Individuals gathered in the virtual world of Second Life to hear the political analysis and opinions of Marcy Wheeler. She is known for her book titled “Anatomy of Deceit” and her live blogging of the Scooter Libby trail. Marcy has blogs at the Daily Kos and FireDogLake. Before her speaking event, Professor Blackmountain provided musical entertainment.

Marcy had some strong feelings for “Blue Dogs” who are more conservative than traditional Democrats due to the districts they were elected within. As a result, the Blue Dogs have become pivotal during the health care debate. “The end product of this is the blue dogs saying they can’t vote for this because their districts are conservative and this is a public option.  They get there because of these controversial town halls” said Marcy.

She shared a simple recommendation to people; talk to your representatives to impact the process. “This is one leg battle where citizens have some influence. Hopefully everyone is on their phones and talking to their legislators.”

“This is a piece of legislation where we may actually win” said Marcy. “It’s not that hard of an argument to make. We’ve become a Congress of cowards, backing down from any fight or principals.”

With that said, Marcy believed the economic state of the country along with the health care debate was leading to an unstable future unless drastic change was taken. “We are getting into a position where the middle class will become the debt serfs to corporations” she stated.

“I thought that the overall discussion was very good, but that in some ways it's disappointing that the debate is framed in terms of party bickering” said Coyote Longfall. “The bickering exists and is an important part of the discussion, but the issue with passage of the legislation is as much related to lobby and corporate interests”

“I think that there needs to be less emphasis on name calling - from both the right and the left.  The right is obvious about it, but the Democrats are being pretty snarky and superior lately, and it doesn't lend itself to solving the problem. Both sides need to take a step back, and use their political power in more effective ways.”

Marcy also shared her thoughts on the changes in the media over time. With the emergence of popular blogs, some perceive conflicts to exist with traditional media. “I don’t want to replace the New York Times or Washington Post; I see what I do as different. What I do long term doesn’t impact them.”

However she felt that unless they change, traditional media will have future problems. “If they don’t fix themselves, they won’t make it long term. They are where the auto industry was ten years ago.”

Second Life resident Avedon Sideshow shared her thoughts of the talk.  “It's so good to have someone like Marcy who can unpack everything so clearly. We need more people to be explaining that the current "plan" is actually a terrible idea.  The right-wing nuts may have the wrong end of the stick about this thing, but they're not wrong that no one is going to like this plan” she said.

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The Daily Planet SL: http://www.kryptonradio.com/

Marcy's Blogs: 

http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com

http://www.dailykos.com/user/uid:149