Yeah, clearly debating itself is a skill that can “win” a debate regardless of the worth of the ideas being proposed, and with someone like Shapiro, it brings into question the whole idea of what constitutes being good at debate in the first place. He uses weird rhetorical flourishes to make it seem like he’s been victorious in an argument, when all he’s actually done is change the subject to discuss a straw-man he’s invented instead. I think he just ends up confusing his debate opponent more than anything, but for people who agree with him, that’s a “win.”
So yeah, in the grand scheme of things for someone in congress, who needs to understand both the law and how it will impact society (and thus how society works in the first place), having clerked at the Supreme Court doesn’t actually mean much.
There are some public figures who, by all accounts, are incredibly mediocre but who I was shocked to discover had clerked for Supreme Court justices. I shouldn’t have been, as it turns out going to the right schools and getting the right degrees and knowing the right people plays an outsized role in that pathway. But even if that wasn’t the case, the law requires a pretty narrow set of intellectual abilities and can lead to some warped thinking, as it’s about having a desired outcome and making arguments that it fits within the law, reality be damned. (Which is why, e.g. a UC Berkeley law professor was a leading light in the creationist movement.)
Oh definitely, but I think the quality of an idea, and even whether or not it’s right or not, isn’t necessarily an indication of the bearer being smart. I’ve met some incredibly smart people for example who devoutly believe in God with a capital G for example.
The phrase “evil genius” comes to mind.
And I think lots of evil geniuses would like nothing more than to be dismissed as stupid.
Beto has been using the power failures as a talking point in his race vs. Czar Abbott.
It would be nice if he picked up on this aspect of it & made the FDC in Texas pick sides on the invasion.
Key word here: ‘almost’.
Interesting that you chose to throw in ‘human’…
Doesn’t make him any less of a smarmy slimeball with the ambitions of Lucifer & no redeeming qualities whatsoever.
Makes him dangerous, though.
He’s been called a ‘miserable s.o.b.’, which sounds more than reasonable.
If Cancun Cruz is satan incarnate, then that makes You Know Who what, exactly?
The antichrist?
Damn, I wish I still had my Monster Manual…
Lack of morals and/or ethics has little to do with education, & everything to do with psychopathy.
Intelligence would tend to make him better at rotten behaviour.
Sure does.
He carries a shovel for when he reaches the bottom of the hole.
Yes, he does. Why the scare quotes?
The first time was almost an accident, and the second time was by a far narrower margin than most people thought.
Now that’s a horrible thing to inflict upon the Good People of Texas [this doesn’t, of course, include the scumbags who voted for one of their own in the form of Cancun Cruz…]
