4 ms·

Iowa’s Governor Kim Reynolds has had several drunk driving convictions. Why should police be held to a higher standard than the Governor?

• 0_gravitas 7y ago
  Perhaps they should all be held to the same higher standard, this whataboutism is coming at it from the wrong angle imo
• toomanybeersies 7y ago
  There is a very good argument to be made that disallowing people with convictions from running for office would allow the police force to be weaponised against political opponents.
• Nasrudith 7y ago
  Because the Governor actually had to be elected for one - the positions are apples and oranges. Simply allowing people to be barred from office because of conviction past or present is dangerous as it gives a very abusable tool to disqualify political rivals. This isn't a theoretical thing - many dictatorships and sham-democracies use it regularly. Now politicians shouldn't have impunity but it is ultimately up to the voters to decide what does and doesn't disqualify someone from governorship. If the voters know of their record and decide to elect them anyway it is within their right. Mathew Lyon got re-elected after being jailed for violation of the Sedition act where his whole defense was 'this law is blatantly unconstitutional'. Meanwhile a police position employeed is supposed to be subordinate to the laws and by the books. Demonstrating questionable judgement and keeping them on isn't fair to /everyone else/. Having every last police officer elected wouldn't be very logistically plausible nor would voters be as well equipped to evaluate candidates so having a 'bureaucratic' process makes sense for those sorts of roles.