Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.
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Political Paradise in Two Paragraphs
I have never read a more precient statement about how politics should work – even in an imperfect world – than this comment by Charles: I don’t think we should abandon partisanship, but we need to abandon incivility and mindless unfounded attacks. I don’t want conservatives or liberals to change their principles, or to compromise…
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If McCain Were President
photo credit: Wigwam Jones After another year of domestic turmoil and political shenanigans, a year of watching President Obama in office rather than out on the campaign trail, I find myself frequently having the thought “if only McCain had been elected President instead.” The thought came again today but unlike previous times I feel like…
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Community Caucus
photo credit: San Jose Library There seems to be some confusion in the public mind about the purpose and nature of caucus meetings. For example Thomas Wright, chairman of the Salt Lake County Republican Party, is quoted in this article on KSL.com saying: {the candidates have been busy recruiting people to show and get elected…
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Reforming Caucus Meetings
I’m sure I’ll have a number of posts trying to define what needs to be reformed and how to reform those things but I’d like to start a list of the things that need to be addressed as I see it in the immediate aftermath of the meeting this week. We need to accomodate the…
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A Crusade is Born
photo credit: elycefeliz I woke up this morning incredibly frustrated. The fact that I am not a state delegate as I had hoped to be is a surprisingly small part of the reason for my frustration. The majority of my frustration is with the way the caucus meeting was held and conducted. I’ll skip the…
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Reality Bites
photo credit: erin m Before the health care vote even started candidates and elected officials opposed to this atrocious excuse for health care reform were pledging to repeal it if passed. They have asked citizens to support those who are willing to repeal this bill. When it passed they renewed their pledge. That’s great on…
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Tasks for State Delegates
Heading into the last few days before the precinct caucus meetings I feel that it is important to acknowledge that state delegates have more to do than simply vote for the senate candidate of their choice at the convention. I know that my focus here has been on that race and it seems that many…
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Campaign Week
I have spent months gathering information and studying candidates and issues as well as learning about my precinct since I didn’t live here until just after the caucus meetings two years ago. I have talked to a number of my neighbors although I have tried not to overwhelm anyone with my interest in politics. Now…
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Demanding Accountability
With Kevin Garn resigning, the possibility of closure for the legislature over this sad story is within sight. By resigning promptly Rep. Garn has demonstrated greater wisdom than some of his colleagues who facilitated this public circus by allowing this to be aired from the chamber floor and then giving him a standing ovation. Out…
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Public Office and Private Morality
photo credit: aurélien. Just to be clear from the beginning, this topic is inspired by the Kevin Garn story and while I will refer to that story specifically everything I say is meant to apply to any matters of the private morality of a public official. First, I would like to say that Rep. Garn…
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