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> ... @MikeGravel had already established that Mike Gravel was not just an individual but also a kind of group project. Strangely enough, this had opened up a l
by apo 7y ago
> ... @MikeGravel had already established that Mike Gravel was not just an individual but also a kind of group project. Strangely enough, this had opened up a loophole that allowed him to talk like an actual person — and somehow it seemed as if this person mattered least. I found myself imagining a candidateless campaign — fronted by a hologram of George Washington, or “freedom,” or Apple ...
There's an old saying to the effect that:
1. FDR proved that a person can be president forever;
2. Nixon proved that anyone can become president; and
3. Regan proved that nobody need be president at all.
There's a case to be made that a good chunk of the current president's success stems from the fact that his administration/campaign appears to be so tightly controlled by the man himself. Like him or loathe him, with this president, what you see is what you get, and he has gone to the mat repeatedly to make good on his campaign promises no matter how misguided.
So the mental model of a presidential campaign being run by a bunch of kids wrapped in a trench coat is fascinating. As the article points out, the Gravel campaign's uniqueness stems from the fact of how open it is about this:
> In an online world where everything is understood to be a performance, @MikeGravel looks us squarely in the eye and admits, “Every politician is just a bunch of kids in a trench coat — so why not make them actual kids?”
It's also not outside the realm of technical feasibility that an AI could make a viable presidential candidate. Whether or not the necessary legislation would ever come to pass is another question, but I sometimes wonder whether this might be the ultimate legacy of Corporate Personhood:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corporate_personhood https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corporate_personhood
- knolax 7y ago> he has gone to the mat repeatedly to make good on his campaign promises no matter how misguided. Where's his wall?
- whenchamenia 7y agoIts being constructed, on schedule, albeit a slow one. Mexico, however, shows no signs of paying for it. Maybe thats the tarrif gambit.
- myko 7y agoTariffs wont be paid for by Mexico in any case, they'll be passed on to the US consumers
- apo 7y agoNot saying he's been successful, but he has tried repeatedly. I'm also trying to set aside whether I agree with these policies. Failure to do so is part of the reason so many Democrats have been so utterly ineffective against this president. Oddly enough, the latest iteration (threatening new tariffs on Mexico) appears to have lead to a concession by Mexico to station 6,000 of its national guard units at the border to prevent emigration to the US. I'd say this more than demonstrates that this president will take things to extremes few thought possible in an effort to make good on his campaign promises. I even suspect a large number of Mexican national guard troop stationed at the border might even qualify as a "wall" that was "paid for" by Mexico. It also hints that further concessions by Mexico to fund a constructed wall might be forthcoming by making the same threat again.
- Svip 7y ago> Oddly enough, the latest iteration (threatening new tariffs on Mexico) appears to have lead to a concession by Mexico to station 6,000 of its national guard units at the border to prevent emigration to the US. Just for the record, Mexico were already doing all of those things.[0] Mexico didn't just form a National Guard over night; they were already planning to send 6,000 troops their southern border. Mexico refused to accept that people fleeing should seek asylum in Mexico, if they enter it first. Which would have been pretty significant. [0] https://www.politico.com/story/2019/06/08/trump-trade-deals-mexico-china-1358155 https://www.politico.com/story/2019/06/08/trump-trade-deals-...
- nwienert 7y agoJust as a note: linking to politico is no different than linking to Breitbart. It’s a incredibly partisan, biased source that blurs opinion into news. Second: do you know the details of the deal? Because no press source knows them as of yet, as they weren’t released by either administration. Just noting here for clarity. If you’d like to see the “other side”: https://www.breitbart.com/tag/tariffs/ https://www.breitbart.com/tag/tariffs/ Note: just as much propaganda, in the other direction, just as few details.
- 7y ago
- tempodox 7y ago> ...an AI could make a viable presidential candidate. You wouldn‘t even need what is hyperbolically called AI. A Markov chain would be fully sufficient.
- tempodox 7y agoBut then, with the current usage of the term, a Markov chain is AI.