MACTEPsporta wrote:That said, true democracy should include more than two parties. Especially when the two are as similar as Dems and GOP.
Agreed. But the restrictive U.S. ballot access laws make El Al passenger security screening at the Tel Aviv airport look downright lax.
Take care,
PK
We've been around this block already, but representative government can succeed with either a two-party or multi-party system. Neither is inherently more efficient or democratic than the other. There are benefits and drawbacks to both models and despite MACTEP's efforts to exclude every nation outside Europe, functioning democracies with both models.
XBL Gamertag: RobVarak
"Ok I'm an elitist, but I have a healthy respect for people who don't measure up." --Aaron Sorkin
GTHobbes wrote:I didn't know McCain graduated 894th out of a class of 899 at the Naval Academy...is that true?
Yeah, it's true. It's been circulating for a while now. I think it has more to do with his inner rebel than his academics. That said, he is no Obama academically, of course.
"Under capitalism, man exploits man. Under communism, it's just the opposite."
-- John K. Galbraith
That's what I was just thinking. Who cares about John McCain's study habits when he was 21? Unless someone wants to say he's an idiot via other, more pertinent evidence, it's a completely empty fact. George W. Bush had higher SATs and Yale GPA than John Kerry but that didn't anyone from concluding Bush was an idiot and Kerry was smart during the last election.
I'm disappointed that blog didn't link to the pertinent WSJ article. Instead it linked to something in the WSJ that wasn't at all critical of McCain.
As for what it means?...Kerry had a lower GPA than Bush.
More on McCain who is now ahead of Palin on the GOP ticket again. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_McCain
Following in the footsteps of his father and grandfather, McCain entered the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis. There, he was a friend and informal leader for many of his classmates,[9] and sometimes stood up for people who were being bullied.[4] He also became a lightweight boxer.[10] McCain came into conflict with higher-ranking personnel, he did not always obey the rules, and that contributed to a low class rank (894 of 899) despite a strong intelligence.[9][11] He did well in academic subjects that interested him, such as literature and history, but studied only enough to pass subjects he struggled with, such as mathematics.[4][12] McCain graduated in 1958.[9]
And a fascinating paper here which discusses the impact of constitutional structure on system support (i.e., whether people feel that their government is responsive and representative of them). The study concludes that while parliamentary and proportional representative governments have a higher return of system support, it also points out that the party system is a tertiary factor at best, well behind the level of civil liberties and economic security.
More importantly, one may reasonably question the relevance of whether voters in a stable democracy of any sort return high system support to their instututions at all. It's a realy life and death question for nascent democracies, but significantly less so for establsihed ones.
That's what I was just thinking. Who cares about John McCain's study habits when he was 21? Unless someone wants to say he's an idiot via other, more pertinent evidence, it's a completely empty fact. George W. Bush had higher SATs and Yale GPA than John Kerry but that didn't anyone from concluding Bush was an idiot and Kerry was smart during the last election.
I'm disappointed that blog didn't link to the pertinent WSJ article. Instead it linked to something in the WSJ that wasn't at all critical of McCain.
He might be a completely different man 50 years later.
Academic success isn't required for the presidency. But should the president be smart, have the intellectual capacity to tackle many issues?
Or does he only need to delegate issues he's not knowledgeable about or isn't interested in dealing with to advisors or experts?
McCain's brand doesn't project exceptional intelligence, which is probably a deal-breaker with many voters. His is more about a certain type of visceral and moral appeal.
Crap, I wanted to put up a graph I just made but the fields are all messed up once it posts. I am not familiar enough with DSP. Any ideas as to how I can put it up without uploading it somewhere first? It's regular text, I am gonna save it in MS Word.
Last edited by MACTEPsporta on Fri Sep 19, 2008 6:38 pm, edited 1 time in total.
"Charlie Rangel's comments are clearly disgraceful," Rep. Peter King, R-Long Island, said. "This is just another liberal Democrat who can't accept an independent woman running for president."
P. King is the co-chair of this campaign, is he planning to flip the ticket?
"Under capitalism, man exploits man. Under communism, it's just the opposite."
-- John K. Galbraith
"Charlie Rangel's comments are clearly disgraceful," Rep. Peter King, R-Long Island, said. "This is just another liberal Democrat who can't accept an independent woman running for president."
P. King is the co-chair of this campaign, is he planning to flip the ticket?
MACTEPsporta wrote:Crap, I wanted to put up a graph I just made but the fields are all messed up once it posts. I am not familiar enough with DSP. Any ideas as to how I can put it up without uploading it somewhere first? It's regular text, I am gonna save it in MS Word.
Maybe convert the graph to a .jpg, upload it to a share site and then post it as an image?
Edit--
PS If you're sitting at work making up graphs about democracy to post in this thread you absolutely win DSP'er of the Week. LMAO
XBL Gamertag: RobVarak
"Ok I'm an elitist, but I have a healthy respect for people who don't measure up." --Aaron Sorkin
Although to be fair, the suggestion that McCain "seized" on the story is a serious overstatement, and the admonition that closes the article is pedantic and unnecessary. I'm not aware of McCain himself ever saying a word about the accusations and I don't think there was even a commercial about the topic. I may be wrong about either one or both of those, and I'd be happy to be corrected, but it doesn't seem to me that this has been a major talking point.
XBL Gamertag: RobVarak
"Ok I'm an elitist, but I have a healthy respect for people who don't measure up." --Aaron Sorkin
wco81 wrote:
McCain's brand doesn't project exceptional intelligence, which is probably a deal-breaker with many voters. His is more about a certain type of visceral and moral appeal.
Moral appeal? Isn't McCain the guy who cheated on and dumped his first wife following her serious car accident to marry Trophy Wife Cindy Lou?
I guess that doesn't count either...since it happened so long ago. What kind've message is being sent here...? Just make it to your 70s, and all of the academic failures and character flaws from your "youth" will be forgiven and forgotten.
I don't want to pay more taxes either, but Republicans sure don't make it easy to vote their way with the candidates they come up with. I wish they would've learned their lesson with d*****bag W and picked someone with some demonstrable intelligence.
wco81 wrote:
McCain's brand doesn't project exceptional intelligence, which is probably a deal-breaker with many voters. His is more about a certain type of visceral and moral appeal.
Moral appeal? Isn't McCain the guy who cheated on and dumped his first wife following her serious car accident to marry Trophy Wife Cindy Lou?
I guess that doesn't count either...since it happened so long ago. What kind've message is being sent here...? Just make it to your 70s, and all of the academic failures and character flaws from your "youth" will be forgiven and forgotten.
I don't want to pay more taxes either, but Republicans sure don't make it easy to vote their way with the candidates they come up with. I wish they would've learned their lesson with d*****bag W and picked someone with some demonstrable intelligence.
John "The Great Satan" McCain.
If independent voters hate him this much its all over.
wco81 wrote:
McCain's brand doesn't project exceptional intelligence, which is probably a deal-breaker with many voters. His is more about a certain type of visceral and moral appeal.
Moral appeal? Isn't McCain the guy who cheated on and dumped his first wife following her serious car accident to marry Trophy Wife Cindy Lou?
I guess that doesn't count either...since it happened so long ago. What kind've message is being sent here...? Just make it to your 70s, and all of the academic failures and character flaws from your "youth" will be forgiven and forgotten.
I don't want to pay more taxes either, but Republicans sure don't make it easy to vote their way with the candidates they come up with. I wish they would've learned their lesson with d*****bag W and picked someone with some demonstrable intelligence.
Well I think we all learned from the Clinton presidency that personal character and conduct are clearly irrelevant. The tangential lesson is that even a Rhodes Scholar can be too stupid to keep his cock in his pants and his mouth shut.
XBL Gamertag: RobVarak
"Ok I'm an elitist, but I have a healthy respect for people who don't measure up." --Aaron Sorkin
Although to be fair, the suggestion that McCain "seized" on the story is a serious overstatement, and the admonition that closes the article is pedantic and unnecessary. I'm not aware of McCain himself ever saying a word about the accusations and I don't think there was even a commercial about the topic. I may be wrong about either one or both of those, and I'd be happy to be corrected, but it doesn't seem to me that this has been a major talking point.
Language barriers can be a brutal.
"Under capitalism, man exploits man. Under communism, it's just the opposite."
-- John K. Galbraith
I dropped out of college with a GPA under 2.0. On the other hand, I had a 1600 SAT and a 168 on the Wechsler. I also scored a 98 on my calculus final exam in college with 8 hours of cramming after never attending class, doing homework, or taking exams all semester. (I still failed the class, obviously. I just wanted to see how well I could do on the final.)
So I think it's more a matter of interest and motivation than intelligence.
Also, Obama hasn't released his college transcripts. Frankly, I don't care unless he opens the door by touting his education as proof of his superior intelligence or something.
Seriously, we've had brilliant failed Presidents and successful Presidents with more modest intellectual gifts. Like most important jobs, there is more than one model for success. The most important thing for a successful President is to get a managerial structure in place which compliments the President's strengths rather than highlighting his weaknesses.
XBL Gamertag: RobVarak
"Ok I'm an elitist, but I have a healthy respect for people who don't measure up." --Aaron Sorkin
.....King has been watching too much T.V.
