Politics for Brunch
Saturday, April 20th, 2002“If you’re from the representative’s home district, it’s not too hard to get a 15-minute appointment, whether you’re a big contributor or not.
“Have an open mind, respect the process, try to get rid of your preconceived notions. There’s a lot of things in politics to be cynical about, but you have to avoid the temptation to get too cynical too soon.
“A lot of people in the tech community are looking for the formula that produces the right results. But it’s not something where you pay your money and put in your input and a result pops out at the other end. People need to learn to trust you, that your advice is fair and straightforward.”
- Rick White, former US representative for Microsoft’s district and current head of TechNet, offers his advice for technical people who want to explain their points of view to Congress.
Doc took issue with my identifying him as a “liberal pacifist” in the story, saying he prefers “lily-livered libertarian.”
Doc, how about “left-leaning libertarian”? Certainly you’re not a right-leaning libertarian like P.J. O’Rourke, nor a more ideological libertarian like Virginia Postrel. I mean, I’ve never seen you argue that NPR should be privately funded. 
And, well, just read your own prolific writings.
Most important, you did say on September 11: “I am a pacifist,” adding that you applied for conscientious objector status during the Vietnam War. Given how much it meant to me on that most angry of days to read your opposition to more violence, I hope you don’t feel the need to take your words back now.
[UPDATE: Doc's response: "Labels suck," and he did indeed advocate privatizing NPR. I concede gladly.]
