Welcome to the Thursday edition of your open thread. It’s the day after the big debate. Does the world seem different. It feels pretty strange to have all this national attention, especially considering O’Donnell’s standing in the polls.
Slate brings us “The Concord Monitor Obtains the Dumbest Libertarian Quote Ever.” First the background story:
There’s a blogworld-meets-real-world frenzy going on in New Hampshire, as the anti-government movement rallies in defense of a couple whose newborn was taken by the state’s Division for Children. In the right-libertarian online world, the story that went out was that the state had confiscated the baby because its father was a member of the Oath Keepers movement. An excerpt of an affidavit posted online said so.
Later, as protesters picketed the hospital and Reason and Wonkette got into a savage flame-post war, it emerged that the full affidavit mostly dealt with allegations that the father, Johnathan Irish, had a long history of violence toward the mother, Stephanie Taylor, and her two older children (who were from an earlier, undissolved marriage), and that Taylor had persistently “failed to recognize” the danger.
So, libertarians are taking up the cause of a man who had his newborn taken away due to child abuse, on the basis of a highly redacted affidavit posted online. Some libertarian groups have been protesting in New Hampshire and unfortunately some of them were allowed to talk:
The most amazing voice from the anti-tyranny forces, though, belonged to a woman named Amanda Biondolillo, from Concord:
“The family should be left to resolve it on their own,” Biondolillo said. “Or private enterprise – private companies can contact the family and say, ‘We heard you were hitting your kids. Can you stop that?’ “
Is Amanda Biondolillo a prankster who shows up at protests to say things to make libertarians look like morons? Her online presence looks sincere. But: really? Private enterprise! The solution to domestic violence is for there to be private companies that will go around telling people to please stop hitting their kids. Oh, the parents will say, we hadn’t thought of that. We will stop hitting the children now.
Ummm…er…. I’m speechless
Did you know Wheel of Fortune‘s Pat Sajak is a wingnut? Not just a standard wingnut, but a wingnut with an idea! I’ll let him explain:
None of my family and friends is allowed to appear on Wheel of Fortune. Same goes for my kids’ teachers or the guys who rotate my tires. If there’s not a real conflict of interest, there is, at least, the appearance of one. On another level, Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan has recused herself from nearly half the cases this session due to her time as solicitor general. In nearly all private and public endeavors, there are occasions in which it’s only fair and correct that a person or group be barred from participating because that party could directly and unevenly benefit from decisions made and policies adopted. So should state workers be able to vote in state elections on matters that would benefit them directly? The same question goes for federal workers in federal elections.
I’m not suggesting that public employees should be denied the right to vote, but that there are certain cases in which their stake in the matter may be too great. Of course we all have a stake in one way or another in most elections, and many of us tend to vote in favor of our own interests. However, if, for example, a ballot initiative appears that might cap the benefits of a certain group of state workers, should those workers be able to vote on the matter? Plainly, their interests as direct recipients of the benefits are far greater than the interests of others whose taxes support such benefits. I realize this opens a Pandora’s box in terms of figuring out what constitutes a true conflict of interest, but, after all, isn’t opening those boxes Ricochet’s raison d’être?
Using this logic:
Should candidates be allowed to vote for themselves? After all, they directly gain by getting a job and get paid. What about their families? They benefit too! Pat Sajak – what a moran.