DISHONESTY
You see it everywhere. In politics it IS everywhere. Literally everywhere. Willful bias… intentional deception… lying-by-omission… shoot, even outright lying. And to you “America haters” that like to blame all the world’s ills on America, as if we’re the only society that does any of this stuff, political dishonesty is in every corner of the world. Every country, every society, every economic class… even every ideology. It’s not just us and it’s not just the other side.
Regarding ideologies there will be an ebb and flow, one ideology being more dishonest for a time, then they switch and the other side is more dishonest for awhile. People only seem to remember when it’s the other side, though. It is the rare person who will cite or even acknowledge examples of wrongdoing from both sides in the same conversation. Imagine that.
But I’m not talking about those people here. Those people might be dishonest in their arguments, but they’re at least honest in their chosen sides. In my last post I talked about different types of voters, and this post is loosely related. I’m talking about individuals who are dishonest in their ideologies. The difference is this person can be of any ideology. Lately they seem to be primarily from one side only, but in no way is that a given. So, how can you spot these people? The scenario usually goes something like this…
- Person A makes a comment on a specific politician, usually over a particular topic.
- Person B trots in and defends said politician.
- Person A responds and basically and solidly refutes Person B’s point(s).
- Person B retorts with something along the lines of, “Well, they’re all crooks.”, and might even whip in something about needing term limits.
Person B wants you to believe they’re even-handed in their approach. Person B wants you to accept them as a legitimate independent thinker. Person B wants you to see them as being above gauche partisan politics. Problem is, if you’ve been following Person B you know they are in no way, shape, or form independent… let alone objective. You see this because you have noted that pretty much 100% of memes and postings from Person B are all one-sided. Pretty much never any viewpoint from the other side, or even comparing the two sides…. just the one side.
To be honest, I question the sincerity of them wanting term limits, but that’s another topic for another post.
I could name four close friends who fit this description, and they all might be reading this and think I’m talking about them, but I’m not. Not individually. In addition to my friends I see this scenario played out in multiple places and by multiple people. It baffles me why people do this. Maybe they’re unaware of the depth of their own inconsistency, maybe they’re uncomfortable picking a side and sticking to it, or maybe they’re just… dishonest.
Bottom line: Actions speak louder than words. If you’re going to claim to be objective and/or even-handed, you need to be advocating for the other side, too, otherwise you’re just jaw-jackin’.
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