A Good Person

by Daniel McNeet on April 6, 2018

 

There are no good people or bad people. There are only people. Sometimes they do good things, and sometimes they do bad things. Some people do more good things than bad and vice versa. Good and bad are relative. The moral decisions are in the ears and eyes of the doers, listeners, and viewers.

If a person makes a statement to another, believing the statement to be true, and does not intend to deceive, but provides inaccurate information, the person has told the truth. The speaker may be guilty of negligence in researching the statement for its accuracy, but she or he is not a liar.

When one hears false information in her or his presence, what should the listener do? If the listener cares, a respectful discussion should take place after five minutes. Do not confront the provider of the false information, but treat her or him with respect and as an acquaintance, neighbor, or friend. Give the person the benefit of the doubt. She or he may have made a mistake and is not a liar. If the speaker is an adulterer, pathological liar, hyperbalist, braggadocio, and sexual predator, an example is Donald J. Trump, expose her or him.

If possible after five minutes if the listener cares and can verify accurate information, then it is the right time to expose the liar for what she or he is. Today The Washington Post and other reputable news organizations refute, and publish the accurate information in response to the flood of inaccurate information provided by Trump to the American people.

Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law, admitted according to Elizabeth Spiers, the former New York Observer editor, “Donald Trump lies to his base because he thinks they’re stupid.” By now, I am sure his base has eroded, will continue to erode, and he will be ineffective as a candidate or surrogate for Republican candidates “As Time Goes By” my favorite song.

But Ms. Spiers is not the only person to argue that President Trump is a liar. It has been asserted by politicians and commentators, with Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders branding Mr. Trump, a “pathological liar.”

Ms. Spiers, who is also the founder of Gawker, also claimed that a friend of the mogul-turned-politico once told her Mr. Trump would “lie to you about what time of day it is, just for the practice.”

Ms. Spiers, who served as the editor of the publication from early 2011 to late 2012, made the alleged revelation to prove to a right-wing blogger that Mr. Trump was a “notorious liar.”

Comedian John Oliver has also called the President a “pathological liar.” What’s more, Quinnipiac University asked Americans for the first word which springs to mind when they think of President Trump. The answer given more times than any other was “idiot,” followed by “incompetent” and then “liar.”

A year-end review of untrue claims from FactCheck.org found Trump dominating the list with remarks on everything from his inauguration to the Russia investigation to his own tax bill. Of PolitiFact’s 483 fact checks on Trump so far, 69% were rated “mostly false,” “false” or “pants on fire,” and his claims on Russian meddling were the “Lie of the Year.” The Washington Post found 1,950 false or misleading claims made over 347 days.

A recent Quinnipiac poll showed that 62% of voters don’t think Trump is honest, while only 34% believe he is. While Republicans remain trusting, with 75% believing he’s honest, more than two-thirds of independents don’t agree, and a sky-high 93% of Democrats think he’s dishonest. By comparison, 52% of voters thought Trump was not honest just after the November election — a full 10-point drop over his first year.

Trump’s trustworthiness has made it harder for him to sell his policies. While the White House boasted that the Republican tax plan would give American families a tax break, a Monmouth poll showed that half of the public believed their own taxes would go up. The various “repeal and replace” bills on Obamacare also polled poorly, despite Trump’s claims about them, some of which were untrue.

During the campaign, Trump’s pitch depended a lot on salesmanship. He avoided detailed plans in favor of making grand claims about how “I alone can fix it.” As the first president without a track record in politics or the military, he essentially asked voters to take his word for it. But his reputation for braggadocio, dishonesty, and hyperbole is making it harder for him to do that job.

Having produced these examples of Trump’s conduct, the question is: is he a good person? Contact me with your opinion at https://www.danielmcneet.com/blog/

Peacock

 

{ 0 comments… add one now }

Leave a Comment

Previous post:

Next post: