Arianna Huffington - "The Internet and the Death of Rovian Politics"

Over at huffpo, Arianna herself has just posted a timely and well thought out article on why the internet has sounded the death knell for Karl Rove-style mudslinging.

Why? Because facts are too easily searchable now, and mud don't quite stick the way it used to.

Some choice cuts:

"Thanks to YouTube -- and blogging and instant fact-checking and viral emails -- it is getting harder and harder to get away with repeating brazen lies without paying a price, or to run under-the-radar smear campaigns without being exposed."

"... There is a diamond amidst all this dung: the lack of traction this Rovian politics is getting. It's as if Rove and his political arsonists keep lighting fires, only to see them doused by the powerful information spray the Internet has made possible."

Mmmmm. So tasty. In "Here Comes Everybody," Clay Shirky writes about how the societal effects of a new technology aren't really felt until ten years after the tech has become ubiquitous. Well, the internet has by no means reached a point of ubiquity and already we are seeing old systems and behaviors crumble.

So two questions: When will the internet reach "ubiquitousness"?
And, what else will disappear as it become ubiquitous?

We've seen the massive weakening of traditional media distribution, the rise of Pro-Amateurs in every major field, and now what could very well be a new age of transparency and accountability.

Politicians and citizens alike having to be careful when they tell lies and sling mud because everything they've said and done publicly is readily searchable? Whoah....

I'm all for it. If what you say and do are in sync, you've got nothing to worry about.

Here's the huffpo link.

Go Arianna!