The disconnect between the family man and the willing mass murderer was mind-boggling. He wrote to his family as if he were just an over-worked bureaucrat who was valiantly trying to match--and exceed!!--the expectations of his superiors.

I think that you are right about the banality of cruelty. But it extends beyond the issue of torture by government officials to policies that constantly penalize the poor and anyone who is struggling, as is increasingly the case in the US.