A Lack of Consistency

In Far Middle episode 154, Nick examines a string of connections demonstrating how a lack of consistency is becoming the norm in society—raising questions about fairness, integrity, and the rule of law.

In the lead-off spot and serving as the episode’s sports dedication, Nick discusses Major League Baseball's inconsistent handling of the Shohei Ohtani and Pete Rose gambling scandals. In addition to contrasting MLB’s Ohtani and Rose investigations, Nick also note’s MLB’s inconsistent stance on gambling. While the League says gambling is evil, and will result in severe punishment, at the same time the League enjoys profitable deals with gambling platforms.

“The nice thing about baseball is that even though the handling of gambling sagas may lack consistency, the scoring and player statistics, they require consistency,” says Nick, connecting to inconsistencies in standardized test scoring for college admissions and explaining how wealthy students are manipulating the system to gain extra time on exams through dubious means.

Nick then asks whether the law is consistently applied these days, or rather, is it subjectively applied depending on the person and the circumstances. That troublesome question leads to analyzing the judgement against former President Trump for the alleged fraud in New York regarding his real estate valuations.

“The $454 million bond to appeal the ruling marks the highest bond ever recorded in United States history against a single individual,” says Nick. “For doing what, some people's experience has shown, all kinds of firms and banks engage in every day, which is negotiating and debating the value of assets to set loan levels and covenants.”

Nick underscores that it’s not about liking or disliking Donald Trump, but rather, “it’s about whether the law applies to everyone consistently or whether the law gets selectively applied to those we don't care for.”

Nick follows by addressing comedian Jon Stewart's comments on the Trump judgement by scrutinizing Stewart’s own lack of consistency regarding his personal real estate actions. “Using Stewart's anti-Trump logic, paying less in property taxes due to an artificially low assessed value, that would deny government of needed tax revenue,” says Nick. “Is that tax evasion or fraud? Of course it is not—we'd all be potentially liable for such.”

Walking toward the end of episode 154’s line, Nick closes by reflecting on two giants in the history of music, Johnny Cash and Bob Dylan. Both individuals’ careers were marked by inconsistency, “so a lack of consistency isn’t always a bad thing,” concludes Nick.