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| Source: Wikipedia |
Once again, leading Conservatives (e.g., Mitt Romney) are promoting internally inconsistent positions. Their party line is that John Roberts made the wrong decision when he agreed that the Individual Mandate was a tax. (In fact, they are going so far as to accuse him of dishonorable motivations.) However, they are now crowing that, because of this ruling, Obama has raised taxes. One of the ways that Conservatives feel that they resolve this cognitive dissonance is to say something like this:
"No, I myself don't believe that this is a tax, so Roberts ruled incorrectly. However, since the court ruled that this is a tax, then I can honestly say that he raised taxes because the official ruling is that it's a tax. Therefore, it is completely consistent for me to say that the Individual Mandate is not a tax, but that Obama raised taxes by imposing the Individual Mandate."
It's sad to have to clarify for people how to advocate with honesty and integrity. Unfortunately, it is called for too often these days. So, here goes:
Your positions need to be consistent with
your opinions. If you take a position on Topic B based on your position on Topic A, you can't take a position on Topic C based upon a contradictory position on topic A. It's irrelevant whether others have taken that position -- it's
your position on the topic that matters.
