This sort of thing shouldn’t warrant an Ethics Hero designation, it really shouldn’t. If substantial numbers of public experts, pundits, opinion-leaders and academics were all open-minded, professional, civil, lacking hubris and arrogance, capable of taking criticism without taking it personally—I could go on—Prof. Mayer’s cordial and collegial visit to Ethics Alarms to continue a discussion I began ( a bit more nastily than I should have, but, sigh, that’s me all over) by criticizing a column he authored for that Weekly Reader of daily newspapers, U.S.A. Today, would have been nothing remarkable.
But most of the people I write about here are not like that, and members of our academic bastions particularly these days are simply not in the mood to do what Prof. Mayer has done this week, engaging in good humored and provocative discussions with members of the EA commentariat on this post. This has been a gift to the readers here, and also shows class, guts, respect, humility and confidence.
I still am convinced that the professor is dead wrong about Biden being able to drop out at this stage and not trigger a catastrophe for his party even worse than what it faces by allowing him to run. In fact, I wish I could think of an amusing wager to make with him: maybe he’ll have some ideas.
And I wonder what he thinks of Monty Python….
Ethics Alarms 
Thanks, that is really very kind. I can’t think of a wager, since the event I predict is unlikely. But how about this–IF for some reason, the nominee is NOT Joe Biden (and the reason is not that it turns out Biden has been on China’s payroll the whole time, which would probably elect Trump in a landslide even if the Dems were able to nominate the ticket of Jesus/Elvis)–ie, Biden steps aside, dies, gets ill, I’d bet $50 to charity that whoever they nominate beats Trump.
Open to other wagers, that one is less than 50% likely to happen so…
“. . . Biden steps aside, dies, gets ill, I’d bet $50 to charity that whoever they nominate beats Trump.”
Is that because the Democrats have spent 7 years working to convince loyal low information Democrats that Trump is an existential threat to democracy? What war did he embroil us in? What terrorist theocracies bent on destroying the west did he seek to coddle? What laws did he seek to enact that would restrict the rights of Americans to choose what they can buy or sell. What policies were designed to discriminate against an entire class of people American or otherwise based solely on ethnicity, gender, or religion. (Don’t raise the Muslim ban because not all Muslim countries were included).
Biden has done all of the above.
It is no wonder that Democrats want their constituencies getting government handouts, keeping them drugged up with weed or worse, or perpetual victims. That makes the opportunity costs of living in reality too high for many so they vote for more of that which keeps them bound to government servitude. Why is it so important that Biden or another Democrat president be elected to nominate judges if the rule of law is in fact something we value? Are judges not supposed to rule impartially? Equal protection means rule the same way no matter the defendant. The New York trials have put on full display that impartiality from the bench is an illusion. These are the real threats to democracy.
Which team worked diligently to find ways to impeach Trump from day 1 and remove him from office and which team challenged every presidential election they did not win since 2000? Which team challenged the electors from Ohio for voting machine issues in 2016 and which team chooses to prosecute alternate electors who showed up on January 6, 2021 and the lawyers that alleged voting irregularities in 2020? It was not Republicans
Every challenge his team made regarding alleged irregularities in the 2020 election because of significant if not unconstitutional changes in election state law were done through the courts. When his appeals were turned away for lack of standing or on some other technical ground he accepted the verdict grudgingly. Who would not? On January 6 he spoke to the crowd and said make your voices heard peacefully and respect law enforcement but those words were edited out by the media. On January 20, 2021 Trump boarded his plane for Florida. There were no riots on inauguration day but there were on January 20, 2017 and again in 2020 by anti-Trump forces. So explain to me how he is a threat to democracy.
I’m not a huge Trump fan but I will defend anyone who I believe is not getting a fair shake. The irony is the more I have to defend him the more willing I am to vote for him.
I worked in an publicly funded post secondary institution for twenty plus years and know full well that that environment loves big government spending because it makes generating income a breeze. Faculty always believe they are underpaid but raises do not change the quality of instruction. Administrators love adding support staff or other administrators below them because it cause the work burdens to be shifted and increases spans of control for resume /CV building purposes. Big budgets mean power, control and ultimately money for themselves.
Hey, as a Monty Python fan, you have to do better than that for a wager. You know, like one of us has to dress up like Trump or Kamala Harris and walk through the DC Metro wearing a duck on our heads doing a Robert De Niro impression.
Or whoever loses has to run through the Mall at midnight in his underwear.
Nah, I do that anyway.
well, Jack, we share a background in theater but I’m afraid my love of drama and comedy is tinged by my concern for my professional reputation. Also, dressing as Kamala might mean blackface, and I’m just not ready to get canceled…yet.
Hey, I have a reputation to protect too! I was just trying to get you thinking outside the [Jack in the] box…come on!
Besides, I’m already saving up 50 bucks to take you to lunch as a token of my appreciation for being such a role model for liberal/progressives/Democrats weighing in here.
I will drive from S.C. to DC to see Jack Marshall dress up as Kamala and do his best inebriated-rambling-essence-of-time-and-universe-whatever-think-about-it impression.
Very tempting.
Jerry,
I haven’t had any chance yet to engage you in the other posts, but I do want to express my profound hopes you’ll frequent Ethics Alarms going forward. Dialogue and differing viewpoints are absolutely critical in getting a handle on the very first question for any ethics issue: “What is going on?” While I’ve not read in detail what all you’ve replied to the commentariat here, I have noticed one thing in particular that should be front and center in any of these discussions, and that is the following questions: “What do you find important?” and “What is your yardstick [or insert preferred measuring device here]?” I think maybe part of liberal/conservative cross-talk might actually be addressed if we took a moment and tried to get those questions answered before entering into cross-examinations.
Welcome to the Ethics Jungle, Professor. I enjoyed your spirited rejoinders. Well done, sir. Well done, indeed. I do hope you will stick around. Your comments are wonderful.
jvb
And I F*cking love Monty Python. Always have. Fawlty Towers is great too. As are the subsequent films of Terry Gilliam. Well, most of them.
See, I knew that. (Do you have a wager idea?) “Baron Munchausen” is, I believe, the greatest flop movie of all time.
It may have been a flop, but I liked Baron Munchausen. OTOH, I saw it when I was 13 or 14. I haven’t watched it again, but it wouldn’t exactly surprise me if it didn’t good as an adult. Doing so has certainly let me down with other shows in the past. It wasn’t good enough to sit down to watch again.
There’ s some stiff competition for the ‘Greatest flop movie of all time’. Just to be sure, Do you meant “Greatest ‘flop movie’ ” or ” ‘Greatest flop’ movie”. I could interpret it either way…
I mean no movie that was branded a flop and a failure was as good, and this one is better than many movies called classics.
It’s just as great as you remember it. Maybe better.
Well, now I’m tempted to see if I can find it on any of the streaming services. Maybe it’s one of those movies that get better when rewatch as an adult. I see that it’s rated highly by both critics and fans on rotten tomatoes (90% and 82% respectively). As I said, I did like it, but I wouldn’t have called it great based on my hazy recollections.
So far I’ve actually purchased one movie instead of relying on free with a subscription. Strange Brew, one of my personal favorites, never seems to be available except for purchase. It’s an example of one that got better as I got older. I may pick up Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead at some point as well.
What are your thoughts on “Black Adder”? Rowan Atkinson is stark-raving mad.
jvb
Your link to the original post is trying to go to the WordPress edit page.
Thanks. Fixed. I keep doing that….
Even though we disagreed on some things, I agree it was refreshing to have that kind of discussion. It felt more like friendly bantering than debating 21st century style.
I second your opinion.
I don’t know. I find Jerry terrifying. He’s both incredibly biased and able to muster all sorts of stuff to support his bias. And he’s been creating little political scientist clones in his classes for the last thirty or so years. “If Republicans would simply stop acting like Republicans and act like Democrats instead, everything would be just fine!”