Do people seriously not understand how counterproductive it is to try and defend a questionable action or technical decision with “just following orders”?

«Don't take it up with the person who did the thing, take it up with the higher ups»

Yeah, sorry, that's not going to fly. It is absolutely correct that the higher ups should be targeted TOO. It still doesn't exempt the grunt though.

«The person who first pointed out the issues with the thing is a fash»

That just makes everything worse.