Via Tim Blair, I learn the news that Günter Grass was a member of the SS. Maybe I’ve been in the weeds on this stuff for too long, but I’m hardly surprised. Indeed, Grass’ transgression is easier to forgive than, say, George Bernard Shaw’s or Heidegger’s (assuming he’s telling the truth about not committing atrocities). Grass was just a teenager when he joined Hitler’s killing machine. Shaw, Heidegger and a shocking number of the Western left’s intellectual heroes were grown ups when they became enamored with Hitler. Gertrude Stein — a Jew! – led an effort to award Hitler the Nobel Peace Prize in 1938.