Iowa State student Kaleb Vanfosson accepted the job of introducing Bernie Sanders at a pro-Hillary rally last week. Instead of doing what he agreed to do, he used his moment at the microphone to rant about how awful Clinton was, saying in part before he was escorted off the stage (above) by a guy that looked like the principal in “Back To The Future”…
“The only thing she cares about is pleasing her delegates, the billionaires. The only people that really trust Hillary are Goldman Sachs, Citigroup can trust Hillary, the military-industrial complex can trust Hillary.”
There has been a lot of this kind of unethical conduct lately, notably from performers hired to sing the National Anthem who then do a Colin Kaepernick impression instead. What are they teaching in Iowa? It is never ethical to make a commitment to perform one task and not perform it as agreed. It is even worse to do the opposite of what was agreed, and to embarrass and undermine the objective of the enterprise.
Just because something is styled as a protest doesn’t make it fair, responsible or right. Vanfosson was grandstanding, and he was cheating. Sanders takes questions, and in a Q and A session was the time and place to make his points. He used misrepresentation to do it from center stage.
The interesting ethics question is whether the student’s conduct gets a pass because his victim, Bernie Sanders, embraces such guerilla protest tactics, or did when he was that age. The answer is no. The ethical approach would have been to ask Bernie himself if he would accept an anti-Clinton rant as his introduction. Vanfosson didn’t, perhaps because he knew what the answer would be.
Ethics Alarms 
This is just another foot note in the book of The United States Ethical Flush.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again; We the People are the root problem of what’s happening in today’s politics, there will be no lasting solution to our cultural and political problems until WE choose to change ourselves. The majority of the people in the United States are now morally bankrupt and look at almost everything througth industrial-strength weapons-grade thickened ideological blinders that rationalize the ends justify the means.
We the People have lost our moral foothold on “life” and we are tumbling into the abyss.
The United States Ethical Flush
by ___________________
Ethics, morals, and logic are a nostalgic thing of the past.
Zoltar Has Spoken!
Actually, Zoltar has WRITTEN.
I literally stand corrected.
Should I change my handle to…
Zoltar Writes! ? 😊
No. Your NAME can be anything, even Zoltar Farts. What you do, however, is not the same as what you call yourself. My favorite exchange from “Through the Looking Glass”:
‘You are sad,’ the Knight said in an anxious tone: ‘let me sing you a song to comfort you.’
‘Is it very long?’ Alice asked, for she had heard a good deal of poetry that day.
‘It’s long,’ said the Knight, ‘but it’s very, very beautiful. Everybody that hears me sing it — either it brings the tears into their eyes, or else –‘
‘Or else what?’ said Alice, for the Knight had made a sudden pause.
‘Or else it doesn’t, you know. The name of the song is called “Haddocks’ Eyes”.’
‘Oh, that’s the name of the song, is it?’ Alice said, trying to feel interested.
‘No, you don’t understand,’ the Knight said, looking a little vexed. ‘That’s what the name is called. The name really is “The Aged Aged Man”.’
‘Then I ought to have said “That’s what the song is called”?’ Alice corrected herself.
‘No, you oughtn’t: that’s quite another thing! The song is called “Ways and Means”: but that’s only what it’s called, you know!’
‘Well, what is the song, then?’ said Alice, who was by this time completely bewildered.
‘I was coming to that,’ the Knight said. ‘The song really is “A-sitting On a Gate”: and the tune’s my own invention.’
I don’t think I could identify a single “favorite exchange” from a book that delights me in new ways every time I read it, but this one would definitely make the shortlist. I couldn’t resist asking my adult stepson, when he excitedly told me one day what the working title of the new Zelda game was called, what the working title of the new Zelda game *was*, only to be met with a bewildered stare.
I’ve also been known to confuse complete strangers on Facebook by responding “Well, that’s glory for you!” in response to an argument based on an overly idiosyncratic use of language.
We The People lost their moral foothold the moment the words were written down. By 1776, genocide and slavery and female subjugation were already ingrained mainstays of We The People with no ethical balance of any kind. Well, we cannot undo the past, but we can teach it in K-12 which we still do not do. Thus, this long history of ignorance and revisionist history has manifested in the unnatural face and bulbous body of Donald Trump.
Regarding Kaleb Vanfosson, he obviously needs mental guidance; but regarding Denasia Lawrence and Leah Tysse taking a knee in their respective performances, both were completely respectful while they sang — which is what they were asked to do. They did not substitute different words, they did not debase the song. Both sang their songs beautifully. Both respected the flag while respecting their self and chose to honor that respect with a knee. To say that that is disrespectful is like saying that anyone who wears certain colors or chooses a particular garb or wears pink/blue/red ribbons in support of something else — while singing the National Anthem — is being disrespectful. That, of course, is ludicrous. The only thing disrespectful were those who booed *during* the song and those who did not take a knee with the singer to show that “We The People” is more than just words.
They were not paid to add their own message, or distract from the single task they were paid for. If they had held up a sign advertising Reebok or Trader Joe’s, it would be similarly wrong. I hope they weren’t paid.
It’s still a breach of trust and hijacking someone else’s event. Absolutely wrong. She shouldn’t be paid, and I’d sue the agency.
I commend the incredible restraint you just demonstrated.
Rosemary said, “We The People lost their moral foothold the moment the words were written down. By 1776, genocide and slavery and female subjugation were already ingrained mainstays of We The People with no ethical balance of any kind.”
Aaaaa, so we have never had a moral foothold and those things you speak of are still going active in our society. Yup, got it.
You do realize that it’s “those words” and a solid moral foothold that ELIMINATED those things you spoke of. We should never forget where we came from lest we repeat the same mistakes; however, if you’re going to try and use where we came from to smear those you oppose today, you and I are going to have real problems.
Rosemary said, “To say that that is disrespectful is like saying that anyone who wears certain colors or chooses a particular garb or wears pink/blue/red ribbons in support of something else — while singing the National Anthem — is being disrespectful. That, of course, is ludicrous. “
That’s not “ludicrous” at all to those who seem to be perpetually offended. You’ve got to remember what your dealing with in our society; there are perpetually offended idiots that have deemed something as simple as “Trump 2016” as hate speech. Just wait Rosemary; those perpetually offended idiots will soon be after you for such petty things as the color of your clothes.
Rosemary said, “The only thing disrespectful were those who… …did not take a knee with the singer…”
So let me get this straight; you think that it was disrespectful for those that “did not take a knee with the singer” but the singer taking a knee was not disrespectful? You need to rehang your little mirror of hypocrisy where it’s clearly visible Rosemary, that’s a double standard!
Rosemary said, “…to show that “We The People” is more than just words.””
It’s really interesting that you would openly imply that it would show some kind of unity if We The People would have taken a knee but it’s not showing unity if everyone remains standing instead. By your standards of judgement,. the ones who took a knee are showing disunity with We the People and your too damned hypocritical to recognize it.
There is a pungent odor of double standards emanating from you; are you one of those people that think the Constitution only applies to those who agree with your viewpoint? Additionally; are you one of those people that think that just because we the people have the right to do and say whatever we want, makes whatever we do and say right?
Do I need to paint you a graphic picture of what you can do with all your double standards.
Have you ever heard of Liberal Magical Thinking?
“Do I need to paint you a graphic picture of what you can do with all your double standards”
Don’t you think this is gratuitous? You do an excellent job pointing out what’s wrong with Rosemary’s reasoning… the rebuttal is more effective without it.
As you know, I am not above using harsh rhetoric on commenters, but usually (I can’t say never) not because of a viewpoint argued civilly. I express annoyance and contempt at talking points, political cant unrelated to the post, people using a post to make an argument unrelated to the post, misreading the post or putting words in my mouth. Also lies, bad history, and false narratives. Okay, I will also be harsh when a viewpoint is especially vile, like outright bigotry and partyism. But Rosemary at least expressed her mistaken views nicely. That should count for something.
Point taken Jack.
Rosemary,
You deserve an apology from me for that sentence, it was based on emotion and detracted from my points.
I apologize.
“We The People lost their moral foothold the moment the words were written down. By 1776, genocide and slavery and female subjugation were already ingrained mainstays of We The People with no ethical balance of any kind.”
Genocide
No it wasn’t. The early nation and native Americans actually had a fairly *normal* coexistence as one would expect from vastly different cultures sharing borders. And by normal standards, had a relatively peaceful coexistence. Did we make some bad decisions? Yes. But don’t believe the nonsense that the Native Americans were some peace loving non-violent utopianists themselves…
At the end of the day, more advanced civilizations WILL ALWAYS displace OR assimilate less advanced. Sorry, it’s the way of civilization. We made a few mistakes in our process.
Slavery
No it wasn’t. Less than half the population lived in States that legalized slavery, a large movement was already against slavery and the entire nation nearly didn’t come together because the Founders were split opposing the institution. Hardly ingrained with “We The People”.
Female Subjugation
No it wasn’t. The UNIVERSAL practice of accepted cultural norms is not “subjugation” as “subjugation” requires an active planning and intent on the part of the “subjugators”. I’m not even going to go into detail on that facile addition to your litany of ignorant whiny Left Wing America-hating shibboleths.
How do you equate standing up against the establishment to disrespecting the Flag and fallen heroes?
What? Apparently you can’t read. The post has nothing to do with the flag or “standing up to the establishment.” It is about lying. Try to keep up.