For What it’s Worth: Warren Hecht

I am writing this column a few days before Tishah B’Av, which has some impact on the column. I remember going to various Yom HaShoah programs and hearing survivors say that we need to make sure people do not forget. They said that what happened in Germany could happen here. At the time, I thought they were being a little overdramatic. I also thought their fear may have been caused by PTSD. Considering the rapid rise of antisemitism in this country and the abrupt loss of support for Israel, those fears do not sound so crazy anymore.

Since the U.S. and Iran signed the MOU, or memorandum of understanding, many Jewish Trumpians have put the blame on one person who they say is running the country: Vice President J.D. Vance. Of course, this is absurd, since Donald Trump is the president and is fully in control. Vance does what he is told.

In one of the letters to the editor in last week’s QJL, the writer pointed out that the number of votes in the Congressional primary for Brad Lander against the current Representative Dan Goldman was substantially higher than the votes for Grace Meng in her primary. The argument was that this shows how the party has turned left.

One way you can tell the views of a newspaper is by how they cover a story or by the columns they run. Last week, three Jewish papers had the same column by Jonathan Tobin, titled “Trump’s Chaos and Incoherence Have Led to Failure on Iran.”

Donald Trump could not help himself from being the Ugly American. He decided to call Gianni Infantino, the president of FIFA, to have the organization rescind the red card, which gets a player ejected from that game and the next game in the World Cup, so that Folarin Balogun, one of the top American soccer players, could play the next game against Belgium.

Early voting for the primary has already started. You can vote at designated locations on Wednesday, June 17, from 10:00 a.m.-8:00 p.m.; Thursday, June 18, from 8:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m.; Friday, June 19, from 9:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m.; and Sunday, June 21, from 9:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. There is no voting on Monday, June 22. Tuesday, June 23, is from 6:00 a.m.-9:00 p.m. at your regular location.