Sunday, May 08, 2005
Random notes
In the yapping about filibusters, the commies are trying to say that extended debate is critical to the legislative process. Total bullshit. Anyone who has watched C-Span knows perfectly well that debate is not actually debate. Actual debate is a contiguous set of statements and responses, intended to persuade. The noise emitted by Senators serves only two purposes: (1) Impress the yokels back home; (2) Damage Republican appointees. In the current situation, extending the noise means nothing more than extending the damage to R appointees.
Meaningful discussion happens between legislators and lobbyists, and it consists of checks, not words. I'm not complaining about this; it's the best way to get things done in a large country. The notion that each individual deserves to have his voice heard is absurd. If you have an interest that needs to be pushed in Congress, you can be dead sure that many others share the interest, and that some organization is already lobbying for that interest. Make your voice heard by working through the appropriate organizations.
If your interest or advocacy is truly unique, it's either crazy or obsessively selfish. In either case it doesn't deserve to waste the time of a government that must serve 300 million people.
(This notion of 'individual voice' is a hippie-era idea, not part of the original American design. The founders understood mass interests perfectly. Oddly enough, I think the Internet will help to restore the older concept. By participating in various online forums, I've come to realize that even my most cherished idiosyncrasies are shared by many others around the world.... and I've come to meta-realize that this realization is also shared by many others.)
-----
Locally, the icky mess around Mayor West continues to metastasize, as the Cowles newspaper continues to pull out past incidents. West is hanging tough, which is the worst possible outcome for the city. There is no provision for the council to impeach a mayor, and the recall process is lengthy and difficult.
This is the logical outcome of Good Government with its emphasis on non-partisan candidates. The state of Washington has a long history of Good Government, begun in the '30s by the Grange organization. Our primaries have been open since then, with party control minimized at all levels. City elections are strictly non-partisan.
Strong party organizations work hard to maintain the brand, because they want to hold or regain their own power. They reject a blackmailable candidate for obvious reasons: he will either serve the opposition to maintain their silence, or he will be exposed and splatter the EEEEEWWWWW factor all over the party.
Apparently West was known to be blackmailable, but in a partyless setup his personal money-raising ability was enough to get into office.
¶ 8:51 AM
In the yapping about filibusters, the commies are trying to say that extended debate is critical to the legislative process. Total bullshit. Anyone who has watched C-Span knows perfectly well that debate is not actually debate. Actual debate is a contiguous set of statements and responses, intended to persuade. The noise emitted by Senators serves only two purposes: (1) Impress the yokels back home; (2) Damage Republican appointees. In the current situation, extending the noise means nothing more than extending the damage to R appointees.
Meaningful discussion happens between legislators and lobbyists, and it consists of checks, not words. I'm not complaining about this; it's the best way to get things done in a large country. The notion that each individual deserves to have his voice heard is absurd. If you have an interest that needs to be pushed in Congress, you can be dead sure that many others share the interest, and that some organization is already lobbying for that interest. Make your voice heard by working through the appropriate organizations.
If your interest or advocacy is truly unique, it's either crazy or obsessively selfish. In either case it doesn't deserve to waste the time of a government that must serve 300 million people.
(This notion of 'individual voice' is a hippie-era idea, not part of the original American design. The founders understood mass interests perfectly. Oddly enough, I think the Internet will help to restore the older concept. By participating in various online forums, I've come to realize that even my most cherished idiosyncrasies are shared by many others around the world.... and I've come to meta-realize that this realization is also shared by many others.)
-----
Locally, the icky mess around Mayor West continues to metastasize, as the Cowles newspaper continues to pull out past incidents. West is hanging tough, which is the worst possible outcome for the city. There is no provision for the council to impeach a mayor, and the recall process is lengthy and difficult.
This is the logical outcome of Good Government with its emphasis on non-partisan candidates. The state of Washington has a long history of Good Government, begun in the '30s by the Grange organization. Our primaries have been open since then, with party control minimized at all levels. City elections are strictly non-partisan.
Strong party organizations work hard to maintain the brand, because they want to hold or regain their own power. They reject a blackmailable candidate for obvious reasons: he will either serve the opposition to maintain their silence, or he will be exposed and splatter the EEEEEWWWWW factor all over the party.
Apparently West was known to be blackmailable, but in a partyless setup his personal money-raising ability was enough to get into office.
¶ 8:51 AM
