Invitation to Presidential Nominees of the Debate Politics Constitutional Convention

[vasuderatorrent]

Re: Invitation to Presidential Nominees of the Debate Politics Constitutional Convent

That would put far too many restrictions on our discussions, I think.

This is an unofficial discussion thread. He is just asking for opinions.

 

[vasuderatorrent]

Re: Invitation to Presidential Nominees of the Debate Politics Constitutional Convent

I just finished off a rather large dinner (pork chops pepperonata) so I'm a bit sleepy. I will write something up tomorrow. Keep the questions coming so I can include a response in my post

I bet that was tasty.

 

[The Mark]

Re: Invitation to Presidential Nominees of the Debate Politics Constitutional Convent

This is an unofficial discussion thread. He is just asking for opinions.

That WAS my opinion.

 

[Psychoclown]

Re: Invitation to Presidential Nominees of the Debate Politics Constitutional Convent

I have four questions. Three are for Your Star. The other is for Psychoclown.

Your Star, I think you are a strong candidate but your lack of participation thus far is pretty obvious. Is this because you have been disinterested, distracted, uninformed or too busy? In what ways will your duties as a moderator help the Constitutional Convention? In what ways will your duties as moderator hurt the Constitutional Convention.

Psychoclown, I hate your screen name. How did you come up with it when opening your Debate Politics account?

Clown has been a nickname of mine for years. I added the Psycho part as a tribute to my favorite villain of all time, the Joker. Its a name I've used in many forums and places. If you remember the frenzy around the Joker character before anything was announced for the Dark Knight, that's where my avatar comes from. Its a re-colored, slightly altered version of Conrad Veidt from the movie The Man Who Laughs. And no, I am not a Juggalo. I was the Psychoclown before those twits ever attempted to destroy the credibility of clown villainy.

 

[Psychoclown]

Re: Invitation to Presidential Nominees of the Debate Politics Constitutional Convent

I've got a question for any candidate who cares to answer; what do you hope to get out of this exercise?

A few things I suppose. I've played some political sims before and the chance to recreate something like the experience of the Constitutional Convention was just irrestiable to the role player in me. That said, I don't see this as a role play game. Its more of perhaps a chance to learn via experience. I suspect going through something that gives even a taste of the political process will help us all come to appreciate the difficulty the framers had in arriving at something that was practical enough to work and acceptable enough to get passed by the majority, while still trying to uphold their ideals.

Please give a brief synopsis of the first few things/tasks/goals you want this convention to address, after election of the President and Secretary

Probably the rules and procedures. We need something that allows the most discussion/debate possible, but is still streamlined enough that we don't get bogged down by the first disagreement or sticking point. Plus if the rules are in place and agreed to, it helps to prevent accusations of favoritism or political shenanigans.

From there, getting a general agreement on what sort of government we are trying to create would be helpful. Do we want a Republic? A pure democracy? Something Parlimentary? A federal system? Getting the broad strokes nailed down first would help us get some momentum and then make it easier to fill in the details later.

I do have one serious question for all the candidates: do you see this exercise as truly starting from scratch with a blank slate or are you in any way tied to aspects of the current system and Constitution we have? In other words - will the excuse be given that we cannot do it that way because that is not the system we currently have in place?

I don't think its a surprise to anyone that knows me that I have deep respect for the existing Constitution. And personally, I think its a pretty good framework to start from. But that is a personal opinion and not something that would affect my actions as PResident of the convention. I do see this as a process starting from scratch and would be open even on a personal level to alternate proposals, after all nothing is perfect and improvements can always be made.

Bottom line, despite whatever my personal preferences might be, if we come up with something radically different than the current Constitution and it passes through whatever procedures we establish, so be it.