Opinion

There used to be a time when the policy differences between the two major parties could be solved with debate and compromise.  Things like tax rates, healthcare, entitlements, and dozens of other topics could be argued, with hardliners on either side but deals being struck.  Even with the division in the country, even if nothing gets passed and no unity is available, with each side becoming more and more entrenched, the issues themselves could be seen by the voting public as something that could be debated.  This is not true with the most fundamental cultural totem in our society today: the fundamental truth about human biological facts.

A month after District Attorney Alvin Bragg figured out where the courthouse was long enough to indict former President Donald Trump, the House of Representatives Judiciary Committee, controlled by the Republican majority, held a hearing in America’s largest city, focusing on the problem of violent crime. The Committee, chaired by Ohio Representative Jim Jordan, came up to New York City itself to hear testimonies in an aptly titled hearing, “Victims of Violent Crime in Manhattan.”

George Washington University’s Hillel is in the process of selecting a new student president. It seeks candidates who possess a “strong sense of Jewish Self” and are “willing to support others in building their own sense of Jewish self-confidence” – sensible traits for a potential Hillel president. Unfortunately, the Biden administration appears poised to repeal federal rules that ensure that religious groups like Hillel have the right to choose leaders possessing such characteristics.

Selective enforcement of the law is tyranny. The arbitrary use of power based on personal or political likes or dislikes is something that nearly everyone should agree is morally abhorrent. That is what we have seen this week - not only with the malicious prosecution and indictment of President Trump, but with the underreported and swept aside stormings of two state capitols in Kentucky and Tennessee.

Over Pesach, the Jewish world was rocked by yet another set of siblings, the third such set in under 60 days, being killed at the hands of Palestinian terrorists in Israel. The sisters, Maia and Rina Dee, were shot by a gunman when they were driving with their mother, who died a couple days later from her injuries. At the same time, on the other side of the country, Italian tourist Alessandro Parini was killed when a Palestinian terrorist committed a car ramming attack in Tel Aviv.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed an expansion of the state’s school voucher program this week, making it the fourth state in the nation to move towards universal school choice.  It’s an underreported story of our time, but we are in the midst of a revolution in the American educational system.  After declining for the better part of a century as the system became more centralized, the public school system is no longer seen as the only option for education.  Parents are looking for other ways, and many state governments are looking for alternatives.