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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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