Leave it to Mitch Albom of the Detroit Free Press to put things in perspective. Here are excerpts from his article Sunday on the antisemitism hearings last week in the House of Representative.
During a hearing on antisemitism, in front of Congress and TV cameras, the presidents of Harvard, MIT and the University of Pennsylvania were asked by U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik on Tuesday whether calling for the genocide of Jews violated their schools’ rules on bullying and harassment…
This should not be a hard question. Calling for the murder of any race or religious group should be a non-starter at a college. Would screaming for the genocide of Blacks, Latinos, gay or transgender people be tolerated for a second in the Ivy League? Never. Nor should it be. To deny that would get you fired before you could finish your sentence. But faced with that same simple question regarding the genocide of Jews, the presidents struggled with their answers.… The blowback to the presidents’ testimonies was swift, with numerous politicians calling for their ouster and rich donors threatening to withhold financial gifts….
Those presidents knew they were coming before Congress. They knew what they’d be asked. Why not just say “Of course calling for the genocide of Jews is not tolerated at our school”? Who would be upset by that? No matter what side you take in the current Israel-Gaza conflict, if you can’t say you stand against the genocide of Jews, then you stand for it, and you don’t belong anywhere near a college campus.
Look. This is not a referendum on the Palestinian question. This is not a referendum on Gaza or Hamas or a ceasefire or anything else. Save those arguments for another day (my emphasis)… For now, just think about this. Three of the top universities in America, places ready to punish virtually every microaggression — a Halloween costume, a flag, a pronoun, anything that might make students feel “unsafe” — saw their presidents unable to give a simple, one-word answer as to whether calling for the slaughter of Jews is against their conduct code.
How safe would you feel sending your Jewish kids there?
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Watching and reading about the testimony of the three university presidents before the House of Representatives last week was grueling. The internal conflict they were facing was written all over their faces and body language. I can only speculate about the reasons for their conflict. However, I do know this. Sometimes, you must do the right thing and call out unacceptable behavior, no matter who it offends. That is what good leaders do. It doesn’t depend, and it doesn’t matter about the context.
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As I was reading about the above subject, I found the following information which really hit home with me. According to FBI Director Christopher Wray, 60% of all religious hate crimes in the U.S. target Jewish people who make up only 2% of the U.S. population. He added that the figure had likely increased amid anger caused by the ongoing violence in Gaza. Other countries, including the UK and France, have also warned of a recent major uptick in antisemitic incidents. “This is a threat that is reaching, in some way, sort of historic levels,” Wray told the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.
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As I have said multiple times in this blog since the Humas attack on October 7, this war is going to continue to tear this country apart more and more. Israel has the right to defend itself, but where does defending end and aggression start? What is the responsibility to protect the lives of civilians? It is the same question that was being asked of the U.S. when we attacked Afghanistan and Iraq following 9/11.
To me, it is starting to feel like Israel is no longer defending itself. It is starting to feel like Israel is now the aggressor and invader and that PM Netanyahu is using the war to keep his coalition together so that he remains in office and avoids the criminal charges he is facing. FUBAR.
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$700 million over ten years to play baseball. How absurd is this? I hope Ohtani uses his money to make a difference in the Los Angeles community.
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Question of the Day: At what point in time is the state legislature and the governor going to get serious about that lack of transparency in our state government?
Being number 49 out of 50 doesn’t seem to bother them. But then again, why change the rules when you can get rich off the current rules?
Per the Detroit News today, two nonprofit organizations tied to then-Michigan House Speaker Jason Wentworth combined to pay $557,829 last year to a consulting firm using the same address as Wentworth’s chief of staff, according to new tax records obtained by The Detroit News.
The documents shine new light on how top Michigan lawmakers with the power to set statewide policies can wield fundraising accounts, facing few disclosure requirements, in ways that could benefit themselves or their legislative aides.
This leads to my Quote of the Day: Government staffers doubling as paid consultants has become workaday politics in Lansing. “That raises some pretty serious ethical questions.” said Adrian Hemond, CEO of Grassroots Midwest, a Lansing-based consulting firm said of the financial connections between nonprofits connected to Wentworth, a Republican from Farwell, and his chief of staff, Joe Perry.
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Quote of the Day: See above.
Orchid of the Day: Blake Corum, U of M running back, for collecting 25,000 toys at his toy drive at The Sommerset Collection on Saturday, far exceeding expectations.
Onion of the Day: The Lions for their lackluster performance against the Bears on Sunday. They have lots of lessons to learn about what it takes to achieve at the highest levels in the NFL on a consistent basis.
Question of the Day: See above.
Image/Video of the Day: A little Christmas music from the Boss.
(2) Bruce Springsteen – Santa Claus Is Comin’ To Town – 2007 – YouTube