not offset by the amount of time you spend chatting on the site...Posting other peoples videos from youtube, that either have to do with Ron Paul or another Jib Jab video about Chuck Norris karate. You waste plenty of time there.
Why would you poo poo an idea from Olivia about forming a Constitution on a site that claimed to be a participatory politics site?
Why? Because you have fallen prey to your own fallacy of accepting whimsy for work.
So you continue to go to the bar where the drinks are watered down, just because they yell "NORM" when you walk through the door.
This thing was not billed as facebook, myspace or rate my "camel toe". But it is turning into that, because of plain apathy or according to you, lack of incentive from the book of Ferengi. No profit means no bother.
Just because Olivia cares more about the ideal of the site than the "owners" do...does not make any attempt to discuss or debate such concepts as chalked up to delusions of grandeur.
So try to come up with some ideas, instead of falling back into your old ways of malignant pessimism, Big Daddy.
As for my ideas for a Constitution, or form of government. I do not believe that a the US form of government through three branches of government would work for internet sites. I would prefer a caste system or system of tribes, where the users would form into Caucus focus groups. The groups would send representitives to the Supreme Council, like the Council of Nicea, to determine vote for the major changes to the site programming.
The reason I prefer this is that the internet is basically tribal in nature. And it hasn't changed much since I started on Compuserve in 1993. Since we are not forced to live with each other, we choose our friends and leaders based on common intrests. As I see it U4prez is not that different.
Imagine if all the younger guys that like to hang around with each other were able to form a group and have represtitive voting, they wouldn't be set asside so much. Or women's caucus had representitive voting, maybe all the women wouldn't leave, because this has become "The Man Show".
Imagine no 3 party system...its easy if you try...
Hey catchy tune.
The Wiz, ergo The Donny
That was funny lol
Bum= smacked. lol Go to bed wif no suppah.
Donny, thank you for your completely useless rhetoric,,,,
It really means nothing and as I said, the site is privately owned. Therefore they owners of the site have the "Bundle of Rights" that allow them to do as they see fit.
Not someone they threw off after accussing the owner of soliciting homosexual acts!
I would also like to take this oppurtunity to encourage everyone to sign the petition. It is a complete waste of time as it will never work. Also, Eric Gurr signed it three times,,,,,,,, really?
One again you have a constitution, it is the terms of service that you aggree to when you sign up,,, to give it some ridicilous name is unnecassary.
"Users may have the account suspended or deleted for threatening or inappropriate behaviour." I wonder if this applies to the utter destruction of the English language. If so I fear for your account BD.
Alas, Daddy, again, you are wrong. U4Prez is not a private site, it is a CORPORATE site, designed solely to generate revenue for itself and its partners, hence, the viral marketing.
You're absolutely right, Daddy, if I go to a bar that mixes me a weak vodka and tonic, I easily move on. If that bar, however, has a campaign out there to market itself as the mixer of the best vodka and tonic in history, and I watch them water it down, I'm not only going to walk out, I am going to tell everyone else to stop going there and challenge those of my friends why they continue to go there if they run such a shoddy place. Were it one of those places who knew me well and relied on the clientele I brought in, and then I yanked it away from them, I think that bar might have a thing or two to reconsider.
U4Prez is selling democracy. Whether you truly care about such a item or not, Daddy, that's on you. If this is just another message board to you, why have you bothered to make videos in the past, or construct the VRWC, or set yourself up as Kempite's nut-sniffing bloodhound? There's something different and special about U4Prez, and while you and your Hard Right thugs are doing everything you can to suck the life out of it, I'd like to think there are a handful of us who truly want something other than apathy, partisan hackery, roving thugs, and favoritism.
I don't expect you to be a hero, Daddy, you are the opposite. You are a goon.
Trust me, though, if Kempite and Mduminiak had come up with the concept of the U4Prez Constitution as a way to correct the problems of U4Prez ourselves, Daddy would be all over everyone, making sure they were participating, and browbeating anyone who opposed such a notion.
Then again, that's petty partisanship for you. Gotta love it.
Now, if Daddy thinks it's a crappy idea, he has every right in the world to not be a part of it. He even has the right to chime in and say it's a stupid idea. That's democracy, and he has every right to say such a thing, just as I have the right to call him a traitor to the very ideals of democracy. He can wipe his ass with the Constitution if he wants, which is fine, he would do the same to the real one in DC.
And, of course, such a Constitution would have pretty much no weight without the involvement and consent of many others, including Kempite when he is officially coronated.
So, Daddy, if you side with trying to kill democracy, that's your business. Try to convince everyone how giving the candidates some degree of power to solve the problems at U4Prez itself is a bad thing for them. If you think holding the moderators accountable is somehow a vicious thing, keep promoting it as such. If doing something that would keep everyone involved and create a structure through which we can maintain U4Prez's integrity in its voting systems is detrimental to the health of U4Prez, go ahead and try to sell it.
I equate the "this is a private site" argument to the tired old patriotic fart line "America--love it or leave it". It didn't work in the 60's when Archie was saying it to Meathead, and it's not going to work when BigDaddy says it to Olivia.
I think you better check with your masters before you start tearing down such an idea. You never know, they might actually like the idea. You don't want them to kick you to the curb for having a mind of your own, do you? You don't want them to hear anything from you but the smooching sound of puckered lips on Kempite's ass, would you?
Before you cry out against a Constitution, like the Tory that you are, make sure you've got the King's consent. If you would rather live under the divine right of a monarchy, you promote your idea, and I will promote mine.
Fuck, at the end of the day even Bush still talks about Iraq's democracy and living up to their constitution. If it's good enough for a dullard like Dubya and a nation on the other side of the planet, why isn't it good enough for a couple thousand candidates on a website?
It's ironic that Bush is making Iraq lives up to their constitution when he ignores ours.
Atticus,,, can't you find a fact to dispute my statements. It would be a nice change of pace for you, an admitted socialist.
Anyway, the corparation that holds the "bundle of rights" for U4Prez.com is a privately held company.
Since I myself have incorporated my business and you "arm chair" business persons have not, I believe I know a little bit more than you. The simple fact that you can not comprehend what is privately owned and open to the public from what is publicly owned and open to the public, demonstrates your lack of intelligence on the subject.
Now, if you own a bowling alley and their was a man making your female customers feel uneasy, you have every right to request they leave.
If you are publicly owned, you may not remove anyone unless there is a suspicion of criminal activity.
Once again, the U4Prez.com site is not going to offer a constitution above the terms of service you agree to when you sign up. Just for shits and giggles, I bet that there is a clause in the terms of service that allows them to change any and all contest or rules and regulations regarding use of the site.
Because if you ever read a contract, you would know that an owner always reserves the right to change conditions into their favor.
In the future, use facts. It will make your arguements more effective and be a nice change from your time on U4Prez.
P.S. The petition will not work, for the reasons above. Also, keep slamming the site, their lawyers will end up contacting you, companies don't like it when their product is maligned in public.
Daddy has stated his position, that he is 100% against a Constitution for U4Prez, therefore he is against democracy, all for corruption and negligence, and cares about no one but himself.
I've come to one irrefutable truth in my time watching American politics, and that has held true at U4Prez. The ones talking the biggest game about morality are generally the ones with the worst morality behind closed doors. The ones who demand facts the loudest are the ones who can't produce facts themselves. The ones who want the worst to be seen as serious are the ones cheating the most. The ones who talk the loudest about the obsession of others are the ones who are the most obsessed.
Daddy, your game might be tired and worn-out at U4Prez, and I don't think anyone takes you seriously anymore. But you are always welcome to come here and lick your ass like the dumb dog that you are, holding a sign that says "Because I can!" You are always allowed to speak your little mind, no matter how raw your lips are from kissing Kempite's blistered ass. You can scream all you want about the ridiculous nature of a Constitution, you really can. And you can piss on it after it's written, and the moderators are working at a more efficient pace, and elections are valid once again, and U4Prez returns to its former vibrancy. Even if you are against it, you know something, you'll still be allowed to enjoy it, because THAT'S America, motherfucker! Not corporations. It's people forming democratic means to solve the issues they face.
And if you have a problem with that, you are a pretty sorry excuse for an American. I don't care if you're for or against a Constitution. Just don't go around calling others morons for thinking, just maybe, we could do it.
Once again more rhetoric and not a fact based arguement,,,,
Hahahahaha
Get a clue about what ou are talking about before you spout your anti American socialism.
Also, try and dispute my claims when I post fact based reasoning to dispute your statements.
Reread Paragraph #2 of my last message, you putz.
More Rhetoric,,,, no facts, as always.
Read my original post and my second post.
Moron
Blah blah blah, BigDaddy. Keep calling people names. Keep demanding facts when you don't pony them up yourself. Keep irritating folks, that is what you stand for.
See, I know why I'm here, writing this blog. I haven't figured out why you're here, what the objective is. Are you expecting me to say, oh no, I didn't use enough facts for BigDaddy, I should go slit my wrists in anguish of being called out? Is that the expectation?
Or maybe I was indeed right, U4Prez has had enough of you there, so you're taking your act out on the road.
Tell you what. When you have something to offer other than gameplaying and bullshit, when you can present yourself in a way other than a sugared-up five-year-old running around the laundromat screaming because your mother can't handle your ADD, perhaps I will engage you. Until then, expect little more than me kicking you off of my shin. That icky spot you leave on everyone's pantleg after you pleasure yourself, you might call that political prowess, but the rest of the human race calls it what it is--dog spooge.
What is really humorous is the fact that you sit here and tell me that I am calling people names, then refer to me with derogatory statements.
As always, you are your own personal cotradiction.
Once again, you do not dispute the facts that I stated and only continue to spout useless rhetoric.
You prove me right with every comment you post.
Thank you.
That's it, keep running in circles.
I certainly hope you've taken me off of your block list, coward. Don't worry, I'm not coming back until November, so you have two months to shiver in fear like the coward that you are, wondering how you're going to hang with Olivia. Count the days, babycakes.
You really need to learn from the rest of your counterparts, toots. Kempite took me on and burst into flames at least two different times. Mduminiak has proven himself a complete hypocrite and is a shell of his former self. Hawk is smart enough to keep his distance, and Iron Lady has no asses left to kiss. Do you really want to try this, declare war on Olivia like these other boneheads did, only to prove yourself the stark-raving maniac with no scruples, no originality, and nothing to offer U4Prez except a lot of REALLY tired-out freeper bullshit?
Hey, you want to waste your candidacy on this, it's your business. I'll leave it up to the U4Prez world to deal with you on your own level. Don't blame me for your own destruction, I warned you when you put the gun to your own head to not pull the trigger.
That is my last word on the subject of BigDaddy's hated of democracy and his humping my leg with the same horny fury that he's shown on Wiz's and Copulate's. Anything you have to say on the subject will be deemed irrelevant, because it doubt you'll offer anything more than repetition. Can you at least be a little entertaining when you repeat yourself? Can't you use your vocabulary--you do know there's more than the same 200 words in English you utter on a daily basis, right? If nothing else, when you say the same tired thing, can you say it in a way that would make someone want to read it? Maybe in an Arnold Schwarzenegger accent, or like a valley girl, you know, like, as if you were, oh my god, like, able to speak the language, oh my god!
Show me something new, like a life. Freeper bullshit was so 2004.
Olivia,
I whipped your ass before, I while whip your ass again and this time I want to be paid for it!
Now, as I stated earlier, repeatedly, and you have failed to dispute with factual information. U4Prez will not have a constitution, for no other reason than a private company will not usurp the "bundle of rights" they have with a constitution.
Okay, produce any logical arguement that counters my point and I would be glad to consider it. Otherwise, your just throwing names out and propaganda;
"That is my last word on the subject of BigDaddy's hated of democracy" I geuss that was hatred?
So when you come back to promote your socialist agenda, be sure to be prepared for the truth to smack you in the face.
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