Is there a chance his story, that someone is blackmailing his dad for $25M, is true? Because it's such a specific and outlandish story, if it ain't true, the guy is completely done. Like, doooooooooone. That fact makes me think we shouldn't write off the chance that it's true. Because of all the alibis/cover stories to choose from, to pick one that politically is more damaging than having a 17 year old girlfriend seems a weird choice. This thread is for all news related to Gaetzgate. I would suggest including tweets.
1377037499458060289 is not a valid tweet id Yes I am in fact a libertarian thank you for pointing that out— Robby Soave (@robbysoave) March 30, 2021 Seriously, what is it about Libertarians and the fascination with age of consent?
It's an arbitrary number. Of my three daughters, I would estimate the actual age they could make that kind of decision varied by years.
When someone says they're a libertarian, you can safely assume they're either superwealthy, a cannabis enthusiast, a pedophile, or a dude who had a nasty breakup with reality at 15 years of age.
True. Let me ask a different question. Pick any of your daughters at random. At what age could she make that kind of decision with a boy more or less her own age? At what age could she make that kind of decision with a man in his mid-30s and a rich heir and a congressman? I'll bet there's a bigger variation for that question than between your daughters.
I'm a bit of different case considering my two younger daughters may never actually understand that kind of decision, but my oldest has always been pretty mature and actually asked my wife and I for assistance when she thought she was ready, assistance we willingly gave her. I'm pretty sure the age of the other person would have been irrelevant, same with their position or wealth.
Gaetz has a major minor problem, while Biden has a minor Major problem.— Jim Trailmaster 🇺🇦 (@jim_sidewalk) March 31, 2021
Couldn't BOTH be true? Couldn't he be guilty of sex related crimes with a girl AND someone is blackmailing him over it? The second doesn't/wouldn't forgive the first.
Robby deleted the tweet. But the internet is forever: Oh you deleted it! Here’s the original for anyone who can’t see it: pic.twitter.com/sapZheRsRt— Stone Cold Jane Austen (@Magzdilla2early) March 31, 2021
From 4yrs ago. Guess it's a good thing he's not in the middle of these girls, with his arms draped all over them...
I’m going to say something that may sound libertarianish, but it’s been bugging me for a while: People here is arguing mostly on age of the minor, but some correctly have pointed that is a social standard, as lest say driving age (15), drinking age (21) or voting age (18). There’s nothing biologically explicit about 16 or 18, and a lot of it has to do with the roles our society assigns to people those ages. In present times we expect 17 yos to be studying but 150 years ago females would be getting ready for marriage. Now, that doesn’t mean that what Gaetz did is correct or debatable, since he should actually know that he was breaking social standards and laws, but specially because he was in a position of power over a minor, able to use his position and connections to woo his “girlfriend”.
But here’s the thing....as a society, rather than just shrugging our shoulders and saying we can’t do anything about that ambiguity, we draw a line in the sand, arbitrary as it may be. We document those lines via laws. Once it’s documented, further debate about why we chose that spot for the line is irrelevant to whether or not someone stepped over the line that we drew. If what is alleged is true, Matt Gaetz broke a law. He should and will be held accountable. If someday we entertain that debate about where the law should be, we will draw that line somewhere else. Matt Gaetz may be still in prison at that point. I’d advocate for his release if the line moved to make his original crossing legal.
I agree with that. except for the last sentence, which seems like a good ol' can of legal worms, slippery-slope wise.
Not really. As an example...eventually pot will be legal at a federal level. It will happen. Are you saying that you would make offenders serve their sentences despite the fact that what they were found guilty of is no longer illegal? That’s a pretty ********ing shitty stance. for what it’s worth...the inverse of that is unconstitutional. As it should be.
Agreed. On a second attempt to make my point, it is that the discussion over Gaetz’s deeds shouldn’t be philosophical but about the legal implications. If the allegations are proven, Gaetz is guilty, not only because of the age of the victim, but because he holds a position of power and knew very well he was using it to captivate an underage girl.
"Assistance" is a really weird word in this context. I'm assuming you meant advice, or something similar. What a great picture. A dab and a bird.
Let's wait for Trump to come to Gaetz rescue....McCarthy will quickly backtrack. That scandal could not have happened to a nice guy. Will QAnon add Gaetz to the pedophile list now? House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy on Fox News today called the sexual misconduct allegations against Rep. Matt Gaetz "serious" and suggested that Gaetz could face repercussions if the allegations prove true. https://t.co/RiKFbH7m1p— Axios (@axios) March 31, 2021
There is a partial agreement I have on this, and I've said so previously. But I would argue that 18, in this context, is not really all that arbitrary. In this context is really knocks out a lot of potential teacher/student encounters (for lack of a better term). While there is also the legal teacher-student boundary, that breaks down (more or less) when the student becomes 18. But, if you change that boundary to, say 16, there can become more problems. And I'm not just talking for Male teachers -> female students as is the fetish. That being said, 18 is a reasonable line not only because of the school issue, but also because of work issues and development issues. Yes, many students are ready for that kind of relationship at 17, or even 16. But many are not. And that is just with peers. Imagine all the manipulation which can occur by a 35 year old towards a 16 year old sophomore in high school. Or a 17 year old junior, a year an a half from graduating. Is that a risk we want to put on our students? As a whole society, I would argue that we don't, and should not, even if there are plenty who are capable of making said decisions. Now, there are caveats. For example, I would not have an issue of a 16/17 relationship. Or even a 16/18 relationship, but I think it those relationships should be measured in terms of months, not years. The emotional development of kids up to 17/18 can grow month by month (and in some cases, even older). So, am I okay with a 15/17 relationship where it is 23 months? No. Am I okay with a 15/17 relationship where it is 13 months? Sure. Is a 16/17, 23 month difference any better? Nope. But a 15 month difference (random range here)? Sure. But in the case of Gaetz, while the 17 year old might be developmentally able to handle the relationship, legally Gaetz knows the laws and if the relationship was sexual, he knowingly broke the law. I agree with this, but don't think 18 is as arbitrary as many are suggesting. What I think should be done is as what I said just above, measure it in terms of months, not years (at least at that age). There should be some criteria there, in part to allow teens to safely experiment, but also to avoid manipulation, as much as possible in both cases.
Assistance meaning explaining how birth control works, different types, talking with our family doc about side effects of the pill and the responsibility that comes with all of the above. Assistance with the decision, as every parent should provide.