Tim Wu's latest piece at Slate draws up a short list of tech policy priorities that an American president-elect ought to think about. They are:

1. appoint a broadband czar


2. create an FCC dream team


3. fix international tech policy


4. implement the technology of transparent government


5. find long term solutions for (a) immigration and (b) the patent system

He goes on to provide detail in each of these areas, mixing his analysis with an assortment of analogies linking Bush to Nero, Dracula and Brezhnev, respectively.

I enjoyed the article, but it left me thinking about where Barack Obama falls on these issues. Previous diaries on this site and other progressive bloggers like Matt Stoller have celebrated Obama's positions on technology - and for many good reasons. But there are still some areas where the candidate could stand to clarify his earlier statements and differentiate himself from his neoconservative and neoliberal predecessors.

[Tonight, I decided to take a little detour via the question of identity. This is a mix of blog post and original writing]

On February 27th, 2002, in the Indian town of Godhra, in the Gujarat state, 57 Hindus perished burned alive in a train, including 25 women and 14 children. Many of the Hindus passengers were coming home after meetings organized by Hindus nationalist parties. On the train, they had been harassing Muslim passengers. Right after the train had started rolling again, the emergency brake was pulled and the train stopped in a Muslim area where the car containing most Hindus was surrounded by approximately 2,000 Muslims who started throwing rocks and bottles filled with gasoline.

Following the incident, the head of the Gujarat government decided to have state funerals in the largest city. Local members of the Hindu nationalist parties saw an opportunity to promote their cause by playing on Muslim prejudice. On February 28th, with the complicity of the authorities, very well organized Hindus mobs turned on the Muslim population. When potential victims called the police for help, they were told "We have no order to save you." After several days of rioting, thousands lay dead, thousands wounded and more than 100,000 people became refugees (Jaffrelot, 2003).

 
Let's keep it simple.

Al Gore's primary message is simple.

Saving the only known platform for sustainable life in the currently known universe is NOW OUR IRREVOCABLE AND IMMEDIATE RESPONSIBILITY.