robertjbennett.bsky.social @robertjbennett.bsky.social · 7hI react very poorly when any proposed policy or plan is met with "but what if someone like Trump gets hold of it?? then it would be not good, but very bad" because there really is no law or institution that can work when a population is willing to elect the stupidest, worst asshole alive7:43 PM · Sep 29, 2026 634539
robert j bennett, ceo, results omega @robertjbennett.bsky.social · 7hthis is an argument against, like, basically every public utility. "what if someone like trump runs the municipal water system??" I am sorry, the only answer is to make sure that dumb shit doesn't happen 529621
Eugene Vinitsky 🍒 @eugenevinitsky.bsky.social · 7h↪ Replying to @robertjbennett.bsky.socialI see the outcome of this thinking a lot at universities where there are all these onerous policies that are in place to hamstring the worst people. But, more straightforwardly, you should just not hire / fire the absolute worst people 0161
War n’ Oats @jedgeco.bsky.social · 7h↪ Replying to @robertjbennett.bsky.socialThe voters really fucked up on this one! 000
🍂von🍂 @vonhonkington.bsky.social · 6h↪ Replying to @robertjbennett.bsky.socialI heard a lot of this when they expanded technologies for immigration and the state department during Obama's term. Like whew I sure hope we only have benevolent philosopher kings from now on because otherwise yeesh 020
Kaidelong @kaidelong.bsky.social · 6h↪ Replying to @robertjbennett.bsky.socialNo, I think this is wrong. You can design systems where less power is concentrated in one office, or design more federalized systems with smaller jurisdictions where there is less harm, or do both. Your choice of system does change how much you have to worry about a bad guy. 150
jel1955jel @jel1955jel.bsky.social · 6h↪ Replying to @robertjbennett.bsky.socialHave you ever studied enterprise risk management? All processes, which is what a policies or plans implement, can be assessed for risk, and if folks are willing to pay for it, those risks can be mitigated through controls. Policies designed with "trust me" controls are crap policies, IMO. 110
OκULTRA XP🧿, writer for The Economist @0kultra.bsky.social · 5h↪ Replying to @robertjbennett.bsky.socialI disagree, both in general-theoretical (it is good to mind whether your policies and institutions are massive fascism acceleration nodes when infiltrated, UK NHS currently fully infested by TERFs and Sweden's insane anti sexwork crusade are nice examples) But also I disagree empirically - we now > 150
tracinski.bsky.social @tracinski.bsky.social · 5h↪ Replying to @robertjbennett.bsky.socialThe point of asking the question is to warn against giving power that is vague, unchecked, or easily abused, like all the "emergency" powers Congress has ceded to the president over the years. 150
Hieronymous Alloy @hieronymous.bsky.social · 5h↪ Replying to @robertjbennett.bsky.socialBy the time someone like Trump has been elected to leadership, so many different parts of society have all separately and individually failed. Blaming the office of the presidency itself is like blaming the heart for multi-systemic organ failure. 160
Shaenon K. Garrity @shaenon.bsky.social · 5h↪ Replying to @robertjbennett.bsky.socialThis is true, but also: Starting around the Gilded Age, people spent enormous time and money and effort setting up systems to keep someone like Trump in line. Then, around the 1980s, people started ripping those systems out. We can have guardrails again! They're actually normal! 0130
Condensed Milf @magneticsara.bsky.social · 4h↪ Replying to @robertjbennett.bsky.socialIf people can vote for anyone n they want to they might vote against my guy. I hope they realize. 020
shambibble @shambibble.com · 4h↪ Replying to @robertjbennett.bsky.sociali don't think this holds universally, but there is a certain type of "legislating" that amounts purely to broad, lightly qualified delegations of power, and such bills i think would be a mistake to pass *right now*, in conjunction with the current SCOTUS, instead of 2029, after court reform 010
🗽 @snabbkassa.bsky.social · 2h↪ Replying to @robertjbennett.bsky.socialwhich is why you are all screwed, and Europe should probably be preparing for a wave of US refugees 010
Fennec Fox Fanfare @fennecfoxfanfare.bsky.social · 1h↪ Replying to @robertjbennett.bsky.social1. Often this is a response to actual legislation that is actually being proposed, today, with the Trump admin in office. "Don't give Trump that broad new discretionary power" is a fair criticism of proposals to give Trump broad new discretionary powers. See criticism of KOSA for example. 110
