The unethical individual in this case is an old and cherished friend. She isn’t a fool. She is, in most matters, compassionate, fair, informed, thoughtful and rational. I cannot begin to describe how disappointed I am in the lack of integrity and self-awareness in her conduct.
Before the election, she posed the meme above. That’s the friend I know, or thought I knew before the toxic values of Hillary Clinton corrupted her.
After the election, she has posted this, a typically vile, sneering anti-conservative screed by Paul Krugman. A quote:
We thought that the great majority of Americans valued democratic norms and the rule of law.It turns out that we were wrong. There turn out to be a huge number of people — white people, living mainly in rural areas — who don’t share at all our idea of what America is about. For them, it is about blood and soil, about traditional patriarchy and racial hierarchy. And there were many other people who might not share those anti-democratic values, but who nonetheless were willing to vote for anyone bearing the Republican label.
I don’t know how we go forward from here. Is America a failed state and society? It looks truly possible.
No despair there!
Next up was this hysterical piece, from the New Yorker, called “An American Tragedy.” I can’t let this part go unanswered, because it is becoming the accepted manipulative and deception euphemism of the election. Hillary’s beaten, she’s gone, and unlike Richard Nixon, she’s not going to rise like Dracula and make a comeback. I want to leave her alone just as I never want the slimy Clintons to darken my brainpan again, but first, I want the biased journalists who tried to sell her as Joan of Arc to stop the lies.
The author writes,
“Hillary Clinton was a flawed candidate but a resilient, intelligent, and competent leader, who never overcame her image among millions of voters as untrustworthy and entitled.”
Donald Trump could just as justifiably could be called “flawed,” as well as Pol Pot. What are the “flaws” this cover-word is hiding? Well, she is greedy, venal, willing to use conflicts of interest and influence peddling for personal gain, violates rules and laws when she knows she is shielded by her power and crony connection from accountability, a ruthless foe of the victim of alleged sexual assault when it is advantageous, and an outspoken advocate for them when that is advantageous. When she is caught, she lies. When the lies are exposed, she spins, and her apologies are misleading too. That’s why she “never overcame her image among millions of voters as untrustworthy and entitled“—she IS untrustworthy and entitled, and couldn’t hide it long enough to be elected President over a completely unstable, ignorant ass. Resilient—I’ll give her resilient. Intelligent too, although she sure did and said some incredibly stupid things for an intelligent person. But competent? Competent people learn about cyber-security when they run the State Department. Competent people are not “extremely careless” (rather than “grossly negligent”) in handling classified information.
Then my friend posted this, from Vanity Fair. It’s a letter Hollywood liberal Aaron Sorkin supposedly wrote to his daughter. It is full of scaremongering like this:
“The Klan won last night. White nationalists. Sexists, racists and buffoons. Angry young white men who think rap music and Cinco de Mayo are a threat to their way of life (or are the reason for their way of life) have been given cause to celebrate. Men who have no right to call themselves that and who think that women who aspire to more than looking hot are shrill, ugly, and otherwise worthy of our scorn rather than our admiration struck a blow for misogynistic shitheads everywhere. Hate was given hope….And the world took no time to react. The Dow futures dropped 700 points overnight. Economists are predicting a deep and prolonged recession…”
Yes, “economists” like Paul Krugman, who wrote Tuesday night that the stock market would NEVER recover. The stock market rebounded almost immediately, and stocks are now soaring. Bias makes you stupid.
Not finished yet in her efforts to avoid despair, my friend posted this editorial from the New York Times, which encompassed boiler-plate progressive talking points:
“There is a planet to save. The earth is in peril from a changing climate no matter how many deniers say otherwise. There may be millions of immigrants to shield from a Trump homeland-enforcement regime. State and local governments may need to step in if the federal government retreats from protecting consumers or helping educate children. And there may be sick people to care for, should Mr. Trump dismantle the Affordable Care Act.”
Of course, Mrs. Clinton never articulated a course for “saving the planet” or its price-tag, because she knows that spending massive amounts on speculative “fixes” will make the debt even more frightening than it has become under Obama, and will require either cutting social spending or massive tax hikes. That part is just Bernie-speak. There are no legal immigrants to shield from anything, and the New York Times just declared that the prospect of enforcing our laws is apocalyptic. Under federal funding and guidance, America’s education at all level is disgraceful now. And the Affordable Care Act has mass heath care increasingly affordable for those who didn’t need a government subsidy. Trump might try something else that actually works? The monster.
The specifics are a tangential issue though, I know. The point is that this, and a huge number of other irresponsible editorials, assays, columns creeds and internet posts like them, are seeding despair. So are the Clinton Corrupted who are plastering them all over public media.
On this last one, I lightly pointed out to my friend that the essay was less that fair or accurate, as did another.
She deleted both comments.
Now I understand, unfortunately. That reasonable, measured, rational, responsible appeal to calm and fairness was only supposed to apply to Republicans. Since my friend never dreamed that she might be held to the same standards she preached to those whose opinion she did not agree with or respect, she never considered having to follow her own advice, or the ethical value of doing so.
Like anything else, ethics is just another political tool to the politically corrupted, to manipulate and deceive.
Ethics Alarms 
A great opportunity for some introspection and soul-searching for a lot of people on the left, but far too many are doubling-down on their tribalism. It’s easy for me to say, since I had a few months to mentally prepare for a Clinton win (not that I was hoping Trump would), but still, you’d hope to see less of this kind of behavior.
I think what’s important is to note that even Trump voters didn’t particularly like him. I mean that seriously. Maybe they thought that Hillary’s corruption was worse, maybe they wanted a candidate who would willingly utter the phrase ‘radical jihad’, maybe they wanted a candidate who thinks a porous Southern border is a problem that needs addressing. There are a lot of really good, legitimate reasons… well… no… There are understandable reasons for people to have voted Trump.
I see a lot of… fear… coming from the left right now, paralysing, crippling fear. I think that the realisation that Trump and his administration will be staffed by human beings as opposed to monstrous neo nazi racist xenophobic bounty hunters from Uranus will go a long way to allaying that.
He’s been lied about so frequently, I think you believe this. On many social issues, Trump is more centrist, or even Liberal than Clinton is. Hell, Trump’s been in favour of gay marriage longer than Clinton has. He said that he didn’t care where people pee’d when the trans issue came up. And although he might enjoy a taco bowl on Cinco de Mayo, he’s never whipped out his pocket hot sauce.
I think that the next couple of days, we’re going to experience something similar to what happened directly following the election and in the 24 hours after it: Very little. No nukes were launched, black people weren’t press ganged into slavery, gay people weren’t round up and shot…. And I have no reason to believe any of those things are going to happen.
I get it. I really do. I’m attempting to say this from compassion. I was kind of bummed when Romney lost, I thought he was the best candidate on that stage, I thought that the failures of Obama to deliver on his Hope and Change joined with Romney’s competency would have made for an easy choice. I was disappointed. I have Justin “Does My Hair Look Good” Trudeau as a PM right now, for christs sake. Have you seen this guy? He looked like a pirate for a while.
(This was taken… by the way, as Justin called Peter Kent a fucker during session.)
The world still spins, we’re still doing OK.
I want to hug these guys, it’s obvious they’re in pain, there’s a lot of reasonable people saying unreasonable things, and I think you’ll get better. But I simultaneously want to slap the stupid right off their faces, because I think they’re better than this and it’s frustrating.
Give them a couple days. Give them a little grace. You’d have wanted it if Hillary won.
+1 (possibly more, but I don’t live in Florida or New Hampshire where my vote would count for more :))
I’m waiting for the Facebook whiplash to subside so I can post simply:
I was born in Mexico.
I live in the U.S.
Everything is ok.
And now I’m earwormed for the rest of the day.
Me, too, and I didn’t even push play (smiles).
Johnny Depp’s the Prime Minister of Canada? I did not know that.
Someone asked me why I wasn’t pissed off that Trump won, why wasn’t I protesting and upset about it.
I told them “Because no matter who won the election , the Republic still goes on. That is more important to me.”
I got no response. Apparently the world has come to an end and I just didn’t notice.
Either they didn’t respond because they knew you were right, or because they are afraid to piss you off. But of course that’s the right answer.
My impression was the same as THE Bill’s. Perhaps an instant of incredulity in their expressions and then nada, and go on talking to one another about where the next rally is going to be held. Though it is true that most of my friends and their friends think that the sole of my left boot can eject a poisoned dart that penetrates steel.
Hey Jack,
I hope you are well. I predicted Donald Trump would win one year ago and affirmed it on my Facebook page in February. The only prediction that failed was Bernie Sanders running as a third party candidate or independent. I didn’t factor that Bernie Sanders was establishment, like Hillary Clinton.
I’m African- American. I really wanted John Kasich. I debated writing him on the ballot. The Pro-Life issue is very important to me, as a Roman-Catholic. After hearing a homily on Sunday about not leaving your faith outside the voting booth, I reluctantly pressed Donald Trump. I wanted my vote to count. I knew the Hyde Amendment could be overturned and the next Supreme Court lost to conservatives for a generation, or forever.
Jack, I won’t stereotype all white Liberals, but I will say that many are as racist as the white Conservatives they despise. I’m an individual, not a member of a monolithic hoard. Many Liberals mean well. They want to expand access to opportunities and heal ethnic and racial divisions. Too many, however view me and other non-whites through a prism of narrow stereotypes. It’s inconceivable that we are individuals. I personally know African-Americans, Latinos, and many women that voted for Donald Trump. The Democratic party is certainly outwardly more diverse than the Republican party, but the Republican party is more diverse in ideas. It allows me to think independently. It embraces my individuality. Anyway, I thought I’d share my opinion on this election. Thanks again for Ethics Alarms. Peace!
This election really seems to be bringing out the liberals who are prejudiced against whites as well. Donald Trump wins an election based on a message of anti-establishment anger and economic insecurity (There were, of course, some deplorables, but these are what got him elected) and now the Left is acting like all white people, even those who didn’t vote for Trump or didn’t vote at all, are rape-advocating Klansmen.
Welcome, from one African American Ethics Alarms commenter to another. That was an awesome post (especially that last paragraph, as it encapsulated everything I feel, much more eloquently than I could ever put it), and I think I speak for all black people in America (joking!) when I say, I hope you’ll comment on here more often!
I think there should be some empathy for the ones that are feeling this loss. I understand their pain. Which is why I’m not sure that she can be called intelligent. I think most of the losing side’s pain comes from them believing strongly that she was competent and intelligent. But if that were true then Hillary wouldn’t have bungled the Democratic Primaries which, unfortunately, were completely in her control.
The other part to their pain comes from fear they have of Donald. And most of that is misinformation they received by the new media. At this point I don’t think anyone should be fearful of his administration. Right now we only need to exercise caution. And help those who have been misguided.
https://www.change.org/p/electoral-college-electors-electoral-college-make-hillary-clinton-president-on-december-19
The utter ignorance, arrogance and stupidity of this, which I had seen, is stunning. Apparently I was more right than I knew: a whole generation of the left, thanks to Hillary and others, believes that its appropriate to bypass laws, rules, promises and principles to achieve power. That is very frightening.
So true, except if Trump had lost the EC but won the popular vote you would see the same unprincipled petition from his supporters. The lunatic fringe exists on both sides, and it’s unraveling fast.
2. Ethics Estoppel, or “They’re Just as Bad”
I also doubt it, at least from the GOP. (As I noted in a recent post, Trump had a Twitter rant against the Electoral College in 2012)
Not after 2000.
Did his twitter rant call for the electoral college to be defied in spite of the law?
Or for the Constitution to be amended to abolish it?
It is not hypocritical to accept the benefit of a rule that you believe should be abolished.
True. Still, it would put him in an awkward position regarding Democratic protesters who claim he wasn’t really “elected.”
I am not making excuses for it by saying they are just as bad. I am saying we have a rapidly expanding lunatic fringe on both sides and that is the problem. How do we create unity and cooperation from utter insanity and obstructionism?
Good question. But a different issue. One place to start is to not try to drive citizens to opposite polls, as Democrats have spent 8 years trying to do.
I call BullCrap, Lisa. The reason Liberals have gotten away with so much is their dependence on conservatives to behave by a code of conduct, to have principles, and to be civil. They get to act any way they want to get their way, but their opponents should be held to higher standards.
Yes there is a lunatic fringe. But you would not see them rioting in the streets like the special snowflakes on the left are doing. (For one thing, it would not be tolerated, since they are not a protected class)
Sorry for the runaway bold… still learning HTML, I guess 🙂
Fixed.
In the first case, it’s not going to happen. Aren’t these electors, to a large degree, chosen for their service (and faithfulness) to their party? Does anyone really believe that 1 in 8 of Republican electors are going to turn around and vote for Hilary Clinton, of all people? If the alternative was Abraham Lincoln — well, maybe — but Hilary? No way! Also remember we are not talking about one or two electors — it would have to be, most likely, 38 electors to actually do any good.
In the second case, the names of electors are public knowledge. If any of them showed signs of wanting to defect, I truly shudder to think of the various pressures, influences, and downright threats that would likely ensue to keep electors in line.
In the third case, doesn’t Congress have a say if there are shenanigans or competing slates with the electors? I’d have to re-read the Constitution, but I’m thinking there is some language there. Also I am thinking back to the Hayes-Tilden election of 1876 where Congress did have to choose between different slates of electors from several states.
In any case, talk about a constitutional crisis……
All correct. What does it say about the 3,000,000 who are signing this thing? Nothing good.I’m losing respect for a lot of people.
maybe a one or two of them would vote for Ted Cruz.
But for thirty of them tio vote for Clinton?
I just found this blog so forgive me if you have addressed this; But I’m sure you’ve heard of this “NPV” (National Popular Vote) thing that quite a few states have signed onto already? It’s worrisome because it’s completely sidestepping the electoral college without having to amend it, and if enough states sign on (So far, unsurprisingly safe blue states) we may end up with a national popular vote, which is exactly what the founders didn’t want, and it subverts the states rights as a whole.
I think this Alan Lichtman guy deserves an Ethics Hero award:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3923994/US-election-polls-pundits-banned.html
So called experts are talking about exit polling as if it’s fact. Haven’t they heard of secret balloting?
this is the link to the times editorial, not Krugman’s column.
Still, they claim that the Earth is in peril due to climate change, which is clearly false.