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Up one level | To Tom Geller's writings | Home Website reviews for The Net: Political Please note that the writing samples below were written around February 1996, and many of the sites reviewed have disappeared, moved, or changed. -- Tom Geller The Atlantic Monthly Bad Subjects Center for Public Integrity Congress in a Nutshell The Drudge Report The Fourth World Documentation Project Government is Not God Independent Candidates The Atlantic Monthly I visit dozens of sites every week, but rarely do I pause it any one for more than five minutes. The Atlantic Monthly is different: it captured me with its intriguing variety of content and held me with the depth of its writing. Now in its 139th year (though not on the Web that long, ha ha), its sense of history comes through: there are archival reviews of 19th-century authors' works by their contemporaries as well as modern fiction, poetry, and news commentary. A "You are the President" game/survey and Election Connection area keep the site relevant, and online exclusives make it even better than the print version. Content: Excellent Aesthetic: Good TechnoSmart: Excellent Author: Tom Geller Back to top Bad Subjects Every major university has an online journal these days, but only U.C. Berkeley has Bad Subjects. A home for self-proclaimed leftists in "reaction against some aspects of the academic left," the print publication features l-o-o-o-n-g articles and not much else, while a companion mailing list serves as a forum for action, reaction, and general malaise. Both are archived at the Web site, and the print publication can either be read online or (hooray!) downloaded as an Adobe Acrobat PDF file. The site's design is minimal, yet functional; the thought-provoking text is, appropriately, the focus. Content: Good Aesthetic: Good TechnoSmart: Excellent Author: Tom Geller Back to top Center for Public Integrity It's hard to examine politics without being partisan, but the Center for Public Integrity -- dedicated to documenting the influences weighing on presidential candidates -- does a pretty good job of it. They primarily release findings in books and newsletters, but unlike most publishers' Web sites, the CPI's documents are available here in toto. Read about the hundreds of campaign advisors (and their hidden agendas) in the 1996 presidential race, or download a database of candidates' assets. Unfortunately, the designer's love of graphics makes for long waits, and navigation can get a bit tricky in places. Content: Excellent Aesthetic: Good TechnoSmart: Good Author: Tom Geller Back to top Congress in a Nutshell "Congress in a Nutshell" -- sounds like a beginner's guide, doesn't it? But don't let the innocuous name fool you: CIN is a place for serious environmentalists to gather ammunition for their legislative fights. There's almost no original material here, and the entire archive rests on one page, but that doesn't diminish its utility; with more than 100 links to relevant articles and sympathetic organizations, you could spend days wandering the environmental neighborhood. It's not the prettiest 'hood -- scarce graphics and dense text may drive away all but the most dedicated activists -- but a community nonetheless. Content: Good Aesthetic: Poor TechnoSmart: Good Author: Tom Geller Back to top The Drudge Report You'd expect a name like "Matt Drudge" to be changed when its owner took up residence in California, but from reading his newsletter (available at this site and by e-mail), it's clear that Mr. Drudge isn't changing himself for anybody. His occasional "tip sheet" (published "when circumstances warrant") highlights a strange mixture of news, notably politics, movies, and earthquakes (?). But what's Mr. Drudge like? Well, he's a conservative, writing a column for "The Right Side of the Web," yet he also provides a link to Hillary Clinton's column. Check back often: you never know what'll catch his attention. Content: Good Aesthetic: Poor TechnoSmart: Good Author: Tom Geller Back to top The Fourth World Documentation Project Q: There are about 200 countries in the world. How many nations are there? A: Over 5,000, according to this site, which uses the term "Fourth World" to describe groups which have been forcibly acculturated into more-powerful governments. While the Chippewa and Aleuts may be familiar (and comparatively easy to track), the FWDP carries extensive archives on lesser-known native peoples of the world as well. There's a bit of an emphasis on indigenous peoples of the U.S., but you'll also find plenty on tribes in such places as Sweden and Peru. Includes a search engine. Content: Excellent Aesthetic: Good TechnoSmart: Good Author: Tom Geller Back to top Government is Not God Did you know that prayer is banned in public schools? It isn't, actually, but that erroneous belief is the basis for the "Government is Not God" political action committee led by born-again Christian, William Murray, son of famed atheist leader Madalyn Murray O'Hair (!). Accuracy aside, the Web site is well-organized, although the writing has the same propagandist flavor that taints most political cant. Buttons are unclear in some places, and there are few links to the outside world. Still, if you have $25 or more burning a hole in your pocket and want to help elect "godly men," this may be your oasis. Content: Good Aesthetic: Poor TechnoSmart: Good Author: Tom Geller Back to top Independent Candidates A little annotation goes a long way, and its absence can make the simplest matters cloudy as mud. So is the case with this site, ostensibly designed to give independent presidential candidates a much-needed forum. But there's no description of the sponsoring organization ("Electronic Newspapers Inc."), navigation is inconsistent, and the main page unfairly spotlights one of the six candidates. (For the real main page, go to http://www.competition96.com/cand.htm.) It's a shame that there's so little clarification, because the information contained here is important and far-reaching; you just have to dig to find it. Content: Good Aesthetic: Good TechnoSmart: Poor Author: Tom Geller Back to top This page was last updated on Monday, February 09, 2004 at 3:06pm CST. All contents copyright 2005 by Tom Geller.