And Also: This quote (the book was so-so, but worth skimming) seems appropriate on various levels, but for application to the
Padilla case with a cite of Kevin Drum and Lithwick, see
here. Simply put, Padilla is troubling on both principle and pragmatic grounds, like so much of what this administration and its supporters do and promote. And, I'm sick of it all, but so it goes.
The liar still cares about the truth. The bullshitter is unburdened by such concerns. Bullshit-related phrases like bull session or talking shit also suggest a casual, careless attitude toward veracity -- a sense that the truth is totally besides the point. Bullshit distracts with exaggeration, omission, obfuscation, stock phrases, pretentious jargon, faux-folksiness, feigned ignorance, and sloganeering homilities. When Dubya speaks of freedom and liberation, and claims to be praying for peace as the army disgorges load after load of bombs, he is not lying. He is bullshitting. A lie would be easier to disprove. Bullshit is a committee-drafted simpleton's sermon about evildoers and terra and freedom being God's gift to all men.
-- Laura Penny, Your Call Is Important To Us: The Truth About Bullshit
