Tea party wins in northeastern primaries could bode well for Democrats

  • Thread starter Thread starter Beau_Ouiville
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
a_priori said:
What qualifies one as a “dim-wit”? Intellectual flatulence feels good I’m sure, but it doesn’t add to the discussion. Perhaps you could be a little more specific?
Click to expand...
“Intellectual flatulence feels good?”

That doesn’t even make sense as juvenile metaphor.

If you want to add to the discussion, perhaps you could point to a clear, practical policy proposal that a so-called tea party candidate has presented that is different from the Republican position. Just one will do. Then we might discuss concretely the question of whether there is any mental horsepower in the “movement.”
 
Suudy said:
Exactly. People confuse education with wisdom. And being a good leader requires far more wisdom than education.
Click to expand...
True. As one who has interviewed and hired professionals my whole professional life I can tell you that the pedigree of the school one attended and one’s grade point average matters only with their first job as that is all you have to judge them on. After that we judge thm on performance. Based on that criteria Obama is a dismal failure regardless of the grades he had that Harvard-which for some strange reason he refuses to reveal.
 
I saw some legislators in IL commit a single act (tearing a picture off a wall) which resulted in two years of litigation and about $300,000 in legal fees paid by the government plus $175,000 in damages paid to the artist. All for one ignorant act. Maybe those legislators should have been more familiar with constitutional principles.

So you folks go ahead and cast aspersions on ‘book learning’. There’s much to be said for understanding governmental issues if you want to be a government official.
 
Beau_Ouiville said:
I saw some legislators in IL commit a single act (tearing a picture off a wall) which resulted in two years of litigation and about $300,000 in legal fees paid by the government plus $175,000 in damages paid to the artist. All for one ignorant act. Maybe those legislators should have been more familiar with constitutional principles.

So you folks go ahead and cast aspersions on ‘book learning’. There’s much to be said for understanding governmental issues if you want to be a government official.
Click to expand...
Are you saying that without his book learning his performance would be even worse than it is? That is a prospect almost too horrible to contemplate.
 
estesbob said:
Are you saying that without his book learning his performance would be even worse than it is? That is a prospect almost too horrible to contemplate.
Click to expand...
I was thinking that story just casts more light on the lack of wisdom in our judicial system.
 
bbarrick8383 said:
I was thinking that story just casts more light on the lack of wisdom in our judicial system.
Click to expand...
Not at all. Freedom of expression, like freedom of religion, happens to be for all; not just for those folks whom we like.
estesbob said:
Are you saying that without his book learning his performance would be even worse than it is? That is a prospect almost too horrible to contemplate.
Click to expand...
I am saying that we should insist on some familiarity with constitutional principles for our public figures. Ms. O’Donnell, with her statements as to prayer in schools, has not yet shown that familiarity. Mr. Paladion in NY similarly concerns me. Conservatives who want to avoid the wasteful spending of legal fees to defend against federal constitutional actions may be wary of both of these individuals, neither of whom is a lawyer.
 
Beau_Ouiville said:
Not at all. Freedom of expression, like freedom of religion, happens to be for all; not just for those folks whom we like.

I am saying that we should insist on some familiarity with constitutional principles for our public figures. Ms. O’Donnell, with her statements as to prayer in schools, has not yet shown that familiarity. Mr. Paladion in NY similarly concerns me. Conservatives who want to avoid the wasteful spending of legal fees to defend against federal constitutional actions may be wary of both of these individuals, neither of whom is a lawyer.
Click to expand...
The last thing in the world we need is more lawyers in political office. In fact the last thing in the world we need is more lawyers ,period!
 
Beau_Ouiville said:
Not at all. Freedom of expression, like freedom of religion, happens to be for all; not just for those folks whom we like.
Click to expand...
I agree. Im just amazed at the time and money all those educated folks spent trying to figure that out.
 
All this anti-education talk is really pretty astounding. I agree that there are smart educated people and dumb educated people. There are also smart uneducated people. Also, not all education has to be had at Ivy League schools - or any school. But the growing trend (reflected on this thread and in the political arena generally) to deliberately choose uneducated people to do important jobs is simply irresponsible and dangerous. There is not a shortage of smart, educated, qualified people. They come in every possible political and philosophical flavor. Get one to run. After all, would you allow a “common-sense” surgeon that is unencumbered by all that “book learnin’” to operate on you? If not, why do the same with the people running the country?
 
TMC said:
All this anti-education talk is really pretty astounding. I agree that there are smart educated people and dumb educated people. There are also smart uneducated people. Also, not all education has to be had at Ivy League schools - or any school. But the growing trend (reflected on this thread and in the political arena generally) to deliberately choose uneducated people to do important jobs is simply irresponsible and dangerous. There is not a shortage of smart, educated, qualified people. They come in every possible political and philosophical flavor. Get one to run. After all, would you allow a “common-sense” surgeon that is unencumbered by all that “book learnin’” to operate on you? If not, why do the same with the people running the country?
Click to expand...
I don’t think the trend is against “Educated people” perse, but against educated people who don’t know who to do things. I look upon people who have a great deal of education in the physical sciences: Engineers, Astronomers, Physicists, Architects, etc. with a great deal of respect.

People who become Political Science majors and then lawyers and then run for office seem like they’ve spent their entire life learning how to lord over people and then accomplish their goal, and have no fundamental understanding of how things actually work.
 
TMC said:
All this anti-education talk is really pretty astounding. I agree that there are smart educated people and dumb educated people. There are also smart uneducated people. Also, not all education has to be had at Ivy League schools - or any school. But the growing trend (reflected on this thread and in the political arena generally) to deliberately choose uneducated people to do important jobs is simply irresponsible and dangerous. There is not a shortage of smart, educated, qualified people. They come in every possible political and philosophical flavor. Get one to run. After all, would you allow a “common-sense” surgeon that is unencumbered by all that “book learnin’” to operate on you? If not, why do the same with the people running the country?
Click to expand...
Awesome Point. Something that has been scaring me lately is all the people who say they want someone “just like us” to run for office. They want there leaders to be someone who makes mistakes, and seems stupid or uneducated. I remember when I was teaching high school. I was always amazed at how many kids felt that the solution to all the worlds problems could be solved by “dropping on bomb on them”. Usually, these views were just mimicking those of their parents. One thing I have seen over and over again in politics is that well intended people can become very corrupted by power. While a smart person corrupted by power is bad enough, a dumb one can be even worse.
 
Rita_De_C said:
While a smart person corrupted by power is bad enough, a dumb one can be even worse.
Click to expand...
I couldn’t disagree more. A smart, corrupted person can do significantly more damage. A smart criminal is less likely to get caught and is far more capable of planning and executing crimes. A smart, corrupt government official will be less likely to be exposed and far more capable of devising schemes to defraud the public.

I’d rather have a dumb, corrupt official over a smart, corrupt official any day.
 
estesbob said:
The last thing in the world we need is more lawyers in political office. In fact the last thing in the world we need is more lawyers ,period!
Click to expand...
The last thing we need is laws being written and the Constitution being interpreted by people who spend their lives working with and studying laws and the Constitution. That work should be done by businessowners, housewives, and radio jocks.
 
Suudy said:
I couldn’t disagree more. A smart, corrupted person can do significantly more damage. A smart criminal is less likely to get caught and is far more capable of planning and executing crimes. A smart, corrupt government official will be less likely to be exposed and far more capable of devising schemes to defraud the public.

I’d rather have a dumb, corrupt official over a smart, corrupt official any day.
Click to expand...
Well, neither one is good are they. But when I was thinking of a dumb one, I was thinking of someone like Idi Amin of Uganda Fame. He had only a 2nd grade education. When he had a problem with someone, he would send his thugs out to kill them. He was threatened by anyone who had an education or who ran a successful business or achieved success and respect in their career. They know they could “disappear” for anything they said against him, so many of them left the country. As a result, there was a serious brain drain, and pretty soon, no good teachers, doctors, accountants etc.etc. The country fell behind and the economy fell apart. He expelled all the business people out of the country and ruined the economy. He surrounded himself with “yes” men who just told him what he wanted to hear.
Anyway, A smart one can devise schemes, but a dumb one can just use brute force and terror. Neither is good, but I’d rather a smart one.
 
Good_News said:
The last thing we need is laws being written and the Constitution being interpreted by people who spend their lives working with and studying laws and the Constitution. That work should be done by businessowners, housewives, and radio jocks.
Click to expand...
Are you kidding?
 
NotCrazyDan said:
I don’t think the trend is against “Educated people” perse, but against educated people who don’t know who to do things. I look upon people who have a great deal of education in the physical sciences: Engineers, Astronomers, Physicists, Architects, etc. with a great deal of respect.

People who become Political Science majors and then lawyers and then run for office seem like they’ve spent their entire life learning how to lord over people and then accomplish their goal, and have no fundamental understanding of how things actually work.
Click to expand...
I think it comes down to individuals, and defies categories. I have known brilliant engineers that could diagram and explain every electron, switch and diode in your internet connection from memory, but have no idea where the food they eat comes from or why meat costs more than bread. I have also known lawyers and economists that were practical everyday people that have a real understanding of how what they do effects ordinary people’s lives. I am not saying that either is the norm, but we don’t elect averages and norms. We elect real individual people. I want those real people to understand the task at hand and have some idea how to tackle it.
 
Rita_De_C said:
Awesome Point. Something that has been scaring me lately is all the people who say they want someone “just like us” to run for office. They want there leaders to be someone who makes mistakes, and seems stupid or uneducated. .
Click to expand...
Which is what we have now even though a “highly educated” man is President. We elected a man with no experience and we are paying dearly for it
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top