Greg Abbott isn't ignorant -- he is a liar, and the difference matters

[Nevilledog]

Link to tweet

Tweet text:
Amanda Marcotte
@AmandaMarcotte
Greg Abbott's comments about rape and misrepresentation of the pregnacy timeline are not born of ignorance. He's a glib liar, like most anti-choicers. And it's important to understand the difference.

Greg Abbott isn't ignorant — he is a liar, and the difference matters
Abbott's dumb statements about rape and abortion aren't due to lack of education, but malice and misogyny
salon.com
10:14 AM · Sep 8, 2021

https://www.salon.com/2021/09/08/greg-abbott-is-not-ignorant--hes-a-liar-why-the-difference-matters-for-the-future-of-democracy/


So often progressives, many of us missing the school days of gold stars on our spelling quizzes, love nothing more than to dunk on Republicans for saying stupid stuff. And boy, don't conservatives know how to weaponize that "um, actually" gene they trigger against us? Take, for instance, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott. Like most ambitious Republicans, he is a consummate troll who is happy to say seemingly dumb things to attract liberal outrage, attention which bolsters his fame and credibility in the eyes of the right. (He likely learned well from his fellow Texas Republican, skilled troll Sen. Ted Cruz.) Playing dumb, for right-wingers, is often the smartest move you can make.

And so, with depressing predictability, Abbott said some foolish things on Tuesday, when a reporter asked him why he would force a victim of rape or incest to carry the pregnancy to term. Abbott started by insisting the law "provides at least 6 weeks for a person to be able to get an abortion." This is flat-out untrue, unless Texas has some secret access to time travel technology, because the ban kicks in a mere four weeks after the actual conception and only two weeks after the typical missed period date. ("Six weeks" refers to the time since the first date of the last missed period, which is easier to measure than the moment sperm hit egg.) He then went on to insist that rape victims don't need abortion, because "rape is a crime," which is a little like saying gunshot victims don't need hospital care because shooting people is a crime. He then insisted that the state will "eliminate all rapists from the streets of Texas," which seems like the thing they should have already been doing if it's as easy as all that.

The A students of left saw these comments and immediately diagnosed their source as ignorance, as if Abbott's problem is that he slept through high school biology, and not that he's a glib liar. Even the usually more astute Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., stepped into the trap, stating on CNN that Abbott "speaks from such a place of deep ignorance," and "I'm sorry we have to break down Biology 101 on national television."

To be fair to Ocasio-Cortez, she is speaking to a national audience that keeps hearing the term "six weeks" and doesn't understand that pregnant people have, at most, two weeks to navigate the byzantine Texas law to obtain an abortion. Using this as a moment to educate viewers probably felt like a priority over talking about how Abbott is a lying troll.

*snip*

[dutch777]

1. Most of these dolts are some of both and sometimes just puppets

One wonders how much, or how little they really know or care to know, and how much is just briefing and talking points fed to them by their aides and handlers. They don't really care to know, I don't think, they care to talk to and maintain the support of their base for the next election. Whatever that takes, is what they say. There is no penalty for being wrong, misleading, lying or otherwise disingenuous unless they just don't get reelected or get that cushy corporate job after leaving office. Maybe most of us could not face ourselves in the mirror in the morning being a person of such low character and integrity but they seem to have gotten over that a long time ago.

[sanatanadharma]

2. Knowing facts does not negate being ignorant

To ignore morality, humanity and one's own religion and God is to be ignorant of, or ignoring of, larger more inclusive systems of organization which include interpersonal ethics and morality.

Causing harm to others is the very definition of ignorance, not knowing, not understanding cause and effect; not understanding that cutting off the others' hands will only reduce the number of hands that can do your own bidding.

To injure others causes self harm except to those who are ignorant (ignoring) of others' humanity; jingoists, racists, masochists and misogynists for instance.

1000 individuals, experts in knowing their field of knowledge, doesn't guarantee a functioning society of 1000 individuals if they collectively are individually ignorant of what causes great societies.

[hamsterjill]

3. Facts do not matter to this idiot.

All that matters is the adoration of his base, and the money that comes with that.

[LeftInTX]

4. He's putting "perfume on a pig"

He knows exactly what he's going.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

5. Whether Greg Abbott is ignorant or just a liar matters for the future of democracy

I know Greg. He was a former toxic tort defense attorney who bragged about cheating Widows and Orphans. Greg is not stupid and was trying to get a lie by

Link to tweet

So often progressives, many of us missing the school days of gold stars on our spelling quizzes, love nothing more than to dunk on Republicans for saying stupid stuff. And boy, don't conservatives know how to weaponize that "um, actually" gene they trigger against us? Take, for instance, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott. Like most ambitious Republicans, he is a consummate troll who is happy to say seemingly dumb things to attract liberal outrage, attention which bolsters his fame and credibility in the eyes of the right. (He likely learned well from his fellow Texas Republican, skilled troll Sen. Ted Cruz.) Playing dumb, for right-wingers, is often the smartest move you can make.

And so, with depressing predictability, Abbott said some foolish things on Tuesday, when a reporter asked him why he would force a victim of rape or incest to carry the pregnancy to term. Abbott started by insisting the law "provides at least 6 weeks for a person to be able to get an abortion." This is flat-out untrue, unless Texas has some secret access to time travel technology, because the ban kicks in a mere four weeks after the actual conception and only two weeks after the typical missed period date. ("Six weeks" refers to the time since the first date of the last missed period, which is easier to measure than the moment sperm hit egg.) He then went on to insist that rape victims don't need abortion, because "rape is a crime," which is a little like saying gunshot victims don't need hospital care because shooting people is a crime. He then insisted that the state will "eliminate all rapists from the streets of Texas," which seems like the thing they should have already been doing if it's as easy as all that.

The A students of left saw these comments and immediately diagnosed their source as ignorance, as if Abbott's problem is that he slept through high school biology, and not that he's a glib liar. Even the usually more astute Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., stepped into the trap, stating on CNN that Abbott "speaks from such a place of deep ignorance," and "I'm sorry we have to break down Biology 101 on national television."

Greg wants to be POTUS so bad that he will do anything and tell any lie that helps him