Max Labaton is a Trinity senior and a Managing Editor of the Editorial page. His column runs on alternate Tuesdays.
Last Friday’s editorial, “AIPAC and the Blockade on Critiquing Israel,” perpetuates troubling myths about the roles of Jews in American politics, as well as inaccuracies about the history of the Israeli-Arab conflict, Middle East politics, and Zionism.
I hope that those in power can recognize the dangerous consequences of their proposals and the devastating results if their rhetoric becomes reality.
“You shall not wrong a stranger or oppress him, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.” —Exodus 22:20
In a nation as polarized as ours, enabling politicians to choose their voters, as opposed to voters choosing their politicians, is profoundly problematic.
I have written about President Trump’s pathological lying. While there is not an equivalence between Trump’s untruths and Sanders’ oversimplifications, both signify the troubling popularity of demagogues who offer facile and unrealistic solutions to complex problems and disregard inconvenient truths.
Mr. Tillerson’s recent decision to downsize the Foreign Service by eight percent is misguided.
If we are truly concerned about issues such as raising wages, ensuring access to affordable health care, and improving educational opportunities, then we all must participate in the political process.
Democrats should certainly continue to draw a stark contrast with Trump. But 100 percent purity tests will only hinder the party’s ability to win over crucial swing voters, preventing the party from ultimately prevailing.
It is healthy to view news reports with a degree of skepticism, when there are few checks on such a dangerous president. Yet at its best, the news media strives to provide objectivity and facts, essential in a democracy whose survival requires faith in the political process and an informed citizenry.
It is imperative to focus on the problem, not only as a matter of morality, but also because regions plagued by displacement and instability have become breeding grounds for the next generation of global terrorists.
