-
Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.
PoliGAF 2013 |OT2| Worth 77% of OT1
- Thread starter The Librarian
- Start date
- Status
What about reverse term limits? Are there legal or practical (non-political) obstacles to basically extending whatever rules we have about conflicts of interest for politicians and people in really important appointed positions to cover their lives after leaving government? With a comfortable pension, of course, but with the aim of making sure nobody's going to work as a lobbyist or take a delayed bribe by going off to Goldman or similar.
Ugh, I just watched a segment on Hannity where Michelle Malkin was "debating" James Carville, and she started lamenting about Chris Stevens like as if she was his goddamned wife/sister/mom/daughter/etc. Fucking right-wingers, I swear.
Also, she sounds very similar to porn actress, Stacie Starr.
Also, she sounds very similar to porn actress, Stacie Starr.
The Librarian
Banned
Last night I dreamed Cyan got banned.
Politics.
Politics.
Hey man I like my state
I feel like I'm getting more and more alone on that, and the stance is harder to keep as time goes on, though. I still think it's a beautiful state, and I like the sort of dinky small city feel rather than bustling metropolis. Milwaukee is pretty rustbelt and not the most beautiful city, but it feels like it has a lot of hidden gems and a pretty tight-knit, fun culture depending on where you are.
As much as Madison probably is a more white liberalism, I still really dig the culture over there and lover it every time I visit from Milwaukee. I wish most of the state was a little closer to that ideal.
The big thing that pisses me off about Wisconsin is mainly just the recent politics. People are too split and die-hard, and there are a lot of just nutso Republicans around now. It's like they came out of the woodwork and decided to scream at the top of their lungs every chance they get. It felt like before Walker yeah we had republicans, but they voted their mind and then kind of did their own thing and so yeah whatever we disagree but that's cool. Now it's just unbearable in places. That's pretty much the big thing I dislike about Wisconsin now. Everyone used to be pretty friendly to most everyone. Now it all feels so hostile.
I think part of it is as people get older and build a family they become more fiscally conservative. And that steers them more towards the GOP. But for me, it seems the GOP is just a crazy in their financial policies as they are in their social policies.
I thought about this a long time back, and the basic problem with it is, as tiresome as the overuse of the phrase has gotten, is personal freedom. You'd essentially be barring people for life from a broad range of legitimate jobs simply because they chose to do a particular job in the past.
Then again, we do this sort of thing for convicted felons. And I don't think I am being entirely facetious with this particular comparison.
I think to pursue this idea in a way that would seem reasonable to most people you'd have to somehow tailor the forbidden jobs to the voting record of the politician in question, and considering the complexity of legislation and untangling the various interests involved, it would be an impossible task. Far "simpler" to outright ban all corporate lobbying and donations, and heavily regulate if not nationalize those sectors that politicians have tended to use their terms as internships for.
No one else has followed up on this, so I'll bite. What was all that stuff about asian immigrants superperforming and going from there into how all the other poor people need to bootstraps not mah hard earned money rawr? Looked a lot like a political conversion in progress, not that Poe's Law hasn't hoodwinked me many times before.
The Librarian
Banned
Greg Sargent's Morning Plum is a pretty nice round of today. It covers the NSA surveillance, what's threatening immigration reform at this point, and how the Senate race is shaping up in Massachusetts after the Markey-Gomez debate.
Gomez done fucked up in the last half hour of the debate.
Gomez done fucked up in the last half hour of the debate.
Lawl.
New Glarus beer. Not available outside Wisconsin. That's about it.
We Chicagoans had to drive up to the border to buy cases of it.
As someone who grew up in IN and lives in OH, I can say that the big cities in OH are pretty good, or at least Columbus and Cincinnati since God hates Cleveland, but if you are in IN get out of there as fast as you can.
Indianapolis is not great, but it's a much better place to reside than Cincinnati. Can't speak to Columbus
I used to believe the "Young Liberal to Old Conservative" stereotype when I was younger, but now I just think it's lie conservatives use to bash liberals with, ie "Well of course you're a liberal....you're still young/in college and don't have a real job yet / or you haven't started a family yet".
Personally, I don't know many people who've changed parties over the course of their lives. But I don't usually discuss politics with friends, either.
You already answered your own question:
That's some good politicking there.
It's similar to the "if you're young and not liberal then you don't have a heart, but if you're old and not conservative then you don't have a brain" backpat.
I'm quite late with this but I also recommend White Supremacy and Racism in the Post-Civil Rights Era by the same author. I read it last year and found it gave a great overview of the topic.
speculawyer
Member
I don't think it is good politicking though. Obama is relatively popular and calling him a Kenyan Muslim that sent brave Americans to their death in Benghazi is not helping them, it is backfiring. Yes, their base loves it but they are losing the middle. Congress is always hated but they are ESPECIALLY hated now.
ClassyPenguin
Banned
with the way baby boomers handled finance, how could anyone even assume this to be true?
The Librarian
Banned
Reid on FISA: https://twitter.com/kasie/status/342679237276348416
Saxby Chambliss said the same thing. They've been grabbing these phone records for seven years.
Without prejudice to the issue, I mean, what did people think the NSA was doing all the time? There's a reason they're the least talked about agency! They spend all their time spying on Americans.
Seriously IN sucks. My wife and best friend are from there, and I hate going through that stupid state to get anywhere. It's just fucking awful from head to toe. Boring nasty and ugly. And fuck Fort Wayne with a metal spoon.
I'll disagree, but I dont spend much time in Indy save for Gencon, so I dunno.
Hey now, that's my hometown you're talking about.
I hate it so much. God it's so awful.
el retorno
Member
Its not new but they should be fixing it, but they let it happen.
The Librarian
Banned
House intel chief says domestic terror attack was thwarted through the data collection: https://twitter.com/ap_ken_thomas/status/342689024667947009
speculawyer
Member
IN is strange mix. It has a large rust-belt (OH, Ill, MI) flair, it has some Southern (KY & WV) flair, and wee bit of liberal Mid-West (MN & MI) flair. It ends up being a hybrid southernish-Mid-west rust belt state.
how come there is no separate thread for that? It's a pretty big issue imo.
edit: oh, there is:
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=577745
Seriously, what did people think was going on at the monstrous data centers they're building all across the country? Another LHC experiment or something?
el retorno
Member
so they'll scare us into giving up rights.
there's no other way they could have stopped it? they needed to EVERY record kept?
I have no problem with them collecting data that has a purpose. This dragnet collection of every phone record is absurd though.
data always has a purpose. The purpose just may not be known yet
el retorno
Member
Which is absurd and why we have the 4th amendmend
The Librarian
Banned
Nobody's scaring anyone, dude. They just said what they got from the data.
el retorno
Member
Yes they are. The implication is that this is a policy that "saves lives", there is no other way they can get the data and opposing the collection means terrorist attacks are going to happen.
you gave that up for your faux safety
PhoenixDark
Banned
"We've been doing this for seven years" doesn't strike me as a good excuse for blatant civil liberty abuses. I figured Obama would continue some of Bush's security measures, but I would have never guessed he'd be significantly worse on civil liberties than Bush.
The Librarian
Banned
No they're not. It's one report out of the House intel chief, who said what they were able to do with the data. Nobody is hitting home the point that it has "saved lives."
Calm down.
by default, this can't be worse, this is just "as bad as".
Overall though, yes, worse. While i don't support torture, its still a little down the scale from killing Americans without a trial
TacticalFox88
Banned
I want to be extremely upset at the NSA...but honestly, law or no law, court order or no court order, I'd feel they'd be doing it anyhow.
:/
Feels bad man.
:/
Feels bad man.
empty vessel
Member
I'd take that assertion with a grain of salt.
Well, a news corp trash rag is getting sued for the boston bombing front page. Awesome
http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/20...ng-coverage/enRvNI9PSig0AHDxJHYqFJ/story.html
http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/20...ng-coverage/enRvNI9PSig0AHDxJHYqFJ/story.html
eBay Huckster
Member
I can, it's by far the best city in either IN or OH
:lol
That's going to be hard to win, all suits like this are, but dear god do I hope they walk away with the whole newspaper. Staplers and all.
eBay Huckster
Member
Also, didn't see this posted yet, but Christie appointed NJ Attorney General Jeffrey Chiesa (R) to the seat
The Technomancer
card-carrying scientician
See, this one actually should be a scandal IMO. Its levels of magnitude beyond "DoJ filed a subpeona asking for records of a few dozen individuals in a narrow window"
I posted a study a few days ago on this topic. It's frightening to witness the utter disregard for the public good simply to undermine President Obama's signature policy. The Republicans who reject the Medicaid expansion are guilty of unconscionable sins. Their cretinous obstinacy is not only fiscal stupidity, it denies millions of Americans access to healthcare; they will pay more to cover fewer people. They are willfully sabotaging the public good for politics.
I was skeptical until I discovered that drinking fountains are called 'bubblers' in Wisconsin.
Ignatz Mouse
Banned
Maybe, just maybe, there's some hope for the GOP in the future.
So many of people who identify as republicans say sound things, yet they elect the most unreasonable, far right candidates.
Show you're reasonable people by electing reasonable candidates. Until then, your "reasonable" policy stances are bullshit, since the people you're electing don't hold those views.
Frank the Great
Banned
i like that guy, i met him when i interned in the division of law, and he gave the commencement at my graduation.
didn't seem partisan or like a politician at all.
- Status