Michael Meeropol

I suppose by now everyone has heard charges and counter-charges about the war between Hamas and Israel. Lurid stories of atrocities committed in person by Hamas fighters are countered by stories of thousands of children at risk from Israeli bombs falling in Gaza. Who is believable? All governments lie when it suits them. And each government plays on the fact that the opposition is totally untrustworthy. Thus, the supporters of the Palestinians are skeptical of Israeli charges of brutal mass killings by Hamas and supporters of Israel do not believe stories about casualties caused by Israeli air strikes.

I am a Jew. I have relatives in Israel, many of whom have served in the Israeli Defense forces. I am horrified by the loss of innocent life in the last 14 days. Hamas massacred and kidnapped unarmed civilians. Israeli bombs have killed hundreds of civilians including children in Gaza. I am also at a loss of what to do as an American. Do I wholeheartedly support the Biden Administration’s sending of more arms and munitions to Israel? Do I join President Biden in urging Israel to respect the rules of international conflict? I remain at a total loss in having anything useful to say or do.

The behavior of General Milley, the head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, when Trump was attempting to foment an insurrection in January of 2021, indicates how seriously he took his oath to the Constitution.

This week Americans remembered September 11, 2001. The papers and the media were full of memories and speeches about how those attacks marked the end of American innocence and (briefly) united the country with resolve to combat terrorism. I remember very well what it was like in the days and weeks that followed --- especially since my sister-in-law lost a very dear friend on one of the planes.

There was a March in Washington on Saturday, August 26, commemorating 60 years since the original March which has come to be defined by Dr. Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” Speech. Now in fact, the reason the 1963 march was such a success (drawing a quarter of a million people with not a single act of violence) was because it was a result of a grand coalition of the southern based Civil Rights Movement with the National Labor Movement. Though the two men most responsible for the march were A. Philip Randolph the founder of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters and Bayard Rustin (a gay pacifist organizer par excellence!), Walter Reuther, head of the United Auto Workers, was another one of the main organizers. Thirty percent of the marchers were white and I’ll bet most of the adults among them were union members.

On August 5, the New York Times published a front page story entitled, “G.O.P Blueprint for ’25: Gutting Climate Progress.” It seems a right-wing think tank just published a document which represents a “battle plan” for the first 180 days of a Republican Administration should they win the 2024 election.

No doubt most listeners have been exposed to the fact that the new guidelines for Florida public school students re instruction in black history included some real doozies --- such as how slavery prepared slaves for freedom with useful skills and that the white race riots in history also involved violence BY African Americans.

I have said this many times --- the most important reason to study economics is so you won’t be fooled by economists. (I would actually add journalists and politicians to that list.)

Have you ever heard of Fatima Mohammed? Perhaps you haven’t. But maybe you heard through the media that there was an alleged “hateful antisemitic” graduation speech delivered at City University of NY Law School a month ago? -- Heard about that?

After my last commentary pleading with President Biden to invoke the 14th Amendment and say to hell with the debt ceiling, I vowed I would talk about something completely different for this one. Well --- I was wrong --- I think the nature of the agreement reached between Speaker McCarthy and President Biden is worth exploring in detail.