Politics.
It’s one of two subjects I’ve learned not to bring up among friends.
At a birthday party in 2016, my wife’s grandfather asked me my opinion of a certain candidate in the upcoming election. My answer and my father-in-law’s response to it led to my FIL storming out of our house.
And not speaking to us for three years.
So, here I write, aware of the dangers. And yet, I am wading into it.
But I think the suggestions that I make below could be accepted by everyone – no matter their leanings.
Five ideas on how to improve our political system:
1:
I mean, aren’t they supposed to be working for us?
How can they do their job if they’re trying to take another one?
2.
I’d go as far as to make them wait fifty years after someone’s death, because I think the emotions associated with anyone serving will have dissipated by then.
Egos should not create policy.
3.
A higher standard in telling the truth.
4.
If there were ten running for a particular office, more often than not the candidate would be forced to highlight their own positives, rather than negatively attack others.
If no one receives 50% of the “jungle primary”, there’s a run-off between the top two – or ranked voting.
5.
Place a substantial fine on any campaign for using music that wasn’t previously approved.
Hopefully I didn’t wade into the “us vs. them” arguments that so pervade America’s society right now.
Can you think of any others?
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Good set, thegue. (And amusing illustrations, mt!)
Among other suggestions, the main one I can think of right now involves the Supreme Court. No more lifetime appointments, and make the justices elected positions. Purists will argue this will politicize the court, but that’s a straw-man argument. The court is a political body, no matter how much it tries to argue otherwise, and it’s time to acknowledge the reality. Setting term limits and removing the congressional approval process would make the court as directly accountable to the voters as the president. At this point, I see no down side and lots of up sides.
I also think the Electoral College is due for an overhaul if not a dismissal, and something needs to be done about the current efforts to thwart voting all in the name of unproved fraud. But I haven’t yet thought out exactly how those should be addressed. Thoughts?
OMG the illustrations!! MT, you’re amazing!
CST, I certainly have thoughts about many of the points you’ve brought up, but I think that would’ve waded into murky waters in which there is little agreement.
Agreed, no lifetime appointments to anything ever (only exception: Bill Monroe got a lifetime appointment to the Grand Old Opry based on playing 3 songs for George D. Hay — the Solemn Old Judge. He should’ve been the last.)
No electoral college at all. How dumb is it that we have allowed several men to become President despite winning MANY fewer votes than their competitors. That’s a damn shame!
Even the rationale for the electoral college is moot. It was to prevent the tyranny of the majority, and protection against the election of someone clearly unfit for office.
See how well that turned out. Now we have a tyranny of the minority, and unfit people who basically have a 50/50 shot at taking power!
California ranks 5th in world economy. If the world was the United States, that would be like favoring Moldova over Germany.
I am not a big fan of elected judges and justices, but I do agree with removing the lifetime appointment and congressional appointment. Those restrictions were supposed to keep the court from being political, and as you point out, it has become political anyway.
Oh, and mt, clever clickbait teaser for this. I don’t know whether it was strictly a send-up for not, but I enjoyed it.
What? I’d never try to entice traffic with cheap trickery. Our audience here is too smart.
In fact, you could say that
TNOCS.COM USERS ALL KNOW THIS ONE SIMPLE TRICK!!
Great suggestions!
For Number One, I’d add regulations against taking lobbying positions upon leaving office as well–or some sort of required duration to pass. Time in office should mean public service and representation; it shouldn’t be treated like one step in a larger game for enrichment and self-interest.
We need various other ways to get money out of politics. Such as set campaign finance funds provided by the government. No corporate lobbying, and no radicalizing the voter base to bilk them for funds.
Number Four would have a huge impact on the candidates picked, with fewer extremist wackos.
I agree we need to reform the Supreme Court and reduce the stakes for any one appointment.
We also should weaken or abolish the filibuster. This has risks of unforeseen consequences (i.e., passing extremist laws), for sure, but by and large Senators have used the filibuster to avoid taking real action on anything. At least with its removal, there can be a clear cause-and-effect story of policies passed that we can reward or punish in future elections.
Finally, we really need some sort of regulation of social media platforms. Not moderation of specific content per se, but rooting out bot accounts, disincentivizing trolling, tweaking sharing procedures or algorithms, to curb the destabilizing influence of viral outrage and misinformation.
Your suggestions are interesting, but I’m certain that both sides wouldn’t agree.
But who in their right name would argue against “Born in the USA” being stolen from Springsteen and used against his wishes??
Certainly, there would be some major pushback, although I think the pushback would often come “from the top.”
Whatever one thinks about a particular law or policy, I think most Americans agree that money has an outsize influence in politics. That politicians posture and perform more than they actually try to govern. That social media makes people feel frustrated and angry.
But I do agree that once an issue enters the national spotlight, it becomes culture war fodder, and people who might otherwise agree on something suddenly become divided again.
Of course, issues like ranked choice or instant run-off voting are not immune to that dynamic either. Trump has explicitly spoken out against its use in Alaska, because Olympia Snow has a little more leeway to buck Trumpism without fear of a challenge from the fringe. I imagine that it will be further demonized soon enough. So we need to find way to bypass the culture war framework and speak to people about the substance of an issue. Somehow…
Lisa Murkowski?
Olympia Snowe was a Maine moderate Republican, but she’s been out of the Senate for nearly a decade.
That’s right. Those two bleed together in my head.
Ouch. That sounds terrible.
I can’t un-see it.
Olympia Snowe sounds like a slowcore band. There is a Spokane.
I love #3! Politicians swear an oath of office, and it should mean something. Lying should have real and meaningful consequences… elected officials need to be held to a higher ethical standard, but seems like the opposite always occurs. We accept lies as inherent in politics, and we suffer for this abdication.
Also, gotta have term limits everywhere. Judges of course. President is fine, let’s limit Senators, Representatives, even mayors and city council should have limits on how long they can serve. Politician should not be a career, it should be a service that citizens provide for a limited period of time before returning to their civilian lives.
Finally, not to beat the same damn drum, but money is not speech and corporations are not people. Campaign finance should be limited to micro donations from publicly-disclosed human individuals or public funding for candidates who reach a viability threshold.
Some form of restriction on lobbying to prevent companies and industries buying influence to shape policy and laws in their own favour rather than what is in the publics interest.
Fantastic work by mt, should we be worried by the evolving alien invasion on the news ticker? Intrigued / concerned as to whether they’re going to prove hostile or friendly but at least it ends with a positive that its produced global unity.
AUTORESPOND BOT
THE MT ENTITY ̶H̶A̶S̶ ̶B̶E̶E̶N̶ ̶A̶S̶S̶I̶M̶I̶L̶A̶T̶E̶D̶ IS UNAVAILBLE
I dunno dude, but you’ve certainly got my vote, thegue. 😁
I’ve always been a strong believer in term limits for everyone as many have already mentioned. Knowing there’s an end to your time in office will keep the career politicians from getting all comfy cozy, fat and rich off their ‘public service’.
BTW, the “Morning Dutchg8r” program would probably have dismal ratings, as all I’d do is probably complain I’m up that early, and would subsequently fall back asleep.
I’d buy that for a dollar.
A TNOCS podcast could be entertaining. Drowsy g8r included.
Well, it would appear that someone has secretly had a spycam installed and pointed at my whiteboard…
That sounds like some really bad South Floridian joke.
“What do you call a gator in February?
A Drowsy Gator!”
Ya know, cause they’re all cold-blooded slugs during winter, eh, eh??!!
Yep, told you it was bad.
Sounds like a fancy hotel drink:
I come to TNOCS for MT’s graphics. But ‘Gue, some good ideas – especially “no primary.” I’d add to that by requiring (in America, because other countries do this) that there’s no campaigning until 60 days until an election. You’re allowed to issue basic information 120 days prior so voters have a sense of your positions.
Also, horse-race aficionados like Chris C———a would be forced to work for the Daily Racing Form and clean horse stalls when they’re not writing.
Wonderful to see good friend TLeo hanging out with us!
We’re all hoping that you’re feeling well!
P.S. :
“Racing Form…”
Hmm…