I'm old enough to remember watching The West Wing back in the early 2000s. A sort of hour long liberal version of Rush Limbaugh in dramatic form. Shocking nobody, the Republicans were almost always the bad guys, and the Democrats, barring the odd personality quirk or emotional troubles, did walk in moral and intellectual perfection. That was why the character of Sam Seaborn, played by Rob Lowe, was so essential, and his departure hurt so badly. Because while hardly an evil bad guy, he was the show's token "Liberals are only 98% perfect" character, who often put his foot in his mouth while the rest of the West Wing walked on clouds and water.
Anyway, in addressing the big topic of the day, driving home how horrible it is when political parties attack opponents over their personal lives and values and moral failings - things that had been called upon to cease forever during the Lewinsky Scandal - there was a storyline about the character Leo McGarry, the president's Chief of Staff, being an alcoholic. He just couldn't stop at one drink. He couldn't imagine how anyone could. They deftly avoided an affair or sexual assault, but rather something you might call a 'clean' problem, even one beyond his control. He was the show's Nice Guy character who had kept his little addiction under wraps. Until those mean, nasty, hypocritical, puritan, rightwing busybodies found out about it and threatened him. There were several episodes devoted to that storyline, but since he wasn't forced off the show at that point, I'll assume they worked it out and defeated such inquisitorial injustices in the name of political expedience.
Yep. I've learned the modern Left is a lot like Ohio Weather: If you don't like what they stand for, just wait a minute. It will change.
I've also learned that the only thing worse than a group with bad values is a group with no values. One can be dealt with, resisted, and perhaps even reasoned with. The other? I think we've seen the obvious over the years. And yes, Republicans and conservatives can play such 'here today, gone later today' games with standards as well, and it isn't good then either. Though like so many things, what can happen to the right of center seems almost universal SOP to the left.
There is an important difference between being merely sinful (like the Republican Party is) and being demonic. The Democratic Party (though perhaps not every individual politician) is demonic. Its other name is "Legion". ---- G. Poulin
ReplyDeleteThat's what I've begun to realize. Republicans and conservatives, being people, are certainly flawed and can be prone to do bad things, including be dishonest. But when you step back and look, it's stunning how much of leftwing agitprop demands dishonesty and falsehood and hypocrisy to function. So much of it is based on thing but that.
DeleteDoes Patel drink? I don't know, and I don't care. All I want is that he locks up Democrats.
ReplyDeleteAnd if he does drink I just hope Trump will channel Lincoln and send the whiskey to the rest of his generals......
Heh. Yes there is that reminder that such sniping is hardly new. Again, as I say often, however, it's made worse by the media's willingness to play morals and truth when convenient on the grand scale.
DeleteSo because Clinton got away with rape, perjury, and various other shenanigans, Patel should be allowed to get away with incompetence, using his office and officially assigned jet like private playthings, and making such a fool out of himself that even Trump is rumored to be sick of his uselessness in office.
ReplyDeleteWhen rumors floated around about Clinton making senior generals be his golf caddy, we were told to be outraged. Now that Patel is unashamedly using the FBI as bodygaurds for his live-in girlfriend, we're supposed to not only accept it, but cheer it on.
Two wrongs don't make a right, and the answer to hypocrisy is not to say "I know you are, but what am I?"; we need to uphold standards of right and wrong, in season and out of season.
"I've also learned that the only thing worse than a group with bad values is a group with no values." My brother in Christ, you've described the Republican party under Trump and his brownnosers to a capital T.
No. I would be happy holding politicians accountable across the board. The problem is - and it goes for Trump, too - the way in which Clinton got away with several moral infractions was the Left and Democrats (and yes, liberal leaning Christians) rushing out and saying it's time to stop caring about the morals and behavior and ethics of our leaders. Who cares? That's just holdover from our puritanical roots. Get with the times and all. That's the problem. Not that the Left is the only one to pull 'here today, gone later today' with morals and principles. But with an always sympathetic media and education establishment, it can come off as almost officially sanctioned. Oh, should we care about this or that morality? Well, let's see if it's convenient. And it's not just moral behavior anymore that falls under 'only when convenient' standards either. As the last few years have made crystal clear.
DeleteGreat Charles,
ReplyDeleteLots of accusations there, none of which I believe. The lies of the MSM have destroyed their credibility.
So I take it when the MSM was reporting on Biden's cognitive decline, or the corruption of Bishop Bransfield in West Virginia, you didn't believe that either.
DeleteCharlemagne, technically the MSM didn't report on Biden's cognitive decline. When not completely colluding with the White House and insisting there was no such decline, it covered it in the classic 'cover without covering' technique. That is, have stories like 'As conservatives attempt to make the president's mental health into a campaign strategy, we ask if such scrutiny is warranted' or similar. That's covering it, but not actually focusing on the substance of it. Fact is, the press ran left tackle for Biden in that category and that's one of the things that blew up in their face after the debate. Not that people with eyes and ears couldn't tell the obvious. But that's when the collusion became crystal clear.
DeleteDue, the Washington Post is the paper that published an incredibly long and detailed story about it, it's the mainstream media that's being crucified by the activist left for daring to state that it's something we need to be concerned about.
DeleteNot everything in our national decline can be reduced to lefties being evil because they hate us religious types. It is the current president who has just finagled a financial settlement of millions of dollars out of taxpayer money to bribe his followers and keep his wallets fat, in exchange for protection from legal audits. Stop carrying water for this guy.
I do know on occasion some spoke out about the obvious, but they were typically overwhelmed by the backlash. There were some who spoke of his age in general (not to mention his low approval ratings), while avoiding the obvious about his cognitive struggles. But the overwhelming majority of MSM outlets, print and television, continued to make those pointing out Biden's cognitive decline into the story. If they didn't downplay or deny any decline outright. And I don't say the decline in our nation is due to lefties being evil. All groups have their bad apples. Though the Left's clear post-Western and post-Christian ambitions run afoul of my preferences. The problem with the Left, however, is those extremes or evils or problems that exist are either weaponized by the corporate media or, when not convenient to do so, ignored or swept under the carpet. Like Biden's obvious cognitive decline. If anyone on the Right or a designated villain group does something wrong, it's front page, headline news (George Floyd). When not, well, see this topic, the reaction to the October 7th massacres, or the murder of Iryna Zarutska, as perfect case studies.
DeleteTherefore, we are under no obligation to call out the BS on our own side.
DeleteYou can, but it's nice knowing that you have several key institutions running blocker for you. Hence the killing of Iryna Zarutska as the perfect case study. Initially the press turned a blind eye, but only began covering it due to the backlash for not covering it. But then it did so by variations on 'conservatives try to exploit killing', again avoiding the substance of the event and why the press obviously didn't want to deal with it in the first place. If you are on the Left, little narrative busters like that story can easily be ignored, and you can, of course, insist those not doing so are a bunch of rightwing whatevers. Those on the Right, however, don't have that luxury. They might try to avoid calling out this or that BS on their side, but the MSM, academia, pop culture and other institutions will be there with bells on to call them out. That is the key difference.
DeleteWhat I keep wanting to explain to people (which I know Dave is probably tired of hearing from me), is that no I don't think the Republicans are better. What I think is that the MEDIA WILL DO THEIR JOB when it comes to Republicans. Which is why I vote for them. The Democrat are going off the deep end because the media is covering for them, not checking them, which just enables theor worst impulses.
ReplyDeleteYet even in this they are getting so bad at their efforts even the Republicans are going to go off the rails because the media has cried wolf so many times, the checks on the Right are fraying and badly.
All peoples need feedback to check their egos. The feedback channels are getting corrupted and manipulated and that's our biggest issue.
That's all true, with one caveat. For decades I've heard people joke that the one reason to vote for Republicans is that the media will get to work and admit how bad things are. But now there's a qualifier. Consider Covid, or the Biden inflation, or the war now. How much of this is legit price spikes due to circumstances, and how much simply advantageous price gouging? We'll never know. Any high prices make Trump look bad and that's all that matters now. If millions could be hurt? Eh. Today, journalism is so dead that even if there could be a juicy and salacious story about corporate corruption exploiting the news of the day while shellacking the people, don't hold your breath. In that case we'll need a Democrat back in the White House to hear about that. And like Covid-time, depending on circumstances, we might not even hear then.
DeleteYou support Donald Trump. Your opinions on absolutely everything are utterly worthless, but especially on morality. Your Shit God and his Liquor Cabinet are the worst people on Earth.
ReplyDeleteI actually don't. I have never been a big fan of Trump. As I've said, I didn't care for him back when media moguls, Hollywood bigshots and politicians in both parties loved the guy, vacationed with him, partied with him and of course asked him for handouts. I'm just against those who only have morals when convenient. Those who condemned Clinton's immorality but actually defend Trump. And those who told us to stop caring about the morality of presidents during Clinton's time but suddenly cared about Trump.
DeleteThough if you could add a name to your anonymous post, it would add credibility to your statement. Otherwise, let's face it, there's not much reason to put stock in your statement if you aren't willing to stand behind it.