“Joe Biden is a threat to democracy. He’s a threat. And you know—We’ll bring in adversaries and I’ll bring it in right now—Even Vladimir Putin—Has anyone ever heard if Vladimir Putin?—of Russia says that Biden’s — and this is a quote – ‘politically motivated persecution of his political rival is very good for Russia because it shows the rottenness of the American political system, which cannot pretend to teach others about democracy.’”
—–Donald Trump, in the same stream of consciousness rant that produced his previous Unethical Quote of the Month in New Hampshire (the clip is here)
I don’t have to explain what’s wrong with this, right? I don’t have to explain it because if you read Ethics Alarms, you must have at least a sufficient number of functioning brain cells to know why this is a stunningly idiotic thing for Trump to say. Now, I might decide that it is interesting that Russia’s Machiavellian dictator is using the various prosecutions of Trump by Democratic officials and Biden’s Justice Department to point out the hypocrisy in U.S. democracy under Biden, and refer to that Putin quote (if it really is a quote) for that purpose. However, I would never use a Putin in an appeal to authority, which is what Trump did in New Hampshire.
‘You don’t believe me that Biden is a threat to Democracy? Well, even such a distinguished expert as the Russian dictator agrees with me, so there!’ is what Trump said, in essence. Putin cannot be used as an authority because Putin is a proven liar, and is especially useless for that purpose regarding the United States, which is, after all, supporting a nation Russia is currently fighting. What Trump said is literally as absurd as it would have been for Richard Nixon, running for President against Hubert Humphrey in 1968 at the height of the Vietnam war, to quote Ho Chi Minh or Chairman Mao saying that the Johnson administration was filled with warmongers and fools. Nixon didn’t do that, of course, because whatever else he was, Richard Nixon was a good lawyer, and knew that if you use an unreliable and discredited authority in a brief or oral argument, the court is going to think, “Wow, this guy is desperate. And an idiot…”
If one uses an individual as an authority, that means by definition that you regard that individual as an authority, implying trust and respect. For an American leader to trust and respect a murderous dictator shows atrocious judgment and warped values.
That would be true for an American leader who was not under suspicion during most of his term in office of conspiring with that same murderous dictator to win the Presidency. Trump was, and to a lot of Americans convinced the elaborate hoax advanced by the Democratic party, the media and corrupt Justice Department personnel still is.
Not content to show admiration of Putin, Trump went on to praise another despot, Viktor Orban, the autocratic Hungarian prime minister who controls the media, has cracked down on civil liberties and opposes immigration. Trump called him “highly respected” in New Hampshire. Well, Putin likes him: maybe that’s what he meant.
This is almost a year before the election, and Trump ‘s rhetoric is already becoming more reckless and irrational than what responsible and informed voters can reconcile with a competent, trustworthy candidate. He is apparently so emboldened by polls that he feels he doesn’t need to exercise any caution in his outbursts at all. If he were literate, Trump would recognize the dangers of hubris. He’s not literate, however, and he has a flat learning curve.
These gaffes put weapons in the hands of his critics and foes. As a salesman, which has been Trump’s talent in his career, he should understand cognitive dissonance, but either doesn’t or feels that he is invulnerable to its effects. Putin is regarded negatively by almost all Americans. How could Trump think evoking him in a positive context can ever be anything but destructive to Trump’s popularity?
Hmmmm, let’s see…if I quote Chris Christie to demonstrate this, am I appealing to authority by using such a discredited jerk to prove my point? Well, nobody has investigated me for being in cahoots with the disgraced ex-governor, and though I wouldn’t trust the guy to do my laundry, he is a Trump critic, and he immediately “pounced.”
“My reaction is that he gets worse and worse by the day, Jake, and voters better start paying attention to exactly what he’s saying,” Christie told Jake Tapper on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “He has always been approving of Putin right from the beginning of his presidency…This is a guy who doesn’t even know what democracy is and, quite frankly, spent most of his life trying to undercut democracy all over the world,” Christie said. “And Donald Trump citing him as his expert witness that he’s being persecuted and is innocent, look, this is a guy who just believes: ‘Woe is me, woe is me. I can’t believe I got caught.’”
Ethics Alarms 
Is Putin using the Biden’s Justice Department’s activities against Trump to propagandize American political hypocrisy with respect to the construct of democracy? If so, is the statement false? If the statement is not false why is it wrong to say that our “adversary” (Trump’s description) is using the activities of the current administrating to undermine our messaging on advancing democracy. Shouldn’t we walk the talk?
Have we not ourselves described the multiple legal challenges to Trump as politically motivated? I believe we have. In fact the following paragraph explicitly states that a politically motivated hoax was perpetrated on a sitting president which caused many Americans to believe it was true.
“That would be true for an American leader who was not under suspicion during most of his term in office of conspiring with that same murderous dictator to win the Presidency. Trump was, and to a lot of Americans convinced the elaborate hoax advanced by the Democratic party, the media and corrupt Justice Department personnel still is.”
Why should many of us assume that the prosecutions are legitimate. The Cognitive Dissonance scale works because its reliance on preexisting beliefs of those interpreting the information.
Using the same Cognitive Dissonance scale when you have all these intelligence officials and others claiming Trump was a Putin stooge it stands to reason so many were fooled by the hoax. Perhaps, instead of using Cognitive Dissonance scales to measure foolish statements we should be calling out and condemning those who attribute meaning by association. I recall how Trump was criticized when he commented on the intelligence of Putin. Virtually all sociopaths and despots are highly intelligent. That is what allows them to think several steps ahead of everyone else and stay in power. Claiming otherwise is foolish. Patton respected Rommel but that does not mean they are buddies.
If these prosecutions are politically motivated, can we not say that these activities are undermining democracy by virtue of election interference by government officials. Putin is a despot but that does not make him always wrong.
One final thought
One of the reasons I find the whole “Christmas” season depressing is that far too many spend far too much time trying to find fault with far too many things instead of finding ways to make others better off and offering good will to each other. That is the American political and social scene in 2023. We should be asking ourselves how did we get here and why.
“My reaction is that he gets worse and worse by the day, Jake, and voters better start paying attention to exactly what he’s saying” Chris Christie
I completely agree.
“He has always been approving of Putin right from the beginning of his presidency…This is a guy who doesn’t even know what democracy is and, quite frankly, spent most of his life trying to undercut democracy all over the world” Chris Christie
I have been giving the benefit of the doubt to Christie for a few months but recently it has become very apparent to me that the only thing Christie is really promoting is that he’s not Donald Trump and he is willing to attack Donald Trump. Christie usually does good in town meeting settings conversing directly with voters but again Christie is really trying to rise to the top of the candidate heap by riding on Donald Trump’s coattails.
I’m now done with Christie as a candidate too.
As everyone should be. He blew it, he knows he blew it, his chance to make a difference has past, it is his own fault, and his whole campaign is an ugly exercise in denial and vengeance.
Trump is the poster child for Foot-In-Mouth Syndrome, the only time Trump opens his mouth is to change socks.
As far as I’m concerned, from this point in time forward, anyone that votes for Donald Trump is simply out for pure revenge against the political left. I do not support Trump’s run in this GOP primary and it would take an unpredictable act of God, an extraordinary turn of events, for me to vote for him in the 2024 general election.
Based on observed cultural, societal and political patterns, I see the 2024 election as being a societal and cultural disaster for the United States of America. No matter who is elected, the reactions are going to be bad, and they’re likely to be very bad.
Based on observed cultural, societal and political patterns, I see the 2024 election as being a societal and cultural disaster for the United States of America. No matter who is elected, the reactions are going to be bad, and they’re likely to be very bad.
I don’t see how anyone can disagree with that, Steve.
Leave it to me to be Mr. Obvious. 😉