12-24-2020, 10:40 PM
(12-24-2020, 08:47 PM)John J. Xenakis Wrote: ** 24-Dec-2020 World View: Earning respect
John Wrote:> Are you sure? If the economist has the right skin color, he could
> get a job in Biden's cabinet.
Bob Butler Wrote:> This is an example of your ideological bias. Biden has brought in
> experts in the field they are supposed to oversee, as opposed to
> Trump who appointed by nepotism and loyalty. If you don't make an
> honest attempt to understand the opposition, which generally has
> valid reasons why they believe as they do, you will convince only
> those who are already bought into your perspective.
Burner Prime Wrote:> There is some validity to this. I watched the Biden press
> conference in its entirety, the one John referenced a few days
> ago. I was really shocked at how well he did. And further, I was
> surprised at how well he fended off the many media questions
> designed to attack Trump & Republicans on their way out.
> Time will tell if his Administration posts yield an effective
> team. Maybe Biden was just amped up on drugs and on his dementia
> upswing. Maybe it was a one-off. Time will tell, but that presser
> was a win for him.
I'm sorry, but I have absolutely no respect for Biden, as he's spent
the last year hiding out in his basement, only answering pre-approved
questions by pre-approved reporters, and constantly showing signs of
dementia. The contrast is enormous with Trump who, every day, several
times a day, vigorously answered tough questions by all reporters.
Hiding from COVID-19... refusing to answer loaded questions that he could expect from some 'journalistic' entities , and showing evidence of a stutter. Donald Trump has made reckless appearances in public, and some of those became super-spreader events; this indicates his contempt for human life. Donald Trump also shows signs of never growing up with his vituperative tweets and his faulting of people who catch him in a lie. I concede that he is more open to the media; if something has an inconvenient answer for him he lies.
Quote:Biden has given one and only one press conference where he seemed
coherent and competent, and that was the one last week, which I
described as a relief to me. But Biden will have to do a lot more to
earn my respect. Given Biden's performance in the last year, the
people with ideological bias are not the ones who criticize Biden, but
are the ones who give him a pass for his pathetic, incompetent
performance in the last year.
Well, if he seems less in dementia, then maybe he isn't... or he is getting some good medication. He ran as competent and as spirited a campaign as was possible with COVID-19 stalking him... and staling everyone else.
Quote:The remark about the economist was a joke, but it's based on the
observation that while Trump always talked about the competence of his
staff, Biden only talks about their skin color and gender. Once
again, Trump gets my respect for that and Biden does not. I respect
people who are competent. Skin color and gender are irrelevant to me
and apparently to Trump, but those are the only things that matter to
Biden.
His staff has typically had something other than competence (the word used as loosely as is possible) to talk about: either deciding that he was an incompetent fraud or that someone has been indicted. Trump's ideal staff is selected to the extent possible for blind obedience.
Quote:As for loyalty, let's wait and see if how the thin-skinned Biden
treats anyone on his staff who disagrees with him.
Everyone needs someone capable of saying no (as in, "no, you are not buying any boat!", "no, you are not going to the bar to drink away your paycheck and hook up with some loose woman", "no you are not going to watch or keep pornography in this house"). No person can pose as the arbiter of truth even if he is the Great and Infallible Donald Trump. This is the fellow who dispensed quack medical advice!
Quote:As for nepotism, Trump's children went to the Mideast and negotiated
widely heralded peace agreements between Israel with UAE, Bahrain,
Sudan and Algeria. Biden's children went to Ukraine and China and
traded and used influence-peddling to pocket millions of dollars.
Furthermore, Biden's son Hunter is deeply embroiled in a criminal
investigation for influence peddling, money laundering and tax
evasion. That's a big contrast with Trump's children.
Would you trust Trump's kids to do anything not basic? The UAE and Israel share a common enemy in Iran, and the old "The enemy of my enemy is my friend" applies. We shall see how Trump's children fare in the legal process.
Quote:When Trump began running for president, I had no respect for him, and
I criticized him and mocked him. Trump earned my respect. Biden has
been cowering in his basement for a year and covering up his son's
crimes. The only ideological bias is by people who give Biden a pass
no matter how pathetic and incompetent he appears. Biden has not
earned my respect. When he does, I'll let you know.
Anyone is going to do something right at some time. Even Hitler stood for good roads, for protection of animals, for physical fitness, and against smoking. Big deal! Lots of people who believe in such things live in Utah, if you get the connection. (Hint: I bragged to a physician about having "Mormon lungs". Many Americans have been cowering from COVID-19, and about 330,000 are dead because they got the sort of respiratory infection that supposedly does not happen in the First World.
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.
