I don't know if Trump is a symptom or a cause, although I suspect the former. Only a profoundly confused electorate could elect someone so manifestly incapable of doing the job he lucked into, and then continue to stand by him when his manifest incompetence and mendacity become more obvious every day. — Wayfarer
He should be kicked out of office, kicked in the nads, and sent to a tiny, sparsely populated island. — Thorongil
The bullshitter...is neither on the side of the true nor on the side of the false. His eye is not on the facts at all, as the eyes of the honest man and of the liar are, except insofar as they may be pertinent to his interest in getting away with what he says. He does not care whether the things he says describe reality correctly. He just picks them out, or makes them up, to suit his purpose.
I also think it's obvious that a president of the US is going to know more than the average citizen about the law, the constitution, and his own office, simply by virtue of being president. — Thorongil
I find it shocking that people find it shocking that politicians lie. — Thorongil
It pisses me of when you pull this "oh you naive little lambs" crap — Srap Tasmaner
So, the founding fathers, they knew people could be right bastards. But freedom is worth having. Justice is a necessity. So you try to craft a system that will provide justice and freedom but won't depend on people being virtuous. They weren't writing the charter for a commune.
Has it worked? How's the republic doing? If it's gone wrong, why? Have we blown it, or could it still be fixed? We still think freedom's worth having, right? We still think justice is a necessity. And we still think everyone has a right to freedom and justice, don't we? So what do we do? — Srap Tasmaner
Apologies, but I'm not following how this is a reply to what I said. — Thorongil
According to the total number of anecdotes collected by that one website, no. But I wasn't thinking in terms of numbers but in terms of severity of the lie. — Thorongil
Well one interpretation of your posts would be that you don't give a shit, and for some reason don't think anyone else should either. The world's a snakepit and we should all just accept it.
But maybe you're a serious conservative, or whatever you are. Maybe you've got some values. So I took a guess at what those values might be, and asked, in all seriousness, how you think our little experiment is going.
If you care, I would honestly like to know what you think. If you don't, I won't pester you anymore. — Srap Tasmaner
That's a reasonable distinction. I'll look closer. — Srap Tasmaner
I see Western civilization in decline, which obviously includes the US, so I don't think it's going all that well, but it hasn't collapsed yet. And if you want to know what I think on any more specific issue, just ask, instead of floating vague insinuations to the effect that I'm some kind of nihilistic crank. The world is a snakepit, but that doesn't mean I don't give a shit about it or think that no one else should. — Thorongil
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