- Joined
- Oct 22, 2002
- Messages
- 41,288
- Location
- Frozen in Michigan
- Gender
- Old Fart
- Basic Beliefs
- Don't be a dick.
That doesn't really say much. I assume you think all those people being lawyers is detrimental somehow.
-
Features
Pete Buttigieg
- Thread starter Brian63
- Start date
That doesn't really say much. I assume you think all those people being lawyers is detrimental somehow.
Elixir
Made in America
Do you even know what "monopolize" means? Familiar with the latin root "mono"? FYI it means "ONE", not two out of four.
It is more accurate to say that republicans are monopolized by legal pig-ignorance. That is a characteristic of ALL their presidents of the last 40 years.
Derec
Contributor
Yes. Do you even know what "40 years" means?
Again, read what I wrote more carefully. Both (i.e. two out of two) Democratic presidents in the last 40 years were lawyers. Now, that might just be chance because of a small sample size. But look at all the Democratic nominees, including those who did not win. After 1980, six out of seven were lawyers, except for Al Gore, and even he went to law school but did not graduate.
Now, back to the "two out of four" that you keep getting back to without understanding: this wasn't always so. Before the 1980s, Democrats had non-lawyer presidents like Carter or LBJ and Republicans had lawyer presidents like Ford.
- - - Updated - - -
Yes, I think it is. Democrats are obsessed with diversity of races and genders but only nominating people who went to law school in the last 4 decades means that there is zero diversity of educational backgrounds.
RavenSky
The Doctor's Wife
Has anyone read/listened to his book?
- Joined
- Oct 22, 2002
- Messages
- 41,288
- Location
- Frozen in Michigan
- Gender
- Old Fart
- Basic Beliefs
- Don't be a dick.
Why bother? I really don't think he has a chance. But it may set him up well for future positions in the house or senate and then the White House.
Brian63
Veteran Member
- Joined
- Jan 8, 2001
- Messages
- 1,639
- Location
- Michigan
- Gender
- Male
- Basic Beliefs
- Freethinker/atheist/humanist
The guy has an interesting story regardless of his political future. In terms of his education, military experience, closeted sexual orientation, being a major of South Bend, and more. At some point I would like to read it, it just would not be anytime soon (other priorities ahead of it).
Elixir
Made in America
...means Derec is still fixated on a false narrative of his own creation. He began by telling us that only HALF of the last 4 dem nominees were lawyers.
Of course, the Republicans NEVER nominate lawyers because a Republican with any inkling about the actual existing law, would find themselves on the wrong side of it. That's why they're a uniformly willfully ignorant bunch of thugs.
jab
Veteran Member
"just a white male" has become an acceptable cloak for "left-wing" homophobia, and also ageism as in "old white male"
Angra Mainyu
Veteran Member
braces_for_impact
Veteran Member
Personally, I think the guy is a bit refreshing. BUT I don't think he has the experience. I also don't buy his "well I'm a new kind of candidate so that's why I don't spell out my policy positions on my website." Nor do I buy some of his other statements where he seems to clearly wish to avoid taking a policy position of one type or another. Third, there's something about the way he tries to use the religious left VS. the religious right that I find unsettling.
Do I think he's bright? Yep. But I get the feeling there's a bit of cockiness creeping in too, and your sir, are mayor of South Bend. As Han Solo once said. "Great kid, now don't get cocky!"
Please excuse any formatting issues as this was sent via mobile.
Do I think he's bright? Yep. But I get the feeling there's a bit of cockiness creeping in too, and your sir, are mayor of South Bend. As Han Solo once said. "Great kid, now don't get cocky!"
Please excuse any formatting issues as this was sent via mobile.
Koyaanisqatsi
Veteran Member
A "profession" cannot monopolize anything. Aside from that rather obvious fact, being a lawyer simply means you're trained in the law, which, for the President of the United States--who is sworn exclusively to "preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States"--is a very good thing.
President Obama also studied political science, international relations and English literature. Does that mean English Lit has "pretty much monopolized the Democratic presidential nominations"?
Likewise, President Clinton got his Bachelor's in Foreign Service and went on to study politics at Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar. So does that mean political science monopolized the Dem presidential nominations, because that, too, would be a good thing?
Derec
Contributor
In a manner of speaking, it can.
I think it's a bad thing when such a high office is dominated by a single profession/educational track. It makes for a limited outlook on the world.
Did every Democratic nominee since 1980 major in English Lit?
Again, I do not think it's a good thing for a single educational track to monopolize nominations. A little more professional/educational diversity would do the party good.
Derec
Contributor
No, you are still fixated on the (deliberate?) misunderstanding of my point.
Again, read what I actually wrote. 2 out of last 4 were lawyers, but both since 1980 were lawyers. As were all the failed nominees save Al Gore, and even he attended law school. So yes, educational background of Dem nominees for the last 40 years is rather one-note.
Also not true. They sometimes nominate lawyers.
If we could drop this facile hyperpartisanism for just a second ...
Koyaanisqatsi
Veteran Member
In a “manner of speaking” the moon is made of green cheese.
It very clearly isn’t, as just Obama’s and Clinton’s educational track proves. They both studied literature, political science, philosophy and law. That makes them extremely well-rounded, intelligent individuals and likely accounts for their brilliant careers and why they were such remarkably good Presidents.
Exactly the opposite, actually, as all of those disciplines require opening up one’s outlook on the world, particularly political science and English Literature (which is really World Literature).
In a manner of speaking.
Again, it’s not single.
Such as? As we’ve seen in stark relief, being a reality TV star and a con man don’t work, so what other additional educational background do you think a President should have, seeing that you think distinguishing one’s self at someplace like Harvard or Oxford isn’t sufficiently well-rounded enough?
You realize it’s a job, right? And it has certain definite requirements to perform it properly? So you’re essentially saying that a Yoga class should be taught by someone who doesn’t know Yoga, or a bus driving position should be filled by someone who has no license and has never driven a bus before, but maybe knows how to ride a motorcycle.
Does that make any sense to you? That was rhetorical.
- Joined
- Oct 22, 2002
- Messages
- 41,288
- Location
- Frozen in Michigan
- Gender
- Old Fart
- Basic Beliefs
- Don't be a dick.
Derec
Contributor
And why exactly do you think lawyers are experts at governing in the same way pilots are experts at flying aircraft?
Note that this obsession with almost exclusively nominating lawyers (or else people who drop out of law school like Gore) is something unique to Democratic Party in the US since circa 1980.
Take other world leaders. Trudeau Jr. has degrees in education and literature and has studied engineering and environmental geography without graduating. Angela Merkel's degree is in quantum chemistry. Theresa May read geography. Emanuel Macron's degrees are in philosophy and public service. Bibi Netanyahu has degrees in architecture and management.
China's president Xi has a degree in chemical engineering. Narendra Modi has degrees in political science. Vladimir Putin studied law, so I guess there are some of those among international leaders too.
I think Democrats would be well advised to diversify the field of acceptable backgrounds in whom they nominate for president.
Derec
Contributor
No, in a manner of speaking that every single nominee of the Democratic Party for a long time have been either lawyers or one guy who dropped out of law school.
Huh? Both studied law.
I do not see well-rounded here. Those are typical pre-law undergrad fields of study and all are pretty easy academically followed by the JD degree.
But they do not require any sort of mathematical or scientific literacy for example.
And both being lawyers, they of course believe that their profession should play an outsized role in our lives. With all these JDs we will not solve the problem of US being one of the most over-lawyered counties in the world where suing each other is a national pastime!
Nope.
They are all JDs. Single track.
Maybe one of the reasons Trump succeeded is that Democratic Party wanted to shove yet another lawyer down our throats. And is about to repeat the same mistake with Uncle Joe.
The job is a president, not a judge or a law professor. Being a lawyer or having a JD degree is not a prerequisite.
So why are Democrats only nominating people who went to law school?
It does not make any sense to me that since 1980s the Democratic Party will nominate only people who went to law school.
Elixir
Made in America
Still mystified at Derec's idiotic complaint about people who make and uphold laws knowing something about laws...
I guess that's standard moronics for the garden-variety "I'm not a Trumpsucker", their orange avatar being the pure embodiment of legal ignorance and all...
I guess that's standard moronics for the garden-variety "I'm not a Trumpsucker", their orange avatar being the pure embodiment of legal ignorance and all...
Koyaanisqatsi
Veteran Member
Both Obama and Clinton studied literature.
And got a Bachelor of Arts from Oxford, which is basically the study of art and literature, but also some science thrown in.
Much like Obama and Clinton.
Just like Obama and Clinton.
But let's cut to the chase. Derec, fill in the blank...
POTUS Job Requirements: Above all else, understanding, defending and upholding the Constitution (aka, the law of the land from which all other laws spring); write bills for Congress to turn into laws; develop and implement hundreds (if not thousands) of domestic and international policies affecting the lives of billions of people; engage in high level international diplomacy and complicated negotiations, often with or in regard to murderous dictators and genocidal ideologies and regimes; Commander in Chief of the most powerful Armed Forces the world has ever seen, with an understanding that you will have to order men and women to kill and be killed throughout your tenure, including citizens (i.e., "non-combatants"), either directly or indirectly.
Ideal Education: ______________________
Ideal Education: ______________________