I'm just going to bypass our GO discussion, I don't consider it relevant and I think you're being melodramatic about it. I am not objecting to you posting there in any legal sense, I am expressing my belief that it was unwise, unnecessary, and unrealistic. You yourself have used terms like naive to describe your involvement, I simply happen to agree and said as much way back.
I am a private citizen.
I fail to see what merit spontaneity has.
It really was not. The American Revolution was highly organized as rebellions go and its leaders mostly well-known to the representatives of the Crown and local government.
Since you have not read the sheet your apparently informed commentary on its contents seems a bit ludicrous. I am reviewing it right now, several are college students, nearly half are retired (median GOP voter age in my area is 59), and of the others I don't happen to know what most do for a living, some may be unemployed. Our leadership is principally retirees and business owners though, those business owners work more than full time and are still active. The week is 168 hours long, subtract 40 for work and 56 for sleeping and you still have 76 hours left for other things. I don't know why you think 'full time' is required though.
Compared to someone with zero experience? As the article suggests?
I am pretty confident that I generate better responses and counter-arguments then someone apolitical with minimal experience, so are you, so are all the Usual Suspects. The crappiest replies we get on these threads are from the people who think they are apolitical, you know that, they blunder in with arguments they're sure are clever because they've never had to run them by anyone with skill and opposed, get batted out of the park and bitch and moan about it. Those who would develop the skill would rapidly cease to be apolitical and neutral.
Anyone you explain the notion to, who isn't incapable of recognizing and accepting defeat. That's a character trait that is independent of ideology or a lack thereof.
Again, people who are unwilling to abandon an argument are mostly personally invested with winning, and blind to poor position, this is not really ideology-based.
And it isn't that there might not be some advantages, even some you suggest, but money is a big one, and 50 or 60 unpaid and enthusiastic volunteers are easier to acquire for a few hours each month each then the funds to pay one full-timer.
Astro-turfing is what the other side calls it when any vaguely grassroots group is even suspected of getting any support or guidance from a political group. It's a dumb and hypocritical notion, because any grassroots group with common sense will be reaching out to experienced politicos for tactics and support, and the 'establishment' will try to absorb them because that's common sense. Of course I tend to hold 'grassroots' efforts in moderate contempt anyway, the cult analogies I often make about such groups aren't made casually. Most grassroots groups that manage not to fall apart or get absorbed long enough to last a year or so tend to have similar characteristics to a cult.
There is a world of difference between
1) A few private citizens starting an activist group that quickly resonates with their neighbors and ultimately draws establishment notice/support vs.
I am a private citizen.
2) A few party leaders CREATING a group that NEVER consists of more than a handful of people but representing it as a large spontaneous public movement.
I fail to see what merit spontaneity has.
Grassroots politics is older than America, but the latter was pratically founded on it.
It really was not. The American Revolution was highly organized as rebellions go and its leaders mostly well-known to the representatives of the Crown and local government.
The professional aspect of this article is the only thing even slightly questionable, but the thing is, most of the people on your spreadsheets work for a living, and so do not have the luxury of full time online debating.
Since you have not read the sheet your apparently informed commentary on its contents seems a bit ludicrous. I am reviewing it right now, several are college students, nearly half are retired (median GOP voter age in my area is 59), and of the others I don't happen to know what most do for a living, some may be unemployed. Our leadership is principally retirees and business owners though, those business owners work more than full time and are still active. The week is 168 hours long, subtract 40 for work and 56 for sleeping and you still have 76 hours left for other things. I don't know why you think 'full time' is required though.
I do not think most interns bring the necessary skills to the table.
Compared to someone with zero experience? As the article suggests?
I suspect part of the reason the authors (alleged) former employers prefer apolitical people is because such people are less likely to have formed rigid positions reinforced by group think and echo chambers that impair ability to actually RESPOND to counterarguments. Persuasiveness is about more than just comprehensively stating ones own case and defaming the other, after all.
I am pretty confident that I generate better responses and counter-arguments then someone apolitical with minimal experience, so are you, so are all the Usual Suspects. The crappiest replies we get on these threads are from the people who think they are apolitical, you know that, they blunder in with arguments they're sure are clever because they've never had to run them by anyone with skill and opposed, get batted out of the park and bitch and moan about it. Those who would develop the skill would rapidly cease to be apolitical and neutral.
Then of course there is the question of how many interns and volunteers would be willing to deliberately lead a debate down a rabbit trail because they know their side is losing.
Anyone you explain the notion to, who isn't incapable of recognizing and accepting defeat. That's a character trait that is independent of ideology or a lack thereof.
Political devotees "never lose, just run out of time." Asking interns to do that sort of thing risks disillusionment and subsequent exposure, but people who are there to collect a paycheck rather than support the party are less likely to present that threat.
Again, people who are unwilling to abandon an argument are mostly personally invested with winning, and blind to poor position, this is not really ideology-based.
And it isn't that there might not be some advantages, even some you suggest, but money is a big one, and 50 or 60 unpaid and enthusiastic volunteers are easier to acquire for a few hours each month each then the funds to pay one full-timer.
The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant. We have created a society that honors the servant and has forgotten the gift.
- Albert Einstein
King of Cairhien 20-7-2
Chancellor of the Landsraad, Archduke of Is'Mod
- Albert Einstein
King of Cairhien 20-7-2
Chancellor of the Landsraad, Archduke of Is'Mod
This message last edited by Isaac on 05/02/2013 at 10:02:32 PM
I Was a Paid Internet Shill
- 03/02/2013 11:25:22 PM
981 Views
Just think... any one of us could be one!
- 03/02/2013 11:32:31 PM
435 Views
It could be ALL of us. 
- 04/02/2013 12:53:30 AM
457 Views
- 04/02/2013 12:53:30 AM
457 Views
Conscious Life News is a website devoted to paranoia and insanity, not a good source.
- 04/02/2013 01:55:37 AM
447 Views
Reliable or not, I have no doubt that members of both parties do that.
- 04/02/2013 02:42:41 PM
533 Views
Both political parties are perenially short on funds and wide on volunteers, so not really
- 04/02/2013 06:54:36 PM
447 Views
I had never heard of them till now, but will bear that in mind.
- 04/02/2013 05:01:22 PM
560 Views
Damn, for a moment I thought I solved the puzzle
- 04/02/2013 07:48:03 PM
518 Views
It is not much of a puzzle.
- 05/02/2013 01:05:18 PM
584 Views
Re: It is not much of a puzzle.
- 05/02/2013 10:01:10 PM
450 Views