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comment by user-inactivated
user-inactivated  ·  2520 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Barack Obama's $400,000 speaking fees reveal what few want to admit

    I suspect this is common in any industry.

Sure. The more specialized the industry, the smaller the talent pool, the more likely you're going to see these kinds of things happening. I think the question comes though, where do we draw the line? Cronyism is a real issue, with real world happenings, and real consequences. That's part of the reason we as a country value concepts such as free speech and transparency as tools to help fight corruption and also why we have laws against things such as political gifts, bribes, and kickbacks to begin with. I think a good rule of thumb is, the more power or influence a person has, the higher the standards we should hold them to. With that in mind, people criticizing Obama for $400,000 speaking fees sounds more than reasonable. I'm not saying he's right. I'm not saying he's wrong. I am saying that the fact that the issue is catching people's attention does seem appropriate.





kleinbl00  ·  2520 days ago  ·  link  ·  

    I think the question comes though, where do we draw the line?

I think the question comes though, why do we draw the line so demonstrably further for Democrats?

    I think a good rule of thumb is, the more power or influence a person has, the higher the standards we should hold them to.

In this case, it's "the more power or influence a person used to have."

People really want their heroes to be Superman and their enemies to be Lex Luthor. It's a manichean stupidity that shouldn't be entertained.

user-inactivated  ·  2519 days ago  ·  link  ·  

    I think the question comes though, why do we draw the line so demonstrably further for Democrats?

Liberals have no qualms about calling out their own politicians and often have much higher, if sometimes unrealistic, standards?

kleinbl00  ·  2519 days ago  ·  link  ·  

I wonder if that's why they have the house, the senate, the presidency, 32 state legislatures and 33 governorships.

goobster  ·  2518 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Well, those reasons, and gerrymandering.

user-inactivated  ·  2519 days ago  ·  link  ·  

If you consider Jon Stewart et al. to be liberals, which seems to be the case, it's much more rare to see them bang their own walls. They are what I can best call "passive political figures": they don't act on their own (barring, perhaps, Stewart - haven't been keeping much of an eye on the rest), but they still propagate a certain point of view, and due to their popularity, people tend to listen.