4 ms·

I'm pretty sure both of you are correct. There was a large amount of tech illiteracy on display but, at the same time, Mark dodged TONS of questions and spoke i

I'm pretty sure both of you are correct. There was a large amount of tech illiteracy on display but, at the same time, Mark dodged TONS of questions and spoke indirectly like a professional. That entire testimony was very unsatisfying, in my opinion.

Karrot_Kream 9y ago
This was what I was trying to get at.
wtf_is_up 9y ago
>That entire testimony was very unsatisfying, in my opinion. After watching dozens of hours of congressional hearings over the past 2 years, this is not at all surprising. These committees have no teeth.
- Overtonwindow 9y ago
  He wasn’t even under oath
cookiecaper 9y ago
Politics is always a performance. Regardless of the technical literacy of the individuals, they need to ask questions that their constituents will want to know they asked. They are covering their bases so that the media can't play a "Gotcha!" game and say "You were representing the people of the Great State of $YOUR_STATE_HERE, and you didn't even ask Facebook why they invite hackers into their own systems?!". This would look bad for the politician if, by some crazy happenstance, the bug bounty becomes implicated in the boogeyman of the big bad "Russian hackers". While I don't discount the possibility that many such lines of questioning were borne out of sincere ignorance, the public perception is what matters, regardless of individual competence, knowledge, or ability. These committee events are just exhibitions to allow politicians to score points back home. Any real work will be done by grossly overpaid lobbyists writing policy that benefits their clients, and grossly underpaid Congressional staffers just trying to work it through the session while protecting Their Guy from potential damage/backlash.
enraged_camel 9y ago
>>That entire testimony was very unsatisfying, in my opinion. The goal was not satisfaction. The goal was to allow the Senators to be able to tell their constituents they did something about the Facebook problem, to the vast majority of whom "Congressional hearing" will sound serious and consequential. edit: The downvotes tell me that most people don't understand how these committees work. Here's a hint: they have no teeth. Nothing will happen as a result of this hearing.
- Overtonwindow 9y ago
  It’s all done for the media, soundbites, constituent communications, and fundraising. I once worked for the energy and commerce committee, and it’s a total crap show.

Karrot_Kream 9y ago

This was what I was trying to get at.

wtf_is_up 9y ago

>That entire testimony was very unsatisfying, in my opinion. After watching dozens of hours of congressional hearings over the past 2 years, this is not at all surprising. These committees have no teeth.

Overtonwindow 9y ago
He wasn’t even under oath

cookiecaper 9y ago

Politics is always a performance. Regardless of the technical literacy of the individuals, they need to ask questions that their constituents will want to know they asked. They are covering their bases so that the media can't play a "Gotcha!" game and say "You were representing the people of the Great State of $YOUR_STATE_HERE, and you didn't even ask Facebook why they invite hackers into their own systems?!". This would look bad for the politician if, by some crazy happenstance, the bug bounty becomes implicated in the boogeyman of the big bad "Russian hackers". While I don't discount the possibility that many such lines of questioning were borne out of sincere ignorance, the public perception is what matters, regardless of individual competence, knowledge, or ability. These committee events are just exhibitions to allow politicians to score points back home. Any real work will be done by grossly overpaid lobbyists writing policy that benefits their clients, and grossly underpaid Congressional staffers just trying to work it through the session while protecting Their Guy from potential damage/backlash.

enraged_camel 9y ago

>>That entire testimony was very unsatisfying, in my opinion. The goal was not satisfaction. The goal was to allow the Senators to be able to tell their constituents they did something about the Facebook problem, to the vast majority of whom "Congressional hearing" will sound serious and consequential. edit: The downvotes tell me that most people don't understand how these committees work. Here's a hint: they have no teeth. Nothing will happen as a result of this hearing.

Overtonwindow 9y ago
It’s all done for the media, soundbites, constituent communications, and fundraising. I once worked for the energy and commerce committee, and it’s a total crap show.