Rick Perry and US Constitution

[Serafina]

Germany actually uses a system of senators similar to the one suggested here:
We have a normally selected parliament, and a secondary one which consists of representatives of the state governments. The latter has to agree on all laws that affect state rights. The government of the state sends some people who basically vote like the state government ones, votes can not be split within a state and larger states do get more votes.

It works reasonably well, but of course it's on a much smaller scale (16 voting parties vs. 100) and in a very different political environment, so i won't judge whether this would be a good idea for the USA.

[Elfdart]

The thing is, people like that don't think subhumans have rights, and they view women and gays as subhuman. They are as blunt about that, but that's what their opinions boil down to.

It's not that they think gays and women are subhuman. It's that they think gays are evil, and that promiscuous women (who they assume all women seeking abortions to be) are evil. In a way, that's actually worse than merely thinking of them as inferiors who don't deserve rights. They actually think of gays and sexually promiscuous women as actively evil individuals who must be stopped at any cost.

On top of that, they also believe that whatever injury or illness that strikes them is God's Will and just punishment for their wicked ways. A "loose woman" dies in childbirth or from a botched abortion? Just desserts for her sinful nature.

[Lord Zentei]

On top of that, they also believe that whatever injury or illness that strikes them the country is God's Will and just punishment for their wicked ways. A "loose woman" dies in childbirth or from a botched abortion? Just desserts for her sinful nature.

Fixed. Remember those idiots Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson following 9/11? They said that God punished the country as a whole because it tolerates sinfulness among the people.

[Flagg]

For those wondering what this paragon of sanity looks and acts like, I give you:

For contrast:

[Zaune]

Just in the name of being scrupulously fair, does anyone the context of the photo of Perry? For all I know he could be ceremonially firing the starting pistol for a marathon.

[Sriad]

[If you make a judgeship a two year position, and (worse) make it electable like many state judges are; you suddenly destroy judicial independence and make the judiciary subservient to the legislative and/or executive branches of government. Since judges will get thrown out after two years, there will be every reason to nominate the most partisan and political judges that the majority party can ram through the confirmation process since you'll want them to be as effective for your people as possible in the two years they'll get to sit on the bench.

Not quite that bad--"judges would be retired based on seniority every two years" seems to mean each judge would stay on the court 18 years total.

Still a bad idea but less bug-fuck insane than most of them.

[TimothyC]

Just in the name of being scrupulously fair, does anyone the context of the photo of Perry? For all I know he could be ceremonially firing the starting pistol for a marathon.

It's a file photo from an 15 April 2010 event with NASCAR driver Colin Braun in Downtown Fort Worth. The gun was firing blanks.

[Alyrium Denryle]

I have to agree on the judge term limit matter (I prefer a 5 year review cycle). That damn Scalia should be dragged before the Hague. [or a firing squad] (he says 'waterboarding' isn't torture. wtf)

Would you rather have Scalia gone, or an independent judiciary?

The reason they have lifetime terms is so that they are not subject to a fickle voting public, or the back-room machinations of other two branches of government. If you want a review cycle, have it be done by their peers, and by peers, I mean other lawyers.

Besides, Scalia is old. He will die soon, and when he dies, Clarence Thomas will curl up around Scalia's grave and waste away. When they are buried next to eachother, a gorgeous red fern will grow between their rotting corpses.

[Broomstick]

Just thought I'd throw this editorial cartoon into the thread:



Sure, the privileged love Perry... some other people, not so much, and not just gays and women.

[Darth Wong]

But ... but ... Rick Perry has created jobs in Texas! Sure, they're mostly low-paid no-benefits shit jobs, but they're jobs, right? That's Rick Perry's utopian future: a small number of rich people who pay no taxes, and millions of others working at Wal-Mart.

[Elheru Aran]

To make things a little clear about my comments:

--I support judicial independence, however I don't necessarily believe that being a judge has to be a lifetime position if for no other reason that senility will eventually set in one way or another, and a judge's views may be resistant to changing as time passes. If one becomes a judge today at, let's say ~50 years old, they've got at least thirty years to go before they can be expected to pass on if they don't retire; more, obviously, if they're appointed at a younger age. As such, I would be fine with setting a term limit of at the very least fifteen years, possibly twenty, with reviews every eight or ten years.

--I'm aware that governments need to spend a hell of a lot of money. Yes, perhaps a totally balanced budget where it ends up being in the black is overly optimistic, but at the very least a requirement that the government make an active effort to reduce its foreign debts and meet its financial obligations on an annual basis couldn't hurt. Might cause a lot more skull-sweat for the accountants, but ultimately the way the government is going financially isn't going to do anybody any good.

That'll teach me to just comment off the cuff, I suppose...

[Lord Zentei]

Not all the jobs Perry created are low-wage jobs, but many of those which are not low-wage were poached from neighbouring states *. Moreover, much of the growth in Texas was due to booming oil prices which cannot be replicated elsewhere. And as for the budget - Texas has a fair amount of unpaid bills, not counting the slashes made to infrastructure spending and education. I don't have the exact figures on hand, though.


* To be fair, low wage jobs are better than no jobs. But as far as long-term growth prospects are concerned something more is desirable.

[SirNitram]

But ... but ... Rick Perry has created jobs in Texas! Sure, they're mostly low-paid no-benefits shit jobs, but they're jobs, right? That's Rick Perry's utopian future: a small number of rich people who pay no taxes, and millions of others working at Wal-Mart.

Yes. In absolute numbers, Perry increased the number of jobs. Just don't look at jobs as a fraction of population. Noo. No looking behind the curtain of the great and powerful Oz!

[Einhander Sn0m4n]

Apparently, Rick Perry's America will consist of judges who must act like politicians, a financially straitjacketed federal government which consequently cannot operate at a first-world level, and Christian sexual puritanism being written into law. Hmmm ... fickle law, third-world government service level, and theocratic government ... sounds like Africa.

Look at Uganda for what the right wing really wants for sexual minorities. In a word: death. That kind of shit is precisely why we have a Bill of Rights to stop it.

[The Romulan Republic]

I don't think everyone on the Right really wants to murder sexual minorities. Probably not even most of them. Their are undoubtably people like that, and God help us if they ever control the government, but I don't think its fair to put everyone on the Right into that category. And there's far too much extremist rhetoric going around as it is.

[Teebs]

To make things a little clear about my comments:

--I support judicial independence, however I don't necessarily believe that being a judge has to be a lifetime position if for no other reason that senility will eventually set in one way or another, and a judge's views may be resistant to changing as time passes. If one becomes a judge today at, let's say ~50 years old, they've got at least thirty years to go before they can be expected to pass on if they don't retire; more, obviously, if they're appointed at a younger age. As such, I would be fine with setting a term limit of at the very least fifteen years, possibly twenty, with reviews every eight or ten years.

That's similar to the system in the UK. Judges have a mandatory retirement age (70 if I remember correctly) and before that keep their position, barring promotions or some serious misconduct. It probably works quite well, helps avoid people hanging on for too long while preserving independence from political pressure.

I think the two necessary elements for removing life tenure without doing any harm are that there should be no reappointments of judges (to avoid them looking towards re-election) and that the terms should be long enough that they're not going looking for other jobs afterwards (since most judges are appointed at a fairly old age 15-20 years should be enough for this, setting a retirement age would work too).

[ComradeClaus]

Just thought I'd throw this editorial cartoon into the thread:
Sure, the privileged love Perry... some other people, not so much, and not just gays and women.

He needs to be wearing cleats in that picture, to really show how the poor are trampled upon. & some sharks in the background.

I'm not sure why Colbert wanted people to vote for a write-in named PArry, with an 'A'.

[Broomstick]

If a write-in vote is misspelled it doesn't count. So mis-spelling "Perry" as "Parry" means that vote gets tossed. (Assuming the person wanted to vote for Perry - if there is a guy named Parry then he gets the vote)

[Wing Commander MAD]

Essentially, it's using the right wings own tactics against them and doing it via Super PAC to rub salt into the wound. I have sorta mixed feelings on it. On the one hand it's dishonest, though I'm willing to bet there is some out there with the name James Richard Parry. It is still better than what right wing Super PACs have done like deliberately telling people the wrong date for elections and improper instructions for mail-in votes*. On the other hand it is refreshing to see the conservatives get a taste of their own medicine and probably will end up doing more good than harm in the grand scheme of things. Also, the fact that Colbert doesn't stand to make any personal gain from screwing over Perry, unlike pretty much all the other people behind the various conservative Super PACs doesn't hurt either.

*: They covered this on the Colbert Report, but essentially Super PACs tied to the Koch brothers in Minnesota put out information targeted to their adversaries stating an incorrect date for the recall election and "reminders" containing incorrect information, such as the wrong mailing address, for mail-in/absentee ballots.

[D.Turtle]

The people who ran the Iowa Straw poll have publicly said that any PArry votes were counted for Perry.

[Darksider]

I'm not one to disenfranchise voters, but if one is too stupid or uninformed as to spell the candidate's name incorrectly, should that vote really be counted?

[Flagg]

1) It wasn't ignorance on the part of voters, it was the Colbert PAC doing a stunt.
2) This is not a real vote, it's a fundraiser that requires you to pay $30 to vote and the results mean nothing.

[PhilosopherOfSorts]

The people who ran the Iowa Straw poll have publicly said that any PArry votes were counted for Perry.

Also, that was Iowa, things might be different in other states. In fact, they probably are.

[Surlethe]

Ah, the Constitution! Set down by the Founding Fathers, who knew just how to structure a society* to maximize freedom and well-being! That's why the US grew so fast into the greatest world power: our founding document!

*Except for those parts about the independent judiciary and the lack of bans of gay marriage and abortion, of course.

Just like with extramarital affairs, I don't really mind (but might disapprove) when politicians talk about amending the Constitution because they don't like its current structure. What gets me is when calling for emendation conflicts with worship for the perfect and well-structured founding document, and how we'd all be better off if we just got back to the Constitution and realigned our government with the Founders' original intent.

[Flagg]

The people who ran the Iowa Straw poll have publicly said that any PArry votes were counted for Perry.

Also, that was Iowa, things might be different in other states. In fact, they probably are.

I'm going to say this one more time:

The Iowa straw poll isn't an official election, it's a fundraiser run by the Iowa Republican party and it costs money to vote. No city, county, state, or Federal laws apply.