What's your best/worst joke? (4 Viewers)

[RonPaii]

Nixon's Theorem

"The man who can smile when things go wrong has thought of someone he can blame it on."

 

[Isaac]

View attachment 123307

I'm still conservative on this one. Photo IDs is a common sense thing.
I have other ideas about voting too, too conservative to even say out loud, call me crazy, but I think we should come up with some system that (within the voting system) rewards people who are heavily invested in their community and their country's future, and does the opposite for people who are mostly just dead weight on the system and not invested at all.

 

[The_Doc_Man]

I think we should come up with some system that (within the voting system) rewards people who are heavily invested in their community and their country's future, and does the opposite for people who are mostly just dead weight on the system and not invested at all.

It's been tried. It was called a "poll tax" and was declared illegal. See also "Harper vs. Virginia State Board of Elections" (1966) which forever severed a link between wealth and voting. A billionaire citizen and a homeless citizen in theory have equal rights to vote, though some states DO have a more formal residential requirement as a means of identification, with the goal of keeping voter rolls current.

 

[Isaac]

It's been tried. It was called a "poll tax" and was declared illegal. See also "Harper vs. Virginia State Board of Elections" (1966) which forever severed a link between wealth and voting. A billionaire citizen and a homeless citizen in theory have equal rights to vote, though some states DO have a more formal residential requirement as a means of identification, with the goal of keeping voter rolls current.

I'd support a very creative mixture of 'proofs' that you were invested in your country's future - not just wealth/payment.
I agree that mere wealth/payment is probably a bad system as it totally disenfranchises the poor. But there are so many other possibilities.

Imagine a system where a few hours of community service / year was mandatory, or a weighted system that also at least took a little bit into account whether you'd been on welfare for longer than x amount of time with no excuse.

Just SOMETHING to shuffle out the people who don't give a single g-damn about our country at any time other than when the bus comes to pick them up to bus them to vote Democratic once every four years but otherwise pay nothing into the system and vote for other people to pay a lot out.

 

[AccessBlaster]

I like it @Isaac and throw in an annual medical exam with their community service.

 

[Isaac]

I like it @Isaac and throw in an annual medical exam with their community service.

Oh and sterilize the bad people and .. and .. Ok, we're getting altogether too excited about this new found dreamt-of power

 

[The_Doc_Man]

It is a basic principle of the enumerated rights of the constitution that they are inalienable (even though THAT particular word comes from a different document.) The right to vote, like all other enumerated rights, exists because the constitution SAYS they are there. That is, the constitution RECOGNIZES the existence of those rights. Not because of a law from Congress or the states. Not from some pulpit-pounder or political podium-pounder. These rights are not bought and sold. They are recognized as the result of citizenship.

A voter ID law makes sense in this limited manner: A polling commissioner is unlikely to know everyone in a particular voting district, so a voter registration ID will help to establish that the person presenting it actually IS a member of "the people" who have a right to vote.

I used the phrase "the people" in quotes because in various Supreme Court cases, it becomes an issue as to how to tell you are a member of the people to whom a particular right applies. "We the people" is not a trivial phrase in the context of USA civil law.

The current furor over illegal immigration is about determining whether someone is a member of "we the people" for determination of all kinds of rights. To the extent that exercising such rights might cost taxpayers money via some subsidy or welfare payment, there is at least some motive to eliminate those who are not members of "we the people." Also, voting when you aren't a citizen is an illegal form of "foreign influence" that we cannot tolerate.

Having said that, it can only be part of our duty to recognize the rights of valid members of "the people" and allow them to exercise their rights - such as voting - without interference. Therefore, other than a voter identity establishment process, you cannot place restrictions on voting.

 

[RonPaii]

To bad this discussion got off the topic of jokes and moved into politics.

PEER'S LAW
"The solution to a problem changes the problem."

 

[Isaac]

Therefore, other than a voter identity establishment process, you cannot place restrictions on voting

And that's a shame, because we have the half of the people who pay no taxes voting for the party which then turns around and increases taxes on the other half which pays them. The system has become corrupt in that sense.
Like a club where you can vote on rules that won't apply to you but will apply to others, punitively.

 

[Isaac]

To bad this discussion got off the topic of jokes and moved into politics.

PEER'S LAW
"The solution to a problem changes the problem."

Oops, sorry. While I am supportive of most threads being 'hijacked' for the benefit of useful ancillary and peripheral information to be shared, I did NOT mean to do that to the revered Joke thread - my bad.

In the interest of saving this, I'll get us back on track by posting a joke:

 

[AccessBlaster]

To bad this discussion got off the topic of jokes and moved into politics.

PEER'S LAW
"The solution to a problem changes the problem."

It's a small moment in time. Someone will come along and get this thread back on track, the universe will be restored ️

 

[Mark_]

Politicians in California have decided that, when applying to a nursing program, applicants are asked both "Do you speak a language other than English?" and "Is this a language of the African Continent?".

I know people who would answer "No" and "Yes" as they grew up in South Africa!

 

[Isaac]

Politicians in California have decided that, when applying to a nursing program, applicants are asked both "Do you speak a language other than English?" and "Is this a language of the African Continent?".

I know people who would answer "No" and "Yes" as they grew up in South Africa!

I know a lot of people from India who would answer yes they speak English, yet somehow nobody can understand them - not Americans, not Brits, nobody but them