Petty politics here in "flyover country"

[Brian Roth]

Not unexpected here in KS after the GOP ("Gawd Old Potty") that runs KS (and OK and TX) made new voting maps.

Here in KS, the GLOP......uh....GOP... meandered the boundry lines to split Kansas City in a way so the only Democrat in The US House won't be re-elected as well putting the "liberal" college towns in the east part of the state in the same district as the far western rural part 200 miles away. Some (R's) objected and the Trumpinazis are taking revenge.

I like the easy way of life and wide open spaces here, but hate the politics in this region.

Sigh.

 

[ruffrecords]

Is that 'flyover' as in an airplane or as in a highway junction?

Cheers

Ian

 

[JohnRoberts]

Gerrymandering is far from a local phenomenon and evidence of the universal driving force for all politicians (to gain power by winning elections.) NY state's new map has been in the news for some odd districts, but again this is part of the ebb and flow of political power.

@Ian..."Flyover" refers to states not on either coast where the cool kids live (or at least they think they are cool).

JR

 

[pucho812]

With all due respect. Every census they change this stuff. Population plays a huge part. What may seem one sided now can actually backfire a year or so down the road as population changes.

 

[JohnRoberts]

With all due respect. Every census they change this stuff. Population plays a huge part. What may seem one sided now can actually backfire a year or so down the road as population changes.

not to get political but besides the typical pendulum swing of political power back and forth between parties (a good thing in general), there has been an effort to diminish the electoral college empowering small "flyover" states, and replace that system with simple democratic decisions.

In my judgement simple democratic decision making is lower quality than our current system of thoughtful analysis and debate. While one could argue the republic is not looking great at the moment. I remain optimistic that our founders who crafted our system of governance were far smarter than I am. I am smart enough to recognize their brilliance (I hope).

JR

 

[pucho812]

not to get political but besides the typical pendulum swing of political power back and forth between parties (a good thing in general), there has been an effort to diminish the electoral college empowering small "flyover" states, and replace that system with simple democratic decisions.

In my judgement simple democratic decision making is lower quality than our current system of thoughtful analysis and debate. While one could argue the republic is not looking great at the moment. I remain optimistic that our founders who crafted our system of governance were far smarter than I am. I am smart enough to recognize their brilliance (I hope).

JR

Aye.

 

[john12ax7]

I don't see much of any thoughtful analysis and debate. There is rather disdain and contempt for logic, reason, and independent thought. Question your own party and you get ostracized. We have a bunch of partisan extremists who are unfit to serve.

 

[john12ax7]

Simple majority democracy has the potential for mob rule, where the majority imposes its will on the minority. It's important to keep some rights at the state level due to this.

But then why is it acceptable for a state to then impose mob rule within its borders? You have states doing the exact same thing they are arguing against. Hypocrisy at its finest. We should all be disgusted by this type of behavior.

 

[JohnRoberts]

Simple majority democracy has the potential for mob rule, where the majority imposes its will on the minority. It's important to keep some rights at the state level due to this.

aka "tyranny of the masses". A fundamental component of the constitution is it's protection of individual rights. There is no smaller minority than the individual.

But then why is it acceptable for a state to then impose mob rule within its borders? You have states doing the exact same thing they are arguing against.

don't be confused, when spinners are "painting with words" they don't often mean what they are literally saying, just throwing out a word salad of words that resonate with audiences. It can be quite amusing to read the names they give to legislation.

Hypocrisy at its finest. We should all be disgusted by this type of behavior.

If it wasn't for hypocrisy politicians would have nothing at all to say/do... my apologies to any forum members who are elected officials.

JR

 

[fazer]

Democracy is two wolves and a sheep deciding what’s for dinner. - Ben Franklin

or something like that. Please correct if know the quote

 

[JohnRoberts]

“Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting the vote.”​

Benjamin Franklin

 

[radardoug]

That Ben Franklin was a smart cookie. A pity there aren't more of his ilk in the cuurent crop.

 

[scott2000]

“Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting the vote.”​

Benjamin Franklin

Fact checkers be fact checking again

 

[midwayfair]

Fact checkers be fact checking again

That quote doesn't didn't look or sound to me like it wasn't written by someone in the 1700s. Particularly the hyphenization of "well-" to me, I think that might be a 20th century thing.

https://checkyourfact.com/2019/05/29/fact-check-democracy-jefferson-adams-franklin-hamilton/
To be perfectly frank, I'm skeptical of anyone quoting Franklin, Jefferson, or Hamilton, particularly to make a political point. It's really easy to read something written by a dead person and impose some contemporary meaning on it, but the truth is no one has any idea how these people would have acted if they lived now. It's also very easy to lionize famous dead people, because their flaws are less well documented and the ones that were known were frequently downplayed or outright ignored by nationalistic history teaching.

Maybe it's petty of me to say, but I wish people would just take the few seconds needed to google a quote before trying to use it for its ethos.

It occurs to me reading that article that John Adams doesn't seem to be nearly as popular to quote, and I might even have been less inclined to google it if it had been ascribed to him.

 

[fazer]

Lots of opinion checkers also used these days. I heard that quote paraphrase from a Tim Poole podcast. It’s all good humor for some of us. It is the brewery after all.

 

[JohnRoberts]

JR