patrick has been disappointing in many regards, and this is definitely one. but i sure hope that this is where comparisons between deval and barack (only superficially similar) begin and end.

as for “semiotic democracy” i really wish that smart people would stop using that misnomer. it belies/advances a misunderstanding of semiotics — i.e., the study of how signs make meanings. as plenty of communications (and cultural studies) scholars have shown, signs will always be made into different meanings for different people, even if they have no say in the public sphere (or, to put it another way, in the encoding rather than the decoding of said signs). i think what palfrey, fischer, et al., are getting at is better described by something like “media democracy” — something that more clearly implies participation in public conversations, in the production of signs.

enjoying all your obama tracking, btw.