Posted on 10/28/2025 11:41:47 AM PDT by karpov
Moral relativism is enticing. It enables me to establish the moral value of everything I do by reference to the behavior of others. It allows me to avoid censure by judging my intentions, choices and actions not on the basis of whether they are intrinsically right or wrong, but by the lesser standard of whether someone in a similar position might have done something similar.
It is deeply corrosive of personal mores and social trust. Over time it dulls the conscience to any moral hierarchy. It is never a legal defense and shouldn’t be a moral one.
Moral relativism is hardly new in public life. Self-exoneration through false moral equivalence by public figures is as old as time itself. But when it becomes the controlling ethical architecture of public behavior, we are in serious trouble. Its effect is to give leaders permission to do just about anything they want, unconstrained by guilt, shame or political sanction. Moral relativism and the ratchet effect will ensure that there is always some precedent close enough to persuade people to shrug even when confronted with some evidence of genuine turpitude on their own side.
We’ve been descending this spiral for a long time, but as with just about everything to do with the gargantuan figure of Donald Trump, his behavior has accelerated the descent.
His corrosive effect on norms of ethics, language and, for that matter, conservatism, has been amplified by the eager acquiescence of the Republican Party in the process.
The party that once liked to think of itself as committed to values and principles has become the most cynical exponent of the idea that everything is relative. A cheerleading chorus of so-called conservatives in the media eased the way.
(Excerpt) Read more at wsj.com ...
Too many big words. Ain’t gonna read it.
Not as fast as the light-speed of the left that’s for sure.
Gerard needs a giant projector around his neck.
“His corrosive effect on norms of ethics, language and, for that matter, conservatism, has been amplified by the eager acquiescence of the Republican Party in the process. “
LOL- because playing nice, as the RINO’s did from 2000 to 2015, really got us far....
Oh, yeah, Trump invented “moral relativism”. Dems NEVER did that before.
What an idiot.
This is the same stupid argument we’ve been hearing for 10 years.
This anti-trump limp wristed RINO is a a candidate for the George Will/Rich Lowry retard award
In brief, a worthless jagoff.
Fake.
Boy howdy, are the TDS sufferers getting desperate!
TDS sufferers are moral relativists to the extreme.
As this hit piece perfectly demonstrates, they are inveterate practitioners of what mental health practitioners refer to as “projection”.
Wrong, Gerald. Yes, Trump can be boorish and petty. Yes, Trump tweets at times when he should shut up. But he is the necessary antidote to pre-Trump conservatism. The Bush / Boehner / Cantor / McCain conservatism that played by the rules set by the Dems and MSM even when the Dems changed the rules every election cycle to keep the advantage. The compassionate conservatism that accepted the Dem government programs like USAID that poured billions of dollars into anti-Republican and anti-conservative causes. The conservatism that had Boehner crying that his hands were tied to stop Obama even when the Republicans controlled both the House and Senate. The conservatism that “Believed All FBI and CIA agents” and knee-jerk found them above reproach even when they were plotting to overthrow elected Republicans. The conservatism that wanted to make the world safe for democracy even if it meant pouring hundreds of billions into places with no real US interest. So many of us are willing to take Trump’s “assault on norms” because the norms were causing our national decline.
Exactly.
The norms were the problem. Normal to talk sweet while wielding the shiv. Normal to take bribes & sweeteners. Normal to lie to the public. Normal to elevate donors/lobbyists above your oath to the Constitution & constituents. Normal to use insider knowledge to enrich yourself.
The author is a mite confused. Keeping your promises, telling even unpleasant truths, respecting the Constitution and judicial process are Trump hallmarks and represent true morality rather than the hypocrisy that has masqueraded as ethics.
Admittedly I only read the excerpt, but what is there appears to be typical nonsense that is mostly conclusions and practically no facts whatsoever. Leftists hate facts because they can be checked out and the context can be examined. When presented with inconvenient facts that make them uncomfortable they nearly always resort to insults and personal attacks.
“...a giant projector around his neck.”
I’d prefer a giant protractor...
Correct.
This has been going on since the first loser Bush took office.
As I said a theoretician: as a matter of moral theory this may be correct.
But if you are fighting in the political arena with an opponent who has weaponized government and engaged in massive corruption for decades, refusing to get your hands dirty means simply conceding the field to the enemy.
And when that enemy is as tyrannical and corrupt as the Democrats, and genuinely evil on abortion and child mutilating "transgenderism," I'm perfectly happy to see Trump's bull-in-the-China-shop approach to demolishing the whole edifice and forgive him his peccadillos.
Yes, “is” and “it”, always tricky little devils on those elementary school English tests!
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