White House Blog? If Only!

Really smart Webhead David Weinberger muses about the possibility of the Obama White House blogging. Not Obama himself, mind you: with everything on Obama's plate, "If he has time to blog, he’s not paying attention." (Don't ask what that means about the rest of us blognuts!)

But Weinberger says a group blog of voices from the White House could be instructive and fun. Not some phony press-secretary whitewash, but the straight dope from people throughout the Administration. Weinberger recognizes this wouldn't be easy:

It’d take courage … and some grade-A metadata to remind people that bloggers speak more loosely than the press secretary does. But by having, say, a dozen in-house people blogging to start, the administration would have a unique way to keep citizens informed, would continue to build trust and intimacy with the American people, and would be able to try out and improve ideas in the cauldron of public conversation…for comments would definitely have to be turned on.

This may be a terrible idea. In any case, I think it is a very unlikely idea. The risk would be high: Political opponents would certainly seize on posts at every opportunity. But how long can we live in fear of being taken out of context? At some point, don’t we just have to trust the American people to understand that it’s important to be able to talk like human beings amongst ourselves? [David Weinberger, "Can the White House Blog?" Joho the Blog, 2008.11.10]

Inform citizens, promote conversation, speak like human beings amongst ourselves... that's what blogs are for. Blog.gov, White House Wag, The ObamaBlog... sounds cool! Barack, go for it!