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I'm very excited by this project. Politicians have a tendency to present their positions differently depending on who's listening. If it keeps only a few polit

I'm very excited by this project. Politicians have a tendency to present their positions differently depending on who's listening. If it keeps only a few politicians a little more honest, we'll all be better off. And considering the qualifications issues we've seen with Mark Kirk, Christine O'Donnell, Richard Blumenthal and others, a little more honesty wouldn't hurt.

yummyfajitas 16y ago
Not only that, but many of them probably tweak their websites after their proposals reveal things they didn't want revealed. Consider this episode: Obama (briefly) proposed requiring people to perform unpaid labor [1]. When the blogosphere caught on, the language was immediately changed to obscure the proposal ("set a goal", not "required"). This link includes a screenshot before, and the full text after: http://overlawyered.com/2008/11/community-service-yep-mandatory/ http://overlawyered.com/2008/11/community-service-yep-mandat... Perpetually can help the world learn about stuff like this. [1] Not interested in discussing the actual policy - only the nature of the website tweaking is relevant for this conversation. This thread is about perpetually.com. [edit: as suggested by jamesaguilar, tweaked language to focus on the part relevant to this discussion, rather than language used back in 2008. I put the footnote in because the last time I pointed out this example, people accused me of comparing Obama to Stalin.]
- jamesaguilar 16y ago
  Seems like if you want the thread to be about perpetually.com it might be best to avoid language so loaded that it requires a footnote. You could just say "required community service" before [1] and eliminate any confusion. What you wrote basically invites a political response rather than one that's about the service under discussion.
  - deleted 16y ago
    [deleted]
atomical 16y ago
"Politicians have a tendency to present their positions differently depending on who's listening." VoteSmart tracks candidates positions. They recently released VoteEasy (VoteEasy.org) and they have an API as well.
davidw 16y ago
I wonder if there'll be substantial differences or if we'll see that "they're all full of shit" and people will simply become more jaded and cynical.
- fleitz 16y ago
  I think you underestimate the value of telling people what they want to hear.

yummyfajitas 16y ago

Not only that, but many of them probably tweak their websites after their proposals reveal things they didn't want revealed. Consider this episode: Obama (briefly) proposed requiring people to perform unpaid labor [1]. When the blogosphere caught on, the language was immediately changed to obscure the proposal ("set a goal", not "required"). This link includes a screenshot before, and the full text after: http://overlawyered.com/2008/11/community-service-yep-mandatory/ http://overlawyered.com/2008/11/community-service-yep-mandat... Perpetually can help the world learn about stuff like this. [1] Not interested in discussing the actual policy - only the nature of the website tweaking is relevant for this conversation. This thread is about perpetually.com. [edit: as suggested by jamesaguilar, tweaked language to focus on the part relevant to this discussion, rather than language used back in 2008. I put the footnote in because the last time I pointed out this example, people accused me of comparing Obama to Stalin.]

jamesaguilar 16y ago
Seems like if you want the thread to be about perpetually.com it might be best to avoid language so loaded that it requires a footnote. You could just say "required community service" before [1] and eliminate any confusion. What you wrote basically invites a political response rather than one that's about the service under discussion.
- deleted 16y ago
  [deleted]

atomical 16y ago

"Politicians have a tendency to present their positions differently depending on who's listening." VoteSmart tracks candidates positions. They recently released VoteEasy (VoteEasy.org) and they have an API as well.

davidw 16y ago

I wonder if there'll be substantial differences or if we'll see that "they're all full of shit" and people will simply become more jaded and cynical.

fleitz 16y ago
I think you underestimate the value of telling people what they want to hear.