I am not the State. If I break a law the consequences are slight. If Congress breaks the law the consequences are not. Elected representatives are not representing us. Which is why the droll idea arose: The idea of forcing Congresscritters to wear NASCAR-style coveralls with the logos of their financial backers has been bandied abou…
I am not the State. If I break a law the consequences are slight. If Congress breaks the law the consequences are not. Elected representatives are not representing us. Which is why the droll idea arose: The idea of forcing Congresscritters to wear NASCAR-style coveralls with the logos of their financial backers has been bandied about before, but here it is in official White House petition form.
Since most politicians' campaigns are largely funded by wealthy companies and individuals, it would give voters a better sense of who the candidate they are voting for is actually representing if the company's logo, or individual's name, was prominently displayed upon the candidate's clothing at all public appearances and campaign events. Once elected, the candidate would be required to continue to wear those "sponsor's" names during all official duties and visits to constituents. The size of a logo or name would vary with the size of a donation. For example, a $1 million dollar contribution would warrant a patch of about 4" by 8" on the chest, while a free meal from a lobbyist would be represented by a quarter-sized button. Individual donations under $1000 are exempt.
As funny as this is, it would be easy-ish to turn this into a browser plugin that looked for politicians' names in the pages you looked at, and automatically surrounded them with a semi-opaque halo of corporate logos that you could click on to see more.
Require Congressmen & Senators to wear logos of their financial backers on their clothing, much like NASCAR drivers do.
NASCAR uniforms are only visible to those who look closely. Logano won yesterday, and I don't remember who his sponsors were. I'm fairly confident his sponsors didn't directly alter the outcome. The best way to identify corruption is vigilant observers. We used to rely on journalists to do that for us. Some of them gave been bought off, too, so we need to focus on those still willing to do their job diligently. And most fortunately, nobody can hide misbehavior from the internet. Every corrupt act gets exposed. The important task for the public is to care.
Our language has improved considerably in the intervening hundred years. But our visibility of the actions behind the curtain of the circus has also improved.
A little yes and a big maybe. I think our average person is absolutely more able to enquire and find out more if they so choose. Do they so choose? Almost never. Just as in the days of Mencken we laugh, cry, curse, shrug and play dead. We choose lesser evils according to partisan bias, but as was said "I do not know if the people of the United States would vote for superior men if they ran for office, but there can be no doubt that such men do not run."
I am not the State. If I break a law the consequences are slight. If Congress breaks the law the consequences are not. Elected representatives are not representing us. Which is why the droll idea arose: The idea of forcing Congresscritters to wear NASCAR-style coveralls with the logos of their financial backers has been bandied about before, but here it is in official White House petition form.
Since most politicians' campaigns are largely funded by wealthy companies and individuals, it would give voters a better sense of who the candidate they are voting for is actually representing if the company's logo, or individual's name, was prominently displayed upon the candidate's clothing at all public appearances and campaign events. Once elected, the candidate would be required to continue to wear those "sponsor's" names during all official duties and visits to constituents. The size of a logo or name would vary with the size of a donation. For example, a $1 million dollar contribution would warrant a patch of about 4" by 8" on the chest, while a free meal from a lobbyist would be represented by a quarter-sized button. Individual donations under $1000 are exempt.
As funny as this is, it would be easy-ish to turn this into a browser plugin that looked for politicians' names in the pages you looked at, and automatically surrounded them with a semi-opaque halo of corporate logos that you could click on to see more.
Require Congressmen & Senators to wear logos of their financial backers on their clothing, much like NASCAR drivers do.
NASCAR uniforms are only visible to those who look closely. Logano won yesterday, and I don't remember who his sponsors were. I'm fairly confident his sponsors didn't directly alter the outcome. The best way to identify corruption is vigilant observers. We used to rely on journalists to do that for us. Some of them gave been bought off, too, so we need to focus on those still willing to do their job diligently. And most fortunately, nobody can hide misbehavior from the internet. Every corrupt act gets exposed. The important task for the public is to care.
Yes the public. Mencken's public. https://monadnock.net/mencken/american.html
Our language has improved considerably in the intervening hundred years. But our visibility of the actions behind the curtain of the circus has also improved.
A little yes and a big maybe. I think our average person is absolutely more able to enquire and find out more if they so choose. Do they so choose? Almost never. Just as in the days of Mencken we laugh, cry, curse, shrug and play dead. We choose lesser evils according to partisan bias, but as was said "I do not know if the people of the United States would vote for superior men if they ran for office, but there can be no doubt that such men do not run."
Alexis de Tocqueville