I think your example of seeking out a friend to use their welder is morally questionable. I think seeking out a friend to rule in a case before the SC is absolutely wrong and I don't know why anyone would not want it to stop. Nothing wrong with wanting to meet friends with common interests.
Political So now what
- Thread starter 4x4_Welder
- Start date
Political discussions within
glockman
I hate Jeep trucks
- Location
- Pleasant Grove
Obviously the welder example is the kind of thing we are all against. The other example is that people with similar interests, POWER, MONEY seem to group together in the same spaces. If you have power like the Supreme court, you are inevitably going to be in the same circles as people with money, not people who work the counter at Maverik. So are you not allowed to have relationships with people you are frequently around? Or should supreme court justices supposed to seek out people not in their circles? As Stephen said, it is not the ideal situation but how do you prevent people who are the highest court in the country from having relationships with people in the highest positions in business? See my comment a few post up in regards to public institutions pimping the justices out to large donors.
glockman
I hate Jeep trucks
- Location
- Pleasant Grove
Thanks for stating the obvious. Now navigate the reality of who does it and how to prevent it and what is actually a gift vs a donation to a charity you happen to head. It's not black and white or it wouldn't be happening.
I honestly just don't understand why people are putting in so much work to justify this.
Your point that people tend to associate with people on similar socio-economic levels is fairly valid. Rich people very often hang out with more rich people, and these Justices are absolutely not lacking for wealth or power. But the idea that it's normal for people in similar socio-economic positions to take relatively substantial gifts from their friends "just because" seems absurd. Is your buddy that's financially pretty similar to you just going to give you a nice handgun? Or a welder? I don't think so. My friends certainly aren't. I'm been the recipient of a ton of generosity from my close friends and other friends (such as RME homies who have continued to support my star crossed business), but my friends aren't just giving me money or relatively expensive gifts. Similarly, these Justices can afford their own trips, so having a "friend" just giving it to them because they are friendly just seems like an obvious conflict of interest. I think it's pretty common practice for the wealthy to take turns paying for things, and maybe trips and such fall into that for the super wealthy, but I'd guarantee that C. Thomas hasn't paid for some of his rich homies to go on vacation with he and his wife.
Just because finding a way to navigate the reality of what a gift vs a donation etc is a difficult thing to figure out, doesn't excuse the fact that it very much seems to be a conflict of interest. I think that was the original intent of the discussion.
- Location
- West Bountiful, UT
I bet if I had a lift I could make new friends.
- DAA
- DAA
glockman
I hate Jeep trucks
- Location
- Pleasant Grove
I'm not justifying it, I think it's obviously wrong. I just haven't seen proof of it and I have started to withhold my outrage for something more substantiative than accusations from Team A towards Team B. To your point Cody, I think rich people don't outright gift anything. They donate a week at their vacation home to charity X so that it's tax deductible. Then public person Y stays there and the other team screams unlawful gift, which it probably is but it's such common practice and so muddled in money laundering that you will never put an end to it, so I just stopped caring.
02SE
Well-Known Member
- Location
- Millcreek, UT
I guess I have some great friends. I've been given a nice rifle, various racing parts, a truck, etc. Of course I've given stuff to friends, and helped them in times of need. 🤷♂️
glockman
I hate Jeep trucks
- Location
- Pleasant Grove
#mustbenice
- Location
- West Bountiful, UT
I can explain how I feel about him. I just heard of him for the first time reading your post. Googling him was a better experience than googling grinder.
That's all I got.
- DAA
That's all I got.
- DAA
I also didn't know much, but Google says he's a rural guy in rural MN from rural NB. Former teacher and former National Guard (24 years). Seems pretty moderate and has a history of bipartisan work. Pro guns, pro lgbtq rights, pro choice. Seems pretty highly regarded in MN.
- Location
- Never Far From Nowhere
Basically he's a nothingburger. He doesn't help Harris in any substantial way because he's just a stock standard progressive Governor slightly to the right of Gavin Newsom. He's on board with all her same policy positions and I guess makes people "feel better" because he's an old white dude (skin color is all that matters after all), kinda like what Obama did with Biden.
I think most notably for people nationally are his dismal response to the George Floyd riots in Minneapolis-St. Paul. You could say that had Walz taken a tougher stance to the lawlessness, the riots might not have spread around the country like they did. Also, his government has been wracked by financial mismanagement scandals since he took office in 2018. While a Veep doesn't have much to do with financial policy, I think the level of incompetence he's shown as a Chief Executive is rather telling.
I think the more important story is why didn't Harris pick Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania? He was the odds on favorite, it just made more sense. While Shapiro has much the same progressive bona fides as Walz, he's a bit younger, more charismatic and would have helped lock up a battleground state. My suspicion is that the Harris campaign is afraid of the loud, violent, extremist wing of their party who occupy college campuses, stage protests on freeways, and scream 'From the River to the Sea'.
Being Jewish and having expressed support for Israel's defense against Hamas, Shapiro has been deemed toxic in national Democratic politics right now (and yes, I know that Harris's husband is Jewish). So they went with Walz to pander to the base and keep the bubbling civil war in the DNC out of the headlines during the election. I think that tells you a lot about the Harris campaign and where their priorities lie and its rather ugly.
I think most notably for people nationally are his dismal response to the George Floyd riots in Minneapolis-St. Paul. You could say that had Walz taken a tougher stance to the lawlessness, the riots might not have spread around the country like they did. Also, his government has been wracked by financial mismanagement scandals since he took office in 2018. While a Veep doesn't have much to do with financial policy, I think the level of incompetence he's shown as a Chief Executive is rather telling.
I think the more important story is why didn't Harris pick Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania? He was the odds on favorite, it just made more sense. While Shapiro has much the same progressive bona fides as Walz, he's a bit younger, more charismatic and would have helped lock up a battleground state. My suspicion is that the Harris campaign is afraid of the loud, violent, extremist wing of their party who occupy college campuses, stage protests on freeways, and scream 'From the River to the Sea'.
Being Jewish and having expressed support for Israel's defense against Hamas, Shapiro has been deemed toxic in national Democratic politics right now (and yes, I know that Harris's husband is Jewish). So they went with Walz to pander to the base and keep the bubbling civil war in the DNC out of the headlines during the election. I think that tells you a lot about the Harris campaign and where their priorities lie and its rather ugly.
DesertRam
Active Member
- Location
- Southern New Mexico
Pro some guns. Supports red flag laws, universal background checks, and "assault weapons" bans. Maybe a little better than the party line because he is a hunter, but not much better.
johngottfredson
Threat Level Midnight
- Location
- Alpine
He named his kid “Gus” and coached high school football. For a democrat, that’s about as much as you can hope for. He seems plenty charismatic. If her biggest negatives are extreme liberal policy positions, terrible communication skills, left coast liberal out-of-touchisms, and general unlikeableness, this doesn’t seem like that bad of a move.
And yes, it doesn’t create an internal civil war over Israel for the dems.
And yes, it doesn’t create an internal civil war over Israel for the dems.
Ya I later saw that he lost his nra endor$ement and his politics had been growing increasingly more progressive, but so far I dislike him the least of the other three buttholes that are in the race
johngottfredson
Threat Level Midnight
- Location
- Alpine
“Butthole” should definitely used more in our political discourse.
Spork
Tin Foil Hat Equipped
- Location
- Saratoga Springs, UT
He's only been selected for a day. Give him some time and you'll grow to hate him also.