Lots of things in our government are varying degrees of democratic and that's ok! Up until the 1970s presidential candidates were chosen in a way that was less democratic than a mini-primary. www.nytimes.com/2024/02/21/o...
Elaine Kamarck breaks down the presidential nomination process.
Of course there's a <30% chance any of those candidates will step forward. But that's enough to be worth advocating for. It's easy to be cynical and you'll probably be right in the end, but it's not a helpful way to maximize the chances of a good outcome. www.nytimes.com/2024/07/07/o...
To find a new nominee, Democrats need to hold a real contest.
The main narrative I heard was that they reduced contacts and made fewer traffic stops, not that they quit.
It's easy to be a pessimistic and you'll probably be proven right in the end, but I don't think it's a helpful way to maximize the chances of a good outcome.
I think everyone knows there aren't any great options but it is instrumentally useful (in a good way!) to generate excitement about the least bad option, a mini-primary. It will be be messy and uncomfortable but in the end you're more likely to get a better candidate.
It’s easy to dismiss something unusual, and it probably won’t happen precisely because of this type of dismissive pessimism. But if you actually want to win you need to be thinking imaginatively right now.
Second, for sufficient deterrence we need stricter criminal enforcement. Existing laws aren’t working. We need a federal criminal statute directed explicitly at scientific misconduct.
Since universities have failed to regulate themselves, we need stronger external oversight. Two ideas: First, we should copy the Danish and create an independent expert committee that can provide trusted decisions.
And yet, they rarely face any consequences. The in-house investigations by universities and journals have deep conflicts of interest. (3/5)
Scientists who commit research misconduct extract money from a trusting public so that they may enrich themselves and gain prestige. Along the way they knowingly pollute future research and may cause the deaths of millions.