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"those in power" have been receiving and handling things like the allegedly fearsome "Internet outrage beast" for millennia. It's impressive to people who can g

"those in power" have been receiving and handling things like the allegedly fearsome "Internet outrage beast" for millennia. It's impressive to people who can get stepped on, but Dubya is still Dubya, no matter what the Internet says about him. Lindsey Stone's situation was scary because there were people who held power over her, like employers, who would listen to popular opinion. But no matter how many "Fire John Boehner" things show up in social media, it isn't actually going to happen that way, because no one is scared of such political talk. The beast is only fearsome when it has leverage. And with "those in power", it doesn't. It's quaint, is what it is. "It has always been the prerogative of children and half-wits to point out that the emperor has no clothes. But the half-wit remains a half-wit, and the emperor remains an emperor."

jsprogrammer 12y ago
The difference between Lindsey Stone and John Boehner is that no one can fire John Boehner by calling him out to a parking lot and forcing him to hand over his keys. The only way for him to lose his current position of power is for him to not have more pieces of paper with his named marked on them than any other name, on a special Tuesday that occurs bi-annually, in schools, churches, and libraries in a certain, small geographical location [1]. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ohio's_8th_congressional_district#mediaviewer/File:Ohio_US_Congressional_District_8_(since_2013).tif http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ohio's_8th_congressional_distri...
- saraid216 12y ago
  http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Federalist_(Dawson)/70 http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Federalist_(Dawson)/70 Speaking of the Executive, but the same arguments apply.
namlem 12y ago
Well, except for that Howard Dean noise incident.
- saraid216 12y ago
  Political candidates aren't "in power". You'll notice that, after his run, Dean became Chairperson of the DNC, and is a plausible contender for 2016. Before his run, he quit all of his jobs. There's a reason that happens. Imagine that the board of directors for Godfather's Pizza had fired Herman Cain during the 2012 campaign over the allegations of sexual misconduct. It's not that he had much of a chance, but what kind of chance would he have had then?

jsprogrammer 12y ago

The difference between Lindsey Stone and John Boehner is that no one can fire John Boehner by calling him out to a parking lot and forcing him to hand over his keys. The only way for him to lose his current position of power is for him to not have more pieces of paper with his named marked on them than any other name, on a special Tuesday that occurs bi-annually, in schools, churches, and libraries in a certain, small geographical location [1]. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ohio's_8th_congressional_district#mediaviewer/File:Ohio_US_Congressional_District_8_(since_2013).tif http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ohio's_8th_congressional_distri...

saraid216 12y ago
http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Federalist_(Dawson)/70 http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Federalist_(Dawson)/70 Speaking of the Executive, but the same arguments apply.

namlem 12y ago

Well, except for that Howard Dean noise incident.

saraid216 12y ago
Political candidates aren't "in power". You'll notice that, after his run, Dean became Chairperson of the DNC, and is a plausible contender for 2016. Before his run, he quit all of his jobs. There's a reason that happens. Imagine that the board of directors for Godfather's Pizza had fired Herman Cain during the 2012 campaign over the allegations of sexual misconduct. It's not that he had much of a chance, but what kind of chance would he have had then?