The Banality of Evil

[Perknose]

This is the face of the banality of evil.
​

Hanna Arendt famously coined it in her description of the trial of Adolf Eichmann. From the Wiki:

Banality, in this sense, is not that Eichmann's actions were ordinary, or that there is a potential Eichmann in all of us, but that his actions were motivated by a sort of stupidity which was wholly unexceptional.[3] She never denied that Eichmann was an anti-semite, nor that he was fully responsible for his actions, but argued that these characteristics were secondary to his stupidity.

Stupidity oozes down from the top . . . a sort of trickle down stupidity, if you will.

Trump and his enablers are the drivers of this lethally venomous stupidity.

F*ck Trump.

F*ck the cowardly enablers of the Republican Party and all the ignorant, racist yahoos they pander to.

 

[dphantom]

An unthinking ignorant response. A pathetic example of all you condemn. Look in the mirror and see thyself.

All good people of any background will condemn this awful act. Evil exists everywhere and this heinous act will be punished. All you are doing is fanning the flames of hatred even higher.

 

[Commodus]

An unthinking ignorant response. A pathetic example of all you condemn. Look in the mirror and see thyself.

All good people of any background will condemn this awful act. Evil exists everywhere and this heinous act will be punished. All you are doing is fanning the flames of hatred even higher.

I wouldn't say this is the most eloquent response, but at the same time: if you're not mad, you're not really paying attention. Part of why Trump is in office is because many people thought "nah, people are ultimately reasonable, they'll see through him" and didn't speak out. Well, unfortunately, Trump and his Republican cheerleaders weren't so modest; they shrieked and hollered about the 'dangers' of brown people and reproductive freedom, how Hillary was supposedly an evil insider (but a billionaire pandering to fellow billionaires wasn't)... you get the idea.

And unfortunately, as we've seen with Trump's election and subsequent policy moves, real life does not necessarily see bad people being punished. Sometimes they're elected President, have the unwavering support of a craven Congress that only cares about holding on to power, and even get the support of large chunks of the population that would vote a murderer into office so long as he wasn't left-wing.

 

[Perknose]

An unthinking ignorant response.

Don't be so hard on yourself. Sure, you're a weasel racist apologist, but just like Adolf, your dog probably likes you.

All you are doing is fanning the flames of hatred even higher.

All you are doing is DEFLECT, DEFLECT, DEFLECT.

But you will not silence me with your pseudo-pious, weasel deflections.

Because, "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men should do nothing."

 

[realibrad]

Don't be so hard on yourself. Sure, you're a weasel racist apologist, but just like Adolf, your dog probably likes you.


All you are doing is DEFLECT, DEFLECT, DEFLECT.

But you will not silence me with your pseudo-pious, weasel deflections.

Because, "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men should do nothing."

Perhaps you read a different post that what you responded to?

"All good people of any background will condemn this awful act. Evil exists everywhere and this heinous act will be punished."

He is saying this will be punished and should be punished as its an awful and evil act. He did seem to not want you to "fan the flames" as historically that has not worked out well.

Lets take that Adolf example. Adolf was an overreaction to the punishment of WWI. It created such horrible conditions that people were willing to support anyone to get them out of the situation. When others tried to calm down the people, the response was that someone needed to do something.

So here we sit, with one side saying we need to do something extreme to stop the extremists, and the other side saying the same thing. But hey, getting people more angry has always worked out before right? We have the next Hitler so the only thing to do is to fight fire with fire. No way we can try to use non-violent reason because HITLER!

 

[zinfamous]

I wouldn't say this is the most eloquent response, but at the same time: if you're not mad, you're not really paying attention. Part of why Trump is in office is because many people thought "nah, people are ultimately reasonable, they'll see through him" and didn't speak out. Well, unfortunately, Trump and his Republican cheerleaders weren't so modest; they shrieked and hollered about the 'dangers' of brown people and reproductive freedom, how Hillary was supposedly an evil insider (but a billionaire pandering to fellow billionaires wasn't)... you get the idea.

And unfortunately, as we've seen with Trump's election and subsequent policy moves, real life does not necessarily see bad people being punished. Sometimes they're elected President, have the unwavering support of a craven Congress that only cares about holding on to power, and even get the support of large chunks of the population that would vote a murderer into office so long as he wasn't left-wing.

SO much this.

 

[Thebobo]

Kill all the extremist!

 

[Doc Savage Fan]

Wow...just wow. There are some really fucked up people in this world.

 

[Thebobo]

Wow...just wow. There are some really fucked up people in this world.

yea read this

 

[AnonymouseUser]

Oh, so now we're blaming an entire group for the actions of one person?

 

[bshole]

Oh, so now we're blaming an entire group for the actions of one person?

That is a fair point. This year a left wing nutter did shoot up a Republican softball practice. There appears to be a rather violent streak running through the alt right and antifa.

 

[Commodus]

Oh, so now we're blaming an entire group for the actions of one person?

I'm sorry, can you point me to the moderate neo-Nazis that would have reined him in?

Oh, right. Such a thing has never existed.

 

[realibrad]

I'm sorry, can you point me to the moderate neo-Nazis that would have reined him in?

Oh, right. Such a thing has never existed.

You, just like many others are the problem. Extremists are the problem, and its on both sides. The far right and far left are the problems and the moderates are being pushed out in both.

 

[woolfe9998]

You, just like many others are the problem. Extremists are the problem, and its on both sides. The far right and far left are the problems and the moderates are being pushed out in both.

Wut? Did you actually call him an "extremist" for not being more understanding of neo-Nazis? His post said there is no such thing as a moderate neo-Nazi, and that statement earned him the label "extremist" from you?

I think you have a terminal case of Both Sides Disease and it's rotting your brain. The inability to condemn...well pretty much anything, is the first sign. Seek help.

 

[fskimospy]

Wut? Did you actually call him an "extremist" for not being more understanding of neo-Nazis? His post said there is no such thing as a moderate neo-Nazi, and that statement earned him the label "extremist" from you?

I think you have a terminal case of Both Sides Disease and it's rotting your brain. The inability to condemn...well pretty much anything, is the first sign. Seek help.

Yes, I've seen a lot of this in recent days. People are basically saying 'well sure ACTUAL NAZIS are killing people in Virginia but in Berkeley people stopped Ann Coulter from speaking. Both sides have an extremism problem.' It's insane.

 

[Atreus21]

I think you have a terminal case of Both Sides Disease and it's rotting your brain. The inability to condemn...well pretty much anything, is the first sign. Seek help.

Yes, I've seen a lot of this in recent days. People are basically saying 'well sure ACTUAL NAZIS are killing people in Virginia but in Berkeley people stopped Ann Coulter from speaking. Both sides have an extremism problem.' It's insane.

Um, two months ago a Sanders zealot nearly killed a republican congressmen, and but for the security detail would've likely killed other congressmen.

Both sides have an extremism problem.

 

[Bumrush99]

You, just like many others are the problem. Extremists are the problem, and its on both sides. The far right and far left are the problems and the moderates are being pushed out in both.

Bullshit. The far left barely exists in this country. Someone calling for expanded healthcare or slightly higher taxes isn't on the far left, despite blowhards in fake news far right media that have easily brainwashed their followers in to the belief that anyone that disagrees with them is a commie loving leftist.

The far right, on other hand, is a clear and present danger to democracy that soaks up fake news, lies and distortions, aided and abetted by their racist leader that has the moral compass of a shit turd.

 

[Thebobo]

That is a fair point. This year a left wing nutter did shoot up a Republican softball practice. There appears to be a rather violent streak running through the alt right and antifa.

Totally different Mother Jones or other left leaning sites didn't post a pictures of him calling him a hero or call the victim's fat sluts.


In fact in my mind they're all co conspirators to the murder. (not legally of course)

 

[Thebobo]

Oh, so now we're blaming an entire group for the actions of one person?

I am are you?

 

[woolfe9998]

Um, two months ago a Sanders zealot nearly killed a republican congressmen, and but for the security detail would've likely killed other congressmen.

Both sides have an extremism problem.

Every side has extremists in it, all the time. And both sides have had a few people killing or trying to kill people on the other side. But these white supremacists are a mass movement, and they've been emboldened by the current POTUS. You have to admit that. They've never been this vocal before. They've never had anywhere near this number of people attending their rallies. And this POTUS, who freaks out and screams "Muslim" from the rooftops every time a Muslim kills someone, refuses to name who and what ideology was responsible for this killing. This is a systemic problem that starts at the top. And it isn't going away. In fact, it's going to get worse because frankly, Trump condones it. If we had a dem POTUS who was enabling violent, left wing extremists at every turn, I'm pretty sure you wouldn't be espousing this kind of false symmetry.

 

[HTFOff]

Bullshit. The far left barely exists in this country. Someone calling for expanded healthcare or slightly higher taxes isn't on the far left, despite blowhards in fake news far right media that have easily brainwashed their followers in to the belief that anyone that disagrees with them is a commie loving leftist.

The far right, on other hand, is a clear and present danger to democracy that soaks up fake news, lies and distortions, aided and abetted by their racist leader that has the moral compass of a shit turd.

Looks like you have your work cut out for you. Time to take back your country!!!

 

[Thebobo]

Um, two months ago a Sanders zealot nearly killed a republican congressmen, and but for the security detail would've likely killed other congressmen.

Both sides have an extremism problem.

Bull dung there are not websites that promote hate on the left. There is no moral equal.

 

[fskimospy]

Um, two months ago a Sanders zealot nearly killed a republican congressmen, and but for the security detail would've likely killed other congressmen.

Both sides have an extremism problem.

Um, that was literally one guy. Here you had hundreds of KKK members, Neo-Nazis, anti-semites, and other far right groups protesting the removal of a monument to a traitor who fought to preserve the ability to own people as property. If you look at the number of incidents of left wing terrorism in the US vs. right wing terrorism in recent years you will see that bothsides-ism is absolute bullshit. Both sides may have extremists, but the right has a lot more of them and they are killing a lot more people.

In fact, right-wing terrorists are responsible for far more attacks against Americans than Islamic terrorists in recent years. Left wing terrorism is far less prevalent than either of those. It's this sort of nonsense false equivalence that enables right wing terrorists to avoid harsher measures taken to control them. Conservatives are fond of asking Muslims to speak out and more effectively limit/condemn Islamic terrorist activity. It's long since time you guys realized you have the same problem.

 

[Bumrush99]

Every side has extremists in it, all the time. And both sides have had a few people killing or trying to kill people on the other side. But these white supremacists are a mass movement, and they've been emboldened by the current POTUS. You have to admit that. They've never been this vocal before. They've never had anywhere near this number of people attending their rallies. And this POTUS, who freaks out and screams "Muslim" from the rooftops every time a Muslim kills someone, refuses to name who and what ideology was responsible for this killing. This is a systemic problem that starts at the top. And it isn't going away. In fact, it's going to get worse because frankly, Trump condones it. If we had a dem who was enabling violent, left wing extremists at every turn, I'm pretty sure you wouldn't be espousing this kind of false symmetry.

Remember, to the far right, facts don't matter. They will always find excuses to excuse the inexcusable and will intentionally create, spread and engage in narratives to further their lust for power.
They suffer from paranoid delusions, soaking up blatantly false information like they were sucking the milk out of their inbred mothers tit. There is no limit to their insanity, they shit all over the dead children of Newton to further their paranoid fantasy that the big black man in office was coming to take their guns. I've seen multiple posts suggesting that the people that were mowed down by the car deserved it because they were blocking traffic.

 

[woolfe9998]

Um, that was literally one guy. Here you had hundreds of KKK members, Neo-Nazis, anti-semites, and other far right groups protesting the removal of a monument to a traitor who fought to preserve the ability to own people as property. If you look at the number of incidents of left wing terrorism in the US vs. right wing terrorism in recent years you will see that bothsides-ism is absolute bullshit. Both sides may have extremists, but the right has a lot more of them and they are killing a lot more people.

In fact, right-wing terrorists are responsible for far more attacks against Americans than Islamic terrorists in recent years. Left wing terrorism is far less prevalent than either of those. It's this sort of nonsense false equivalence that enables right wing terrorists to avoid harsher measures taken to control them. Conservatives are fond of asking Muslims to speak out and more effectively limit/condemn Islamic terrorist activity. It's long since time you guys realized you have the same problem.

And it's getting worse. There's no telling how much more common this will be while Trump remains in office.

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/u-s-sees-300-violent-attacks-inspired-far-right-every-year/