I don’t know what disingenuous smells like, but I’m guessing disingenuous smells something quite the opposite of potpourri.
From Dr. Dobson Responds to Liberal Attacks over Foley Situation:
“Somebody is going to have to tell me what in the wide world this indiscretion by a member of Congress has to do with evangelical Christians. And in my case, especially me,” he said. “What in the world is the connection there? And yet the media is trying to link us somehow.”
Ummmmm…
…Could it be Exodus has publicly reacted to the Foley Scandal, coupled with known FOTF ties to Exodus? Could it be other conservative Christian spokesmodels ( i.e. Pat Buchanan, Wendy Wright, Peter LaBarbera, Stephen Bennett, etc., etc., etc.) have been in cyberspace and out on the airways commenting about the Foley Scandal?
To quote Bugs Bunny (in a Looney Tune/wav file) … “Mmmmmmmmm…Could be!“
Media Matters captures the underbelly of that article.
https://mediamatters.org/items/200610060004
Dobson: “And in my case, especially me,”
The man is actually confused as to how anyone could see him other than the way he sees himself yet is convinced that his perception of truth is superior to everyone else’s – unless they agree with him of course.
Typical of him and his ilk, they can’t stand to be criticized and this scandal exemplifies it. Those who claim to be morally superior are the LEAST capable of judging themselves. The fact that defense itself is their first response demonstrates this. The nature of that defense is telling.
Paul Krugman, New York Times, as per link above:
“Does the failure of Republican leaders to do anything about a sexual predator in their midst outrage him as much as a Democratic president’s consensual affair?”
Dobson: “We condemn the Foley affair categorically, and we also believe that what Mr. Clinton did was one of the most embarrassing and wicked things ever done by a president in power. Let me remind you, sir, that it was not just James Dobson who found the Lewinsky affair reprehensible. More than 140 newspapers called for Clinton’s resignation.”
These are just snippets of the full ugliness. Ultimately what it says, at least to me, is that a sexual predator is of less moral consequence than a consensual affair when it suits their interests. This is the “moral compass” they accuse the rest of us of lacking.
“Look what so and so did” is the extent of their ability to assess any potential immorality on their part. It’s the same as when we refute their lies(Paul Cameron studies, Biblical inconsistency, etc.) with irrefutable truth, and they respond to us with, “That still doesn’t justify your sin,” or the even more dismissive, “Are you trying to justify your sin?”
What it really says is, “look at your sin, that justifies my/their sin.” Two wrongs actually DO make a right is the essence of that logic.
When someone who’s morally superior uses the excuse that two wrongs actually do make a right AS the defense of their own wrong, then they are no longer morally superior. They aren’t even logically superior – logic being a necessary component in the assessment of truth.
-I know, I know, I’m preaching to the choir, thanks for listening though… 🙂
I wonder if Dobson ever reads his Bible.
In the midst of all his self-justification, this parable of Jesus came to mind (Luke 18:10-14):
“Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’
“But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’
“I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”