I’m looking forward to Kevin calling for the ABC to add a “left-wing Michael Duffy” to the programming line up.

[mostly from Wikipedia ... why write when I can paste?]

‘Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil’ is a book written by political theorist Hannah Arendt, originally published in 1963.

It describes her thesis that the great evils in history generally were not executed by fanatics or sociopaths but rather by ordinary people who accepted the premises of their state or leader and therefore participated with the view that their actions were normal and performed thier duties as would be expected of a competent administrator.

The book reported on Adolf Eichmann’s trial. Due to his organizational talents and ideological reliability, Eichmann was charged by with the task of facilitating and managing the logistics of mass deportation to ghettos and extermination camps in Nazi-occupied Eastern Europe.

Arendt states that aside from a desire for improving his career, Eichmann showed no trace of anti-Semitism or psychological damage.

Her subtitle famously referred to the “banality of evil,” and that phrase is used quite abruptly as the final words of the final chapter. The phrase also refers to Eichmann’s deportment at the trial, displaying neither guilt nor hatred, claiming he bore no responsibility because he was simply “doing his job” (“He did his duty…; he not only obeyed orders, he also obeyed the law.”).

whichever way you look at it ..its a fascinating study

What makes a man turn so much in a relatively short space of time…whats even more alarming is that this behaviour was rewarded by elevating him to higher positions within the govt …
do you blame him for his hypocrisy and sycophantic support of a morally bankrupt leader ?..

did he in the end succumb to the aphrodisiac of power which made him jettison his previously held beliefs?

Do you blame his leader for inciting such morally bankrupt positions ?

This is why I find him to be such a fascinating creature

The booth swing in Berowra was pleasing. There was a swing to Labor in every Berowra booth except for Arcadia, Berowra Waters and Dangar Island, and a swing away from Liberal in every Berowra booth except for Waitara, Brooklyn and Bowden Brae. Good swings in booths along the highway. Margin’s now under 10%. Ruddock was on ABC local radio just a few days before saying how he was looking forward to ‘increasing his margin’. Bite the big one, Junior.

The thing with his daughter was, I think, families at their best. Can’t imagine Mel H saying anything adverse about ‘Daddy’ and his ‘policies’.

Kirsty R’s still at it though:

“Father Brennan’s book provides different perspectives and thoughtful and compassionate insights into this difficult area.”
Kirsty Ruddock, NSW Law Society Journal, re: ‘Tampering with Asylum – A Universal Humanitarian Problem’ by Frank Brennan
(http://www.lawsociety.com.au/page.asp?PartID=8175)

Liberal Mayor Berman won’t run, I think his heart is no longer in it. One of the other bloggers calls him a ’serial pre-selector’: Berman’s blown his wad too many times. Hornsby Shire Council elections next year and I see him going back to back to Ministerial staff, what with all his ‘experience in local issues’. He’ll get dogged by those who like to do it for mis-applying S94 developer funds, especially now that his and Felicity’s S94 hobby-horse, the Galston Equestrian Centre has blown out by an extra $500,000. And that’s before we mention the %^#&’ing Quarry levy and ‘connections’ to Jackie Kelly. But who knows? With Alex Hawke around, it seemed that there were suddenly more members of the Cherrybrook Liberal branch than there were Labor members in the electorate of Berowra!

Ruddock think-piece here: http://webdiary.com.au/cms/?q=node/2184