As someone who’s always had one Welsh foot planted firmly in the shadows, it’s about time we shuffled into the light, isn’t it? Brilliant piece, thoughtful, sharp, and quietly hopeful. Here’s to Cymru quietly rewriting the rules while everyone’s looking the other way.
Suggest 3 strike rule for anyone holding political office (appointed or elected) or running for elected office. Three convictions automatically remove eligibility from holding public office. Try to fool me once, shame on you. Try to fool me twice, shame on me. Try to fool me thrice, just f*ck off.
If we'd started this 3 strikes you're out rule this morning here in the U.S., Trump would've met the maximum allowed within minutes. I don't read his posts, but I can guarantee, they were filled with BS from the outset.
Certainly feels like it. And other democracies are starting to consider their solution. My feeling the key to it all is understanding the strategy of modern autocrats as laid out in the article.
As some point out, this may have the potential for abuse - eventually. But...But...But...Let's not get too far ahead of this. For now, I think it's worth pushing for and pushing hard.
Even here in the States, where movements, amendments to the Constitution, legal safeguards and the like take forever to take hold, due to the sheer size of the country and its bureaucracy, it would be well worth it.
Then, once implemented and enforced, if it gets too legalistic, litigious, or run into the ground by a change in tactics by the pathological liars-in-chief, *then* change tactics and strategy.
Until then, I say push, push, push! This is brilliant! Well done, Welsh people.
What an elegant, simple and (hopefully!) effective solution to the difficult issue of truth in political advertising and, more broadly, all political speech!
The difficulty with this in the US is the broken court system where judges are just politicians with robes. Electing judges makes them partisan. Until the US fixes the judicial appointment process and takes politics out, this process likely won’t be very successful.
I like this report too. It’s honest and it addresses a problem that we fail to talk about in all of our comments about current events. Trump isn’t clever and he isn’t intelligent, but he’s capable of lying and not caring. The concept described here isn’t difficult. He lies and then defend his lies with more lies.
The lies are meaningless to him, but they mean a great deal to us and we try even though we always get the same result , we try to make the truth come out. We all knew this game as children. The trick was to state your case and then say : “ no backs “.
There is some light…the team of lawyers and legislators behind the initiative in Wales (http://www.cap-d.org/) are working with democracies as far afield as Australia… and some Dems have reached out for briefings. In Wales, it was public support (200,000+ names) that really gave the politicians the confidence they needed (and I daresay we can thank Trump for opening their eyes as to what it could lead to). On the campaign website there’s a growing number of Americans adding their names of support… so long as that keeps growing I think there’s a good chance. The fun part is that if it gets into the public conversation it’ll force politicians to either support it or defend their right to lie :-)
This is brilliant. I recently said somewhat jokingly, that political debates should be monitored real time for lies. If a candidate is found to have blatantly lied, they are “fined” one million votes (for national elections / prorate for state and local races). The Wales approach is much better but down the same path. Let’s do it!
The team of lawyers and legislators behind the initiative in Wales (http://www.cap-d.org/) are now working with democracies as far afield as Australia… and some Dems have reached out for briefings. In Wales, it was public support (200,000+ names) that really gave the politicians the confidence they needed (and I daresay we can thank Trump for opening their eyes as to what it could lead to). There’s a growing number of US citizens adding their names of support on the campaign website … so long as that keeps growing so will the public conversation around legislation - forcing politicians to either support it or defend their right to lie :-)
The team of lawyers and legislators behind the initiative in Wales (http://www.cap-d.org/) are now working with democracies as far afield as Australia… and some Dems in the US have reached out for briefings. In Wales, it was public support (200,000+ names) that really gave the politicians the confidence they needed (and I daresay we can thank Trump for opening their eyes as to what it could lead to). On the campaign website there’s a growing number of Americans adding their names of support… so long as that keeps growing I think there’s a good chance. The fun part is that if it gets into the public conversation it’ll force politicians to either support it or defend their right to lie :-)
Love this! Brilliant piece of legislation and frankly, much needed in today's political climate. Wrote to my US Congressional members to ask if our leadership could consider such an act. One can always hope.
Will be interesting to see if you get a reply. There’s some traction for the idea internationally. The team of lawyers and legislators behind the initiative in Wales (http://www.cap-d.org/) are now working with democracies as far afield as Australia… and some Dems have reached out for briefings. In Wales, it was public support (200,000+ names) that really gave the politicians the confidence they needed (and I daresay we can thank Trump for opening their eyes as to what it could lead to). On the campaign website the numbers adding their names of support around the world is growing… and as the idea moves into the public square/conversation it’ll force politicians to either support it or defend their right to lie (that’s the interesting part :-)
As someone who’s always had one Welsh foot planted firmly in the shadows, it’s about time we shuffled into the light, isn’t it? Brilliant piece, thoughtful, sharp, and quietly hopeful. Here’s to Cymru quietly rewriting the rules while everyone’s looking the other way.
Yup, it's pretty amazing - Wales will be the first democracy in history to outlaw political deception.
Da iawn!
Suggest 3 strike rule for anyone holding political office (appointed or elected) or running for elected office. Three convictions automatically remove eligibility from holding public office. Try to fool me once, shame on you. Try to fool me twice, shame on me. Try to fool me thrice, just f*ck off.
Current draft of the legislation allows for banning from public office on first strike.
If we'd started this 3 strikes you're out rule this morning here in the U.S., Trump would've met the maximum allowed within minutes. I don't read his posts, but I can guarantee, they were filled with BS from the outset.
Wales has seen the problem and worked a solution. Good job!
Certainly feels like it. And other democracies are starting to consider their solution. My feeling the key to it all is understanding the strategy of modern autocrats as laid out in the article.
Decency everyday sounds amazing, awesome leadership Wales, thank you
As some point out, this may have the potential for abuse - eventually. But...But...But...Let's not get too far ahead of this. For now, I think it's worth pushing for and pushing hard.
Even here in the States, where movements, amendments to the Constitution, legal safeguards and the like take forever to take hold, due to the sheer size of the country and its bureaucracy, it would be well worth it.
Then, once implemented and enforced, if it gets too legalistic, litigious, or run into the ground by a change in tactics by the pathological liars-in-chief, *then* change tactics and strategy.
Until then, I say push, push, push! This is brilliant! Well done, Welsh people.
Great move!
It is pretty cool. Am guessing Trump won't be opening a golf club in Wales anytime soon :-)
Agree. It's nearly on the statute books but the politicians need all the support/encouragement they can get. They're understandably nervous...
What an elegant, simple and (hopefully!) effective solution to the difficult issue of truth in political advertising and, more broadly, all political speech!
It is a very simple, clever bit of legislation. There are more details at www.cap-d.org.
Thanks for the link - would like to put this to a few good local organisations for consideration.
Go for it... Unfortunately mainstream media focussed on more click-bait headlines so for time-being its grassroots folks making other nations aware.
Indeed - but here in Oz I have a couple of useful alternatives: the Centre for Public Integrity, the Australia Institute and the Greens.
Go for it :-)
The difficulty with this in the US is the broken court system where judges are just politicians with robes. Electing judges makes them partisan. Until the US fixes the judicial appointment process and takes politics out, this process likely won’t be very successful.
We’ve seen a goodly amount of judicial support in some areas. And in other areas not. Don’t give up yet.
I like this report too. It’s honest and it addresses a problem that we fail to talk about in all of our comments about current events. Trump isn’t clever and he isn’t intelligent, but he’s capable of lying and not caring. The concept described here isn’t difficult. He lies and then defend his lies with more lies.
The lies are meaningless to him, but they mean a great deal to us and we try even though we always get the same result , we try to make the truth come out. We all knew this game as children. The trick was to state your case and then say : “ no backs “.
We need to stop playing the Trump game.
This is great. I hope the legislation also provides a reliable mechanism for disseminating the updated facts to the electorate.
There is some light…the team of lawyers and legislators behind the initiative in Wales (http://www.cap-d.org/) are working with democracies as far afield as Australia… and some Dems have reached out for briefings. In Wales, it was public support (200,000+ names) that really gave the politicians the confidence they needed (and I daresay we can thank Trump for opening their eyes as to what it could lead to). On the campaign website there’s a growing number of Americans adding their names of support… so long as that keeps growing I think there’s a good chance. The fun part is that if it gets into the public conversation it’ll force politicians to either support it or defend their right to lie :-)
This is brilliant. I recently said somewhat jokingly, that political debates should be monitored real time for lies. If a candidate is found to have blatantly lied, they are “fined” one million votes (for national elections / prorate for state and local races). The Wales approach is much better but down the same path. Let’s do it!
The team of lawyers and legislators behind the initiative in Wales (http://www.cap-d.org/) are now working with democracies as far afield as Australia… and some Dems have reached out for briefings. In Wales, it was public support (200,000+ names) that really gave the politicians the confidence they needed (and I daresay we can thank Trump for opening their eyes as to what it could lead to). There’s a growing number of US citizens adding their names of support on the campaign website … so long as that keeps growing so will the public conversation around legislation - forcing politicians to either support it or defend their right to lie :-)
George Orwell was just 40 years ahead with his 1984.
Excellent idea!
The team of lawyers and legislators behind the initiative in Wales (http://www.cap-d.org/) are now working with democracies as far afield as Australia… and some Dems in the US have reached out for briefings. In Wales, it was public support (200,000+ names) that really gave the politicians the confidence they needed (and I daresay we can thank Trump for opening their eyes as to what it could lead to). On the campaign website there’s a growing number of Americans adding their names of support… so long as that keeps growing I think there’s a good chance. The fun part is that if it gets into the public conversation it’ll force politicians to either support it or defend their right to lie :-)
What a great idea !!!
Love this! Brilliant piece of legislation and frankly, much needed in today's political climate. Wrote to my US Congressional members to ask if our leadership could consider such an act. One can always hope.
Will be interesting to see if you get a reply. There’s some traction for the idea internationally. The team of lawyers and legislators behind the initiative in Wales (http://www.cap-d.org/) are now working with democracies as far afield as Australia… and some Dems have reached out for briefings. In Wales, it was public support (200,000+ names) that really gave the politicians the confidence they needed (and I daresay we can thank Trump for opening their eyes as to what it could lead to). On the campaign website the numbers adding their names of support around the world is growing… and as the idea moves into the public square/conversation it’ll force politicians to either support it or defend their right to lie (that’s the interesting part :-)
Thank you! Thank you so much!