Auf Wiedersehen, Petition
A cynic would argue that Downing Street’s new e-petition initiative fulfils two functions. Firstly, it corals the moaners, the complainers, the whingers, the dissidents, sceptics, cynics, and single issue yahoos all in one place. Got a gripe? Start a petition, fire and forget. Job done and don’t worry about writing to your newspapers or MP or starting a blog. Tony has listened.
Secondly, it builds, over time, a nice big database of said moaners, the complainers, the whingers, the dissidents, sceptics, cynics, and single issue yahoos. You have to give your details to sign up. Give false details? Well, that’s their excuse to dismiss your petition as the work of deceptive cranks.
A million people give or take marched against the war and a nice brisk walk was just about all the benefit they saw for their efforts. Let’s see how this baby is received.
For an encore we can all have a go at whistling in the dark. Any suggestions for tunes? ‘Song for the Deaf‘ by Queens of the Stone Age, perhaps?
Update: Essential.
Posted on November 15th, 2006 at 6:01 pm
| See also • July 7 petition • Not good enough - update • John Harris: The slow death of the Real Job is pulling society apart |
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…Secondly, it builds, over time, a nice big database of said moaners, the complainers, the whingers, the dissidents, sceptics, cynics, and single issue yahoos. You have to give your details to sign up. Give false details? Well, that’s their excuse to dismiss your petition as the work of deceptive cranks…
This is clearly the purpose for further down the track. And to think we almost fell for it. I’m lifting this paragraph above, if that’s OK, and posting on this now.
Fire away…
Just be ‘Mr Yoghurt’, for crying out loud. Who’s going to know? It’s a database. No one reads it.
I cannot access the “rejected petitions” list that is supposed to be available to view. I wonder why…
[...] John Reid will be green with envy. Time for another petition I think. And while on the petition page you may as well sign this one too (via Justin). [...]
[...] Mr Blair’s online grilling from voters — and other initiatives such as environment secretary David Miliband’s blog and Downing Street’s new online petition service […] showed the government was making good progress in using the internet to become more open and accountable [...]
[...] Whilst I share the cynicism expressed by Justin at Chicken Yoghurt, I decided it wouldn’t hurt to create a petition and see what happens. So I have created a petition on the Downing Street site asking for a full public inquiry into the London bombings of July 7. Downing Street contacted me today and informed me that my petition has been approved and is now on-line. [...]
A rather more successful petition than either the ‘official’ petition for an Inquiry into the London Bombings or the Downing Street version is here:
July 7th Release The Evidence Petition
Requires just a name and an email address. Please sign.