Posted on 05/31/2024 8:46:26 PM PDT by DoodleBob
The jury in Donald Trump’s hush-money payments trial has found the former president of the United States guilty of falsifying business records in relation to payments made to adult film star Stormy Daniels. The guilty verdict marks the first felony conviction of an American president.
Speaking to reporters after the verdict, Trump called the trial a “rigged decision, right from Day 1.” He is likely to appeal the verdict.
Trump had been facing 34 felony charges stemming from his conduct in the lead-up to the 2016 U.S. presidential election. He faces three other criminal indictments that won’t likely go to trial before the November election. And in 2023, he was found liable for sexual abuse in a civil suit involving writer E. Jean Carroll.
Despite these legal troubles, many Republicans still support Trump and would vote for him as president, even while acknowledging Trump’s faults outside public office or the courtroom. In fact, 56 percent of Republicans say Trump’s sexual misconduct should not disqualify him from running for president.
Republicans typically offer various reasons for supporting Trump, even while recognizing his sexual harassment of women. For example, some suggest that Trump is the victim of a political witch hunt, while others claim Trump’s current trials and charges are a form of election interference.
Why do many Americans continue to support Trump? And are there psychological reasons that explain why people remain supportive of politicians despite their moral or political failings?
“Moral decoupling” is a cognitive process that can explain why some people continue to support leaders in politics, media and sports even when they believe these leaders have significant moral failings outside of their professional vocation.
Moral decoupling is the ability to separate one’s judgments of a person’s moral character from their judgments of that person’s performance or abilities in public office. In simpler terms, it’s the mental process of saying: “I don’t agree with their actions, but I still think they’re effective at their job.”
Moral decoupling can explain why, for example, Woody Allen continues to have a dedicated fan base and receives support within the film industry despite facing allegations of sexual misconduct. Many fans and professionals separate their appreciation for Allen’s movies, such as Annie Hall and Midnight in Paris, from his personal controversies, allowing them to continue supporting and valuing his work while disregarding the allegations against him.
There is some reason to believe that conservatives might be more likely to morally decouple than liberals. People who identify as conservatives tend to think in more narrow terms. That is, conservatives tend to focus on particular issues, seeing them as separate from others, not representative of “who” the person is. Separating issues fulfills a psychological need to see the world in a more clear-cut and orderly manner.
Meanwhile, liberals tend to look at “the big picture.” This explains why, for example, conservatives support politicians like Ron DeSantis, who focuses on specific policies like education and handling of COVID-19, while more liberal people support politicians like Bernie Sanders, who strive for systematic change.
Moral decoupling poses challenges for the future of democratic politics. As voters increasingly separate their judgments of personal morality from political leaders’ effectiveness in office, this trend could normalize misconduct from public officials.
Electors may increasingly justify such misconduct by elected officials, with supporters focusing on the candidate’s stance on a particular issue rather than their ethical values or fitness to hold office. It also reduces the need to hold public officials accountable not just to their office but to the public they serve. Indeed, effective political leaders are ethical leaders.
To address these challenges, it is crucial for members of all societies to foster a political culture that values both effectiveness as well as ethical conduct. Encouraging transparency, accountability and open dialogue about the moral implications of political actions can help mitigate the negative effects of moral decoupling.
Given the cognitive bases for moral decoupling, one way is to promote a more holistic approach to evaluating political leaders so voters can ensure that ethical considerations remain an integral part of the democratic process.
While moral decoupling helps explain why voters continue to support leaders despite their moral failings, it also highlights the need for a balanced approach to political judgment. As democracies evolve, it is essential to recognize the complexities of moral decoupling and work towards a political environment where both ethical integrity and effective leadership are equally valued.
Eugene Y. Chan, Toronto Metropolitan University
Governments around the world have recommended or mandated various behaviors to slow the spread of COVID-19. These include staying at home, wearing face masks and practicing social distancing.
Yet individuals continue to flout these recommendations and ignore explicit rules about wearing face masks. In the U.S., U.K. and Australia, crowds have gathered closely together to protest against lockdowns.
All this poses the question: Why are people not following the rules that protect not only their own health but the health of their community and nation? And how can policymakers and public health officials design better messages to encourage uptake
Love how he brings Bernie! into the discussion. He’s much more moral than everyone else because he “strives for systematic change.” Well Bernie! hasn’t been very effective in over 40 yrs in Congress, but bless his heart, he’s still trying…as long as that hefty salary keeps coming in. 🤣
Apparently they cheated the process to get the same hanging judge. They must have cheated to get a hanging jury as well. The truth will come out eventually but not before the election.
Toronto Metropolitan University is the new name of Ryerson Polytechnic. Ryerson was deemed problematic since he was some guy from the 19th century so the wokists have had the name expunged. La Trobe University on the other hand is in Australia so only one is based in Canada. The other is on the other side of the world. Still crap but this crap is spread out a bit.
Now imagine these same retards saying this about BLM and George Floyd!
doubt if one in a hundred know or care about the following!
30 March 2022: Politico: Federal campaign watchdog fines DNC, Clinton campaign over dossier spending disclosure
The conciliation agreements found “probable cause to believe” that both the campaign and national party “misreport[ed] the purpose of certain disbursements.”
By ZACH MONTELLARO; Josh Gerstein contributed to this report.
The Federal Election Commission has agreed to a fine of over $100,000 against the Democratic National Committee and Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign over an investigation into alleged misreporting of spending related to the now-infamous Steele dossier...
The DNC will pay $105,000 and the Clinton campaign $8,000...
Daniel Wessel, a DNC spokesperson, said in a statement that “we settled aging and silly complaints from the 2016 election about ‘purpose descriptions’ in our FEC report,” while a spokesperson for Clinton’s office did not respond to a request for comment...
The civil penalty appears to relate to highly technical rules about how campaign spending through an intermediary should be reported, and not to delve into issues around the legality (or veracity) of the dossier. In a letter addressing one of the complaints, the commission said it dismissed allegations against Marc Elias — who was then an attorney at Perkins Coie and is now the namesake of his own firm — and the law firm itself, Fusion GPS and Christopher Steele himself, and other allegations against the DNC over impermissible contributions from foreign nationals...
CORRECTION: An earlier version of this article misstated lawyer Graham Wilson’s law firm. The former Perkins Coie attorney now works for Elias Law Group.
https://www.politico.com/news/2022/03/30/dnc-clinton-campaign-fine-dossier-spending-disclosure-00021910
24 May: JustTheNews: While Trump faces felony charges, NY-based Clinton campaign only faced fines for its records issue
Selective Prosecution? Following the 2016 election, the FEC determined the Clinton campaign incorrectly recorded opposition research as legal expenses, but was only hit with an administrative fine
By Steven Richards
The payments in question were sent to powerhouse law firm Perkins Coie to pay for the opposition research that ultimately produced the discredited Steele Dossier which sparked the Russian collusion investigation into Donald Trump and his 2016 campaign. Instead of classifying them as for opposition research, the Clinton campaign labeled the expenses “legal services” and “legal and compliance consulting.”
Records from OpenCorporates and the New York Department of State show the Clinton campaign—called HFACC, Inc. or Hillary for America—was registered in 2015 in the state of New York and operates out of an office in the Financial District, which is in Alvin Bragg’s district, theoretically making the campaign subject to the same state laws as Donald Trump...
https://justthenews.com/politics-policy/elections/while-trump-faces-felony-charges-ny-based-clinton-campaign-only-faced
doubt if one in a hundred know or care about the following!
30 March 2022: Politico: Federal campaign watchdog fines DNC, Clinton campaign over dossier spending disclosure
The conciliation agreements found “probable cause to believe” that both the campaign and national party “misreport[ed] the purpose of certain disbursements.”
By ZACH MONTELLARO; Josh Gerstein contributed to this report.
The Federal Election Commission has agreed to a fine of over $100,000 against the Democratic National Committee and Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign over an investigation into alleged misreporting of spending related to the now-infamous Steele dossier...
The DNC will pay $105,000 and the Clinton campaign $8,000...
Daniel Wessel, a DNC spokesperson, said in a statement that “we settled aging and silly complaints from the 2016 election about ‘purpose descriptions’ in our FEC report,” while a spokesperson for Clinton’s office did not respond to a request for comment...
The civil penalty appears to relate to highly technical rules about how campaign spending through an intermediary should be reported, and not to delve into issues around the legality (or veracity) of the dossier. In a letter addressing one of the complaints, the commission said it dismissed allegations against Marc Elias — who was then an attorney at Perkins Coie and is now the namesake of his own firm — and the law firm itself, Fusion GPS and Christopher Steele himself, and other allegations against the DNC over impermissible contributions from foreign nationals...
CORRECTION: An earlier version of this article misstated lawyer Graham Wilson’s law firm. The former Perkins Coie attorney now works for Elias Law Group.
https://www.politico.com/news/2022/03/30/dnc-clinton-campaign-fine-dossier-spending-disclosure-00021910
24 May: JustTheNews: While Trump faces felony charges, NY-based Clinton campaign only faced fines for its records issue
Selective Prosecution? Following the 2016 election, the FEC determined the Clinton campaign incorrectly recorded opposition research as legal expenses, but was only hit with an administrative fine
By Steven Richards
The payments in question were sent to powerhouse law firm Perkins Coie to pay for the opposition research that ultimately produced the discredited Steele Dossier which sparked the Russian collusion investigation into Donald Trump and his 2016 campaign. Instead of classifying them as for opposition research, the Clinton campaign labeled the expenses “legal services” and “legal and compliance consulting.”
Records from OpenCorporates and the New York Department of State show the Clinton campaign—called HFACC, Inc. or Hillary for America—was registered in 2015 in the state of New York and operates out of an office in the Financial District, which is in Alvin Bragg’s district, theoretically making the campaign subject to the same state laws as Donald Trump...
https://justthenews.com/politics-policy/elections/while-trump-faces-felony-charges-ny-based-clinton-campaign-only-faced
Trump is our last bulwark before a communist takeover. There is no moral confusion.
The MSM is”decoupled” from reality.
CC
Who was getting a Lewinski in the Oval Office??
The LEFT has been “MORAL DECOUPLING” FOR YEARS AND YEARS.
i’M HAPPY THEY PUT A NAME ON IT.
Are they going to say that MORAL DECOUPLING IS...BAD?????
The blatant hypocrisy of democrats who take the moral high ground and support Joe the Pedo and Bill Clinton the Rapist.
REally, who cares what a couple of Commie hosers think.
In the words of someone, “tool off hosers”
Umm wasn’t Clinton from NY also
Or iSlime and their false moon deity and his pedophile false prophet Mad Mo.
“falsifying business records” as though this payment was of any significance that how it was recorded on the ledger was actually important or of any real consequence. “Truth decoupling” is what got us here.
A criminal indictment and then conviction on 34 counts based on how a payment was entered on a ledger 8 years ago. Ridiculous beyond description - and it takes a “moral decoupling” to recognize that reality according to this author?
The decoupling is much worse.
It’s now a complete lack of trust in the US legal system especially in leftist jurisdictions. That includes all federal courts and leftist state courts.
The presumption of contempt is all that these corrupt legal entities deserve.
Nothing like two probable abortion supporters or enablers lecturing readers about morality...
He looks as slippery as an Eel in that picture.
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