Should old comments/actions matter in politics

[The Peoples Mandate]

People in public office should absolutely have their past actions scrutinized since that’s the closest and most genuine look we get into the real thoughts and opinions of a person. It’s cliche but actions speak louder than words.

[San Lumen]

You do know if someone resigns someone new takes their place either by succession, appointment or special election?

If you think you can do better go grab a clipboard and run for office next year. I am so tried of this everyone sucks argument.

And then they get kicked out for having done something stupid.

I don't think I can do better. I don't think the job should exist.

Ok then but you never not going to have someone in the office. I hope you don't mind having election after election or succession or appointment after the other.

So you want no one in office because everyone must be completely pure and never done anything wrong?

[Teachian]

It really depends. If they were a high-ranking member of the KKK, I think that’s baggage to carry to present day. On the other hand, people change and you’re asking a lot for people to never do wrong in a world where values are constantly evolving.

For me, what they stand for now and their integrity are what really matters to me. Skeletons in the closet might affect the latter, I’m voting for who they are now, not a time traveller hopping between the past, present and future,

[San Lumen]

It really depends. If they were a high-ranking member of the KKK, I think that’s baggage to carry to present day. On the other hand, people change and you’re asking a lot for people to never do wrong in a world where values are constantly evolving.

For me, what they stand for now and their integrity are what really matters to me. Skeletons in the closet might affect the latter, I’m voting for who they are now, not a time traveller hopping between the past, present and future,

Longtime Senator Robert Byrd was a high ranking KKK member. He apologized and said he regretted his past actions and became a champion of civil rights.

[Dumb Ideologies]

People can change, so it depends on the gravity of an offence. Are you in any meaningful way the same person as you were 20 or 30 years ago? Not necessarily. If they committed serious crimes that's an important fact, and they'd need to demonstrate some kind of "redemption arc" of having shown genuine remorse and making substantial attempts to atone for their past. If they said or did stupid things while young that didn't directly hurt anyone - particularly if that idiocy was less looked down upon back then - making too big a deal of it is tacky.

[The Black Forrest]

Can’t speak for Canada. This seems to be a new phenomenon. Comments and actions of the past will be used against you. Especially in politics. Politics is perception after all.

When you start going past oh a decade; it is rather simple minded to exclaim “OMG he did or said....” Joe Biden for example “OMG! He worked with White supremacists!!!!!” Over 40 years ago. If you wanted to get stuff done; you kind of had to do that.

If you find an incident and look over the track record and find nothing else? Time to let it go. As in the PM’s case; has he done brown face in the last 15 years? If not? Time to let it go.

Hell if the past is supposed to be used against us; most of us would be punished for all the dumb ass things we did or said.

[San Lumen]

Can’t speak for Canada. This seems to be a new phenomenon. Comments and actions of the past will be used against you. Especially in politics. Politics is perception after all.

When you start going past oh a decade; it is rather simple minded to exclaim “OMG he did or said....” Joe Biden for example “OMG! He worked with White supremacists!!!!!” Over 40 years ago. If you wanted to get stuff done; you kind of had to do that.

If you find an incident and look over the track record and find nothing else? Time to let it go. As in the PM’s case; has he done brown face in the last 15 years? If not? Time to let it go.

Hell if the past is supposed to be used against us; most of us would be punished for all the dumb ass things we did or said.

One should be judged on the record overall not things they did years ago.

[Israeli Totalitariat]

Yes, but we should also understand that people change everyday.

[Israeli Totalitariat]

Can’t speak for Canada. This seems to be a new phenomenon. Comments and actions of the past will be used against you. Especially in politics. Politics is perception after all.

When you start going past oh a decade; it is rather simple minded to exclaim “OMG he did or said....” Joe Biden for example “OMG! He worked with White supremacists!!!!!” Over 40 years ago. If you wanted to get stuff done; you kind of had to do that.

If you find an incident and look over the track record and find nothing else? Time to let it go. As in the PM’s case; has he done brown face in the last 15 years? If not? Time to let it go.

Hell if the past is supposed to be used against us; most of us would be punished for all the dumb ass things we did or said.

And where do you draw the line? 15? 10? 15.5 years? Of course a persons history since birth should be taken into account.

[Thermodolia]

Depends on what it was. Dressing up like a nazi at a party and making a heil Hitler salute for the photo 20 years ago.. fine. Tying a black man to a cross and setting it on fire with your KKK buddies.. still not fine 20 years later.

You'd be in jail for the latter so no the best analogy to use.

Hahahahaha. Ya not really. Especially if it happened in the South

[The Sherpa Empire]

It depends how long ago it happened, how serious it was, and how the politician reacts when it gets brought up.

In Trudeau's case, I'm ready to cut him some slack. I think people used to be less sensitive about that sort of thing and he just didn't think about it. It sounds like he understands why it looks bad and it's not something he would do nowadays.

[Hirota]

Obviously we should. Heck, I'm supervised that we don't have a full Senate hearing with wall to wall TV coverage of it already.

Seriously though - no. Us in the west ostensibly live in a society where individuals are supposed to be allowed to learn and develop and redeem ourselves from our past mistakes. This undoubtedly harms his credibility with some voters, but it shouldn't matter to most people who can decide for themselves if they believe he has changed or not.

I don't like this form of social media archeology - the act of digging through someones social media history to find something someone has said or done in an attempt to implicate them is stupid and shouldn't be taken seriously.

[Page]

For me it depends on how recent the action was and what kind of character and behavior a person demonstrated since then. Age is also a factor. I will pretty much give a pass to anything anyone did as a minor so long as they aren't still doing these things as an adult.

[San Lumen]

Obviously we should. Heck, I'm supervised that we don't have a full Senate hearing with wall to wall TV coverage of it already.

Seriously though - no. Us in the west ostensibly live in a society where individuals are supposed to be allowed to learn and develop and redeem ourselves from our past mistakes. This undoubtedly harms his credibility with some voters, but it shouldn't matter to most people who can decide for themselves if they believe he has changed or not.

I don't like this form of social media archeology - the act of digging through someones social media history to find something someone has said or done in an attempt to implicate them is stupid and shouldn't be taken seriously.

This is part of the reason i hate Twitter so much

[The Black Forrest]

Can’t speak for Canada. This seems to be a new phenomenon. Comments and actions of the past will be used against you. Especially in politics. Politics is perception after all.

When you start going past oh a decade; it is rather simple minded to exclaim “OMG he did or said....” Joe Biden for example “OMG! He worked with White supremacists!!!!!” Over 40 years ago. If you wanted to get stuff done; you kind of had to do that.

If you find an incident and look over the track record and find nothing else? Time to let it go. As in the PM’s case; has he done brown face in the last 15 years? If not? Time to let it go.

Hell if the past is supposed to be used against us; most of us would be punished for all the dumb ass things we did or said.

And where do you draw the line? 15? 10? 15.5 years? Of course a persons history since birth should be taken into account.

I would “raise an eyebrow” if the PM did brown face in the last year.

Part of youth is being stupid. If you said hateful things and one day learned that was a bad thing and worked to be a good person ever since? Why should the past be held against you?

A persons history from birth? Seriously? That line of thinking has had many bad examples in history.

People are fuckups. What matters is if they learn from it.

[Israeli Totalitariat]

I would “raise an eyebrow” if the PM did brown face in the last year.

Part of youth is being stupid. If you said hateful things and one day learned that was a bad thing and worked to be a good person ever since? Why should the past be held against you?

A persons history from birth? Seriously? That line of thinking has had many bad examples in history.

People are fuckups. What matters is if they learn from it.

And what matters if they don't? 90 year-old Auschwitz guards are being sentenced in this decade. It's up to the people to decide whether a person has changed for the better or for the worst. Nevermind if they learned from it or not.

[Luziyca]

Depends on if they still believe it and defend it, instead of apologizing for it profusely, as well as how severe it is. If, to use The Grims' example, you dressed up as a Nazi at a frat party and making a Heil Hitler salute for a photo during your freshman year of college, and you sincerely apologized for it and made up for those actions, then I suppose that is fine. But if you tie a black man to a cross and set it on fire with your KKK buddies, it is certainly not okay, even if it is decades later, and you have apologized for it.

[The Black Forrest]

I would “raise an eyebrow” if the PM did brown face in the last year.

Part of youth is being stupid. If you said hateful things and one day learned that was a bad thing and worked to be a good person ever since? Why should the past be held against you?

A persons history from birth? Seriously? That line of thinking has had many bad examples in history.

People are fuckups. What matters is if they learn from it.

And what matters if they don't? 90 year-old Auschwitz guards are being sentenced in this decade. It's up to the people to decide whether a person has changed for the better or for the worst. Nevermind if they learned from it or not.

Wow. I didn’t know wearing brown face as the same as being a guard at Auschwitz. I live a sheltered life.

I guess it’s time to get those barney fans.

[Israeli Totalitariat]

Depends on if they still believe it and defend it, instead of apologizing for it profusely, as well as how severe it is. If, to use The Grims' example, you dressed up as a Nazi at a frat party and making a Heil Hitler salute for a photo during your freshman year of college, and you sincerely apologized for it and made up for those actions, then I suppose that is fine. But if you tie a black man to a cross and set it on fire with your KKK buddies, it is certainly not okay, even if it is decades later, and you have apologized for it.

Either way, you're still saying old comments/actions matter in politics.

[Israeli Totalitariat]

And what matters if they don't? 90 year-old Auschwitz guards are being sentenced in this decade. It's up to the people to decide whether a person has changed for the better or for the worst. Nevermind if they learned from it or not.

Wow. I didn’t know wearing brown face as the same as being a guard at Auschwitz. I live a sheltered life.

I guess it’s time to get those barney fans.

I don't know where you got that information from because I never said the two were equivalent. If you properly read my statement, you can disern the conclusion that old comments/actions do indeed matter in politics.

[The Black Forrest]

Wow. I didn’t know wearing brown face as the same as being a guard at Auschwitz. I live a sheltered life.

I guess it’s time to get those barney fans.

I don't know where you got that information from because I never said the two were equivalent. If you properly read my statement, you can disern the conclusion that old comments/actions do indeed matter in politics.

You are the one who raised Auschwitz. It was a silly thing to do for this thread.

Answer this: Joe Biden once worked with White Supremacists on a couple issues/bills 40+ years ago. Should that be held against him?

[Earthbound Immortal Squad]

Can’t speak for Canada. This seems to be a new phenomenon. Comments and actions of the past will be used against you.

Hell if the past is supposed to be used against us; most of us would be punished for all the dumb ass things we did or said.

This is why you keep as small a digital footprint as possible and hope you don't become famous. In my case there are very few (if any) definitive references to me on the internet or social media.

[San Lumen]

I don't know where you got that information from because I never said the two were equivalent. If you properly read my statement, you can disern the conclusion that old comments/actions do indeed matter in politics.

You are the one who raised Auschwitz. It was a silly thing to do for this thread.

Answer this: Joe Biden once worked with White Supremacists on a couple issues/bills 40+ years ago. Should that be held against him?

Here is an an even better one Robert Byrd one of the greatest US senators ever was a member of the Klan before entering office. Should be have been forced to quit the Senate or have that held against him even after he said he regretted his past actions?

[Israeli Totalitariat]

I don't know where you got that information from because I never said the two were equivalent. If you properly read my statement, you can disern the conclusion that old comments/actions do indeed matter in politics.

You are the one who raised Auschwitz. It was a silly thing to do for this thread.

Answer this: Joe Biden once worked with White Supremacists on a couple issues/bills 40+ years ago. Should that be held against him?

It should matter in politics. Final answer.

[Israeli Totalitariat]

You are the one who raised Auschwitz. It was a silly thing to do for this thread.

Answer this: Joe Biden once worked with White Supremacists on a couple issues/bills 40+ years ago. Should that be held against him?

Here is an an even better one Robert Byrd one of the greatest US senators ever was a member of the Klan before entering office. Should be have been forced to quit the Senate or have that held against him even after he said he regretted his past actions?

But that's not the question. The question is should it matter in politics? I say so.