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conulyWhat else are we not hearing from our representatives?
As always, I'm gonna focus on one small thing, namely, the defense of "Well, it was a private conversation!"
This ought to be self-evident and probably is to everybody who isn't a raging hypocrite, but when you're a public figure in a public place, your conversation is not private. And when you, an elected official, go and air your private opinions in public, they are no longer your personal private opinions that are nobody's business but your own. They're information that the public can use when deciding whether or not to vote for you in the upcoming election or, better yet, to mobilize for you to leave office.
Sorry.
It's one thing to say that Joe Q. Random Truck Driver shouldn't be fired from his job for the things he said at a bar one day, or Dr. Random Doctorperson. Elected officials are doing a very different job, and they got it in no small part based on their opinions, so they're SOL on that front.
As always, I'm gonna focus on one small thing, namely, the defense of "Well, it was a private conversation!"
This ought to be self-evident and probably is to everybody who isn't a raging hypocrite, but when you're a public figure in a public place, your conversation is not private. And when you, an elected official, go and air your private opinions in public, they are no longer your personal private opinions that are nobody's business but your own. They're information that the public can use when deciding whether or not to vote for you in the upcoming election or, better yet, to mobilize for you to leave office.
Sorry.
It's one thing to say that Joe Q. Random Truck Driver shouldn't be fired from his job for the things he said at a bar one day, or Dr. Random Doctorperson. Elected officials are doing a very different job, and they got it in no small part based on their opinions, so they're SOL on that front.
no subject
Date: 2019-05-22 05:19 pm (UTC)I remember waiting at a gate at the airport, when I heard a booming voice from far across the otherwise empty room. It was a guy discussing legislation on his phone and not in a way most of us would: Procedures, specifics of committee meetings, dates for things to come up. He was not a reporter, not some local politician, or politician's aide but a US Congressman talking louder than I'd be comfortable with doing there. It wasn't as if he was having to talk over a lot of background noise. Maybe it wasn't the most sensitive of material he was discussing, but it was certainly odd to hear somebody talking about it in a loud voice in a public place.
no subject
Date: 2019-05-23 04:07 pm (UTC)