Jewish Defence league. Are they really that dumb?

[Strangler Lewis]

Originally Posted by Jazzman

So you think that Hitler went to bed every night thinking, "Bwahahaha!!! I did so much evil today! I am so evil and terrible! I'm the evilist, most terrible person who ever lived!!!"

I highly doubt that was the case. Even though he pretty much was the most evil and terrible person to ever live, he didn't think so and that is what Smith was speaking to. Nobody is arguing that Hitler was basically an average Joe who just got caught up in his bad side. The point is that Hitler was so deranged and completely removed from reality that while committing the most heinous acts humanity has ever seen he thought it was all fine and good, and there is a lesson to be learned in that.

Smith's comments weren't incorrect, inappropriate or anti-Semitic, they were just challenging and thought provoking.

I doubt that Hitler probably did not assess himself using adjectives like good or evil. However, I have no problem thinking he went to bed thinking, "Bwahaha!! I killed so many Jews, etc. today! I accumulated so much power today for myself and my country at the expense of the weak."

I'm certainly willing to think that Hitler was deranged and removed from reality, although since he was elected to rule a country that largely shared his views, I'm not sure that this is as apt as saying that he was the product of a sick or damaged culture in the same way we condemn inner city culture as sick or damaged.

I don't think Will Smith's comment captures any of this. He makes Hitler sound like someone who just couldn't see the other side of the argument. Since everyone who disagrees with me is willing to declare Hitler objectively evil, I still fail to see that Smith's comments are particularly useful.

[Jazzman]

Originally Posted by Strangler Lewis

since he was elected to rule a country that largely shared his views

Sidenote: this is not true at all. The German people were suffering the effects of the Treaty of Versailles. They were demoralized and felt oppressed and Hitler took advantage of a movement (set into motion long before he arose) to reinvigorate Germany to seize power for himself. One of the first things he did was eliminate any political opposition, including top military leaders, which might stand in his way. The German people supported him as far as rebuilding Germany and its economy, but they didn't at all wholesale believe in exterminating Jews, world domination and all that. They just wanted a stronger Germany. Remember that a lot of the Jews who were killed were German. Look into accounts of German life during the war and you'll see that by and large, with the exception of the rich upper class the German populace suffered greatly under Hitler and disliked him as much as, if not more than, anyone else.

[Strangler Lewis]

Originally Posted by Jazzman

Sidenote: this is not true at all. The German people were suffering the effects of the Treaty of Versailles. They were demoralized and felt oppressed and Hitler took advantage of a movement (set into motion long before he arose) to reinvigorate Germany to seize power for himself. One of the first things he did was eliminate any political opposition, including top military leaders, which might stand in his way. The German people supported him as far as rebuilding Germany and its economy, but they didn't at all wholesale believe in exterminating Jews, world domination and all that. They just wanted a stronger Germany. Remember that a lot of the Jews who were killed were German. Look into accounts of German life during the war and you'll see that by and large, with the exception of the rich upper class the German populace suffered greatly under Hitler and disliked him as much as, if not more than, anyone else.

I do remember. They're in the family tree. They were also upper class. At least until their properties and businesses were confiscated. And I didn't say that the majority of Germans went so far as to favor mass extermination, although I think that's an open question. They certainly favored discrimination, confiscation and allowing their kids to beat my dad up for being Jewish so that he skipped school most of the time.