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0 pointstptacek2y ago0 comments

This would be a more compelling argument if the person you were referring to, who was 16 when this happened, wasn't open about their criminal background (it's literally part of their pitch at this nonprofit, which is significantly about prison reentry) or had in the intervening (checks) thirty years been accused of some other relevant offense.

Instead, it's just another instance of exactly the discrediting rhetoric I'm talking about.

What makes this worse is, this nonprofit does not look like a compelling use of public dollars, and an effective case could probably be made against it on the merits. Instead, it's just culture war bait. Since we're in a 50/50 culture, that means the entire argument is a push; we'll have to wait for someone else to move the dials on whether we fund organizations like this.

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3 comments · 1 top-level

michtzik2y ago· 2 in thread

Okay, I'm here to learn.

> open about their criminal background (it's literally part of their pitch at this nonprofit, which is significantly about prison reentry)

Can you point me to any resource where Heppard expresses remorse about his so-called "criminal background"?

tptacekOP2y ago

If you were here to learn and have a curious conversation, I don't think you'd ask me to respond to a rebuttal of an argument I did not make. That's fine, there's no reason we need to engage further on this! Our premises might just be too far apart.

michtzik2y ago

I definitely agree with your final sentence.

I am confident that a majority of people would think that a $3 million no-bid contract shouldn't be given to a non-profit whose executive director committed the crimes described at length above, even if it is expressly noted that it was 30 years ago when he was 16, and with no other arguments at all. (In particular, I am disagreeing with your "50/50" claim as well as the general claim that this is "culture war bait".) There's a reason this happened in Seattle -- it wouldn't fly in most of the country, or the world.

I really was curious to learn a little bit of how we could see the world so differently. I literally watched multiple videos of this executive director, but I came away holding my beliefs even stronger (that his prior criminal history was enough evidence, and I thought it was unlikely his activities since would change my mind). In particular, I believe the reason he hasn't "in the intervening (checks) thirty years been accused of some other relevant offense" in because he was physically incapacitated from doing so.

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