The "Nice" Free Pass Given to Haters and Bigots

Blogger friend Jeremy Hooper at Good As You has a post that raises an issue that needs more discussion. It's an issue that I hear all too often - frankly sometimes to the point of near nausea. What is it? It's the excuse that so and so was "nice" when I interviewed him/her or that "they seemed like a nice person" even though I disagree with his/her politics. Thus, people who promote racial hatred, anti-gay hatred and other foul are given a pass on their foul agenda because they act "nice" to often ignorant and/or gullible members of the media. An example? Virginia's Del. Bob Marshall who some reporters have described as "nice in person." The free pass generated by this phenomenon also extends to at times to members of organizations and/or institutions that are responsible for heinous deeds - e.g., the Catholic Church and the sex abuse scandal - who are not held accountable for the misdeeds that they tacitly support. Jeremy goes on to show the ridiculousness of the "nice" excuse:
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"So what" if the president of the National Organization For Marriage has me over for coffee? Even if freshly ground and perfectly French pressed, does that change the fact that he wants to legally divorce me under the civil law that governs our shared nation?
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"So what" if the socially conservative member of Congress welcomes me into his or her office with a warm smile? Even if we share a nice laugh, does that alter the text of the bill wherein he or she called for my banning?
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"So what" if Focus on the Family's outreach person engages in genuine, off-the-record conversations about the ups and downs of this "culture war"? Even if we share both respect and confidences, does that free the mental anguish from the kids who are daily subjected to FoTF's "ex-gay" teachings?
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"So what" if that company that's financing the anti-equality movement was good to your stepbrother's uncle's roommate who worked for them in college?
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Yes, my vote is with firmly with Jeremy. Being "nice" in an often off the record, non-public setting does not give one a pass for hateful and vicious conduct towards entire classes of people. An extreme, but telling example of the bogus nature of the "nice excuse" comes from more than 60 years ago: Adolf Hitler. Yes, Hitler was described as "nice" and "charming" by some who met him and by his staff. This from his maid at Berchtesgaden, Hitler's mountain retreat in Bavaria:
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"He was a charming man, someone who was only ever nice to me, a great boss to work for. You can say what you like, but he was a good man to us,"
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Or there's Hitler's nurse at the bunker during the Reich's final days:
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Hitler shook hands with all the people he hadn't greeted before. After that he talked to us regularly. "His authority was extraordinary. He was always polite and charming. There was really nothing to object to."

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The next time you hear an anti-gay bigot or racists described as "nice," remember that some of histories greatest monsters could be "nice" in informal occasions even as they pressed an agenda of genocide.