tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10820485.post882783860765150837..comments2023-11-03T09:36:22.100-04:00Comments on In From the Cold: Today's Reading AssignmentGeorge Smileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07049707648660651119noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10820485.post-13507776315152880502009-06-29T16:41:09.512-04:002009-06-29T16:41:09.512-04:00I think what's going on here is people-oriente...I think what's going on here is people-oriented, but somewhat nerdy people (politicians) who are mostly men, become more attractive to some members of the opposite sex because they have power and celebrity -- sort of the rock star quotient. Many of them probably had to work to be interesting to women when they were younger.<br /><br />At the same time, they are in circumstances (frequent travel) and meeting lots of new people that make temptation harder to resist.<br /><br />At the same time, the volume of the press coverage these people get at once ensures that the cheaters are found out, and produces more of them -- because all the coverage makes them bigger and bigger "rock stars."<br /><br />Like some athletes and rock stars who are destroyed because they suddenly come into big money and fame and have no clue how to handle it, maybe easier access to "unauthorized" sex is just too corrosive for these people to handle. I don't know that smaller government helps this problem much, although if there are fewer politicos, clearly you'd have absolutely fewer scandals. <br /><br />A factor in exposing these people -- that is, why we hear about them as opposed to earlier periods when the same things went on - is the sheer size of the world media -- and the need to keep the monster fed with new and titillating fodder to talk about, and the fact that politics has increasingly become war without weapons.<br /><br />But I think the main problem is with the individuals, and to a degree, how they deal with the sometimes sudden celebrity and power status conferred by media-driven political visibility.El Jefe Maximohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14661511063910659377noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10820485.post-51166359279806438222009-06-29T13:39:26.680-04:002009-06-29T13:39:26.680-04:00Two Republicans caught in sex scandals and the sol...Two Republicans caught in sex scandals and the solution is smaller government?!? Makes about as much sense as Limbaugh claiming that Sanford's affair was Obama's fault.cityhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14522287833988717567noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10820485.post-31561766004742649812009-06-29T11:09:41.031-04:002009-06-29T11:09:41.031-04:00That reminds us of an effort in Arkansas during th...<i>That reminds us of an effort in Arkansas during the early 80s to further limit sessions of the General Assembly. At the time, state lawmakers met for only 30 days every two years, if we recall correctly. Reformers suggested an even more abbreviated session, say 2 days every 30 years.<br /><br />They were only half-joking</i>.<br /><br />My home state of Texas has sometimes been ridiculed for only having a part-time legislature.<br /><br />I believe the old boys who set that up were on the right track, and I sometimes regret that they didn't follow the thought to its' logical conclusion. :-)<br /><br />Seriously, this limits the amount of damage they can do. Our predecessors were right to be leery of paying grown people to do nothing but make rules for the rest of us.<br /><br />-Paul Gordonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16530815397182777195noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10820485.post-19601295963573074182009-06-28T09:16:13.704-04:002009-06-28T09:16:13.704-04:00Well,if understand correctly the House just passed...Well,if understand correctly the House just passed a climate bill (yeah, that'll work) not simply without anyone reading it, but with with parts not yet written. They have gone plumb crazy inside the bubble - that is like opening the sea cocks on the Titanic before it hit anything.lgudehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12774491337993415578noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10820485.post-64513607165834123882009-06-28T09:15:00.982-04:002009-06-28T09:15:00.982-04:00"if we recall correctly. Reformers suggested ..."if we recall correctly. Reformers suggested an even more abbreviated session, say 2 days every 30 years."<br /><br />Ah, if only it had come true...ppjakaJimhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04232495007429895581noreply@blogger.com