An Idea For The White House

As I wrote this post about the President's speech today on the war on terror I thought to myself that it would be pretty cool if, along with my excerpts from the speech itself, I could post video of the entire speech for everyone to watch.

I checked out the White House website, but they didn't have any video available. As near as I can tell, the only video of the President's speech available anywhere on the internet is that which is available from the various media outlets like CNN and Fox News. And those are typically just clips, not the whole thing.

It seems kind of dumb that in the age of blogs, video podcasting and ever advancing internet technology the only way citizens can listen to their President talking to them is by watching it on television, listening to it on the radio or downloading short excerpts over the internet.

For me it's hard to ever get to listen to the President speak. I'm usually at work and not able to get to a TV to catch his speeches and when I do catch them the media outlet I'm watching usually doesn't show the whole thing. They cut in late or out early or, if they're not showing it live, they edit it down to clips and sound bites which in turn are peppered with commentary from talking heads.

Sometimes I just want to hear what the President has to say without it being edited or analyzed by some "expert" CNN brought in to tell me what the President really means.

Would it be that hard for the White House to distribute video of the President's speeches via the White House website? Why not put video files of these speeches out in the public domain for citizens to download, watch and share with one another over services like YouTube and Google Video? The President is already podcasting given that a recording of his weekly radio address is available on the White House website for download. It's even accessible via an RSS feed. Why not video of the speeches he gives as well?

Politicians - including the President - often complain that it's hard to get their message out. Well, what better way to get in touch directly with voters than through the internet? Why not give voters a way to bypass the proxy media has become between citizens and their leaders?

It can't cost much. Heck, bloggers are already distributing hours upon hours of video every day. Why not get this done? Seems like a win-win situation for politicians and citizens to me.