Ethics Dunce: Jeb Bush

/ Jack Marshall

Donald-Trump-Jeb-Bush

Poor Jeb.

I do sympathize. It must be so humiliating to enter a race for President as a presumed frontrunner, after both your father and brother have won the office, only to fail spectacularly. These people thrive on admiration; rejection is death to them. “Please applaud,” Jeb had to plead with a recent sluggish crowd. To make it worse, there is Donald Trump, someone Jeb has no respect for at all (nor should he), insulting him, mocking him, denigrating him like a schoolyard bully. It has to hurt. It has to make him furious.

Sinking to Trump’s level, however, is not the answer. Trump may get away with it because his supporters are cretins, but name-calling and twitter pissing-matches are not suddenly civil, ethical, responsible or right. It degrades the process and coursens the culture. “He started it” and “He deserves it”  are rationalizations for emotional retaliation that shows weakness, not strength. I assumed that Jeb Bush understood this, and if he was going to lose, and he is, then at least he could hold his head up high at the end knowing that he didn’t violate his principles just because a boor like Donald Trump goaded him into it.

Then today, Jeb tweeted this:

Jeb Tweet

Guess not.

13 thoughts on “Ethics Dunce: Jeb Bush”

  1. Jeb seems to have had the “I’m entitled” attitude for a long time. I don’t think he’s ever gotten over the fact that his father tapped George W. as dad’s choice to run for President. Trump must be laughing his head off now over this pathetic attack on twitter.

    Reply

  2. 1. This is pathetic. Where are the adults?
    2. Trump thinks like Trump. He wouldn’t think his level is sunken from anything. He might find it funny that the tweet is so lame.

    Reply

    • You know, Joe, I am cringing (and losing sleep! Silly me!) to think the world is watching with glee for the most part, not in disbelief, but with ever stronger confirmation bias and conviction that “they’re even more beset with lousy government ‘leaders’ than we are.”

      Reply

        • That came out totally wrong, after re-reading your comment. Anyway, I’ll bet they’re not thinking that in Germany (and maybe Sweden) right about now.

          Reply

  4. Trump is counting the basic human nature of other GOP candidates to react to everything he says and does, Trump is currently in control of the GOP. Every word Trump speaks, every irritated piece of body language that Trump exhibits and the reactions of fellow candidates is dragging the GOP into the gutter and that is exactly where Trump wants it to end up. When the GOP follows Trump into the gutter one little piece at a time, Trump reaches his goal; all the Democratic Party has to do is to sit back, watch the fireworks, and laugh their collective asses off as the GOP implodes and the Democratic Party wins by default. For the Democratic Party, it’s got nothing to do with ideology anymore, it’s going to come down to the last one standing.

    I really do respect opinions that say Trump is not purposely trying to destroy the GOP and in my heart I want to believe that but I can’t put aside the signs that lead me to the conclusion that I simply think you’re wrong. It’s a bit like proving gravity, the signs are all there to prove it’s existence.

    At one point in our history, the human race thought the Sun orbited around the Earth; intelligent observation proved that wrong too.

    Are you ready for the equivalent to a one party system?

    Reply

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