So last week, I wrote the following on Facebook:
Gandalf says, “Oft evil will shall evil mar.”
It is one of the weird paradigms of the universe that evil destroys itself. Just as it was Satan who put it into the heart of Judas to betray Jesus, thus setting in train the process that would result in the destruction of the power of the devil, so on December 11, 1941, out of pure gratuitous stupidity, Hitler gave the world the great gift of a declaration of war on the United States of America and thereby brought down upon himself the wrath of the greatest industrial power on planet earth. Churchill remarked that he slept like a baby for the first time since the war in Europe had broken out when the US entered the war.
What is so remarkable about it is that Hitler need never have done it at all. Our declaration of war was against the Empire of Japan alone and he could have just left well enough alone, but in the second greatest act of sheer hubris (the first being his opening of a two front war against Stalin), Hitler sealed his own fate telling a wrathful America that was itching for a fight to knock the chip off his shoulder.
It did not end well for him.
Now the GOP is courting Nazis and telling Normals to knock the chip off their shoulder.
It will not end well for them either. And their destruction too will likewise be entirely self-inflicted.
Given that the leader of the GOP is dining with Nazis while Nazis in the GOP like Paul Gosar and Marjorie Taylor Greene are chumming it up with Nazis like Nick Fuentes and the rest of the GOP leadership refuses to speak against it because Nazism focus tests well with their base of Nazis, this seemed like a fitting thing to say.
I knew this was a risky thing to do on the Book of Face, but to my surprise they let the post stand.
Naturally, some readers made comments. One of them said:
Well…sort of. Germany had a mutual defense pact with Italy and Japan. But one could definitely argue that Hitler overreached himself in 41 by invading his erstwhile ally–the Soviet Union–and declaring war on the United States. From fighting against just the British Empire, he now had united the three most powerful nations in the world against him.
A reasonable reply, to which I in turn reasonably replied—and was promptly subjected yet again to an insane, draconian punishment of 30 days in Facebook jail. No, really:
Now, an awful lot of my readers on this blog come here from Facebook. And I have posted an awful lot of material ahead of time, requiring an awful lot of work from me. So rather than do all that work in vain, I am going to move it to January when my posting privileges on Facebook will be restored.
So with the exception of December 16 and Christmas week, I will just be posting on Mondays and Saturdays until I can again post on Facebook.
Thank you for your patience.
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14 Responses
So was it the conjunction of “Hitler” and “famous” perhaps that made Our Robotic Underlords think that you were praising Hitler?
I recognize that it’s also possible that people are reporting you just out of spite to try to shut you down.
I’m sorry.
I think this was pure algorithmic stupidity.
Well, FB have to be careful. They don’t want Hitler turning against them 🙂
I’d say that this was definitively some kind of script or AI that was calling the shots, however, its never a good bet to underestimate human stupidity. Or their propensity to act as automatons as a way to avoid having to engage in critical thinking, and to just hide behind “the rules”.
On a different note, I came across an article I thought you might find interesting:
Catholic power politics boil even closer to schism
It gives an outsider’s perspective on the currently ongoing internal Church politics. At the very least, it can give you something to compare notes against, this time, being the “normals” of the non-religious variety.
Anyways, I wish you a merry Christmas season for you and your family!
Algorithmic stupidity is just human stupidity, automated.
Ah, “Only Sky”, putting John Lennon as the authoritative voice on the validity of religion.
Considering the writer quotes a Wikipedia article which describes the papal election as an “enclave” (even though it clearly says conclave in the cited link), how she names NCR the “National Catholic Recorder”, how she states her (much beloved) aunt is part of the clergy, well… I realize that these are easy mistakes to make if you’ve never been Catholic, but she said that her mother’s side of the family is ultra-Catholic, which simply doesn’t stick.
She’s bound to know that she’s making those mistakes, so she’s either making them on purpose, or she doesn’t care about validity or truth in her writing.
So it’s only fitting how she twists facts to fit her narrative, how she selects her sources regardless of how wrong or even false they are are how she completely ignores any reports contrary to the site’s political line.
Oh, and Francis stated that 2% of Catholic clergy are pedophiles? She suggests it’s wrong, but then leaves the question hanging, letting the blank be filled by one of the commenters who stated that 20% would be closer to the truth, but still low (suggesting it’s closer to 100%). Again, being ultra-Catholic, she would have met a lot of priests and would either be victimized (which she doesn’t state) or she would understand why Catholics think that even 2% figure is way overinflated.
But looking at that rabidly anti-religion comment section, it’s pretty clear who their audience is and that she’s pandering specifically to them and they’re not interested in a debate, just a hard bashing.
Apparently, it’s never occurred to Mark that the reason he gets kicked off Facebook all the time might be because he’s a bully.
It’s always a good check on oneself to assume that the Hitler analogy just concocted is probably inaccurate, likely offensive and most definitely better left unexpressed.
Makes sense. Naughty Mark picking on poor Hitler; FB won’t have that!
🤣🤣🤣
I was thinking something along the same lines myself!
Your pity for bullied Nazis is very on-brand for your bizarre MAGA cult.
Facebook is a great place to post funny pet videos and satiric articles. It is not a place for serious discussion of any sort. Not as bad as Twitter perhaps, but isn’t that like comparing rotten apples with moldy oranges?
Facebook isn’t even good for satire. I once got suspended for a comment to my granddaughter, using an expression that the Facebook Robot did not recognize as a JOKE. I was told I could “disagree with their decision” and then was denied the ability to file a complaint.
Well, you can disagree with the decision if you think they got it wrong, and you did. Their decision is not final, you don’t have to agree with it. It’s just that they don’t care whether or not you agree with them.