I think that aphorism is about authority-respect rather than basic-human-decency-respect.

This thread makes me wonder how much contemporary American English is to blame for people being able to exploit ambiguities surreptitiously. Dog whistles have to start somewhere, they don’t seem to be prearranged.

I think the rationale is that, when it’s a single individual, they can’t pass the buck or blame the group. It’s a final appeal at a human level.

The trick is not electing a troll.

It would be so much more interesting to see the % of dollars claimed.

Does negging his customers count as an idea?

I mean, they are also responsible for making news a for-profit enterprise, which has arguably ultimately killed it.

The FDA was already fucking worthless. I got severe food poisoning from some grocery store pre-boiled eggs some years ago, and when I asked them to look into it to prevent other people getting sick, they just connected me with the grocery store lawyers who were just useless and defensive.