(08-10-2020, 12:26 AM)Classic-Xer Wrote:(08-09-2020, 08:48 PM)pbrower2a Wrote: Good people don't prejudge legal cases with calls for sentences before judgment is passed in a court of law, let alone call for a sentence more severe than is prescribed in statute. Good people do not say that they could shoot someone on Fifth Avenue and still have respectability. Good people do not talk about grabbing women by their "kitty-cats". Back to Ike... a soldier who grabbed a woman or girl by her "kitty-cat" without her consent or assumed consent would face a court martial.
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I'm the first to admit that Trump isn't a saint.As far as I know, Trump never pretended to be one either.
He certainly has proved himself to be a rogue, has he not? If I were looking to hire someone for a responsible position, even it the responsibility goes little further than that of not abusing customers and not stealing from an employer (retail sales clerk), I wouldn't hire him. He would be a sexual-harassment lawsuit waiting to happen, which could even be more harmful to my business than a significant embezzlement. If he led a platoon and I had him as a subordinate officer I would be concerned about his unit committing rapes under the fog of war, if not perpetrating a massacre of the style of My Lai. If I were an academic dean and he had impressive credentials I would have concern that females would get better grades than men -- and the same strain of VD. Maybe one can get away with more if one is the star or the boss... then again, look what happened to Harvey Weinstein and Bill Cosby.
Even bad guys can praise themselves, as does Damon Runyon's "Big Julie" from "East Cicero, Illinoise" in Guys and Dolls:
"Toity-tree arrests and no convictions"
Quote:You should also know by now that I'm not one either. I'm sorry but the Democrats suck and the Democrats have sucked my entire adult life and the Republicans haven't sucked as bad.
I have admitted to a terrible flaw as a human being. I admit my inadequacy as a person. I am not sure that I would trade some of my intellect for not having Asperger's syndrome because, I admit, I am little more than my intellect. DMS-V does not recognize homosexuality as a mental illness, and it certainly does not have "being black". I would rather be black or gay than have Asperger's syndrome so that I could have some semblance of a normal life. I would not choose anything else in the DMS-V, which includes the extreme, pathological narcissism of Donald Trump. I have no desire to hurt people... and I have disappointed many people that I know or have known.
You are an extreme cynic about politics. I wish you would discover something else, something that to you is more life-affirming. I can state what I believe: most people, whatever their origin or social class are good people. Boring? Maybe -- but I can imagine far worse. I am sure that I am about as crashing a bore as you will find. Human institutions often elevate the worst in nature, and we must watch all of them, whether government, business, religious bodies, fraternal organizations, or private schools. Just look at what has happened to the Boy Scouts of America. It got the message -- but too late.
As far as I am concerned the 'stars' and 'bosses' carry huge responsibility to not do bad things to people. If I were a star I might say something like:
"Maybe I can get away with a lot because I am (Tom Hanks, Mick Jagger, Simon Rattle, Steven King [the author], etc.), but some day I might not get away with it. I've seen some people do some really-stupid stuff out of arrogance, thinking that they can get away with it because they are who they are. No, I am just as human as you are, and I have my responsibilities, too. There's always someone in the news media who would love to make a name for himself by tearing me down".
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Plus, you should know that you're talking to a US taxpayer who has been working and paying taxes during his teenage years and entire adult life. So, spare me the sermon on the use and benefits associated with my tax dollars.
Just don't be a hypocrite if you call the cops on someone breaking into your car after driving to or from the Mall of America on (which branch of I-35 do you use in the Twin Cities?) Don't be a hypocrite if you call the fire department when someone's brush fire goes out of control -- or your neighbor's house catches fire (the fire department might not get there fast enough to save the house that catches fire first, but it can save the neighbors' houses, on e of which is yours.
So you started paying taxes when you were a teenager? Congratulations for not needing a college degree to do what you do.
The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the dedicated Communist but instead the people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction, true and false, no longer exists -- Hannah Arendt.