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Liberal Cynic's avatar

Why the fuck isn't Greitens rotting in jail for kidnapping that woman?

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JB's avatar

He lives in a state that supports fascism and violence towards people who vote differently or are affiliated with a group that fascism is threatened by.

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Eastern Promises's avatar

This right here. MO has gone the way of AL in terms of social structure. Likely many Missourians blame the victim(s) as much if not more than Greitens. Anyone who has ever stepped foot in outstate MO can vouch for this.

Too many on this site give too much credit to the people of this country. The cretins that roam our streets and the views they hold have now come out since Trumps ascendancy would appall the average Bulwark reader. As someone who worked in retail (stores and banking) for over a decade, I am not surprised by this at all. The comments I would hear from the "average American " would astound you. The majority of people in this country are ignorant of current events, world history, US history, politics, our government, the system that runs it, and basic science.

As JVL would say, the "People are the problem".

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Terry Hilldale's avatar

In my work, I have lived in foreign counties. I was always amazed at how much more informed than Americans the citizens of those other countries were, even about America, his history and its intuitions.

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CW Stanford's avatar

No one reading the Bulwark fails to grasp that bigoted voters are the downside of democracy. It is the worst form of government, except for all the others. What is most troubling to me is the pandering for votes by people who should know better -- or at least we think they should know better based on their credentials. I don't know Duke (Greitens), but I am quite familiar with the "Ivys" and Stanford (Hawley), and one does not generally think of Rhodes Scholars (Greitens) as school-yard bullies. Carol S, above, invoked "moral indulgence" which of course leads to the age old questions about the relationship of intellect to virtue. We do seem to elect to office persons of scholastic achievement (note, this too does not confer intellect) and other accomplishments in keeping with our ideals for leadership, but too many fail on the question of virtue, and most destructively, it would seem some of them are making a false virtue of meanness.

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Eastern Promises's avatar

This is what makes it most sad. If I recall, I believe at one point Greitens supported Obama and even flirted with running as a Democrat.

By the way, let me repeat, what the heck is up with Rhodes Scholars? I mean seriously. These people are some of the worst characters. Someone needs to discuss the selection requirements with the Cecil Rhodes Trust.

As the parent of a 17 year old currently looking at colleges, I can say that I am not surprised by the character (or lack thereof) in many Ivy League and near Ivy League grads. My son, who is a straight A, G&T student, told me that many of the kids in his classes are so consumed with academic success that they "have no souls." While that is a bit hyperbolic, I think what he is saying is that these kids have no social skills, and are ill-equipped to deal with the world. They are so focused on academic achievement that they cannot countenance any crook in the path (right school, right profession, right company/firm, etc.). The stories of kids in his class that threatened suicide because they received a C+ in AP Physics and/or Calculus is too many to count. This sort of mental anguish and unwillingness to deal with reality can lead people to strange places. I imagine someone like Greitens, as well as Josh Hawley and Ted Cruz (all Ivy leaguers), got to a place in life, realized that to achieve the ultimate success (POTUS) they would need to make compromises, and have now lost themselves. Cruz is the worst, only because at one point he pretended to have principals. Hawley is just a punk and a charlatan.

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Mary's avatar

EP, completely agree, however I think "ignorant of" is doing a lot of heavy lifting. In my pov, most people are not remotely curious about the world outside their own selfish existence. I have always thought that ignorant people can be educated. I think these folks are either willingly blind or just plain stupid.

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Joy Crouch's avatar

I believe they have no moral compass. They are not blind or stupid. Their lives are ruled by a serious lust for power and will sacrifice their own wife or mother to rule this nation. We must defeat them at the ballot box before we lose our right to vote.

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Eastern Promises's avatar

Mary -

Agree with this, but to me what you described sounds like textbook ignorance, although, I could also see how it is just plain old stupidity

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Chris J. Karr's avatar

Missouri's DA was too busy building his political profile to be bothered with seeking a prosecution for the sitting governor:

"GreitensтАЩ fellow Republican, Attorney General Josh Hawley, in a statement issued Wednesday evening, urged the governor to step down before impeachment proceedings could begin. He is the highest-ranking GOP politician to take that stand."

https://news.stlpublicradio.org/government-politics-issues/2018-04-11/woman-in-greitens-affair-says-basement-encounter-at-center-of-felony-charge-was-not-consensual

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Paul Mccrary's avatar

He's wealthy and white?

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Carol S.'s avatar

Why was OJ Simpson acquitted on criminal charges of murder? Why is Herschel Walker getting so much indulgence?

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rlritt's avatar

They were rich and had a good lawyers.

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R Mercer's avatar

Football stars and celebrities--that is a far larger factor than their race in this particular instance. 'Muricans LOVE their football, especially in the South. It is almost up there with NASCAR.

As TFG pointed out during his campaign, if you are a celebrity you can get away with all kinds of stuff and he then proceeded to prove his point, in spades.

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Paul Mccrary's avatar

Wow, you named 2 people. That totally proves racism and classism don't infest the criminal justice system

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Charlie Hall's avatar

Simpson and Walker prove the existence of classism.

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Carol S.'s avatar

I didn't say that, or even imply it. But you did imply that being "wealthy and white" is an all-purpose protection from any accountability, and that it could be the ONLY reason why someone gets away with something bad; and, that a wealthy black person would never get away with anything.

The reflex to reduce everything to "white people are always racist" ignores some obvious facts.

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Jun 21, 2022
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Kathe Rich's avatar

Are you trying to bait people? "Retard" is a very derogatory term, and yes, you can call me the thought police if you'd like. Let's please be civil in this forum. Thank you.

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Travis's avatar

Not to be a stickler here, but "retard" is *not* the preferred nomenclature, "low-information voter," please lol

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Charlie Hall's avatar

It was low information voters who got Joe Biden the nomination -- at least according to this former mayor and likely future member of Congress:

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/05/us/politics/de-blasio-morning-joe.html

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Terry Hilldale's avatar

Let's not spread propaganda, 'kay? Blasio is wrong. According to several different studies, voters who watch Fox are less informed than voters who watch no news at all. Low information voters voted for Trump.

You need a link that is not behind a pyawall.

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Kev_WDE's avatar

Okay Karen.

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Kathe Rich's avatar

Asking for thoughtfulness and courtesy in a discussion does not make one a Karen, it makes one civilized. And you are showing your true colors, which are not attractive.

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Terry Hilldale's avatar

And he paid money to come here and troll, to boot.

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Jun 21, 2022
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Kev_WDE's avatar

Moron used to be a term of art. It was replaced тАФ by leading clinicians тАФ with тАЬretarded.тАЭ

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Liberal Cynic's avatar

And the new term is "conservative".

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Terry Hilldale's avatar

He kinda asked for that retort.

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Jun 21, 2022
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Carol S.'s avatar

My goodness. How is it "clearly" racist to point to the indisputable fact that OJ Simpson was acquitted on criminal charges? Or to note that Hershel Walker is getting a lot of moral indulgence (from white people and black people)?

I have also posted a comment on THIS VERY THREAD about the moral indulgence that Trump is getting -- as I have done previously -- and how too many other (white or otherwise) people are getting in on the act.

Your observation that Georgia loves football stars regardless of character does nothing to support your bizarre (and extremely uncharitable) charge of racism against me. Are you suggesting that it's all the fault of white racists that football stars get moral indulgence?

Your claim that my comment "clearly" exposes me is a racist is an example of bad faith, and another illustration of how some people really love to call other people racists at every possible opportunity. (Which Paul Mccary does a lot.)

Get a grip. Really.

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Jun 21, 2022
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knowltok's avatar

My guess (at the risk of intruding) is that it was an inartful way of saying that it was more about the money than the race. Rich being the bigger factor. That's not to minimize the privilege that comes from being white, but being rich and famous are pretty big markers of privilege, and perhaps the more important factors. Emphasis on 'perhaps' because I don't really know the particular case, and maybe being white was the biggest factor.

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Jun 21, 2022
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Terry Hilldale's avatar

People should really count to ten before alleging racism.

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Jun 22, 2022
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Terry Hilldale's avatar

Clearly you didn't. If you had, it might have occurred to you that, as knowltok pointed out, it was about fame and money, not race.

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Liberal Cynic's avatar

Oh yeah.

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