THE INSIDIOUS DANGERS OF POMPOSITY....

Why do people feel the need to recklessly state opinion as if it is fact? Why do people so often feel that their views are the only correct interpretation? Why are people so careless when characterizing another person in front of someone else...or even on national television?

On the Presidential debate stage last thursday Carly Fiorina made a closing statement in which she said ”Hillary lies about Benghazi and she lies about emails”. I bristled at that...I thought it was completely irresponsible, and self righteous....and reprehensible....NOT because I know for a fact that Hillary hasn’t lied with respect to Benghazi or anything else...but because it is highly slanderous and arrogant to make categorical statements about something which is purely conjecture...there is no evidence whatsoever, in spite of intense studies and congressional hearings, that Hillary lied about Benghazi...that is an emotionally charged attempt to slander someone without substantiation. ”Hillary lies about her emails”. Another presumptuous statement that says to me that Miss Fiorina thinks she is omnisicient and what she thinks is the indisputable Truth. People go to war because they think they are omnisicient...

How would Carly Fiorina feel if Hillary said that “Fiorina endangered her own children”, or that she ”got fired from HP because she was cheating the company”. Once you make such an irresponsible statement about another person it never leaves the public consciousness. It leaves residue.

Senator Maro Rubio said last week on a morning show that ”President Obama has no class”. He didn’t say that he disagreed with Obama on a specific issue..he made a personal, ad hominem attack, a statement that said ”Obama has no class”, which is a carefully disguised way of trying to get the listener to see it as Truth...it is a corrupt way of talking about other people.

Donald Trump has made more outrageous declarations (not opinions) than anyone..or so it seems....

l urge you to listen to a JFK speech when he was President and you will hear a great deal of ”I do not believe it is a valid argument to say”. or ”it is my position”, or “I think it is fair to say”, etc.. I have listened to them quite closely over the years and the general lack of righteous certitude is refreshing and often lacking from those who claim to be leaders...maybe that is why he was able to avoid a nuclear war when the stakes were at their highest.

If Fiorina had said that ”in my opinion” Hillary is lying about this or that...then that would be tolerable...but in very poor taste (in my opinion). If you are going to call someone a ”liar” you had better be prepared to substantiate that charge..something you can’t possibly do in a ”closing” statement. I would never even consider trusting someone who was so reckless in stating opinion as FACT.

For the record, I have no feeling one way or another for Hillary Clinton...I would grant the same courtesy of George W. Bush who has been accused of lying about the U.S. Intelligence with regards to WMD’s in Iraq. I have an opinion on the matter but I can’t say, especially on national television during a debate, that George W. Bush ”lied” about WMD’s in Iraq. I am not a fan of W. but I think that it would be irresponsible and self righteous of me to make that claim. It would be emotional and likely unprovable....a hunch.

Here is a statement made by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in 2002 about the need to invade Iraq and overthrow Saddam Hussein. He not only makes his statement of ”truth”, but he ”guarantees” it. He was totally dead wrong....just as wrong as a person could be..more than 100% wrong. Why didn’t he just state this as his (opinion). Why be so pompous about one’s predictions...especially when it is impossible to have any real certitude about them.

“If you take out Saddam’s regime, I guarantee you that it will have enormous positive reverberations on the region… The task and the great opportunity and challenge is not merely to effect the ouster of the regime, but also to transform the region.” -

What does this say about this person?...well, to me it says that this person is very self righteous and arrogant. In my opinion this is not the kind of person we need at the table when discussing delicate decisions of nuclear war. It’s emotional, and almost delirious,and very non diplomatic. Not only does he think he knows everything...he “knows“ he knows everything.

I see this often....in all kinds of discussions...from pundits, from people on the street, even teachers in school...and I don’t know why it isn’t considered compulsory to state non proven “facts” as ”opinion”. There are some exceptions....there was no legal proof that O.J. killed two people, but I have no problem making that statement...however, I don’t feel the same way about saying that there is global warming. I can state my opinion, but how can I know with certainty...after all, I am just believing what I read. I have a hunch.

I am careful, when I listen to someone who I know is trying to influence me, to listen for ”in my opinion”, or ”it is my belief”, rather than absolute statements...Absolute statements are dangerous in a society that is based on compromise. They are dangerous in a world where many people and cultures have different beliefs and ”Truths”.

Listen to any discussion or debate.....at Malibu City Hall, or with regard to the Iran deal, or even on ESPN, whatever...and see how many people state their views as ”their opinions” rather than making categorical statements designed to be accepted as Fact. How many people made claims about the Malibu Lagoon Project based on their own hunches? People on both sides made statements as if they knew indisputably that their opinions were fact. This is a form of brainwashing (in my opinion). It is insidious and it is dangerous....NO ONE has the truth cornered. There are very few indisputable truths....No one knows for sure how we got here or what our lives are all about....we can’t say with certainty whether we were created by God, or whether we are just random acts without intrinsic meaning.....

We can state clearly that the San Francisco Giants won the World Series in 2014 but most things are not like that...Truth is out there...but it can be elusive and disregarded, and often ignored. Life experience is largely subjective.....there is rarely consensus, and therefore, we must be cautious to not state opinion as fact...especially in front of children...that is how true brainwashing begins...

We can all imagine how to create a racist from scratch....start telling them as a child that certain people are inferior to other people...say it as if it is scientific fact, as if you read it in the Bible....state it with arrogance and righteous indignation...and you will almost surely create a racist. We bread racists and culturists and herd thinking all the time...because many parents think their children should be direct ideological descendents. What kind of ego feels the need to prioritize that?

Probably half of what I think I know.... I don’t know at all.....but for me to insist to the world that I am right can have dire consequences for all kinds of people. The stakes are high...

My opinions...(and a nickel will get you a cup of coffee)

Food for thought...