The Attempted Assassination — Part 2

John Droz jr. | July 17, 2024

This is a good time for some critical thinking

By now there are likely a thousand articles written about the attempted assassination of Donald Trump. For those who missed it, this was my initial commentary — and it still remains rather original in tone and perspective. Many of the others are quite good and I cited several examples as references (see the end of my prior post).

One that deserves special attention is the commentary by Dr. Robert Malone. Although it is too long and covers too many topics, the gist of it is important: it discusses evil. We tend to think of evil people as those who have corrupted standards (immorality, greed, etc.). Also, Thomas Crooks doesn’t really look like an evil person…

Dr. Malone’s point is that much of the evil we see is actually due to banality. This means rather than being a bad person, such an individual is “devoid of qualities that make for spirit and character.” There is a difference!

As a sideline, this is a significant part of what is missing in K-12 public education. Instead of teaching students to have Judeo-Christian values, they are taught Social Emotional Learning (SEL).

Another major consideration is about the qualifications of federal employees — like Secret Service personnel. Which is more important: to have such people be qualified, Critical Thinkers, or to have them be hired because of DEI criteria? Based on multiple reports of inexplicable behavior by various law enforcement personnel in this situation, the answer should be obvious.

Note: the only mention I could find on the Homeland Security site about Critical Thinking is that it is a part of the UDEE exam. Kudos for that being there. It’s too bad that it doesn’t get the emphasis that DEI, etc. do.

Back to Dr. Malone, who goes on to cite Hannah Arendt from her 1963 book “Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil”. Some salient parts for my readers are:

“Arendt’s intention was to highlight the fact that evil is not necessarily driven by a desire for destruction or chaos, but rather by a lack of thought and consideration for the consequences of one’s actions.

“The banality of evil refers to the fact that evil can be committed by ordinary, unremarkable people who are not driven by a desire for evil, but rather by a lack of moral imagination and a failure to think critically about the consequences of their actions.

“This concept highlights the importance of critical thinking and moral imagination in preventing evil. It suggests that individuals must be able to think critically about the consequences of their actions and consider the potential impact on others in order to avoid committing evil.”

Once again the takeaway is the profound importance of Critical Thinking, in almost every aspect of life. We simply MUST start properly teaching this in K-12 schools, quickly.