tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21166579.post1545723902531447970..comments2024-02-19T08:12:53.815-05:00Comments on The Right Thing: Confound everyone by telling the truthJeffrey L. Seglinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15648051034425906705noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21166579.post-388591637518735292018-12-20T17:43:01.227-05:002018-12-20T17:43:01.227-05:00I’m with you on the ethical perspective. Sometimes...I’m with you on the ethical perspective. Sometimes I think we may be the only ones keeping track of Trump’s inconsistencies and the only ones who assume Trump would wish to be consistent, and worry about the consequences if he were not and got caught. We start from the assumption that truth and reasonable consistency are the good and desirable. But Trump is not trying and failing to be honest or consistent; he’s on a different trajectory altogether, outside the constraints of doing the right thing. His aim is a gut appeal where truth, logic, and consistency are wasted. If you are appealing to the belly, not the brain, what’s accuracy got to do with it? It’s like asking jazz to stick consistently to the metronome or campfire stories to be verifiable--they aren’t even trying for it. And Trump gets caught all the time, to his satisfaction. He’s with Walt Whitman: “Do I contradict myself? Very well, then I contradict myself.” if he were a '70s sitcom dad,it would be okay.Hollynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21166579.post-78838405053944498472018-12-16T12:06:48.562-05:002018-12-16T12:06:48.562-05:00It is difficult to distinguish between lies, exagg...It is difficult to distinguish between lies, exaggerations, and distortions (a disgustingly common practice among politicians), but it may be misleading to say that the president has averaged x number of false or misleading claims a day, when some of those claims are frequently repeated (like “the biggest tax cut in history.” Is it worse for him to repeat the same “lie” (“the biggest tax cut in history”) five times or state five different lies once?<br />As reprehensible as straying from the truth is, Trump’s behavior reminds me of the punch line of the old joke about the stubborn mule: “First, you have to get their attention.” He knows he can be fact-checked, but he knows the opposition has indulged in ugly distortion too. Let’s hope that his ends justify his means. <br />Phil Cluttsnoreply@blogger.com