:side: Well, I swear. Jake is saying a person has their druthers as to what book they wish to swear upon as they are sworn into office.
Compared to the professional spokespersons who know what game they're playing, this fella is more interesting.
He genuinely believed what Roy Moore / Roy Moore's campaign give as the reason why Muslims cannot serve as public officials ie it would be unethical for them to swear on the bible.
As a loyal follower, probably brainwashed with religion from an early age, accepting religious reasoning from a religious authority figure is a natural thing to do.
But he does strike me as someone who generally doesn't do his own thinking and makes his decisions on who to believe on other factors. So he is flummoxed by Tapper because Tapper is also believable. Searching for a way to reconcile his cognitive dissonance between what Moore and Tapper have told him, he recalls Donald Trump swearing on a bible, and that is probably because Moore has actually used it as an example to "prove" his point. So proving again that he doesn't think for himself, the spokesperson uses it as his reasoning as well.
Although Tapper proves him wrong again, you just know that the spokesperson will go away still believing Moore.
Now the question is, does this remind you of anything else you have seen recently? Bear in mind, the spokesperson said he is also an elected official.
It not only reminds me of recent events, but events throughout all my days, including an occasional glance into a mirror. To me, the problem of thinking on one's own is compounded by the notion that there have been just a small population of what might be called free or independent thinkers throughout history, and to this day it is not clear what "thinking" actually is, a question Martin Heidegger tried to point to in his book "What is Called Thinking". It seems that Tapper's guest in the video was attempting to adhere to and regurgitate the illogic of his ideology, and he did.
While it is only natural for anybody to get things wrong, to me, there are two aspects that I feel is getting worse (although it may be that I am noticing it more).
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People in positions of power and influence should not be getting such things wrong. I seem to remember when experts were experts and would be listened to as such. Now it seems that our criteria for experts is feelings based, hence we have Roy Moore becoming chief justice of Alabama's supreme court, mixing religion with the law, doesn't understand the constitution to the point that he was removed twice, but people still vote for him.
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The almost infallible level of belief that such people and their followers have about their position when it is quite easy to find the right answer.
These videos are good reminders to anyone who judges themselves to a high standard to not assume that others do the same.
Lastly, I think the thing that bothers me the most about such people is that they seek power to tell other people what to do, when they don't have the mental capacity or ability to think things through properly themselves. They are in effect imposing their feelings on others.
The look on spokesman Ted Crockett's face when Tapper asked "don't you know the law(s)" on the oath or affirmation process was something, and speaks for itself.
Merry Christmas!