(no subject)

[netmouse]

Does anyone besides me wish there was a rule that television broadcasters had to pull/cancel political advertising that was demonstrated to contain out-and-out lies?

I mean, somewhere in there where you get a broadcasting license, you agree to serve the public. Permitting deceptive advertising just because you've received your pieces of silver is not serving the public.

ETA: this post is in reaction to this ad, which as discussed here posits a lot of things unrelated to Prop 8 as an argument for it, as though it defends people in the state against things other than the state's recognition of the right of gay couples to get and be married. Further discussion here.

Comments

[sethb.livejournal.com]

So the legislators should hire lawyers as advisors/drafters. I have no problem with that; hiring technical experts for their expertise is a good thing.

But the fact that someone is supposedly good at understanding (or writing) laws isn't any reason to believe they're good at deciding which laws should be written.

And the next time I see an Income Tax bill that isn't shortly followed by a Technical Corrections Act will be the first. So much for their ability to write laws correctly.

[mishamish.livejournal.com]

True. A well-written law and a "good" law are far from the same things. Unfortunately, mileage varies on what people consider a "good" law. Which is pretty much the entire point of a democracy.

And while no, being able to understand legal language DOESN'T mean you are going to be good at deciding while laws "should" be written (in your - or my opinion), it does mean that between two representatives, both of whom are closer to YOUR opinion of which law is good, the one with the better understanding of legal language and systems will be the one who more agrees with you AND is more likely to actually GET STUFF DONE. Which is why there is a disproportionate number of lawyers IN the Congress. That and, ya know... it's a bootstraps situation of law and politics and connections.

Don't get me wrong, I don't want to pack the Congress with lawyers. I want there to be lawyers and businessmen and rabble rousing populists with nothing going for them but a quick wit and a passionate constituency. I want them all in there, punching it out and playing nice, making friends and making enemies, helping each other and spiting each other. Because, ideally, they are representing the citizenry and, when the dust settles, the law that exists and is ratified should resemble something that is in keeping with our constitution and is also something that MOST of us kinda like and ALL of us (or almost all of us) can live with.