Make America Competent Again

The Iowa caucus debacle is only the latest manifestation of our culture of errors.

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I thought—after federal officials let Jeffrey Epstein kill himself in prison—that I could no longer be shocked by incompetence. Yet, here I am, the day after the Iowa caucuses, shocked again. Also today, some thoughts on how Twitter creates its own reality, and we can’t do anything to stop it. Today’s French Press: 

  1. Iowa’s meltdown is a perfect representation of a true national challenge.

  1. The human reason Twitter (or something like it) will always have too much influence.

Competence is patriotic.

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Comments (59)
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  1. Avatar photo
    Idontdocute

    I see that the doctor in Wuhan that tried to raise the alarm about the coronaviris and was arrested and jailed for spreading rumors has been vindicated by a judge and released. He will be returning to Wuhan to help with his patients.

    Maybe it is harder to listen because the world is pushing to go faster and communication has distilled down to sound bites, spam, and pleas for funding. It seems rather like no one listens to me and I can't find the time, energy, or concern to listen to you because you are going to want my money, want me to work harder, or to borrow my legitimacy to boost your own.

    I am sure a number of people in Iowa said this software is a bad idea, but like the doctor in Wuhan, no one valued listening enough.

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    Nathan

    I subscribed to The Dispatch just to comment that Epstein didn't kill himself. /s

    Good work, David. Thanks.

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  3. Avatar photo
    JDW

    I have long concluded that when stupidity is an explanation that it is almost always the explanation. Every truth has its exceptions but in this case they are rare.

    I like one thing about caucuses. If your candidate turns out to be non-viable you can switch to another that is more viable. It still gives you a say. Perhaps ranked choice voting could achieve this effect using primary rules.

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      Ray Salemi

      Agreed. We need to move in that direction.

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    td12212

    Competence is alive and well, just not in the Iowa Democratic Party. They paid buttons for a relatively simple app and got what they paid for. Technological ignorance is what got them here. They need some younger people running the operation.

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  5. Ann G

    Can we have competency with the power structure we presently have? As long as our values-based system is one that rewards the few at the expense of the many, the bureaucracy will always negate the effects of the individual, no matter how well they do their jobs.

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    Al Smith

    David, Is there a problem with "Motivated minorities exercise outsized influence when they can get up-close and personal, and Twitter puts motivated minorities directly in your face, at scale, on a daily basis"?

    Back in the day, television probably was the medium to get up close and personal. I guess Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, Cesar Chavez would fall into that category, and that's ok by me. Sometimes that has to be done.

    Since I don't believe you meant to include women as "minorities", I didn't either.

    I enjoy your work. Thank you.

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  7. Avatar photo
    Joel.Vandixhorn

    Why is there even a need for a fancy app? According to google there are 1,681 Iowa precincts so I'm guessing the aggregate data could fit in an Excel spreadsheet. Maybe they should just use Google Forms next time.

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      WKDawson

      They wanted to look "hip"; "hey, see this cool app". ... and didn't count the real effort it takes to make something like that work flawlessly. Even when you write something for yourself, it can take months to iron out all the issues in software development, and you can still sometimes find stupid stuff years later.

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        Idontdocute

        This is why the crews moan when the administration goes to a convention. You know that there is going to be too much alcohol mixed with exquisitely stupid decisions and someone is going to bring something back home with them. It is either going to be a new business system they don't understand or something that they will have to explain to the spouse, but someone usually gets screwed.

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    Bill Dyer (aka Beldar)

    Twitter should not be lumped in with other social media as if they're all interchangeable. Twitter is, and has always been, a heckler's medium, a medium whose defining characteristic is the truncation of all rational communication after an entirely arbitrary (and small) number of keystrokes.

    Yes, concision is a virtue — albeit one I usually lack. But nothing is stopping me, or you, from being concise on other media.

    Stop using Twitter, Mr. French. Don't tweet; don't re-tweet. Do write and publish in other media — certainly including this new platform at TheDispatch.com! If you must link someone's tweet, do so in a way that doesn't republish its distinctive look in the midst of your essay.

    In short: Twitter delenda est.

    Kill it by cutting off its oxygen.

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    1. Avatar photo
      WKDawson

      maybe we should plow it over with salt too. ;-) Thanks, I hadn't learned that expression. It may not be a Punic war, but it is certainly a "Putrid" war.

      I imagine the original idea behind it might have been a mechanism for announcing important news and information. Since different people have different priorities, some may consider sports important, others perhaps recent scientific findings, and still others art or culture. There is perhaps a time for a well-placed witty quip, but few things of any real importance can be effectively conveyed within the space of 144 characters.

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      cheerio

      I quit Twitter about 6 months ago and I think it was the most productive and constructive I did that year...including my work in cardiac nursing where I battled the Angel of Death every day. I give no shits about what anyone posts on Twitter. I click no Twitter links. Twitter is just a stage for Trump, it is his high school, and everyone there are like those self important cliques. One day it will cease and people will face the fact that maybe they really are not that witty. I think it is hilarious that there was a time that people actually purchased "followers" to make themselves appear more popular.

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    Ray Salemi

    One has to go to Twitter to get abused, maybe people shouldn’t do that.

    A blizzard in a snow globe doesn’t mean we should cancel school in the real world.

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      JDW

      I agree. This is something I don't understand. Just don't open twitter or even don't look at your replies. Just click over and then click back to clear the slate of what is read. I've come under severe attack (and I admit I relish the battle too much at times) but I always knew I could escape it by turning off twitter.

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  10. Fatigued Testudine

    Competence?? My goodness, David is obviously a "racist." Sadly, that is the position taken by those who place "diversity" (based solely on skin color) will immediately shout from the highest steeple! David is absolutely correct, that competence needs to be championed and valued if we are to remain a vibrant country. It is discouraging that in so many encounters with those who are supposed to provide a service do not even provide the most basic competence required to provide said service. This leaves the consumer adrift, looking for alternative providers, and for we old geezers, absolutely convinced that the world is going to hell in a handbasket!!!!

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