Big "Run Lola Run" fan! It came out (at least in the U.S.) just a few months before "Being John Malkovich" and together they helped make the second half of 1999 one of my all time favorite movie seasons.
Although Forster gives the example of Dante's judgment of Cassius and Brutus, his essay seems to be focused on personal relationships, not relationships among political allies. "It is a matter for the heart, which signs no documents," he writes, contrasting this with business relationships, governed by contract. The ethics involved in loyalty to friends is close to ethics involving loyalty to family, and the examples of Jill Biden and Kamala Harris, and of the various Democratic officeholders who criticize other Democrats are different in kind, I think, from the relationships that give Forster's point its force. Throwing a true personal friend under the bus as an act of patriotism is a lot more vexed than throwing a political ally under the bus. In any event, forbidding criticism of allies is more a matter of disagreement about electoral strategy than about ethics and conflicting imperatives. Those who disapprove of intra-party criticism are worried, often wrongheadedly, about providing ammunition to the opposition; personal loyalty is not the issue. (At least, that is the case within the party that is not a personality cult.)
What I see as unethical is not Harris's unwillingness to criticize Biden, but his unwillingness to tell her she should do whatever was required to prevent a Trump return, including criticizing him to the skies -- and to instruct his staff to refrain from any form of retaliation. That failure was unpatriotic on Biden's part, in my view. (And I say that although I generally admire Biden and do not admire Harris.)
There's an easy way to redeem the Fosterian position here. Joe Biden clinging to delusions of the presidency was Joe Biden's worst self. Joe Biden's best self was the humble public servant who put country over ambition. A true friend to Joe Biden, after the debate, is someone who encouraged him to be his best self!
Put another way, a friend isn't someone who unconditionally maximizes your reward function. A friend is someone who tells you when your reward function is misspecified.
Don’t shoehorn in Perez. It’s more about her going down the Fetterman rabbit hole of spending time and energy on right wing crank nonsense. Now she’s not at his level, and the Chuy thing is not good, but when you compare the corruption and choose where to focus your time, you give away your priorities. You gotta be a team player in this era or you are a net negative on the party as you selfishly improve your own rep.
Perez was entirely right to do what she did. We are not credible if we only criticize corruption on the other side. And only a fool thinks that we consider corruption on the two sides to be equal if we criticize it on both sides.
Missed this but "Jill Biden presumably thinks this reflects poorly on Harris, but when I first heard this anecdote, my first reaction was: “Where was this Kamala Harris on the campaign trail?” The Kamala Harris who could push through the awkwardness of demanding that a man watching his career fall apart in a public and embarrassing manner put that aside and help her clinch the nomination."Yes
Big "Run Lola Run" fan! It came out (at least in the U.S.) just a few months before "Being John Malkovich" and together they helped make the second half of 1999 one of my all time favorite movie seasons.
Although Forster gives the example of Dante's judgment of Cassius and Brutus, his essay seems to be focused on personal relationships, not relationships among political allies. "It is a matter for the heart, which signs no documents," he writes, contrasting this with business relationships, governed by contract. The ethics involved in loyalty to friends is close to ethics involving loyalty to family, and the examples of Jill Biden and Kamala Harris, and of the various Democratic officeholders who criticize other Democrats are different in kind, I think, from the relationships that give Forster's point its force. Throwing a true personal friend under the bus as an act of patriotism is a lot more vexed than throwing a political ally under the bus. In any event, forbidding criticism of allies is more a matter of disagreement about electoral strategy than about ethics and conflicting imperatives. Those who disapprove of intra-party criticism are worried, often wrongheadedly, about providing ammunition to the opposition; personal loyalty is not the issue. (At least, that is the case within the party that is not a personality cult.)
What I see as unethical is not Harris's unwillingness to criticize Biden, but his unwillingness to tell her she should do whatever was required to prevent a Trump return, including criticizing him to the skies -- and to instruct his staff to refrain from any form of retaliation. That failure was unpatriotic on Biden's part, in my view. (And I say that although I generally admire Biden and do not admire Harris.)
There's an easy way to redeem the Fosterian position here. Joe Biden clinging to delusions of the presidency was Joe Biden's worst self. Joe Biden's best self was the humble public servant who put country over ambition. A true friend to Joe Biden, after the debate, is someone who encouraged him to be his best self!
Put another way, a friend isn't someone who unconditionally maximizes your reward function. A friend is someone who tells you when your reward function is misspecified.
> Jill Biden is back in the news this week, seemingly incapable of fading into obscurity as honor demands.
Why does honor demand that she, or any former first lady, fade into obscurity?
Don’t shoehorn in Perez. It’s more about her going down the Fetterman rabbit hole of spending time and energy on right wing crank nonsense. Now she’s not at his level, and the Chuy thing is not good, but when you compare the corruption and choose where to focus your time, you give away your priorities. You gotta be a team player in this era or you are a net negative on the party as you selfishly improve your own rep.
That aside, Jill Biden is awful.
MGP represents a ~Trump +5 seat.
Perez was entirely right to do what she did. We are not credible if we only criticize corruption on the other side. And only a fool thinks that we consider corruption on the two sides to be equal if we criticize it on both sides.
Missed this but "Jill Biden presumably thinks this reflects poorly on Harris, but when I first heard this anecdote, my first reaction was: “Where was this Kamala Harris on the campaign trail?” The Kamala Harris who could push through the awkwardness of demanding that a man watching his career fall apart in a public and embarrassing manner put that aside and help her clinch the nomination."Yes
I've disliked Jill Biden ever since reading this NYRB piece on her: https://www.nybooks.com/articles/2024/05/23/dr-b-jill-a-biography-of-the-first-lady/