Werthless wrote:

momadance wrote:@sahilkapur
Rep. Steve King says @GOPleader has agreed to an "exoneration" where he can get his committee assignments back, including the seniority, after he was removed last year for his musings on white supremacy.

I'd like to hear more about this! Certainly an interesting capitulation.

jerseyhoya wrote:The simplest explanation is Steve King has a primary in a couple of weeks that he's probably going to lose, so he has no downside to making up that Kevin McCarthy told him he'd be back on committees in 2021.

Werthless wrote:

Wolfgang622 wrote:Biden mentioned values.

George Will is mostly quite annoying, and more pompous than smart, but he has a certain eloquence. His latest takes the typically excoriating tone he has adopted with respect to DJT since before DJT was elected.

Anyway, Will gave the commencement speech at my alma mater the year before I graduated, and I got to hear it. He made a distinction I have never forgotten, and which I do think is worthwhile: values vs. virtues. Values are by their nature relative and shifting, fitting the needs of the moment. Virtues are timeless and constant.

Donald Trump probably does have values - bent and twisted though they are - inside any given moment, and an overarching value that is the paramount consideration of himself and his own interests.

But there is not a virtue to be had in the man.

Thanks for your post. I tend to use the word principle to describe the concept that you/Will describe as virtue. Principle has fewer religious connotations, IMO, but it similarly implies that there are persistent and foundational ideas that you use to apply to many situations. Principle also doesn't imply a positive instinct, and it could be a guiding principle that could lead one to make systematically negative recommendations. Hitler, to use an extreme example, followed a set of principles that were consistent and immoral.

Trump has acted on his principles in this definition, but I wouldn't describe them as virtues. The prism through which he sees the world is not one that I would consider virtuous.

Bill McNeal wrote:Worked the polls in my precinct today. Mostly was a positive experience, but had a few flaming assholes who I guess felt like dunking on poll workers for trying to get them to wear masks was somehow sticking it to the government.

The biggest thing I learned today is don’t write in a vote unless you really mean it. After 13 plus hours someone has to sort through all of the ballots by hand and record all of them. Do them a solid and don’t make them look for Donald Duck or Richard Nixon.

CalvinBall wrote:

Bill McNeal wrote:Worked the polls in my precinct today. Mostly was a positive experience, but had a few flaming assholes who I guess felt like dunking on poll workers for trying to get them to wear masks was somehow sticking it to the government.

The biggest thing I learned today is don’t write in a vote unless you really mean it. After 13 plus hours someone has to sort through all of the ballots by hand and record all of them. Do them a solid and don’t make them look for Donald Duck or Richard Nixon.

I remember having to do that. I thought they had changed that though and would only look at the actual names after a certain threshold. Weird.

MoBettle wrote:Man Biden couldn't have picked better timing to have that screw up on the breakfast club if he tried. Guy literally told black people if they don't like him they're not black and he's having the less racist week by miles.

phatj wrote:

Werthless wrote:

Wolfgang622 wrote:Biden mentioned values.

George Will is mostly quite annoying, and more pompous than smart, but he has a certain eloquence. His latest takes the typically excoriating tone he has adopted with respect to DJT since before DJT was elected.

Anyway, Will gave the commencement speech at my alma mater the year before I graduated, and I got to hear it. He made a distinction I have never forgotten, and which I do think is worthwhile: values vs. virtues. Values are by their nature relative and shifting, fitting the needs of the moment. Virtues are timeless and constant.

Donald Trump probably does have values - bent and twisted though they are - inside any given moment, and an overarching value that is the paramount consideration of himself and his own interests.

But there is not a virtue to be had in the man.

Thanks for your post. I tend to use the word principle to describe the concept that you/Will describe as virtue. Principle has fewer religious connotations, IMO, but it similarly implies that there are persistent and foundational ideas that you use to apply to many situations. Principle also doesn't imply a positive instinct, and it could be a guiding principle that could lead one to make systematically negative recommendations. Hitler, to use an extreme example, followed a set of principles that were consistent and immoral.

Trump has acted on his principles in this definition, but I wouldn't describe them as virtues. The prism through which he sees the world is not one that I would consider virtuous.

I also was at this commencement, as it was my now-wife's. I mostly found Will's speech deadly dull and the distinction he was trying to draw to be a distinction without a difference. I do like Werthless' reframing though.

The Dude wrote:Where did you see that?

My Admin has done more for the Black Community than any President since Abraham Lincoln. Passed Opportunity Zones with @SenatorTimScott, guaranteed funding for HBCU’s, School Choice, passed Criminal Justice Reform, lowest Black unemployment, poverty, and crime rates in history…