President Donald Trump erupted in anger at CBS journalist Norah O'Donnell after she read him excerpts from what is said to be a manifesto written by Cole Tomas Allen, the man charged with trying to kill Trump at Saturday's White House Correspondents' Association dinner. Some conservatives seem to think no good can be served from reading these words, but that's a mistake. It's always useful to be reminded, again, of the banality of evil.

The distinguishing feature of the manifesto is its insipidity. "I am a citizen of the United States," Allen writes. "What my representatives do reflects on me." Later, he justifies the possibility that he might harm the people in the ballroom "on the basis that most people chose to attend a speech by a pedophile, rapist and traitor, and are thus complicit," although he adds that, "I really hope it doesn't come to that."

The manifesto lays out five objections to what he is about to attempt, starting with "As a Christian, you should turn the other cheek," followed by his brief rebuttals. The impression is less of a person struggling with an anguished conscience than of someone not bright enough to come up with objections that would force anything but glib self-justification.

Finally, the author is at pains to convey the........

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