0lympics opening ceremony in 2012 when tim berners lee sat onstage and sent a tweet out, saying, this is for everyone ? and it seemed to be a democratising force, this combination of smartphones and social media. and ever since then, it s been downhill, frankly, and we are now more aware of the obsessiveness of these gadgets i m one of the worst for staring at my phone all day, tweeting virtually 2a hours a day but also the power of these social media networks to cause harm, as well as the good that they claim they can do. now there s an argument that, given the size and power of some these corporations the likes of google and amazon, and apple that in a sense, we should challenge them the way that we challenge governments. and i wonder if the bbc does that enough. well, i think we do. i mean, one thing you should be aware of is notjust the power they have but the obstructiveness in terms of getting them to come on air. i mean, apple is a great case in point.
is no other alternative. congressman, with all due respect, we have been reporting on a near daily basis, the divisiveness of the capitol h l building and the white house and if the president goes bold, won t that embolden his enemies an thus encourage further gridlock? h. well, they will either agree with the president to put americans back the work or perfectly exposed on the obstructiveness and opposition, but the fact is is that what the president s strategy is for this thursday then? an attempt to expose the republicans? is that what he wants to do? well, on the alternative, he may, but the first alternative is to get them to agree to put americans back to work. they don t have to simply be exposed. they can be revealed to be really about helping americans work out, and get back the work, but if they refuse to do that, i think that at least americans should know who is on their side. i hope and i hope and i m an