Tuesday, October 09, 2007

avatar of Newt

Part of the problem, part of the solution--'60s cant. Yet, saying just that, our old friend Newt Gingrich is back, not apparently running for President, but launching a new project he thinks is going to solve our problems. It's called "American Solutions". For some reason - unclear to me even though I've read two articles about it - Newt felt it was important to go into a virtual space to announce the project and "discourse" with Americans. He chose Second Life, where I myself have an avatar (in a thus far failed attempt to locate virtual poetry readings and see if it's a good venue for the Writers House). Sarah Posner of AlterNet has written about Newt in Second Life, and here's a paragraph from her story:

This past weekend, it was the "virtual" incarnation of Newt that was on display. Just days before it turned out that another manifestation -- Gingrich the presidential candidate -- was but a flicker that would fail to light the way for a fractured conservative movement, Gingrich's avatar was making an exclusive appearance in the virtual reality world called Second Life. Like in Gingrich's real life, he was confronted by hecklers and naked women. Gingrich looked right past them and extolled the virtues of political discourse in the "metaverse." On its own news network, Second Life reported that he called the virtual world "part of the solution."