I don’t have an issue with a public servant holding office and having a criminal record. People make mistakes, and people can change. However, I think the fact the current president has made public and copious comments about dismantling the democracy that exists while showing a blatant disdain for the rights of people, that I have an issue with.
i think we need there to be like… enough time for someone to rehabilitate themselves. trump didn’t, and also the nature of his convictions were political corruption.
like. i think we fundamentally agree is what i’m saying, and i oversimplified it for my short little statement. i think there’s all sorts of people in prison right now who once out deserve to have their voting rights restored and be allowed to participate in society (drug charges and political imprisonments mostly), but the nature and recency of donald trump’s crimes should have disqualified him for running again, but the right is too addicted to power to risk giving it up to do the right thing.
I agree, the nature of the convictions should be a factor. I also agree that a sort of “cooldown” from a conviction would be reasonable, before having eligibility for holding political office restored. I’ve been leary of the simplified “convicts shouldn’t hold office” statement though, since the original intention of that lack of disqualification criteria was, to my understanding, to prevent political imprisonment from barring opponents from holding office. That seems like the sort of thing the current administration would jump on if they could, as well.
I think there are enough qualified people to be president in the all of 350 million in the states and that it’s OK if we disqualify people who’ve been convicted of a felony.
I think democracy would survive if not thrive.
Honestly, if we are going that far I say just do away with the president role all together. Democracies do fine with out this symbolic position.
So, you know how Erdogan recently threw bogus charges at a candidate and revoked the guy’s degree to make him ineligible? That’s why banning people with criminal records isn’t a good idea; the current government can just bar the opposition from running.
My guess would be you’re already long fucked when that becomes the case. There may be obstacles and exceptions needed but I still wouldn’t dismiss the idea.
Not an american but personally I think thats too low a bar for the leader of a country. Why shouldn’t we ask of the people we give ultimate power to that they be better than the average dipshit?
Felons for government admin positions? Fine. But the head of a nation? Especially with the powers that the US political system gives? No way. There are plenty of other jobs that can be taken.
I’m very much in favor of felons having access to work, but that doesn’t necessarily mean equal access to every single form of work, and I’d be quite content to ban them from the highest office in the land.
I don’t have an issue with a public servant holding office and having a criminal record. People make mistakes, and people can change. However, I think the fact the current president has made public and copious comments about dismantling the democracy that exists while showing a blatant disdain for the rights of people, that I have an issue with.
i think we need there to be like… enough time for someone to rehabilitate themselves. trump didn’t, and also the nature of his convictions were political corruption.
like. i think we fundamentally agree is what i’m saying, and i oversimplified it for my short little statement. i think there’s all sorts of people in prison right now who once out deserve to have their voting rights restored and be allowed to participate in society (drug charges and political imprisonments mostly), but the nature and recency of donald trump’s crimes should have disqualified him for running again, but the right is too addicted to power to risk giving it up to do the right thing.
I agree, the nature of the convictions should be a factor. I also agree that a sort of “cooldown” from a conviction would be reasonable, before having eligibility for holding political office restored. I’ve been leary of the simplified “convicts shouldn’t hold office” statement though, since the original intention of that lack of disqualification criteria was, to my understanding, to prevent political imprisonment from barring opponents from holding office. That seems like the sort of thing the current administration would jump on if they could, as well.
The “cooldown” would normally be a stint in prison. Unfortunately he was only convicted but not sentenced.
that’s very fair and i should have been more careful is what i was getting at
I think there are enough qualified people to be president in the all of 350 million in the states and that it’s OK if we disqualify people who’ve been convicted of a felony.
I think democracy would survive if not thrive.
Honestly, if we are going that far I say just do away with the president role all together. Democracies do fine with out this symbolic position.
So, you know how Erdogan recently threw bogus charges at a candidate and revoked the guy’s degree to make him ineligible? That’s why banning people with criminal records isn’t a good idea; the current government can just bar the opposition from running.
My guess would be you’re already long fucked when that becomes the case. There may be obstacles and exceptions needed but I still wouldn’t dismiss the idea.
Not an american but personally I think thats too low a bar for the leader of a country. Why shouldn’t we ask of the people we give ultimate power to that they be better than the average dipshit?
Because there are people getting into prison because they are political opponents. Navalny or The mayor of Istanbul are examples of such tactics.
Felons for government admin positions? Fine. But the head of a nation? Especially with the powers that the US political system gives? No way. There are plenty of other jobs that can be taken.
I’m very much in favor of felons having access to work, but that doesn’t necessarily mean equal access to every single form of work, and I’d be quite content to ban them from the highest office in the land.