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[10ebbor10]

Well not asshats, but see it like this. Suddenly, wherether you want it or not*, you're being chosen to lead the country, a responsibility you didn't ask for nor know your way around with. Then, a "shady" bussinessman appears, offering you some nice advice, while also helping you out in some way or another. No reason to refuse that.


*Without this clause, you'd end up with a far larger clause of people who want to be in control, and hence are corrupted.

[GlyphGryph]

Yea? Well my Governor committed MASSIVE medicare fraud, and is only not in jail because they could only legally convict his shell corporation... before he got elected, mostly due to the senior vote.

Well, my Mayor growing up got elected, got put in jail (felony conviction) for putting his cigarette out in a guy his goons were holding down and then beating him with a heavy ashtray and THEN a fireplace log , and when he got out of jail, got elected again, and then went to jail again (another felony conviction), this time for blatant racketeering, conspiracy, extortion, witness tampering, and mail fraud (only the racketeering charge stuck), and then he got OUT again, and now he's a popular and successful radio host! People generally still think positively of him.

Note that he was only removed from office in the first case because of a law he passed disallowing convicted felons from holding office while serving time, which he had passed explicitly so he could threaten politicians who disagreed with him or otherwise remove them from office. (It was pretty trivial to get a felony conviction on any of our politicians at the time if you wanted to, but before this law it wouldn't have stopped them from serving so there wasn't much point)

[SalmonGod]

Yea? Well my Governor committed MASSIVE medicare fraud, and is only not in jail because they could only legally convict his shell corporation... before he got elected, mostly due to the senior vote.

Well, my Mayor growing up got elected, get put in jail (felony conviction) for putting his cigarette out in a guy his goons were holding down and then beating him with a heavy ashtray and THEN a fireplace log , and when he got out of jail, got elected again, and then went to jail again (another felony conviction), this time for blatant racketeering, conspiracy, extortion, witness tampering, and mail fraud, and then he got OUT again, and now he's a popular and successful radio host! People generally still think positively of him.

Note that he was only removed from office in the first case because of a law he passed disallowing convicted felons from holding office while serving time, which he had passed explicitly so he could threaten politicians who disagreed with him or otherwise remove them from office. (It was pretty trivial to get a felony conviction on any of our politicians at the time if you wanted to, but before this law it wouldn't have stopped them from serving so there wasn't much point)

Frightening, sad, and hilarious.

[GlyphGryph]

He's considering running for the House of Reps in 2014, too!

Saddest part is that, objectively, he was pretty good by state politician standards.

[Nadaka]

http://blog.al.com/live/2012/10/former_biloxi_mayor_pete_halat.html

One of my former mayors. Mayor of Biloxi MS, scam artist, conspirator in the brutal Sherry murders, high level member of the Dixie Mafia, AKA the cornbread cosa nostra. Sheriff George Payne in the town next door, Gulfport MS wasn't much better either, but he never managed to get convicted of anything serious despite torturing inmates.

[Devling]

Incidentally, what do you people think about periods in office?

That sounds awful.  I'm not sure longer or shorter periods would make a difference though.

This is why I like the idea of Demarchy.  Most people who get far enough in politics to make a difference don't get that far without being corrupt.  Under Demarchy you choose people at random as your leaders, so they wouldn't have had time to become corrupt.

90% of people aren't competent enough to be a mayor of a small town.

[GrizzlyAdamz]

I would take this opportunity to claim term limits only prevent people from keeping representatives they want, which is rather patronizing, but given the contents of this thread, (examples of HORRIBLE people that kept getting elected and this sentiment already being mentioned), I think I'll pass this principles fight.

-edit
btw devling, in a debate, you'd have to source that there claim.

[Frumple]

More importantly, I think you overestimate how much competence is required to be the mayor of a small town. One I was raised in had illiterates, alcoholics, and, more likely than not, illiterate alcoholics at some point or another.

Now, mayor in the sense of someone that actually does something constructive... maybe. But they make good figureheads, and you don't really need a brain for that so long as someone's got a gelding chain attracted to something important.

[Devling]

Okay so at best we have a couple of idiot figureheads, with the smart people creating a shadow tyranny.
And by at best I mean at worst.

[penguinofhonor]

I would take this opportunity to claim term limits only prevent people from keeping representatives they want, which is rather patronizing, but given the contents of this thread, (examples of HORRIBLE people that kept getting elected and this sentiment already being mentioned), I think I'll pass this principles fight.

Technically every restriction on elected officials only prevents people from electing representatives they want.

[GrizzlyAdamz]

Ha, good point.

[SalmonGod]

Remember that girl who committed suicide after being bullied for years following her gang rape by four classmates?  Put the forum in rage mode for a couple days?

That case was under investigation for a year before it was dropped due to lack of evidence.  Anonymous pledged to take up the case themselves, and are now boasting that they solved it in less than 2 hours.  No hacking involved.  According to their account of how easily obtainable evidence was, it seems the investigators and the school system must have simply not tried.  At all.

[Max White]

Ah, anonymous, the internet hate machine, powered by... People? Who would have thought?
I have come to conclude that forming an opinion of anonymous is like forming an opinion of the human race. No matter what, you will always be proven wrong.


Also, this might have been the only post in my all years here where I use an ellipsis properly, feels a bit strange, don't want to make a habit of it...

[scriver]

Yeah, I'll believe it when I see it.

Not the inability of the officials, just Anon "solving" it.

[GlyphGryph]

Considering there was a video of it, I'm surprised it took them 2 hours.

They probably just ran the faces they saw and grabbed the ever-so-common-admissions-of-guilt-over-social-media, as well as the identity of the original uploader.