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PaperclipPerfector  2d ago (text post)   12398 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of December 2, 2024

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This is the wrong take. From a less speciously confucian standpoint:

Pardoning Hunter sends the message that it's not worth sacrificing the interests of yourself or your family to uphold the institutions of law and order that sustain the United States.

As president of the United States, JB's duty is to uphold said institutions. As a leader, he's meant to set a moral example for other citizens. Perhaps following his example is most prudent in the present day, but I wouldn't call it moral by any means.

As president of the United States, JB's duty is to uphold said institutions. As a leader, he's meant to set a moral example for other citizens. Perhaps following his example is most prudent in the present day, but I wouldn't call it moral by any means.

Do presidents try to be moral exemplars any more? I can't think of a president in my lifetime who I've looked up to as a true paragon of morality. Most of them haven't been openly and brazenly corrupt either (at least not in ways that are illegal in the US), but I can't recall thinking even once, "Gee, so-and-so is just the most morally upright and saintly human being I've ever seen. I'm truly glad such a virtuous person represents America to the world."

The Renaisance Humanists might have believed that virtue confers the moral legitimacy to be a ruler, but I feel like modern representative democracies haven't believed that in practice for a long time.

People that supported Bush Jr generally thought he was a moral exemplar as a person and not just a good leader. In fact there are still a lot of people who think he was and remains a moral exemplar as a person, certainly more than believe he was a good leader.

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