“But, you are the government,” Bash pointed out while Noem nodded in agreement.

“That’s what I’m saying. The American people now are saying that we have had our personal information shared and out there in the public,” Noem started before Bash interrupted to point out Musk has access to said personal information.

“Yeah, but Elon Musk is part of the administration that is helping us identify where we can find savings and what we can do and he has gone through the processes to make sure that he has authority,” Noem defended before stating she is comfortable by “the work he’s doing to identify waste, fraud and abuse.”

User [email protected] observed in another thread how every conservative holds the unshakable, foundational belief that they are a good person, regardless of how they actually act. Here Noem brings it back to “Well, we’re the good guys so it doesn’t matter when we do it.” When you see it in this way, a lot of what the MAGA people do starts to make a little more sense. They don’t have to do anything good, or not do anything bad, in order to be the good guys in their own eyes. It’s just axiomatic for them.

Here’s a copy of [email protected]’s comment:

Conservativism is built on the idea that “I’m a good person.” That’s the core of every single conservative ideology. There are no unifying beliefs, no foundational value, no immovable, fundamental priorities for conservatives. Everything is negotiable, except for the fact that “I am a good person.” If I want something to change, it must change because I am a good person. If I want something to stay the same, it must remain the same because I am s good person. If you disagree with me, then you are a bad person.

A party of conservatives will coalesce around a single identity, and then it morphs into “We are the good people” but only because each individual member still believes “I am a good person.”

If someone else does something bad, it reinforces the idea that they are good. If they do something bad, it’s justified because they are the good ones as it was either necessary or a meaningless temporary lapse.

Conservativism is not so much an ideology as it is a psychosocial virus.

So there is no irony, no hypocrisy, no self-reflection among conservatives. They don’t perceive their flaws because that’s the point of conservativism. If conservativism were a sport, it would be Calvinball, where the rules are ephemeral and capricious.

When you try to apply reason to a conservative’s statements or actions, you’re wrestling with the tar baby they made for you.

(Original thread)