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1/ A Short Thread About Civility and Calling Politicians Liars.
Nice people are sometimes uncomfortable that I call some politicians "liar". And I don't apologize for it.
But I don't call every politician "liar". Only the ones who deliberately tell provable lies and do so
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So which is more uncivil: calling out people who lie a lot OR being in a position of public trust and lying to people in the first place?
Civil discourse cannot survive if politicians lie all the time. It can't.
If the politician is a lawyer, report their behaviour to the Law Society.
@jkenney famously, and ironically, booted Fildebrandt from caucus for lying to him. But we are inundated with lies
It is these "bad actors" who are being uncivil.
When they trot out their chirch affiliations, ask what their church's stance is on lying. When they trot out their kids for photo ops, ask if
Because the decision to lie or to spread the lies of others IS personal. It is not a party decision.
And if someone wants to lose the label of Liar, they need to take several steps if they hope to regain public trust.
Second, they have to apologize to the people they serve - and mean it.
Third, they should thank the people who have been fighting to make them honest.
Fourth, they should make both public and private commitments to stop lying.
It will be hard to do in @UCPCaucus
because the party was formed through lies and corruption. But it is possible.
The ones who don't change need to be denied nominations.
More from Politics
My piece in the NY Times today: "the Trump administration is denying applications submitted to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services at a rate 37 percent higher than the Obama administration did in 2016."
Based on this analysis: "Denials for immigration benefits—travel documents, work permits, green cards, worker petitions, etc.—increased 37 percent since FY 2016. On an absolute basis, FY 2018 will see more than about 155,000 more denials than FY 2016." https://t.co/Bl0naOO0sh
"This increase in denials cannot be credited to an overall rise in applications. In fact, the total number of applications so far this year is 2 percent lower than in 2016. It could be that the higher denial rate is also discouraging some people from applying at all.."
Thanks to @gsiskind for his insightful comments. The increase in denials, he said, is “significant enough to make one think that Congress must have passed legislation changing the requirements. But we know they have not.”
My conclusion:
Based on this analysis: "Denials for immigration benefits—travel documents, work permits, green cards, worker petitions, etc.—increased 37 percent since FY 2016. On an absolute basis, FY 2018 will see more than about 155,000 more denials than FY 2016." https://t.co/Bl0naOO0sh
"This increase in denials cannot be credited to an overall rise in applications. In fact, the total number of applications so far this year is 2 percent lower than in 2016. It could be that the higher denial rate is also discouraging some people from applying at all.."
Thanks to @gsiskind for his insightful comments. The increase in denials, he said, is “significant enough to make one think that Congress must have passed legislation changing the requirements. But we know they have not.”
My conclusion:
