You think so? I think one can do evil without awareness, but would that cease to be evil just because they don't perceive it as evil? What if someone has good intentions, but through their actions and ignorance actually cause a lot of evil? Are they not responsible? :s
— Agustino
Natural events cause evil, and animals cause evil. We can say those natural events are responsible, but not morally responsible, for the evil they cause.
Whether or not Trump Jr. committed a crime in meeting with that lawyer doesn't depend on whether or not Hillary committed a similar or different crime. This is a ridiculous claim. — Michael
There are several contributors here who represent an attitude that Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, and the DNC, are the root of all evil in US politics, and possibly the world . They will sometimes grudgingly acknowledge that Trump is an embarrassment and a buffoon, on account of him being impossible to defend, but such an acknowledgement is always followed by an immediate...'but the real villain is...' It's not a hard pattern to spot.
Meanwhile, today's Post-Truth news is the infamous Boy Scout speech. Notwithstanding the fact that the head of the Scouts sent a written apology to the entire membership for the egregious and self-aggrandizing stump speech that Trump gave at what was supposed to be a ceremonial occasion (including having the assembled scouts boo the previous President), Trump now claims that it was 'the greatest ever speech' given to the Scouts.
This is in line with the 'biggest ever inauguration crowd' delusion, which has lead to a completely unnecessary enquiry into fraudulent voting in the USA, purely in service of Trump's narcissism.
There's a bit of deliciousness hereabouts...
A hallmark of the post truth world, as has been noted ad nauseum, is to distract attention away from importance and towards trivial bullshit. This move is realized with several means. The thread will bear witness to this, as an astute reader ought see by now.
In real life...
The American nation is on the verge of constitutional crisis. That is the root.
Obama foresaw what he left unsaid. I thank him for preserving the evidence, and history will look upon him favorably regarding that matter.
There are several contributors here who represent an attitude that Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, and the DNC, are the root of all evil in US politics, and possibly the world . They will sometimes grudgingly acknowledge that Trump is an embarrassment and a buffoon, on account of him being impossible to defend, but such an acknowledgement is always followed by an immediate...'but the real villain is...' It's not a hard pattern to spot. — Wayfarer
I find Thanatos to be the most clear-headed and honest participant in this debate. He obviously doesn't like Trump the man, and I'd imagine (based upon his very progressive positions outlined in other threads) he likes his political agenda even less.
There are several contributors here who represent an attitude that Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, and the DNC, are the root of all evil in US politics, and possibly the world .
— Wayfarer
That seems a rather purposeful misrepresentation of our positions here, Wayfarer, — Erik
we're not in a "Post-Truth" world; were in the "same-lack-of-Truth-we've-always-had world. — Thanatos Sand
George. W. Bush lied about Saddam Hussain having WMD's, leading to a disastrous Iraq War.
Obama straight-up lied about having the NSA unconstitutionally monitor our phones when he knew perfectly well they were absolutely doing so.
Reagan lied to the country about taking money from Iran weapons deals to finance the horrendous Contas. — Thanatos Sand
The fact you see these lies as better than Trump's is pretty sad. — Thanatos Sand
For those who wonder about the aforementioned preservation, I want only to bring your attention to how the Russian investigation progressed. Initially there was scant but solid evidence that Russian operatives were involved in attempting to influence the election. I mean, some of the people who were in Comey's sights were long known to be acting as Russian operatives(literally by decree). That is, some were already under investigation.
As a direct result of someone who is already known to be working as a Russian operative(by decree) being hired by the Trump campaign, that results in possible collusion, and as such warrants furthering the investigation into one Paul Manafort. During Manafort's brief tenure working directly with Trump, Sessions, Michael Flynn, Steve Bannon, and the rest the Trump team, the Republican National platform underwent quite the remarkable change. Very few reports were produced. Even fewer people were aware of the aforementioned direct evidence that had already been gathered by the American intelligence community.
The change was the most favorable one possible to Russia and her best interests. A connection is quickly drawn between the meddling and Manafort and the platform change.
Trump wins.
Barack Hussein Obama used the powers bestowed upon the office of the presidency of the United States of America to have as many intelligence officers as legally possible to have their hands upon whatever evidence had been previously gathered.
Trump fires Comey.
Trump, for obvious reasons draws attention to himself... I mean he is an attention whore if I've ever came across one.
There are several contributors here who represent an attitude that Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, and the DNC, are the root of all evil in US politics, and possibly the world .
— Wayfarer
That seems a rather purposeful misrepresentation of our positions here, Wayfarer,
— Erik
we're not in a "Post-Truth" world; were in the "same-lack-of-Truth-we've-always-had world.
— Thanatos Sand
George. W. Bush lied about Saddam Hussain having WMD's, leading to a disastrous Iraq War.
Obama straight-up lied about having the NSA unconstitutionally monitor our phones when he knew perfectly well they were absolutely doing so.
Reagan lied to the country about taking money from Iran weapons deals to finance the horrendous Contas.
— Thanatos Sand
The fact you see these lies as better than Trump's is pretty sad.
— Thanatos Sand
In order to know what one is talking about when discussing what reporting is true and what reporting is not the participant must first know what sorts of things can be true/false and what makes them so...
Both Thanatos and myself have been consistent in maintaining that we've never lived in world in which politicians particularly valued truth above other considerations. We brought up those example to challenge the supposed temporal break between truth and post-truth that you feel Trump represents. — Erik
When one enters into a philosophical debate, s/he volunteers to justify and/or ground any assertions made.
Refusing to answer pertinent questions is grounds for dismissal.
I'm sure that all politicians stretch the truth and lie on occasions. But Trump is a congenital liar, of a completely different magnitude to anyone who has occupied the office of the President. He's in a league of his own. — Wayfarer
I find it interesting when folk praise and condemn "X" for being "X". The appraisals have the power of confirmation bias on their side, as do the condemnations... The actor finds no hypocrisy because they're mired in self-gratification. — creativesoul
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