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Allow me to suggest a take on the FEMA guidance to avoid houses sporting Trump signage.
The common take I get from “conservative” media is that this guidance arose from a politically-motivated desire by FEMA to punish political opposition.
But maybe instead the guidance arose from a genuine belief by the FEMA official in the media and Democratic narrative/assertion that Trump supporters were a threat to the physical safety of government employees.
If so, it would show government bureaucrats as stupid, ignorant, uninformed idiots, but maybe not evil. I prefer to avoid ascribing evil when stupidity and ignorance provide a sufficient explanation.
The other items on the "best practices" guidance list all relate to the crew workers’ physical safety and physical well-being.
The rest of the guidance list suggests the FEMA official was concerned with the physical safety of the FEMA workers. This in turn suggests that the FEMA official instructed workers to avoid Trump-supporting residences not because of political animosity, but because of concern that the Trump supporters represented a risk to the physical well-being of the workers (i.e., Trump supporters would physically attack the workers). The FEMA official bought into the media/Democratic narrative that Trump and his supporters are a physical threat to the peace and well-being of their neighbors and others.
So maybe the FEMA official’s motivation was not to punish opponents of the government administration politics based on their politics. Again, this would suggest that the FEMA official is stupid and ignorant, but maybe not evil.
I find it less harmful to all if I assume stupidity, ignorance, and idiocy before I assume evil. But either way, it's an argument for why the government and its bureaucrats should be involved in as few things as possible.
Discussion (33)
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While true, I think that it is quite possible that to wilfully suspend disbelief so as to take the establishment narrative at face value in order to withhold assistance can, in fact, amount to evil. Only a small amount of rational thought is enough to conclude that 50% of the country can’t be physically dangerous. It is fine to hold and express outrageous opinions in the faculty lounge or on X; it is not fine to act upon them in the Real World. People should be held responsible for their own beliefs.
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Absolutely.
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I worked on a project years ago where the construction manager submitted duplicate receipts (and not just once) with their pay applications. They were either incompetent or criminal. Either way, it seems to me, they should have been fired.
A FEMA official whether this stupid, or ignorant, or evil, should be fired.
Or am I just that intolerant - 'Get off my lawn!' By the way, nothing I've ever said.
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FIFY.
Wat would your reaction be if the official picked a demographic that actually was more likely to be:
?
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