Posted on 02/23/2016 1:42:28 PM PST by Citizen Zed
To understand the rise of Hitler and the spread of Nazism, I have generally relied on the German-Jewish emigre philosopher Hannah Arendt and her arguments about the banality of evil. Somehow people can understand themselves as "just doing their job," yet act as cogs in the wheel of a murderous machine. Arendt also offered a second answer in a small but powerful book called "Men in Dark Times." In this book, she described all those who thought that Hitler's rise was a terrible thing but chose "internal exile," or staying invisible and out of the way as their strategy for coping with the situation. They knew evil was evil, but they too facilitated it, by departing from the battlefield out of a sense of hopelessness.
One can see both of these phenomena unfolding now. The first shows itself, for instance, when journalists cover every crude and cruel thing that comes out of Trump's mouth and thereby help acculturate all of us to what we are hearing. Are they not just doing their jobs, they will ask, in covering the Republican front-runner? Have we not already been acculturated by 30 years of popular culture to offensive and inciting comments? Yes, both of these things are true. But that doesn't mean journalists ought to be Trump's megaphone. Perhaps we should just shut the lights out on offensiveness; turn off the mic when someone tries to shout down others; reestablish standards for what counts as a worthwhile contribution to the public debate. That will seem counter to journalistic norms, yes, but why not let Trump pay for his own ads when he wants to broadcast foul and incendiary ideas? He'll still have plenty of access to freedom of expression. It is time to draw a bright line.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Did you get any answers on that Hitler question?
I didn’t see a response.
Here is the latest. This one is cute and refers to Munich:
“It would behoove you to attend a Trump rally than spout ignorance.â€
Where have we heard that one before? MUNICH
25 posted on 2/23/2016, 5:51:00 AM by HockeyPop
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/3400639/posts?page=25#25
Well, that’s cute. Let’s take your implication to its logical conclusion: Trump is Hitler. JimRob supports Trump as a second choice for president; therefore, JimRob is a Nazi.
Is that how you want to play this game?
What implication was that?
Play what game? The game where you infer something I did not write, imply I wrote it about Jim, and summon him to the thread?
That game sounds a lot like what third graders do on the schoolyard, which is not surprising coming from someone who supports a candidate who acts like a third grader.
“That game sounds a lot like what third graders do on the schoolyard, which is not surprising coming from someone who supports a candidate who acts like a third grader.”
Really? You’re name-calling like a leftist who was caught in a logical fallacy.
I call it as I see it, and I see you called JimRob to see if you could stir up some sh*t, because you disagree with what I wrote about Trump.
Are you hoping to get me banned or something? Want to silence that anti-Trump dissent? Who’s acting like a leftist again?
I would add Al Franken to the mix.
Lost me in the first three words comparing him to Hitler these people are despicable and are becoming REALLY desperate!!!!!!
Cool it. I called jimRob because it’s common courtesy to ping the person when mentioned.
No, I don’t want you banned. I’m not your enemy, LouD.
Wow. Hitler in the FIRST SENTENCE.
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