4 ms·

Uhm, did you visit the site? I browsed two pages and saw only one suggestion that had both punctuation and was not obviously a troll.

by asolove 16y ago

moultano 16y ago
Sort by interest and you get ones that are at least more literate. http://www.americaspeakingout.com/browse/questions/in/job-creation?sortkey=interest http://www.americaspeakingout.com/browse/questions/in/job-cr...
- amalcon 16y ago
  Even many of these seem a little naive. Take this one: PROTECT THE CONSTITUTION: Require each bill to identify the specific provision of the Constitution that gives Congress the power to do what the bill does. So, people really think that it will help to protect the Constitution to write "Article 1, Section 8, Clause 3" on every bill? The court has historically interpreted the commerce clause in such a way that everything is justified by it. The hard part is getting the court to stop doing that, not making Congresspeople write some extra stuff on the bill.
  - byrneseyeview 16y ago
    It reveals dependencies. People might be concerned if, e.g., 90% of government spending was valid if and only if the commerce clause had a particular interpretation. Companies disclose if a single customer represents even 10% of their revenues, because it's a risk factor.
    - amalcon 16y ago
      Looking at that would be a great way to create some really perverse incentives. "Let's spend more money on the armed forces and post office, to make the portion that comes under Clause 3 appear smaller." A lawyer I spoke to told me that there's a question regarding federal law on the bar exam every single year, asking "From where is the power to create X law derived in the Constitution?" It's a different law every year, but the answer is always the same: "The commerce clause."
michael_nielsen 16y ago
Milbank chose the comments he quotes for maximum rhetorical effect, not as a representative sample. Mind you, I certainly agree with you that a representative sample wouldn't exactly inspire, either...
eli 16y ago
Not all trolls are obvious. I saw the site early yesterday and most of the submitted comments were sad and depressing (or complaining about having had a previous post deleted), not ridiculously stupid as the ones highlighted in this article. After Wonkette linked to it, I'm sure plenty of left-leaning people went and had some fun.

Uhm, did you visit the site? I browsed two pages and saw only one suggestion that had both punctuation and was not obviously a troll.

by asolove 16y ago

Uhm, did you visit the site? I browsed two pages and saw only one suggestion that had both punctuation and was not obviously a troll.

moultano 16y ago

Sort by interest and you get ones that are at least more literate. http://www.americaspeakingout.com/browse/questions/in/job-creation?sortkey=interest http://www.americaspeakingout.com/browse/questions/in/job-cr...

amalcon 16y ago
Even many of these seem a little naive. Take this one: PROTECT THE CONSTITUTION: Require each bill to identify the specific provision of the Constitution that gives Congress the power to do what the bill does. So, people really think that it will help to protect the Constitution to write "Article 1, Section 8, Clause 3" on every bill? The court has historically interpreted the commerce clause in such a way that everything is justified by it. The hard part is getting the court to stop doing that, not making Congresspeople write some extra stuff on the bill.
- byrneseyeview 16y ago
  It reveals dependencies. People might be concerned if, e.g., 90% of government spending was valid if and only if the commerce clause had a particular interpretation. Companies disclose if a single customer represents even 10% of their revenues, because it's a risk factor.
  - amalcon 16y ago
    Looking at that would be a great way to create some really perverse incentives. "Let's spend more money on the armed forces and post office, to make the portion that comes under Clause 3 appear smaller." A lawyer I spoke to told me that there's a question regarding federal law on the bar exam every single year, asking "From where is the power to create X law derived in the Constitution?" It's a different law every year, but the answer is always the same: "The commerce clause."

michael_nielsen 16y ago

Milbank chose the comments he quotes for maximum rhetorical effect, not as a representative sample. Mind you, I certainly agree with you that a representative sample wouldn't exactly inspire, either...

eli 16y ago

Not all trolls are obvious. I saw the site early yesterday and most of the submitted comments were sad and depressing (or complaining about having had a previous post deleted), not ridiculously stupid as the ones highlighted in this article. After Wonkette linked to it, I'm sure plenty of left-leaning people went and had some fun.