What Does Prevaricating Look like?

Mycroft said:

How can Corsi be the founder of the Birther thing when Hillary was the founder?

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Rexedgar said:

You have an opinion on the high-lighted part of the interview?

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1. An unethical and/or reprobate person who prevaricates/palters about "what's what?"
2. An unethical and/or reprobate person whose word you can "take to the bank?"

Xelor said:

What I want to know is why to people -- non-government officials, for gov't officials and candidates for such positions have an obligation to disclose and the public have a right to full disclosure -- feel obliged to tell their story in public, and in doing so, lie, "gild the lily," "put lipstick on the pig," etc?

I mean, really. If one's of a mind to tell one's story, just tell the truth.

After all, which of the following kinds of folks had you rather deal with?

1. An unethical and/or reprobate person who prevaricates/palters about "what's what?"
2. An unethical and/or reprobate person whose word you can "take to the bank?"

I ain't keen to meddle with either of them, but I'll still take "door #2" every time, because at least I know what value to put on that person and his/her remarks.

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Xelor said:

What I want to know is why to people -- non-government officials, for gov't officials and candidates for such positions have an obligation to disclose and the public have a right to full disclosure -- feel obliged to tell their story in public, and in doing so, lie, "gild the lily," "put lipstick on the pig," etc?

I mean, really. If one's of a mind to tell one's story, just tell the truth.

After all, which of the following kinds of folks had you rather deal with?

1. An unethical and/or reprobate person who prevaricates/palters about "what's what?"
2. An unethical and/or reprobate person whose word you can "take to the bank?"

I ain't keen to meddle with either of them, but I'll still take "door #2" every time, because at least I know what value to put on that person and his/her remarks.

Click to expand...

Xelor said:

What I want to know is why to people -- non-government officials, for gov't officials and candidates for such positions have an obligation to disclose and the public have a right to full disclosure -- feel obliged to tell their story in public, and in doing so, lie, "gild the lily," "put lipstick on the pig," etc?

I mean, really. If one's of a mind to tell one's story, just tell the truth.

After all, which of the following kinds of folks had you rather deal with?

1. An unethical and/or reprobate person who prevaricates/palters about "what's what?"
2. An unethical and/or reprobate person whose word you can "take to the bank?"

I ain't keen to meddle with either of them, but I'll still take "door #2" every time, because at least I know what value to put on that person and his/her remarks.

bearpoker said:

By definition you can't take an unethical and/or reprobate person's word to the bank.

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• Unethical --> Slacking off at work when no one is watching.
  • Unethical and untruthful: Slacking off at work when no one is watching and lying about it.
• Unethical --> "Dishing someone's dirt," but the derogatory info one shares with others is factually and contextually true.
  • Unethical and untruthful: "Dishing someone's dirt," but the derogatory info one shares with others is not accurate, is fabricated, or otherwise factually or contextually untrue.
• Those are very simple illustrations; however, there are more complex ones too. To wit, my liberal friends think me unethical with regard to my economic policy stances (economic principles) because those positions will adversely affect a certain genres of people. My liberal friends recognize too that I don't deny or sugarcoat the adverse impacts of my stances.
  
  They ask me things such as, "So you realize that doing "such and such" is going to screw ABC and DEF groups/kinds of people, "thusly" and you are okay with that?" And I respond, "Yes." Thus though they think my economic stances/principles and, to the extent I embrace them, me unethical, they know I'm not pretending, paltering or prevaricating about the nature of the economic policy positions/principles I prefer and promote. They know, as do I, that economic efficiency is what matters most to me in the formulation and implementation of economic policy. Those friends don't like that, but they know I'm "eyes wide open" and that I'm not trying to hide from anyone the downsides of the economic principles I hold.
  
  That all said, I don't think my positions unethical, but that's a completely different discussion....Which is another source of policy conflict between my liberal friends and me....They can't stand that I compartmentalize that which they'd handle holistically. There again, however, the last thing they'd call me is dishonest or untruthful -- hell, not even "the last thing;" they just wouldn't call me that at all.