'Good vs. Evil: A Matter of Conscience'
"So much darkness. Along with all the rest, in quick succession, the shootings at Brown and Bondi Beach, the murder of director and activist Rob Reiner and his wife Michele, and then the responses. To the beloved Reiner’s awful end, a sick man-child spewed vile, loathsome filth that 'says it all' about who he is. To the hateful attack on Jews, a Muslim man stood up for humanity with selfless grace and courage, a beacon of hope. Cometh the hour, cometh the man."
"Rob Reiner, 78, and his producer wife Michele Singer Reiner, 68, were found dead in their L.A. home on Sunday; their troubled son Nick, 32, was arrested and booked for murder for their gruesome deaths. Reiner was not just Hollywood aristocracy, All In the Family’s pacifist 'Meathead' who went on to become the buoyant director of classics like This Is Spinal Tap, Stand By Me, The Princess Bride, When Harry Met Sally; he was a fierce, thoughtful defender of democracy and decades-long advocate for causes he believed in - marriage equality, child development services, and taxing the rich for worthwhile goals like funding universal preschool with, brilliantly, a tobacco tax. A savvy political organizer willing to speak out 'when silence was simply easier,' said one friend, 'Rob chose clarity. He stood for truth and accountability, unapologetically.' His work featured 'a deep belief in the goodness of people - and a lifelong commitment to putting that belief into action,' said Barack Obama. 'Together, he and his wife lived lives defined by purpose.' "
"In grotesque contrast is the doddering malignant narcissist and 'one of the worst humans to have ever poisoned the planet' who responded to the tragedy by raving it was due to Reiner’s 'massive, unyielding, and incurable affliction (of) TRUMP DERANGEMENT SYNDROME (as we) surpassed all goals and expectations of greatness.' The gist of reactions: 'There are moments when politics ends, and morality begins...Trump is just a shit human being.' Others: 'Insane,' 'Fucking grotesque,' 'a monstrosity,' 'DESPICABLE,' 'This is a sick man.' Evangelical Russell Moore: 'How this vile, disgusting, and immoral behavior has become normalized (is) something our descendants will study in school.' 'Goodness is determined by the way you move through this world,' pastor John Pavloviitz writes. 'Objectively speaking, (Trump) is the very worst humanity has produced,' a 'moral bottom-feeder' without scruples as are those who persist in supporting him. 'He is simply a bad human being.' In other words, said one sage on the grievous loss of Reiner, 'In a world full of Archie Bunkers, be a Meathead.' "
"Or, on the other side of the world, an Ahmed el-Ahmed, the heroic, 43-year-old Muslim Syrian, small tobacco shop and fruit stand owner, father of two young daughters and Australian citizen who, in now-viral video, crept up between cars to wrestle with and disarm one of two father-son shooters who killed 15 people Sunday night at a Hanukkah celebration at Sydney’s popular Bondi Beach. In the riveting video we see Ahmed, who has no experience with guns, seize the rifle and tentatively point it at the shooter, who stumbles to the ground, stands dazed and small with no weapon, and scrambles away. Ahmed gently leans the gun against a tree, and raises one hand in the air to show police he’s innocent of any crime. Later, his cousin Jozay Alkanj.Alkanj said the two had gone out to get coffee, walked by the event, and had just been offered some food when gunfire suddenly erupted. Ahmed turned to his cousin and said, 'I’m going to die - please see my family and tell them I went down to try to save people’s lives.' "
Continued at link:
https://www.commondreams.org/further/good-vs-evil-a-matter-of-conscience