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Interesting point.  That was not the reason for the 17th Amendment, except in the general sense that Progressives wanted to steer power to Washington DC and away from the states.

I can read this two ways.  So, are you saying that the 17 Amendment shifted power to the career pols in Washington?

There are pluses and minuses, but one thing the 2-party system has done is to promote political stability.  I think that Italy--with a parliamentary system--changed governments 9 times one year back in the '80s.
Less so now than historically the case, I think.  But then the parties haven't been this weak in almost 200 years.

To the first part: I don't know a ton of the history. A quick read on wiki pointed to some corruption around it. The state votes are certianly interesting, but I'd need to dig more into the backstory. 

To the second: I'm saying that the senators answered not to the voters, but to the pols in state government. And those folks are often all sorts of dug in. Senators often don't turn over often, but they turn over because they irked their constituents, not their fellow pols.

To the third: I certianly agree with the stability. But I mostly think its interesting that we have to get in a big tent before going into the voting booth, while in a few other places, that coalitioning happens at a higher level.

(I read a couple long books that touched on the sort of fascinating coalition of the pre-60s democratic party. It's national reach backed immigrants in NY, segregation in the south. And at a point, one half just dropped the other)

The Sioux City Council unanimously voted Monday to approve the purchase of 120 body cameras that will be worn daily by the city's police officers.

Purchasing cameras is currently voluntary for Iowa law enforcement agencies, but Sioux City has been considering them for several years, vetting different models and taking public input. In recent weeks, a number of citizens voiced concerns at council meetings about the police department's lack of body cameras.

Unity in the Community founder Monique Scarlett said outfitting Sioux City Police officers with body cameras is "something that is past due" and urged the community to work together.

"What I don't like is us versus them," she said. "Body cameras should be accountability for everyone, including our Sioux City Police Department, as well as our citizens."


The passage of the resolution awards a $260,861 purchase order to Midwest Public Safety LLC for the cameras. Included in the cost is the hardware and software needed to integrate the system with 37 patrol cars and equipment necessary to operate and maintain it. The police department hopes to have officers wearing the cameras before the end of this year.

Sioux City Police Chief Rex Mueller told the council that the "biggest sticking point" is receiving the materials, which could take six to eight weeks.

"We have basically already got the path paved. We have a policy written. Once we take delivery, we can then have trainers train the department and integrate it into our software," he said. "We're going to make this transition as quickly as possible."


Under the department's policy, Mueller said patrol officers will have to have the cameras turned on during all contacts with the public. He said officers will be allowed to turn the cameras off during "especially sensitive incidents," such as an interview with a victim.

"If officers did that, they would have to document why they shut those down," said Mueller, who said the department looked to the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies for guidance when drafting its policy.


"Any officers that are accused of excessive force, I'd like that oversight committee to have access to all the information that pertains to the excessive force complaint," he said.

Mayor Bob Scott told Boykin that the city is working with Ike Rayford, president of the NAACP chapter in Sioux City, and a group of citizens to develop an equity and inclusiveness advisory committee that will "have some view of that in the future."

bunkers that are not maintained is one of my pet peeves

How is your course handling the current unpleasantness?

When I played in Oregon, they had pipe insulation around the bottom of each pin so the ball wouldn't drop *all* the way in, and didn't have anyone removing pins during play. The bunkers didn't have rakes around them so you couldn't rake the bunker after you got out. I guess they didn't want anyone touching communal items. This course still had ball washers but my wife's stepdad said his usual course removed those as well...

They weren't enforcing a "1 person per cart" rule which I've heard of elsewhere, but we'd have taken a single cart for the two of us anyway given that we were members of the same household for those 4 days anyway. 

It's interesting discussing the 17th Amendment, but it's also sort of pissing in the wind, because the 17th is not going away.

Some folks feel that way about the EC.  It may be interesting to discuss as a hypothetical, but other than that ....

This move by the states is interesting, but potentially uncon (I'm not sure why).  And I get a sense a state might pull out if it ever got to the critical number.
IMagine for example somehow Trump wins the popular vote and California throws all its electors to Trump.

I'd guess a lot of folks in CA would say "That isn't what I meant ...."

Some folks feel that way about the EC.  It may be interesting to discuss as a hypothetical, but other than that ....

This move by the states is interesting, but potentially uncon (I'm not sure why).  And I get a sense a state might pull out if it ever got to the critical number.
IMagine for example somehow Trump wins the popular vote and California throws all its electors to Trump.

I'd guess a lot of folks in CA would say "That isn't what I meant ...."

Yeah, which would be interesting. Especially if (somehow) a Republican won the popular vote while narrowly losing the electoral college vote.

Given the month and a half delay between the national vote and the time the electors meet, I can see a lot of voter demands in blue states for their state legislatures to have emergency votes on getting out of that whole NPVIC thing. Since most of the states pushing for this are blue states, I can see it being a problem if it goes against them.

They are all blue states, or purplish at best.  It's a clever reaction to 2000 and 2016 (mostly the former).  But it can have obvious but unanticipated consequences.

I figure if/when Texas/Georgia/Florida turn purplish to blue, it won't matter.  The red side would need to find candidates who are more purplish to win.

We've noted before how Presidents like JFK would be considered blue today.

You meant red, correct? Because yeah, he would be.

How is your course handling the current unpleasantness?

When I played in Oregon, they had pipe insulation around the bottom of each pin so the ball wouldn't drop *all* the way in, and didn't have anyone removing pins during play. The bunkers didn't have rakes around them so you couldn't rake the bunker after you got out. I guess they didn't want anyone touching communal items. This course still had ball washers but my wife's stepdad said his usual course removed those as well...

They weren't enforcing a "1 person per cart" rule which I've heard of elsewhere, but we'd have taken a single cart for the two of us anyway given that we were members of the same household for those 4 days anyway.

still have the pool noodle foam in the bottom of the cup, sand trap rakes are back after being pulled for a long while.  Some folks are pulling the pin again after not touching it for a while.  Most everyone sharing carts again after riding solo for a while.

the thing I miss is the water coolers - when heat index is triple digits I drank water from the coolers often.  Still gone.
my course is pretty much back to normal - not much social distancing at the bar upstairs

It could become a hotspot of spread.  The club pro quarantined for 10 days, his 20 year old daughter had COVID and gave it to her mother.  Dad tested negative.  Another worker there had COVID, missed a couple weeks of work.

The beer cart girls run the concessions, the food and drink at the bar.  They are all in their 20s.  Risky business.