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> You can't take one tragic mistake or bad-apple cop and draw conclusions about the fate of the country from it.

As per a sibling comment:

> The bad apples metaphor originated as a warning of the corrupting influence of one corrupt or sinful person on a group: that "one bad apple can spoil the barrel". Over time the concept has been used to describe the opposite situation, where "a few bad apples" should not be seen as representative of the rest of their group. This latter version is often used in the context of police misconduct.

> The bad apples metaphor originates from the proverb "A rotten apple quickly infects its neighbor", first recorded as used in English in 1340.[1]

* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bad_apples

* https://www.merriam-webster.com/wordplay/one-bad-apple-spoil...

And the real problem is that the highest levels of government is defending the actions of the bad-apple cop.

It is the fact that these crazy high quotas that ICE agents must meet are a high-level government policy that are 'forcing' the agents to do these crazy things (if they want to keep their jobs); of course some ICE thugs enjoy doing this and like the power trip(s).



Regardless of all the rest, what a saying meant 1000 years ago is irrelevant. I find it bizarre anyone is providing historical usage as if proves something.

You could pick endless words and sayings in English from 1000 years ago, which are entirely different now.

So what?

The modern usage is quite clear.


> The modern usage is quite clear.

Perhaps it is "clear", but it may have lost the lesson of the original adage. Perhaps that lesson is worth knowing.


That's not what's being done here.

Instead, the prior meaning is being used in an attempt to discredit the validity of the current meaning.

Instead of attacking the argument, it is attacking the medium. This is a logical fallacy.




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