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Ian Millhiser, a journalist and senior editor for Vox, recently posted a disgusting tweet in which he pre-wrote an obituary for Justice Samuel Alito which said, "Justice Samuel Alito, who died on XXXX, was not devoid of any positive traits. He was a skilled attorney and a highly effective advocate for conservative causes. Had he spent his career as a litigator, he would almost certainly be remembered as one of the Republican Party’s leading Supreme Court practitioners. The problem is that Justice Alito was, indeed, one of the Republican Party’s leading Supreme Court advocates — but he embraced this role while he was a sitting justice."
This alarming tweet sheds light on a topic that is not often discussed, namely the issue of understanding our differing views. There are certainly bad people, such as Kim Jong Un, the ruler of North Korea, who is a tyrannical maniac and a stain on the planet, as almost everyone agrees. However, there are other figures, such as Justice Alito and Donald Trump, who are seen by some as the greatest people in the world, by others in an indifferent light, and by others as no different from people like Kim Jong Un.
Consider this from Ian Millhiser's point of view. He has gone so far off the deep end and lost all semblance of reality that he compares Justice Alito to the most deplorable people on Earth. He fantasizes about his death because he wants it so passionately; I doubt he fantasizes about the deaths of the world's worst tyrants.
Once we grasp the thought processes of others and why they say what they say, we might establish common ground. Hopefully Ian Millhiser's condition is not too dire. He doesn't need to be persuaded that Justice Alito is a not a psychotic dictator worthy of death, but maybe the debate around his comments can initiate a discussion about how truly bad some controversial people are. I hope so, but I have my doubts.