Weekend Open Thread

My mom had a ’77 Granada, speedo stopped at 85. There may or may not have been occasions that the speedo got pushed past 85, all the way around to about 15 or 20. I admit nothing. Call my lawer.

My father had a 1979 F-150 with the 85mph speedometer. He also dropped a 351 Cleveland motor in it, cause fuck it, that’s why.
Not a good thing to let a 16-year old kid drive. He was especially upset when I drove from Gillette, WY, to Farmington, NM in just over 9 hours.
For the uninitiated that’s about a 750 mile trip, including thru I-70 and I-25 in Denver. He was a little miffed at me for that one.
I can neither confirm nor deny I saw the speedometer at 25-30 mph on the second trip around on the straightaways.

In the modern era, Americans are politicized from a very young age, through socially engineered television (and increasingly digital) programming, public education, and even social media. Growing up in the ’80s, my generation was very much influenced by both the “talking heads” on TV and the decades-long Cold War. Phrases like “Ugly Stupid Stinking Russians” were common in my childhood, and we were indoctrinated to believe that the US was the greatest nation to have ever existed. Reagan was President, cable news was largely unavailable, and we had to rely on local news stations and newspapers for our information. Parents played a much larger role in early development–to include political thought–back then, especially when compared to today. Like many Mid-Atlantic lower-middleclass families, mine leaned conservative, though socio-political topics were rarely, if ever discussed.

Forty years later, we live in an age of instant information and, more importantly, gratification. Parents of young children are just as likely to put a tablet into their toddler’s hands as my own parents were to leave us in front of the TV for hours. Teachers–especially those in elementary school–largely grew up during times of increasingly visible social issues and have known only modern political warfare. Whereas earlier generations could spend their formative years focusing on learning “how to adult”, Millennials and subsequent generations have learned through a combination of politics, media, and online “influencers” that their political and social positions must be heard. Those positions tend to lean overwhelmingly far Left, as the vocal minorities (both Left and Right) nearly always drown out the soft-spoken majority (Moderates on both sides). When young minds have educators, celebrities, media, and politicians alike telling them how to feel and vote, they usually follow those ideals until (and if) they begin to question their influences’ motivations.

Over the past 20 years, online news sources have almost entirely supplanted traditional sources like television and especially newspapers. In recent years, AI content, along with “news feeds” that base suggested content off of our browsing and search histories (among other factors) have been effectively forced on everyone who opens a web browser or wanted to find out about a current event. It is easy to draw an opinion on a subject based solely on one-side opinionated and/or biased news sources, even from formerly respectable media outlets.

Let’s say that I’m a concerned citizen who heard a coworker talking about a young child who ICE took into custody. I do a search on the subject and have to dig through 20 AI-generated and opinion pieces on the report to find something resembling an objective and unbiased article. The next time I open my browser, my feed has three reports of ICE agents detaining “innocent” people, an interview with an anti-ICE organizer, a story about a US military combat veteran who was deported after being in the country for 10 years, a statement from an NBA player criticizing our current President’s immigration policies, and a link to a site raising fund for a certain journalist’s defense fund, after he joined a bunch of agitators and vandals in the storming of a place of worship. I clock over to YouTube, and three of the top 10 suggested videos are about ICE “overreach”, while a quick check on Facebook shows me posts made by friends who are talking about the happenings in Minnesota. Without even realizing it, I’m being indoctrinated by the very “news” I’m being fed.

We have the ability to simply ignore media we don’t agree with, but it cannot be argued that opinions have largely taken the place of news, and that nearly every media outlet–to include social media–has an ingrained bias formulated to affect our own views on current issues. Traditionally, we had to find our news. Now it finds us.

Congress lost its way long ago. Originally conceived as a means of representing the people without becoming a career unto itself, our Congress is now full of opportunistic (and increasingly rich) prima donnas who hold themselves above the unwashed masses.

The days of negotiation, deliberation, and consideration are largely behind us. Those are last resorts, designed to maintain a facade of respectability and accountability that few Senators or Representatives truly care about.

The hindrance of majority rule is one good thing about our political system, despite its potential to delay or even countermand the intent of the current President. While this has taken place for centuries, the modern era has seen an increase in the number of extremely partisan bills proposed by one side, only to be diluted or outright defeated by the other. Regardless of your political persuasion, it is hard to argue that our nation is best served by having a true majority rule system. In this day and age, such a system would see Trump’s policies codified and enforced whole-heartedly, while a future Democratic Administration with majorities in Congress might institute a massive anti-gun bill and create a process for instant citizenship for anyone residing in the US.

Seemingly few people run for Congress these days without having some special interests at heart. Most often, those interests are what will simultaneously guarantee a long career in DC while enriching themselves. This is just one reason why so many of us can name prominent Representatives from far away states while not even knowing who our own Representative is. Names like AOC, Omar, Crenshaw, and others from all sides of the aisle are heard daily. Detractors might bemoan how their Representatives are representing everyone but their constituents, and their Senators are more focused on events taking place halfway across the country than they are their own state, but they’ll continue electing those politicians.

Also, the states themselves are trying to nullify the college with an Interstate Compact (NPVIC), which has it’s own problems. One, it isn’t legally binding. If a state has a change in leadership and don’t want to be in the compact anymore, they can just leave. So, while the compact will be legally binding at 270 electoral votes, it is always in danger of collapsing from a state’s withdrawal. Second, the expression of minority views and how they are broadcast on election day. Electoral votes ARE the only vote that truly matter in the election of the president. If all states give their electoral votes based on the results of the popular vote, then the final tally will show a complete plurality of states supporting one candidate and creating the illusion that they are overwhelmingly popular. Third, issues of minority rights: candidates will only campaign in states with the most electoral votes, ensuring the voices of less populous states are never heard. So the compact is a bad idea and it’s legality will likely not stand up to the scrutiny of the Supreme Court.