• merc@sh.itjust.works
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    1 year ago

    In some ways, sure. But, the character of a potential president is important, and secretly using lifts is relevant to someone’s character. It either says they’re insecure about their height, or that they don’t think people will vote for them unless they appear taller than they really are.

    • trash80@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      1 year ago

      FDR worked hard to conceal the fact that he couldn’t walk. What sort of character flaw was that indicative of?

      • merc@sh.itjust.works
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        1 year ago

        He didn’t think that Americans could accept a disabled president. He was probably right. DeSantis may also be right that Americans wouldn’t accept a short president. In both cases, the fact that they lied to the electorate is bad.

        • trash80@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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          1 year ago

          In both cases, the fact that they lied to the electorate is bad.

          I will concede that.

          Abraham Lincoln grew a beard because an 11 year old girl Grace Bedell wrote him a letter.

          I have yet got four brothers and part of them will vote for you any way and if you let your whiskers grow I will try and get the rest of them to vote for you you would look a great deal better for your face is so thin. All the ladies like whiskers and they would tease their husbands to vote for you and then you would be President.

          Appearances are important to people, even if they ought not be. I don’t think recognizing that is necessarily evidence of a character flaw or some failure of personal integrity.

          On the other hand, Douglas MacArthur was vain, a jackass, and a gloryhound. I think that was reflected in his appearance.


          Brigadier General MacArthur in the center in his unauthorized WWI uniform. He never wore a helmet, even in no man’s land, and he would always wear that modified hat. His uniform was completely different from his four subordinates in the photo.


          Douglas MacArthur, seen here as a brigadier general, cleaned up after the Germans left and restored what he could of the original splendor. He is seated in the original chair of the old lord of the chateau. St. Benoit Chateau, France.

          • merc@sh.itjust.works
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            1 year ago

            I understand that people are vain. But, Lincoln’s beard was hardly a secret. It’s not really the vanity that’s an issue, it’s the dishonesty.

            Look how much trouble Nixon caused trying to keep his involvement with the scandal at the Watergate a secret. Or, how much trouble resulted from Bill Clinton not being honest about his affair(s). If DeSantis is going to lie about wearing lifts because revealing the truth makes him look bad, what might he want to hide as president that makes him look bad?

            • trash80@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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              1 year ago

              DeSantis denying that he wears lifts is not a good foundation for the argument that he is a dishonest person, IMHO. It makes the argument seem weak, shallow, and nitpicky. People are going to look at that argument and wonder whether why you could not find any better examples to present as evidence.