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Penn Jillette is No Longer A Libertarian (lemmy.frozeninferno.xyz)
submitted 2 years ago by to c/politicalmemes@lemmy.world
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Seriously abridged version of this alongside the clown makeup removal meme In 2008, Jillette stated that there is not enough information to make an informed decision on global warming, that his gut told him it was not real, but his mind said that he cannot prove it.[48] As of 2014, he has changed his position and now believes that climate change is occurring.[49] He stated in 2008 that he "always" votes Libertarian,[47] and endorsed Libertarian Party nominee Gary Johnson for president in 2012[50][51][52] and 2016.[53] However, he participated in vote swapping in 2016 by voting for Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton in the swing state of Nevada, in exchange for "10 or 11" of his friends promising to vote for Johnson in blue states like California and New York.[54] In 2020, Jillette distanced himself from aspects of libertarianism, particularly surrounding COVID-19. In an interview with Big Think, he stated, "[A] lot of the illusions that I held dear, rugged individualism, individual freedoms, are coming back to bite us in the ass." He went on to elaborate, "[I]t seems like getting rid of the gatekeepers gave us Trump as president, and in the same breath, in the same wind, gave us not wearing masks, and maybe gave us a huge unpleasant amount of overt racism."[55]
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[–] 6 points 2 years ago (3 children)

Reminds me of an anecdote about Robert Kennedy Sr. He was approached by a reporter on the campaign trail that asked him his stance on capital punishment.

"I'm against it," Kennedy told the reporter.

“When you were at the Justice Department, that wasn’t your position.”

Kennedy replied, "That was before I read Camus."

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  • [–] 2 points 2 years ago (2 children)

    Our media now rails on politicians "flip flopping" if their opinion is different than it was in the past. I always get angry when I hear them say that because, to me, it's a good thing. I want someone who has new experiences and changes their opinions with that. I don't want someone who learns something and dismisses any information they gained because it doesn't match their current beliefs.

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  • [–] 2 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    Personally I believe flip flopping and changing your mind are 2 very different things, flip flopping is making an appearance of change in response to social pressures, ie "I need to appeal to this specific group of voters" or "I'm suffering backlash for something I said" where as changing your mind is "I've learned something I didn't know before and I am changing as a result"

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  • [–] 3 points 2 years ago

    The media uses the term for any change of opinion. For example, I think I recall hearing some media saying Biden "flip flopped" from the position he held on crime 20+ years ago since he realized it wasn't effective.

    What the term should mean is you changing your opinion flippantly, whenever it's useful. It shouldn't be when you adjust your stance on a topic (for any reason) to a new one. It's when you go back and forth and aren't consistent with a new position.

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