Glad to have another pro DARPA here.
RE politics: I don't believe it is left vs right, rather, I believe there are shady (unconstitutional) folk behind the bailout of '08 and their realization that social media is changing organized crime and the oligarchs- Making more of a show of leadership since common folk are more empowered than ever.
Not sure I'd call it pro DARPA :) I agree the left-right divide is a facade. It goes way back, at least through 9-11... The wave of common folk awakening started especially during the invasion of Iraq. At least when I really woke up.
Kind of generalizing about techies (so the good side of DARPA). I do not follow them much, other than their major breakthroughs.
Yeah and the Internet helped change our political landscape.