Letters to the Editor
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Banality of Evil
Hoover was competent and compassionate.
As the author points out, Hoover's rigid ideology (framework of ideas) was inadequate to handle the systemic problems leading to the depression and their aftermath.
Bush lives in platitudes. I have been waiting for years for the Bush administration to collapse on what Hanah Arendt titled an article, "The Politics of Lying." One who lies must be much more consistent because at any time, the card castle of lies could come crashing down. This administration lies all the time, and then some. It is also impervious to reason as everything is part of a politics to win elections. They have successfully trashed the legitimacy of, to name a few, science, teachers, politicans, labor unions and the courts. Without legitimacy, wise authority breaks down and the very institutions needed to craft a creative solution have been removed from their rightful place.
But, even more than this, the administration has practiced evil. Torture. Holding people without trial. Trashing the constitution with explicit actions such as illegal wire taps.
"Eichman in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil" by Hannah Arendt, 1965 provides insight into this administration.
And as others have pointed out, Bush should be prosecuted for plagiarism of George Orwell's classic, "1984."