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Culture War Roundup for the week of December 2, 2024

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Good for him. This was the virtuous thing to do.

I don't know that it was virtuous, but certainly I would have done the same thing, as a parent. I would not, however, have promised in the first place to not do it. The public discourse on this is disheartening but unsurprising; everyone accuses everyone else of being hypocrites, no one makes any efforts toward not being a hypocrite because hey, then you're just giving the advantage to those other hypocrites.

It's weird reading some of the commentary on reddit, where several posters are bemoaning "this is what sucks about being a liberal, we're constantly doing the reasonable thing while the Republicans break all the rules and take unfair advantage of our tolerance and longsuffering." As if this weren't precisely why the Republican party has been moving away from Buckleyan conservatism.

Would TheMotte really be here condemning Trump if he pardoned Don Jr. in a tax fraud case?

I expect @Folamh3 would; probably others also. I'm not sure why you're referencing "TheMotte" here as if it were a hivemind, particularly when you're only the fourth person into the thread.

I would not, however, have promised in the first place to not do it.

This is reasonable. It's rarely a good look to contradict yourself so blatantly in public.

I'm not sure why you're referencing "TheMotte" here as if it were a hivemind, particularly when you're only the fourth person into the thread.

I was combining this thread with the post in last week's thread on the same topic, which got 3 additional replies that were critical of Biden.