Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Current events part 1

I recently got into a discussion with someone regarding John Demjanjuk that went something (well, exactly) like this:

HIM: I think they should leave the old German guy alone, he isn't hurting anyone anymore.
ME: Ummm...
HIM: Old Nazi guy. The U.S. Is deporting him.
ME: I know. And I re-state my "Ummm..."
HIM: The man is like, 90. He had to be removed from his house by an ambulance. Yeah, he might have done some bad stuff but I'm pretty sure he isn't going to anymore.
ME: Living long enough to become frail is not a punishment, it's a privilege. He denied the opportunity for that privilege to 29,000 people.
HIM: He is going to die before he is even going to go on trial.
ME: The point isn't whether or not he's capable of harming anyone now or in the future, the point is he needs to be held accountable for what he's done in the past. As long as he's still alive, he's responsible for that. And the descendants of his victims are entitled to it. Not vengeance, necessarily, but accountability. Actively participating in the murders of 29,000 people is considerably worse than "some bad stuff" and I don't see how living to a ripe old age should entitle him to a free pass on having to answer for it.

I broke it off after that because I was getting pissed off. In large part because I think the other person is an intelligent and thoughtful young man and what I perceive as flippancy and/or a lack of understanding on his part is out of character for him. However, I'd like to continue my thoughts on the matter here:

It's my sincere belief that the #1 reason why our current version of society is in the state it's in is because of a lack of accountability. Too many people are simply unwilling to own their bullshit and too many of the rest of us don't want to call them on it. As long as that mindset prevails, all the stimulus packages in the world aren't going to get us on the path to where we need to be. If we aren't willing to hold an accused Nazi war criminal's feet to the fire just because he looks like a feeble old man, then we deserve every one of the liars and cheats who have infested so many aspects of our lives. Personally, I not only don't care if he looks like Gepetto, the kindly toymaker, I don't care if he IS Gepetto the kindly toymaker.
He says he's innocent. So be it, let's have a trial and see what comes out in the wash. "This is about being an accessory to murder in 29,000 cases. That is an accusation of monstrous crimes. At all times, we owe it the victims to clear it up. Above all in Germany, we have a very special responsibility," said Bavaria's state justice minister, Beate Merk. Exactly. And if he's not able to survive the rigors of a strenuous trial, well, to quote fictional Russian boxing menace Ivan Drago, "if he dies, he dies." Or in other words, fuck him. Actually, I hope they have him hooked up to a heart monitor and if at any point they get the long "beeeeeeeeeeeeep", they should hit him with those shock paddle things, bring his ass back to life and immediately resume the proceedings.
Seriously, if we can't make a stand on this guy, we should just officially forfeit the right to complain about Manny Rodriguez, Rod Blagojevich and everybody in between.

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