Please read the following article. What is the premise of the article? Why do you think it is happening? What should the decorum guidelines be for lawmakers? Do the actions of the lawmakers reflect society? If so, does that mike it ok? When is it ok to be outrageous?
13 Comments
Desiree Traverso
2/29/2012 07:29:33 am
This article is explaining and giving examples for the newly formed legislative tactic of proposing something completely outrageous in order to gain attention,press, and thought about the broader subject. For example, Connie Johnson, a Democratic Senator from Oklahoma, proposed an amendment that would define life as beginning at "ejaculation." she did this to underline the fact that women are being targeted unfairly in bills addressing reproduction. this tactic is becoming more and more popular in legislature. The main goal of this is to bring an issue into the public consciousness and attract attention and press. This has been a technique in arguments and debates to put your opponents on edge, however it is a strategy that only benefits you in the short term. In the long run these law makers will have to support their claims and if they are constantly changing their public opinions, we loose trust in them. Law makers' decorum should be held at a higher standard. In my opinion it is not wise o create dramatic up-roars to attract attention. It fosters a contradictory environment. Actions of law makers, sadly reflect society as we encourage such outrageous stunts and encourage this behavior. Of course there are times, when outrageous statements are effective, but like I said earlier, its a short term tactic. Claims need to be supported with a well thought out opinion and evidence.
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Madison Simons
2/29/2012 12:46:42 pm
The article discusses the trend of sensationalism in lawmaking, and provides many examples of lawmakers either writing bills that are meant to highlight their point on a similar issue, or saying something controversial and shocking in order to get the attention of the media, whether it be bad or good. With our instant media, continual stimulus, and affinity for the scandalous news and entertainment (eg. reality shows), it is no surprise that lawmakers and politicians are pulling stunts like this to win some attention. Reasonable things don't go viral, the shocking and idiotic statements however are instant successes. However true this may be, it doesn't give them cause to say whatever they would like and in some cases these politicians should be held accountable for their words. While we would like to think that people are smart enough to make rational decisions based on reasonable facts and arguments, people are driven by whims and impulses and their decisions are based on the most trivial of things. While I can't condone this tactic, it might be the only way to gain any backing in the society we have created.
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Gina Vosti
2/29/2012 02:33:38 pm
This article from NPR discusses current legislative trends in lawmaking, and their positive and negative effects. Politicians have gotten to the point where they know they must state the extremes for their case to be heard and considered, but this can often backfire. Social media is known for distorting events, and has proven to be problematic for many campaigns. Claims and views are often completely misunderstood and blown out of proportion, which causes politicians to either lose the votes of their peers or their supporters. These claims can be beneficial for politicians though, as their "outrageous" ideas spark interest in many who would not previously have cared. The spread of politicians statements has helped spread their messages, but our society should limit the gossip to only true statements, and put more effort about learning about all of our governments ideas, rather than just the entertaining ones.
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Kyra Boselli
2/29/2012 03:24:15 pm
The article published on NPR.org analyzes the recent societal trend that has crossed over into political territory- that making outlandish claims leads to "celebrity." More and more lawmakers have hopped on the bandwagon trend of proposing obviously ridiculous legislature in the hopes of gaining attention. While many lawmakers see the positives of gaining notoriety, which often leads to a fan base and television appearances, often times the negative consequences of proposing such pointless bills are overlooked. Not only does the lawmaker in question lose credibility amongst peers and most of the general public, but the mockery made out of the system is frankly insulting. In some cases, however, lawmakers propose outlandish bills out of sheer desperation, as in the case of Connie Johnson, an Oklahoma senator who wished to bring attention to the gap in women's reproductive rights. Proposing that conception begins at ejaculation did bring Johnson and her issue attention, but at what cost? I believe that politics and menial attempts at attention should be kept separated, if not for the sanctity of what is left of the lawmaking system. While it is understandable that in today's media climate lawmakers take advantage of publicity, how far must they stray from their legitimate viewpoints in order to gain attention? If a lawmaker wants to gain attention for an actual issue, their stance should be able to stand by itself.
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Adalberto Perez
3/1/2012 02:01:15 am
The article is explaining and giving
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Kenji Gutierrez
3/1/2012 03:37:09 am
The article from NPR talks about recent trends in legislation when it comes to lawmaking, and the positive and negative effects that they bring. Politicians are at the point in which they know that in order to be heard and noticed they need to bring up the extremes. This can have a negative effect, though. Social media is known for manipulating events, and has proven to cause problems for multiple campaigns. Claims and views are usually not understood at all and are exagerated, which makes politicians lose votes from their supporters. The claims they make, however, can be benificial for it their crazy and extreme ideas become interesting to people that would have never been interested in them. The spread of politicians statements has helped make people aware of them, but the gossip should be held to only the true claims and statements. The people should become more concerned about our country's and our governmnet's well-being and success, rather than the entertainment.
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Nick McMaster
3/1/2012 01:57:03 pm
The article highlights the newer Machiavellic tactics that are being used by lawmakers to draw attention the legislature that they are trying to pass. In this case the end is the attention and coverage of whatever it is the lawmaker wants to be in the spotlight, and the means is any shameless, or outrageous statement that they feel will benefit their cause. I think that this new tactic is becoming frequent in order to mirror society. People in today's society thrive on entertainment, the entertainment value of saying something outrageous is crude at best but still effective in captivating people. Just because this new tactic is reflecting society and appealing to the people doesn't mean that it is right. I don't think that the outrageous and ridiculous should have a place in legislature and that they are gimmicks to gain attention. I don't think that there can be any guidelines to keep anyone from saying or not saying what they want without taking away their first amendment right to freedom of speech, but I do think that the statements are a direct reflection of the speaker and that words shouldn't be carelessly blurted or thrown out for publicity purposes. I don't think that there is a time to be outrageous, and I don't think that being outrageous is the answer, rather I think that it is safer and smarter to be rational and to say exactly what you mean the first time without creating a hyperbole.
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Milan Rawthfeld
3/1/2012 02:20:00 pm
This NPR article discusses the recent lawmaking trends that politicians have been using in order to shed a light of popularity upon bills they hope to pass. In the media-dominated world we live in, this latest trend in lawmaking is transforming the state legislation system into a farce. Lawmaking is turning into a popularity contest, where logical and beneficial bills are perhaps being overlooked, while "Connie Johnson's" latest bill is brought to the lawmaker's attention as a result of it's sheer absurdity. In order to make progress in the toiled nation we live in, state legislators must attempt to focus more on laws that appeal to, and represent the views of the vast majority as opposed to laws that represent the views of a few manic individuals.
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Nick Harris
3/1/2012 02:26:41 pm
This article discusses a new campaigning method that political figures everywhere are using. The method involves almost ridiculous and far-right statements that are meant to secure the vote of the believers of the ideas in the primary elections. This method has been used to the extreme by a state senator in Oklahoma. Connie Johnson Claims that conception occurs at the moment of ejaculation....this clear stunt meant to away the opinions of the Oklahoma pro-life supporters exemplifies the political method perfectly. Obviously no "rules" can be set to exclude ridiculous "beliefs" of these figures because they are entitled to their fair share of free speech. This Method of persuasion is deeming successful because the voters are in fact being lured in by these remarks, showing how our society can easily be swayed by statements such as these. The actions of the lawmakers reveals how ignorant we are and how deceitful the lawmakers are for theoretically stating ideas that they do not in fact believe in. In this case being ridiculous is appropriate in the eyes of the lawmakers, these statements are getting them the vote they need. It is up to the voter to see through them and decide whether or not they are worthy of representing us in other ways.
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Lucas Immer
3/1/2012 02:44:42 pm
This article is centered around the new political tactic of making outrageous statements in order to gain recognition, both for oneself and for the underlying topic. A prime example is Oklahoma state senator Connie Johnson arguing that life starts at ejaculation. The idea is not that she truly believes such a claim, instead it is that she is endeavoring to gain notoriety for the purpose of helping get her measures passed. The emergence of these tactics can be placed partially on the fact that so much information is readily available these days that it can be difficult to be heard in the cacophony. It can also be attributed to the fact that what these politicians say, in the new technological age, resonates nationwide. Personally, I don't respect such tactics. I believe the main problem with American (and arguably worldwide) politics is the fact that people say what they need to, rather than what they believe. I value integrity highly and would hold politicians as closely to this standard as anyone. Moreover, these outrageous opinions do not reflect society. Most people tend to be largely moderate and these ridiculous measures are not truly aimed at conveying the will of the constituents, which happens to be the main roll of any lawmaker. I believe outrageous passion around claims in politics is good, provided the person truly believes them. If not, I believe they have no place on the political radar.
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Maria Vittoria Gurrieri
3/4/2012 11:31:02 am
the article reports a series of cases in which we can easly find the corruption of our political figures. it seems that people that should give as the example to create a solid and moral society, try to go over the decorum guidelines. they try to get more attention through their "revolutionary" ideas that a lot of times don't make sense but just try to get more attention from the voters. the result is that this people are really able to get this attention and their ideas don't look so outrageous anymore because they reflect the society in which we live. nobody tries to propose rules or amendments to improve the life of the people or the moraity of the country, but it looks more like a competition in which the winner is who get more attention from the media. in addition, to complete the scenario, the media distorts the events to make them more interesting for the audience.
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3/5/2012 04:06:42 pm
This article discusses the legislative using a trend for lawmaking also it gives various examples of this. I personally feel that the decorum guidelines should be held to a higher standard. The action of lawmaking reflects society basically because society contradicts itself for many reasons. For these reasons it shouldn't be okay especially if you're just trying to get attention though it is okay if you actually know what you're talking about and it's for the good of the people mentally and physically and you think it through to the end.
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Erin Wagner
3/6/2012 01:21:16 am
This article explains how many politicians create bills or make statements that catch the attention of the publib; either in a good way or a bad way. Connie Johnson displays this as she openly explains that she believes life begins at ejaculation. After she did this she finally got through to the public about her beliefs. In some examples the aftermath isnt as good such as with Rep. Bob Morris and Rep. John Sullivan, who both made innappropriate statements that were instantly spread around through media. Many people have been starting to make these attention grabbing statements though to both gain support and popularity. Although, those who have been making extreme statements need to be careful because they need to keep to their word and be able to explain themselves, and even though they may be pleasing society, they may be losing support from their colleagues.
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