I hope courts aren't necessary for running a country

[Anders Hallin]

Because then the future of the US looks bleak, with the current institutions in place:

Judicial confirmations slowed to a trickle on the day President Barack Obama took office. Filibusters, anonymous holds, and other obstructionary tactics have become the rule. Uncontroversial nominees wait months for a floor vote, and even district court nominees—low-ranking judges whose confirmations have never been controversial in the past—are routinely filibustered into oblivion. Nominations grind to a halt in many cases even after the Senate Judiciary Committee has unanimously endorsed a nominee.
Obama is getting slightly more than half as many judges confirmed as Bush I, who had the second worst record.
http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2010/07/judicial_confirmations.html
http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2010/07/img/congressionalnomineesgraphs1.png

[Hawkeye Fierce]

The failure of the government is entirely the Democrats fault! The GOP bears no responsibility for being obstructionist fuckwits!

The most maddening thing about this strategy is how effective it is. With a media that would actually do its job, the GOP would be getting flayed to death over this.

[nlanza]

The most maddening thing about this strategy is how effective it is. With a media that would actually do its job, the GOP would be getting flayed to death over this.

The sad thing is that it's really not clear that the media could fix this. For a lot of people, the details of who's at fault just don't matter. They don't really care how government works, and when it breaks down they're uninterested in the details.

The current Republican combination of obstruction and flat-out lying about their willingness to work with Democrats is pretty much a perfect strategy for them, unfortunately.

[Drastic]

The remaining courts can simply work smarter, not harder. For instance, if judges can simply assume a guilty verdict without allowing more than cursory trials, units can be put into the industrial prison system much more efficiently, which leads to shareholder value.

[Janster]

Considering you are spending more on jails than universities, I think it really does synergise with the main plan. This is almost as good as using terran marines with siege tanks.

[AaronSofaer]

Actually, if I were going to back up tanks with a choice of only one unit, it would definitely be Goliaths (or in SC II, Vikings).

To pull off Marines backing up Siege Tanks, you need Medics.

[Anaxagoras]

The sad thing is that it's really not clear that the media could fix this. For a lot of people, the details of who's at fault just don't matter. They don't really care how government works, and when it breaks down they're uninterested in the details.

The precise details don't matter to most people, but it's extremely easy to create a simple overview of what's going on that people *would* care about:

"The Democrats are attempting to carry out the basic functions of the governmet, but the Republicans are slowing down & blocking every single thing, including non-controvesial & essential functions."

There. Done. That's simple enough for even the American people. It's got a simple narrative, good guys, bad guys.... it's everything an American has the attention span for. As an added bonus, it's 100% true. But the media aren't doing their job.

[nlanza]

It's not a matter of whether or not you can break it down into something simple enough to understand -- it's a matter of whether or not you can make people care.

Break it down like that and you'll have one side of the narrative; the other side will be equally simple, and folks who don't pay attention won't have the background necessary to figure out that it's a lie. Then you have the standard he-said-she-said squabble that people expect from government, and both sides get the blame. Probably. So for the Democrats, since they're nominally in charge.

[Hawkeye Fierce]

Break it down like that and you'll have one side of the narrative; the other side will be equally simple, and folks who don't pay attention won't have the background necessary to figure out that it's a lie. Yes, but in theory the media should actually be telling people that it's a lie, instead of just reporting both sides as if they were equally valid.

[nlanza]

This is the magic of the "the media has a LIBERAL BIAS" strategy -- now if the media calls out a lie, it's because they're in the tank for the liberals and not telling the truth.

[Hawkeye Fierce]

Sure, but the media could also not be complete cowards and not cave for fear of being called names.

[arctangent]

Sure, but the media could also not be complete cowards and not cave for fear of being called names.

If a media actually did that, that media would be severely chastised and fired, and another media would be hired to spew the correct drivel. The fired media would then become a public service channel on cable in Idaho. One the other hand, if the media plays by the rules, the media will be showered with money and praise, and have cake every day.

If I were a media, I'd want the cake.