Library of Congress courtesy of wikipedia.org
Google sent out a 3-page, single-spaced summary of their revised terms of service the other day. Frankly, I’d rather read instructions for giving myself an enema. Plowing through the document’s legaleze is pointless. What voice do I have to make changes? None. Besides, Google assures me the new language will help customers understand what to expect… I already know what to expect. More advertising and increased liability.
…if you violate our terms, our remedies aren’t limited to suspension or termination of your service but may include other remedies under applicable law.
President Joe Biden rolled back several of Donald Trump’s digital trade policies, recently. That may be the reason for Google’s new terms. Civil rights organizations are giddy about the changes because Trump’s policies permitted tech companies to collect customers’ private information from their health providers, employers, and law enforcement agencies–information that could lead to discrimination in some communities. (“Bit Tech’s Big Meltdown Over A Big Consumer Policy Win On Trade,” by Owen Leary and Sarah Stevens, Public Citizen, March/April 2024, pg. 6)
Naturally, these civil rights groups want Biden to do more. They worry about ways the military will use Artificial Intelligence, (AI) for example. Writer Savannah Wooten warns that automated systems could launch nuclear weapons without input from field commanders. Also, battlefield deep fakes–AI-generated reports, and documents–could wreak havoc in the fog of war.
The challenges that lie ahead for the country are many, but Biden’s broom hasn’t been idle. Other of Trump’s policies have been swept away, including those touching upon religion. To his credit, the President repealed Trump’s rule that allowed faith-based charities to withhold assistance to the poor depending upon their religious affiliation. (“Nine Agencies Finalize Religious Liberty Rule,” FFRF, April 2004, vol 41 No 3, pg. 6.)
Voters have much to contemplate in the 2024 election about the direction of the nation. The media prides itself on its role of informing the public, but mostly their headlines are scary. “The Country is Divided.” “Democracy is at Stake.” “America is on the Edge of Civil War.”
Republicans and Democrats campaign with similar urgency, spinning dystopian visions of the future should they fail to win the White House. How real or chimerical these visions are, I don’t know. But this November, voters will make decisions that could lead to outcomes as different as Texas chili and vanilla ice cream.
My guess is that a majority of voters prefer to end rancor and stalemate in government. We have seen the absurdity of asking Ukraine to defend itself with spitballs against the Russian army. What’s more, few of us want to become Putin’s satellite. If the country can’t heal its philosophical divide, a majority can make government functional by voting a straight ticket. They have a choice between a red or a blue wave.
I predict the choice will be blue. Marjorie Taylor Greene and the MAGA wing of Republicans seem to be losing their grip on the party. Last week, House Speaker Mike Johnson, an extremist who orchestrated the January 6 insurrection, chose to plow new political ground. Rather than sustain a stalemate, he joined forces with Democrats to move key issues. He will do it again to save his speakership.
In broader terms, I suspect humanity is growing tired of Hammurabi’s code of an eye for an eye. Benjamin Netanyahu may wish to drink the last drop of Palestinian blood, but a majority of us hunger for peace and the rule of law.
Even without a majority in the U. S. House of Representatives, Biden and Democrats have been effective in their quest for social and economic progress. If polls are credible, many undecided voters, dubious at first of Biden’s candidacy, have begun to feel the benefits of his leadership. I predict that by November, a majority of them will join the blue wave.
Am I a Pollyanna? Maybe so, even though I hunger for more and faster progress. I won’t hide my bias or pose as a conservative. If I were president, I would run the country like a library—a place where the whole of human knowledge resides and the sign above the door reads, “Ya All Come!”
