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malthaussen

(18,364 posts)

25. We have a pretty "free market" approach to elections.

Wed Mar 24, 2021, 08:52 AM

Mar 2021

Supposedly, in said "free market," politicians who are mendacious or incompetent would be rejected by the consumer of their political product. This works about as well as the soi-disant "free market" in other goods and services.

"Freedom of choice" is so systemically embedded in American culture (so long as we're not talking about abortion), that any remedy that limits choice is bound to bring howls of protest from every radical corner of the universe. As with many other problems in American society, you have to change the system and the expectations before changing behavior. Anything else is just band-aids.

Remember that the Roman Republic had censors to do much the same thing as you ask. Which worked about as well as one might expect, and spawned the always-useful question "Quo custodiet ipsos custodes?"

-- Mal

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You know, simply put, there needs to be an adverse consequence for politicians who [View all] Atticus Mar 2021 OP

I will defer Karma13612 Mar 2021 #1

Limits Roy Rolling Mar 2021 #2

Setting additional limits on free speech is wnylib Mar 2021 #12

A quiz show to ID faulty reasoning or conclusions, etc. What a great idea. Trust_Reality Mar 2021 #20

?? wnylib Mar 2021 #44

"it's not "Free speech" azureblue Mar 2021 #34

I agree with you about the qualities wnylib Mar 2021 #53

Since when does free speech allow for outright lies to mislead the populace Bev54 Mar 2021 #37

Since December 15, 1791 CaptainTruth Mar 2021 #49

If teachers do that, they can be fired. wnylib Mar 2021 #50

No, not "fire in a crowded theater" again. That's a myth. CaptainTruth Mar 2021 #52

Love It! Roy Rolling Mar 2021 #56

Bring back DownriverDem Mar 2021 #22

One that's not just for broadcast! That's the only way it would be effective. CaptainTruth Mar 2021 #51

My post from another thread. usaf-vet Mar 2021 #24

No limits on free speech...I can only imagine how the GOP would subvert this...there is little we Demsrule86 Mar 2021 #35

I fully agree about the need to create wnylib Mar 2021 #54

I wish class action lawsuits could be brought against those who outright lie. CaptainTruth Mar 2021 #47

"free speech" for most of them means they have a right to lie. nt joetheman Mar 2021 #3

My post from another thread dickthegrouch Mar 2021 #55

Compounding the problem... Trueblue Texan Mar 2021 #4

Very intellectually tantalizing parallelism you've made there Trueblue Texan. jaxexpat Mar 2021 #16

Boy howdy are you right. CrackityJones75 Mar 2021 #17

And there is no reasoning with that, 2Gingersnaps Mar 2021 #27

Exactly! CrackityJones75 Mar 2021 #42

I know several people like this... Snackshack Mar 2021 #40

Well said! CrackityJones75 Mar 2021 #43

Believing can be a really big problem. Trust_Reality Mar 2021 #23

Covid response in a nutshell. 2Gingersnaps Mar 2021 #32

And denying Covid's existence even when it KPN Mar 2021 #41

The right wing media conditioning of the public set this situation up decades ago. ancianita Mar 2021 #5

I think Americans need a perceptual adjustment HariSeldon Mar 2021 #6

conservatives only survive with a heavy dose of lies and their base demands those lies LymphocyteLover Mar 2021 #7

the huge problem is conservative media that allows Republicans to be accountability-free LymphocyteLover Mar 2021 #8

Money. Greed. Capitalism. BarbD Mar 2021 #9

We need to be as tough on anyone who lies to the American people Rhiannon12866 Mar 2021 #10

Make it part of the oath. Snackshack Mar 2021 #11

Has the Fourth Estate The Wizard Mar 2021 #14

Nice play on words. Snackshack Mar 2021 #19

In many ways it has become a fifth column. sop Mar 2021 #29

This should be required reading The Wizard Mar 2021 #13

A question of constitutional law Bondor Mar 2021 #15

The media has a lot to do with the lack of accountability of the liars Escurumbele Mar 2021 #18

Will you accept some official body that has the power to determine what the "truth" is? hack89 Mar 2021 #21

Apparently there is one source so feared for digging out the truth and publishing........ usaf-vet Mar 2021 #33

For most, truth is truth, not "truth". It seems to me that our entire judicial system depends on Atticus Mar 2021 #45

We have a pretty "free market" approach to elections. malthaussen Mar 2021 #25

Seems to me that is their big cry baby tantrum about "cancel culture." 2Gingersnaps Mar 2021 #26

Laugh Track? rickyhall Mar 2021 #28

Funny you should write that as my blood pressure is still high after reading GemDigger Mar 2021 #30

Rachel Maddow has become the top cable news show by focusing on what they do, not what they say. Trust_Reality Mar 2021 #31

This message was self-deleted by its author Tbear Mar 2021 #36

The lack of shame has slowly grown worse... Buckeye_Democrat Mar 2021 #38

Agree, we prosecute other forms of fraud - Ponzi, broken contracts - why not lies and hoaxes? bucolic_frolic Mar 2021 #39

Democratic messaging needs to be effective enough that the vast majority... CaptainTruth Mar 2021 #46

Probably not. It took five years to simply censure McCarthy... First Speaker Mar 2021 #48