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Feb. 11, 2020 - Dennis Prager Show
05:54
The Billy Bush Tape: Private vs. Public Behavior
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Explain it in my piece.
You really should read it.
Why private speech doesn't tell us about a person's character.
That is the title of the piece.
You can't get more direct than that, can you?
That's the title of the piece.
There are, on Town Hall...
Friendly Atheist.
Yeah, Friendly Atheist.
Yeah, good.
So, thus far, there are 288 comments on the piece.
And I will read you a few of them.
So here is the way to understand it.
There are four categories.
Private speech, private action, public speech, public action.
Right?
There's a division between public and private, but not with regard to actions.
Private actions are as important as public actions.
If you beat your wife in private, that's evil.
Okay?
So, with regard to action, there is no difference.
Between public and private.
Evil is evil.
You murder somebody, most people don't murder people in public.
They murder people in private.
Murder is the worst thing you can do, so obviously there's no difference.
But in speech, and I give example after example, in speech, that's a difference.
So I give an example.
I give an example of a woman Who tells her, her husband or her best friend, you know, I've been taking care of my mother now for five years.
She has Alzheimer's.
And I tell you the truth, there are times when I wish she would die.
It's a perfect example of my point.
Does this tell you about the character of this woman?
Actually, believe it or not, I think it does, in her favor.
I will explain that in a moment.
Do you know where I got this from?
This is the oldest phone call to my show that I recall, and I have been talking about it.
It entered our film.
There's a whole scene about it, and for goodness sake, it's a free video.
It's how I met Alan Estrin, my producer, The Living Martyr, and you will love it.
Some of the biggest stars in Hollywood are in the film.
It's called For Goodness Sake, and it's on the internet.
It's free.
And you'll see me...
How long ago?
25 years ago?
You will see me from 25 years ago.
It's not 25?
Well, wait.
20 years ago...
Well, no.
Yes, I am right.
Mid-90s.
That's astonishing to think.
25 years ago.
See, you'll see me 25 years ago.
You get a kick out of it.
Anyway, it's called, for goodness sake.
So in it, we have this scene.
What scene am I referring to again?
The scene in which the guy confesses that he...
Oh, yeah.
So that's right.
So the guy...
I'm in each scene.
It's a funny thing.
So I'm in each scene.
In this scene...
We're in a nursing home.
Guy takes care of his mother constantly, and then he whispers to me, he says, you know, I gotta tell you.
There are some times I wish she would die already.
It's very, very difficult.
This happened because of a phone call to my show.
Dennis, I'm a terrible son.
I so remember it.
A guy about between 30 and 40 years old.
Dennis, I'm a terrible son.
I'm the sole financial and physical support of my mother, who's living with us.
And I tell you, sometimes I wish she would finally die of her illnesses.
And I don't know what to do.
I'm just wracked with guilt.
And I said, I just want you to know I think you're a wonderful son.
And I'll never forget his reaction.
He thought I was mocking him.
He so didn't believe what I said.
And I said, no, no, no.
You're a wonderful son.
He said, didn't you hear what I said, Dennis?
I said, that's why you're a wonderful son.
Despite how you feel, you're taking care of your mother.
She doesn't know how you feel.
Now, if you said it to her, that would be evil.
Hey ma, I hope you die.
If he said it publicly, you know, I hope my mother dies.
That would be evil.
But if he say it privately, no.
I give more examples of Nixon and Truman in my piece.
Read it during the break.
Send it to people.
It's really, really important.
Why private speech?
Doesn't tell us about a person's character.
It's up at townhall.com or my website.
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