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To: GunRunner
I would want an officeholder to be someone engaged with their constituents, the issues, their family, a business owner, the community, with hobbies that build useful skills and/or involve real social interaction and personal improvement. I would put learning to play guitar, the shooting sports, reading, and investing in a group activity like a church family in that category; massive amounts of gaming I would not.

So your basic problem is that you're making judgement calls on hobbies that are "Good" and "Useful" and "Bad" or "Useless"

For tens of millions of Americans online gaming is exactly what skeet shooting, playing an instrument, etc. is to you or anyone else. If you want to lose all their votes by deeming online gaming a uniquely inappropriate hobby for an elected official, go right ahead.

Been out of it a while (mostly because I was in grad school) but I've met great friends playing an on-line multiplayer World War II flight simulator, and gained "useful skills" in terms of organization and planning (I've commanded large scenarios with hundreds of pilots and intricate planning). It's helped me understand military history and the challenges of command control, limited intelligence, the fog of war, etc. which has directly aided my regular job (military operations analysis), much more than restoring a 64 Impala or volunteering at a church would have.

65 posted on 10/05/2012 9:21:17 PM PDT by Strategerist
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To: Strategerist
So your basic problem is that you're making judgement calls on hobbies that are "Good" and "Useful" and "Bad" or "Useless".

When it comes to the "hobbies" of someone vying for elected office, you bet your ass I'll make value judgements.

Thomas Jefferson immersed himself in hobbies like literature, history, landscaping, architecture, linguistics, and philosophy. He didn't sit around and play continental checkers and dice all day. People can do whatever they want with their time, but how one spends it is enormously indicative of an effective and successful person. A person who invests time and knowledge in craftsmanship such as restoring classic cars, carpentry, or hell, designing their OWN video games, is spending their free time more wisely than someone who's reached level 90 in World of Warcraft. I would absolutely look for someone who fits the former description in a leader.

Anyone who thinks that playing an online fantasy game is just as productive as learning to play an instrument, skeet shooting, or spending time with a like minded social group probably thinks that talking to a girl online is the same as real life dating.

Reminds me of a scene in the movie Crimson Tide where Gene Hackman's captain character is interviewing Denzel Washington for an open spot as XO on his sub and he says, "So what do like to do? Do you paint, play ball, play an instrument, ride motorcycles, what?" Denzel responds that he "rides horses". I doubt that military leaders and CEOs are impressed by hearing about how badass your WoW avatar is at magic spells.

Got nothing wrong with online gaming and am not a stranger to it, but the amount time spent by this lady isn't something that I think is becoming of a person in elected office. I hold prospective leaders to a higher standing when it comes to how they invest their time, so sue me.

73 posted on 10/05/2012 10:15:55 PM PDT by GunRunner (***Not associated with any criminal actions anonymus by the ATF***)
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