Op-Ed

With nearly 18 million students on U.S. college campuses this fall, defenders of the war on Gaza don’t want to hear any backtalk. Silence is complicity, and that’s the way Israel’s allies like it. For them, the new academic term restarts a threat to the status quo. But for supporters of human rights, it’s a renewed opportunity to turn higher education into something more than a comfort zone.

 In the United States, the extent and arrogance of the emerging collegiate repression is, quite literally, breathtaking. Every day, people are dying due to their transgression of breathing while Palestinian.

“As I said then, I say today, Israel had a right — has a right to defend itself.”

This is militarism set in stone. The words are those of Kamala Harris, of course, in her extensive CNN interview last week – quick words that lead the charge and spew the glory, no matter how blatantly false they are.

Oh, and by the way: “Far too many innocent Palestinians have been killed,”

Who he is

(https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2024/07/11/opinion/editorials/donald-trump-2024-unfit.html).
“He lies blatantly and maliciously, embraces racists, abuses women and has a
schoolyard bully’s instinct to target society’s most vulnerable. He has delighted in
coarsening and polarizing the town square with ever more divisive and incendiary
language. Mr. Trump is a man who craves validation and vindication, so much that
he would prefer a hostile leader’s lies to his own intelligence agencies’ truths and
would shake down a vulnerable ally for short-term political advantage. His
handling of everything from routine affairs to major crises was undermined by his
blundering combination of impulsiveness, insecurity and unstudied certainty.
This record shows what can happen to a country led by such a person: America’s
image, credibility and cohesion were relentlessly undermined by Mr. Trump during
his term.

Can politics be equal to the deepest of who we are? Can humanity evolve beyond war?

Such questions — I know, I know — are never officially asked during a presidential campaign. That’s not the point of the election: to plunge philosophically and spiritually into who we are. And thus, as the Trump-Harris race proceeds, not too many people (besides me) will be bringing up Pierre Teilhard de Chardin — Jesuit priest, theologian, scientist, best known as the author of The Phenomenon of Man — who died seventy years ago.

But I can’t tolerate the clichés of state! So let me sneak a dozen or so of Teilhard’s words into the present moment: “Love is the only force that can make things one without destroying them.”

The Terrorist Watch List is managed by the FBI Terrorist Screening Center. The FBI does not publicly confirm or deny any individuals on the Terrorist Watch List. However, "No Fly List" is a subset of the Terrorist Watch List and is overseen by The Transportation Security Administration (TSA). The no-fly list contains names of individuals prohibited from "boarding an aircraft when flying within, to, from, and over the United States." These individuals are part of the federal terrorist watchlist administered by the FBI Terrorist Screening Center.

The Terrorist Watch List and the No-Fly List were created by George W. Bush's administration in 2001 and have continued to be used until this day. There are two types of No-Fly Lists. The second No-Fly List is maintained by individual airlines for unruly passengers. The No-Fly List is different from the Terrorist Watch List, which is a much longer list of people said to be suspected of some involvement with terrorism. Based on Wikipedia, as of June 2014, the Terrorist Watch List is estimated to contain over 2.5 million people whereas the No-Fly list has about 1.8 million.

As I watch former President Trump on the campaign trail, attempting to reclaim the White House, I feel compelled to share a fable that has been on my mind since his first impeachment trial in 2021. This fable from Arab culture, involving a wolf and a dog, provides a striking analogy to the perplexing loyalty many continue to show toward Trump —a man whose flaws are as glaring as his ambitions.

Before diving into the fable, it’s important to understand the cultural significance of dogs and wolves in Arab culture. Historically, the dog, despite being revered as a loyal companion and hunter, is also viewed by some as unclean and impure. This perspective is not unique to Arab culture; similar views are found in Jewish tradition, though Islamic teachings offer a more nuanced view. The Quran, for example, recounts the story of a dog that faithfully accompanied a group of righteous youths fleeing persecution, symbolizing loyalty and protection.

The Democratic National Convention was happening here in Chicago — my city — and I sat frozen at my desk, staring at my computer. Earlier in my life, yeah, I’d have gone down to the United Center, linked arms with the sane and outraged, joined the cry: Stop funding genocide!

Instead, here I was, gawking at the event’s opening ceremony of day two: A pastor delivers a public prayer, at one point saying we should treat all humans “as sacred creations of the Almighty.” Huh? Is he serious? Does he really mean this? The word “sacredness” has been let loose; joined by “God.” Someone sings the National Anthem. The delegates recite the good ol’ Pledge of Allegiance, their hands ceremoniously pressed against their hearts. Then “God bless America” fills the hall.

The message I hear, quietly hovering behind the words, is this: Democrats are as patriotic as Republicans! Democrats are as religious as Republicans! We can put on a good show too — our clichés are fantastic.

I stroke the unknown . . .

Bear with me as I finish my short walk. I was ambling through my neighborhood the other day, wielding a pair of walking sticks, “forcing myself,” you might say, to enjoy the beautiful afternoon but actually just plodding forward, in a hurry to get back to the house and be done with this bit of exercise.

But then, oh so briefly, I paused in my hurry-upness, took a deep breath and continued slowly, deliberately on my way. Suddenly I was no longer in a pointless hurry, but, my God, surprisingly awake and present in this beautiful moment of sky and grass and sidewalk concrete. I felt the air fill my lungs and revered every step I took, knowing that one of them — someday — would be my last.

The corporate media report on elections — especially the biggie coming up — as though they were sporting events. If you win, hurray! You get the gold cup or whatever. The election process is a matter of shrewd strategy combined with, uh, likability.

Thus, as per the New York Times: “Tim Walz is going to bring big Midwestern dad energy to the presidential campaign.”

Like most Americans, Vice President Kamala Harris has evolved on marijuana.

In 2010, when she was San Francisco’s district attorney, Harris urged voters to reject a proposed ballot initiative to legalize the adult-use marijuana market. At the time, Harris’ position aligned with that of most California voters, 54 percent of whom ultimately decided against the measure.

But not long after, Harris — and most Americans — changed their stance.