In this episode K Sera asks why can't politicians just answer the question! Micah provides a real-life demonstrate on the art of the non-answer; Phil discusses that this is unfortunately the winning strategy.
Note: This episode was originally recorded in the early Fall of 2020, during the debates of the Presidential Elections. Interestingly enough, "stacking the courts" is still relevant one year later and perhaps for many more years to come.
For latest updates and more, visit us at www.iiopodcast.fm
Show notes:
The Fog of War - WikipediaThe worst debate we have ever witnessed, so far
K Sera’s After Thoughts:
- I’m still disappointed in politicians who dodge questions, but after this conversation, I’m also kind of in awe. It is clearly a skill and I feel like you could make a drinking game out of political debates. At least then I would find them both frustrating and entertaining.
- Also, way to go Micah, making this episode about something else entirely. Not that I didn’t completely take the bait.
- Phil makes so many good points in this episode. I love learning new things, especially things I feel like I should have learned when I was much younger. This was the first time I heard about the former Secretary of Defense, Robert McNamara’s strategy for responding to questions. And that’s just it - it’s a response, not an answer. This is a great short term strategy and a perfectly reasonable way to respond to trap questions, but I predict this strategy will ultimately fail in the long run, especially where the asker’s questions are softballs or actually demand an answer. Your boss won’t accept a non-answer response to questions related to your job performance, and excuses will only buy you time. Your spouse or SO might accept your question dodging, but eventually they’ll get tired of your BS and go find their own answers. Why do politicians get a pass? Eventually there will be an accounting, whether you answer or not… Unless you are an expert karma-dodging lucky jerk who somehow always manages to skate by without consequences no matter how terrible you are or what terrible things you’ve done.
┌∩┐(ಠ_ಠ)┌∩┐
Phil’s After Thoughts:
-The rules for the political sphere do not reflect reality for everyone else! Providing long-winded non-answers is not acceptable for 99.999% of the population but for politicians they are above both accountability and responsibility from their very own words and actions. Seems a bit of “heads I win, tails you lose” if you ask me.
-I will vote for both my co-hosts if they ever choose to run for public office. And although Micah is sarcastic in his excellent demonstration of sprouting sound bites and buzzwords, deep down I think he can win.
-We can only hope that the next generation of voters will not succumb to the apathy and attrition of our current political nonsense. We need to demand more from our public servants, especially those that abuse our trust and misuse our resources.