The Raving Loony - Blaming the Victim

Really, I think I've tapped into an inexhaustible source of idiocy, here.

Today, we get this gem from dear Justin: The Greatest Evil Ever Known.

And what, you say, breath bated, is this great, inhuman evil?

The greatest evil is not the driver of evil acts. The greatest evil is the power to stop known evils, and refuse to, whether the intentions for doing so are evil or good. Allowing a known evil to exist and grow when you have the power to stop it is more evil than the actions of the known evil.

For this reason, the most evil man in history can be named: Neville Chamberlain.

That's right. Neville Chamberlain is the Superdevil.

Now, I don't think Mr. Chamberlain is the brightest light who was ever lit. I think he was, historically, a bit of an ostrich. His policy of appeasement has been roundly criticized by historians, and the Munich Accord was inarguably a bad move.

However. He did lead England into World War II when Nazi Germany's aggressive actions continued. He was a prominent member of Churchill's War Cabinet. As a politician, he was talented.

He was also a man astride a very difficult position. By the time his policy of appeasement came into play, Nazi Germany had a full-swing military industrial build-up in place. There are those who argued that he should have done more to prepare England for war, but it's difficult to blame a man for hoping not to send thousands of his countrymen to die in a ghastly, total war. To hope not to have to annihilate cities, killing women and children in an attempt to stop the war from killing millions more.

All this, of course, is secondary to the enormity of Justin's statement: he's calling Neville Chamberlain the most evil man in history. No. No he is not. Not even close.

The theory that "Allowing a known evil to exist and grow when you have the power to stop it is more evil than the actions of the known evil." means that every one of the passengers on the 9/11 planes were guiltier of the attack than the terrorists. That passers-by when a robber runs out of a bank may as well have stolen the money themselves. That every German who didn't join a fifth column during World War II was more vile than Hitler or Goering.

I'm sorry, but that dog won't hunt. Chamberlain was perhaps guilty of being foolishly hopeful in the face of the evidence - again, it's hard to blame him, given the eventual death toll and massive property destruction that resulted. But worse than Hitler? The most evil man in history? No. Now go read history, Justin. You know. The subject you have trouble with.