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The ADVANCE, Moy 26, 2021/Page 6A
(51?e Aftuante
A free press is not a privilege but
organic necessity in a great society.
—Walter Lippmann
COMMENTARY
out of
CONTEXT
A compilation of quotations on a variety
of issues by national, state and regional
writers, well-known personalities, just
plain everyday people and from various
publications collected by the editors of THE
ADVANCE.
Quotes for our Times:
Kurt Schlichter, writer of conservative
commentary: People Are Getting Tired of
Woke Nonsense.
And there's another reason to be glad
dumb people are howling about puny slights.
Wokeness has survived as long as it has via
seizing the moral high ground by falsely as
serting that the wokies are fighting bigotry.
Of course, what wokeness is really about is
enshrining bigotry in our society and leverag
ing it for power. But, while we are conserva-
woke to this scam, many normal folks are
not. It takes time and repetition to explain
that the cynical hucksters calling them
selves "anti-racists" are actually the only sig
nificant group of active racists left in society.
But everyone understands immediately that
harumphing all over social media because
some nice lady mistook you for a clerk is stu
pid.
Colby Hall, political commentator: Biden's
Coast Guard one-liner went over very differ
ently when Reagan made same reference in
1988.
"\ can only assume that you will enjoy
educating your family about how the Coast
Guard is, quote, the hard nucleus around
the Navy forms in time of war," Biden said,
though in a confusing manner that killed the
joke and was met with crickets. "You are a
really dull class," Biden then cracked, which
was returned with laughter from the cadets.
"Come on, man, is the sun getting to you? I
would think you would have an opportunity
when I say that about the Navy to clap..."
Turns out that Reagan referenced the
same exact quote during his speech on
May 18, 1988. "My Coast Guard aides have
been excellent. One of them taught me that
"The Coast Guard is that hard nucleus about
which the Navy forms in time of war. 1 "
Katie Pavlich, Editor of Townhall.com:
Facebook 'Fact Checkers' punish and cen
sor debate on climate science.
But the censorship of (Steven) Koonin's
book ("Unsettled: What Climate Science Tells
Us, What It Doesn't and Why It Matters") and
any outlet that dares to discuss it is just one
piece of the broader agenda being pushed
by Science Feedback. The organization has
repeatedly "fact-checked" Townhall pieces
about climate change, labeling them false
after ignoring context, falsely rebutting fac
tual climate data, and effectively remov
ing all debate about climate change from
Facebook. They also suppress debate on
other topics and regularly censor thoroughly-
sourced stories about CDC guidance, masks,
vaccines and more.
Larry Elder is a best-selling author and
radio talk-show host: Fake outrage over
Cheney 'ouster'; dems 'ousted' Bernie twice.
Sanders, like Cheney, found himself on
the wrong side of a party determined to win.
This happens. It's called politics. But this, ap
parently, is the rule: It's OK for Democrats to
push Bernie Sanders aside -- twice -- in order
to beat Donald Trump. But it's not OK for Re
publicans to push Liz Cheney aside in order
to beat Joe Biden.
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No, Israel Is Not
an Apartheid State
n THE
RICH
LOWRY
COLUMN
The charge of apartheid is
the new blood libel.
As Hamas rains rockets
down on Israel, members of the
Squad in Congress and other
left-wing enemies are using the
occasion to amplify their
accusation that Israel is an
“apartheid state.”
This is a transparent
attempt to delegitimize — and
isolate and ultimately destroy
— the Jewish state by
associating it with a racist
regime that the world united to
squeeze out of existence.
Rashida Tlaib, the
Democratic congresswoman
from Michigan, says that Israel
is “promoting racism and
dehumanization” under an
“apartheid system,” and Rep.
Ilhan Omar ofMinnesota refers
to “Israel’s apartheid
government.”
The charge is given a patina
of legitimacy by Human Rights
Watch, which recently issued a
213-page report devoted to the
allegation, and other anti-Israel
organizations that understand
the accusation’s potential power
to define Israel out of the circle
of advanced democracies.
It doesn’t take much moral
discernment to understand,
even if one takes a harshly
critical view of how Israel
conducts itself, that it is nothing
like an apartheid regime in
South Africa that depended on
a rigorously enforced system of
racial repression.
The Arab minority in Israel
(about 20% of the population)
may face obstacles, but it is not
treated like black South
Africans.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-
Cortez of New York and her
ideological compatriots
tweeted the other day,
“Apartheid states aren’t
democracies,” which nailed the
point, just not the way they
intended.
Israel is a democracy that
affords its Arab citizens full
rights. They vote in elections
and Arab parties sit in
parliament. These parties
obviously have a profoundly
different worldview than the
Zionist parties, which has been
abarrierpreventing cooperation
between them. But this year, in
a first, Arab parties were part of
the negotiations over forming a
new government before they
broke down.
Arab Israelis are full
participants in Israeli society.
There are Arab justices on the
Supreme Court. About 20% of
doctors in Israel and about half
of pharmacists are Arab.
Roughly 17% of students
seeking an undergraduate
degree are Arab, a number has
roughly doubled over the last
decade.
As Steve Kramer of The
Times of Israel puts it, “They
arguably are the most free
Arabs in the Middle East.”
Then, there are the
Palestinian territories, where
there is a marked lack of
democracy courtesy of the
Palestinians themselves.
Palestinian president
Mahmoud Abbas, who is still
serving a four-year term that
began about 15 years ago,
cancelled new elections
scheduled for May 22. He
found a way to blame Israel for
this move, of course, but the
bottom line is that his party,
Fatah, feared Hamas would
win, as it did in the last
Palestinian election back in
2006.
The Palestinians have
Please see Lowry page 7A
GRITTY
I’m With Israel and
Against Critical
Race Theory
In 1867,
American writer
Mark Twain visited
the Holy Land. He
recorded his
impressions in a book
titled “The Innocents
Abroad.”
Twain was
appalled when seeing
the abandoned and
desolate land that was the home of the
Bible.
“The further we went, the hotter the
sun got and the more rocky and bare,
repulsive and dreary, the landscape became,”
he wrote. “There was hardly a tree or shrub
anywhere. Even the olive and the cactus,
those fast friends of a worthless soil, had
almost deserted the country.”
Some 15 years later, Jews began a
movement to return to and restore their
ancient homeland.
They started rebuilding under
horrendous and challenging conditions.
By November 1947, as Jews continued
their process of building and Arabs
continued their process of hate, the United
Nations gave the green light to establish a
Jewish state and an adjacent Arab state.
Jews accepted the U.N. partition of the
region, declaring the new state of Israel in
May 1948, but the Arabs rejected the plan
and attacked the newly declared Jewish
state. Israelis fought and miraculously
prevailed in its War of Independence, and
the project of rebuilding the ancient
homeland moved forward. Now it is an
officially recognized member of the
community of nations.
Compared with the desolation
Please see Nitty page 8A
By Star Parker
The Graduate
by
Loran Smith
Graduation is when a
good time should be en
joyed by all. For the most
part, that is the way it is
with families with whom
most of us are familiar.
Seeing young kids
about to flap their wings
and leave the nest with
anticipation that the next
four years will be a defin
ing time in their lives, you
wish them Godspeed and
say a prayer that good tid
ings lie ahead for them.
After all, they some
day will hold the world’s
future in their hands. From
this generation, there is
the reality that they will need to manage the vicissitudes
of government, social justice, sexuality, homelessness,
environment, immigration and civil obedience.
Everyday problems, great and small. They will be
expected to be their brothers’ keepers. They will need
to give of themselves to make good triumph over evil;
they will have to set and uphold lofty standards, find
ing a way to underscore fairness while being responsible
and ambitious. They will need to take care of have-nots
without bankrupting the system.
God help them!
This is the way it was with one kid and one commu
nity this past weekend.
Alex is a typical kid in his neighborhood who bene
fited from a Catholic education which makes his grand
parents very proud. There is security in the knowledge
that he is the beneficiary of a good familial foundation
— the fundaments that should help him through chal
lenging and abrupt times.
If it were appropriate to preach him a sermon, the
message would be that he underscores the following
preachments:
Develop and maintain a passion for the work ethic.
Allow your word to become your bond.
Recognize that being a gentleman is a good prac
tice.
Remember the old saying that manners will take
you where money won’t.
Seek friendships with older people and respect their
sage advice.
Be respectful and supportive of the “little” people.
Return your phone calls. Send thank you notes for
the simplest of things.
Reserve your greatest contempt for child and spou
sal abusers. They are the biggest cowards in our society.
Continue your family tradition of respect for the
animal kingdom.
Favor green salads, fruits, nuts and vegetables in
your diet.
Remember it is still nice to open the car door for
ladies.
Appreciate the outdoors and the environment.
Save a tree and enjoy the emotional good that
comes about.
Give history the highest priority in your life.
Let the road hogs have the road.
Keep the ills of social media forever at arm’s length.
Remember that vindictiveness and envy are as inju
rious to your health as sugar.
Give humor the highest regard to disarm, illumi
nate, and uplift, always remembering some people can
tell a joke; some can’t.
Honor the flag for the long-standing traditional rea
sons.
Read, read, read, read, read.
There will be plenty of words to live by to accom
pany you on your life’s journey, but the following per
spective would be good to grasp and maintain:
“Most of us miss out on life’s big prizes.
The Pulitzer. The Nobel. The Oscars. Tonys. Em-
mys.
But we are all eligible for life’s small pleasures.
A pat on the back, a kiss behind the ear.
A four-pound bass, a full moon. An empty parking
space.
A crackling fire, a great meal, a glorious sunset.
Hot soup. Cold beer.
Don’t fret about copping life’s grand rewards.
Enjoy its tiny delights. There’s plenty of all of us.”