4 ms·
> the elite has to be held to a standard higher than we hold other people It's so infuriating when U.S. political pundits interpret the Impeachment Clause phra
by wahern 7y ago
> the elite has to be held to a standard higher than we hold other people
It's so infuriating when U.S. political pundits interpret the Impeachment Clause phrase, "high Crimes and Misdemeanors", as requiring ordinary criminal or even heightened criminal behavior. The qualifier "high" refers to the office, and reflects a notion that public officials in positions of trust should be held to a stricter moral standard than in private life--specifically, the moral standards we should expect of those entrusted with high offices. That is, behavior that would not be criminal for a private individual could be a high crime or misdemeanor for a public official.
See, e.g., https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_crimes_and_misdemeanors https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_crimes_and_misdemeanors
It's mostly Republicans who push this interpretation (though Democrats made similar arguments, albeit less vociferously, during Watergate). But Democrats remain silent because the Impeachment Clause is worded in a way that gives Congress an affirmative duty to prosecute high crimes and misdemeanors, and for strategic reasons the Democratic caucus would prefer to shirk that duty.
- PaulHoule 7y agoIt's tough because the law can't compel people to be good. It's a fundamental problem with liberalism and is part of the crisis that liberalism faces all around the world; people see our institutions failing and they start to wonder if maybe China has a better idea. If you are in a position of authority (parent, teacher, manager, ...) one thing you should learn right away is that you need to model good behavior if you want to control bad behavior. That's because your subordinates will certainly model any bad behavior you do. It's always shocked me how bipartisan the moral rot is. For instance, Epstein was close to both Trump and Clinton. Both Trump and Clinton had daughters who married the sons of convicted felons. Given that Chelsea Clinton might be interested in public life some day I can't for the life of me imagine why she married the son of this guy: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Mezvinsky#Criminal_activities https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Mezvinsky#Criminal_acti...
- gotorazor 7y agoConfucianism is not that great in practice.
- deleted 7y ago[deleted]