Presumption of innocene / misspoke/ mistake instead of malice is generally useful. However, the old “if it walks like a duck…” must also be considered. Somebody who has been caught 10 times already lying (and repeating it after the truth has been pointed out to them) or using hate-speech or what you call “dog-whistles” * - then presumption of innocence shouldn’t apply the 11th time.
Yes, in court, you always start with presumption of innocence, but even then, you have character witnesses. And Trials have evidence and in-depth Investigation.
For normal everyday Life, a consistent character trait or behaviour, (without any public apology and promise to try to Change their lives), droppping presumption of innocence works better.
And yes, Christians are called to forgive 7 times 70. However, forgiveness requires repentance first, that is, Admission of “I did wrong” (Not “I’m sorry that my words got me in Trouble with the media”) and “I understand how + why it was wrong”, promise “I will try my best to not repeat this wrong” and making up “How can I undo this to the best of my abilities”.
If These steps don’t happen, forgiveness is not owed in my understanding.
I don’t remember if Spicer Comes from the Alt-Right or not, but if so, I would Attribute his lack of both knowledge and correct Terms more to the deliberate historic revisionism These Groups usually engage in, and less to a momentary lapse.
Are you just surprised that gas chambers have been used in the US for capital punishment, or are you trying to deny it? Or are you trying to say the comparison is irrelevant, and if so, why?
If Germany used chemical weapons at Adzhimuskai isn’t firmly established, if they in fact did what type(s) of agents were used hasn’t been established, and if something was used the means of delivery is unclear. The most often used source in English, Catherine Merridale’s Ivan’s War, only says:
The picture you linked to that wiki uses for the article and captions there as “The Germans eventually used poison gas on survivors from the Battle of Kerch, May 1942.” isn’t a picture of a German plane. It is ironically a picture of a Soviet plane, if you look at the photo source it is from the Bundesharchiv titled “Kampf um die Halbinsel Kertsch.- russisches Flugzeug” or “Russian air strike over the Kerch Peninsula.”
In case you wanted to distinguish between “innocent civilians” and “convicted criminals” being gassed - the Problem is that in every decade, not just in the 90s, Projects have uncovered severe mis-trials in death Penalty cases. (not just formalities, but innocent People being sentenced). Many many many cases. So quite a lot of innocent People have been gassed to death in the US.
I appreciated Lawrence O’Donnell’s take on this last night.
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“I do not think Sean Spicer should resign or be fired. it would be tremendous disservice to the country if we were to have a smarter or more articulate person on the job. It would misrepresent the intelligence level of the current administration.”
That page also describes the Germans as using “toxic smoke.” All smoke is toxic, as far as I am aware. The Allies, at the time, were using white phosphorus munitions. In addition to their pyrotechnic effects, WP munitions produce dense clouds of smoke. Although research is sparse, the literature seems to lean toward that smoke is bad for you. We’re the Allies, therefore, using chemical weapons?
I have no desire to defend Spicer or the Nazis. However, I think we should be cautious about defining chemical weapons too broadly.
The drawback is that Spicer’s getting more press than Assad, and he’s having to do more damage control. It is kind of pathetic that a buffoon like Spicer is getting more press than a mass murderer, but it indicates how much more worrying the Trump administration is.
To me, the “holocaust centers” part wasn’t the worst of it. Yes, it’s a sign of colossal incompetence at his very important and high-stakes job, and he should be fired for it, but (by itself, at least) it doesn’t speak to his moral character. The worst of it was his despicable attempt to minimize the evil done by Hitler.
Though, it’s quite possible that the “holocaust centers” phrasing wasn’t an accident resulting from incompetence, but part of that same minimization. If that’s the case, then yes, that’s reprehensible, too, but it’s only a part of the reprehensibleness.
The narrow focus was on saying Assad is worse than Hitler. “As bad” isn’t on message, so the goalposts have to be moved. Assad is indiscriminately using gas; at least Hitler has the civility to discriminate first.
You’re confused. That was yesterday’s episode of the Spicer follies. Today, I think he’s supposed to say the Assad was in New Jersey cheering the 9/11 attacks.
There’s a real difference, though, between executing someone who was convicted of a crime like murder, even if it totems out that person was wrongly convicted, and mass murder in an attempt to carry out genocide against a group.
