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Boebert finishes fifth in straw poll of new district
(thehill.com)
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this post was submitted on 29 Jan 2024
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Just because something bad was done in the past doesn't mean something superficially similar can't ever be a good idea.
Line maybe a test that's made in bad faith explicitly to disenfranchise black people isn't representative of the merits of tests in general. Maybe the problem all don't want tests, but instead it was having a system completely controlled by the most vile racist people that could be found.
Of course first we'd have to get rid of the current crop of vile racists in charge of most states. It would be more of a protective measure to put in place if the good guys ever gain control.
one of the fundamental problems of legislation is that, whatever law you put into place, eventually the most horrible asshole you can imagine will be in charge of implementing and enforcing it. if you make it so that you need to pass a test in order to run for office, look forward to the opposition party doing their best to game those tests to selectively disqualify their opponents. it's inevitable in a competitive system like this because people who don't take every advantage tend to lose to people who do.
Just broadly speaking, I'm extremely skeptical of arguments that we can't do X because it could be or has been abused, because as you've pointed out, everything can be abused with sufficiently bad people running it. Having a system that's not open to abuse simply isn't an option. If we can't keep bad people out of power, we're just fucked, so there's no point in worrying about systems that will be abused by the bad guys, because if it gets to that point, you've already lost, and all your safeguards against abuse will be swept away anyway. At best, you can slow down the bad guys while they're consolidating their power and maybe give time for some kind of counterattack.