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To the editor:
Willful ignorance poisons the public good and civic virtue needed for a healthy, constitutional democracy.
One example was the 2024 election of Donald Trump. Voters apparently forgot that in his first term there were endless lies, incompetence, chaos, attacks on dissent and the authoritarian tendencies that define his administration today.
There also was Trump’s refusal to accept the results of the 2020 election, his participation in the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol, and four indictments and a civil trial that, before his election, resulted in two guilty verdicts, including a 34-felony-count conviction.
A second example is the political comeback of Andrew Cuomo. According to the polls, he is city residents’ overwhelming first choice for mayor. Have New Yorkers forgotten why Cuomo resigned as governor in 2021, when 11 women accused him of sexual harassment? There was also evidence that he implemented a policy that caused a significant increase in nursing home deaths from Covid.
A final example is the never-ending unconditional support for Israel. It’s telling that in 2023 the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Russia’s President Putin. He is accused of war crimes over the abduction and deportation to Russia of 20,000 Ukrainian children. The U.S. assisted in the investigation, with the State Department creating a database of the abducted children.
By contrast, when the ICC issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity, the action was ignored by the Biden administration and loudly denounced by both Democrats and Republicans in Congress. Unmentioned was Israel’s indiscriminate bombing in Gaza. It has resulted in the deaths of 18,000 children, created 19,000 orphans, and produced the largest population of child amputees in the world.
Howard Elterman
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reenjoe
I would add that Israel has now announced the true motive behind their disproportional response to the 10/7 attack - the illegal annexation of the Gaza strip as an "Official Israeli Security Zone". We will shortly see Israel expand into the West Bank and Southern Lebanon, claiming all the territory as their own.
Wednesday, April 2 Report this
JDonne
The author argues that willful ignorance, evident in the support for figures like Trump, Cuomo, and Israel, undermines democracy. However, I strongly disagree. Democracy is a system of governance where the people hold the power, either directly or through elected representatives. In this case, Trump secured both the popular and electoral vote, making him the direct representation of democracy.
Regarding war and human suffering, William T. Sherman famously said, “War is hell.” Unfortunately, humans are unable to live in perpetual peace, as history has repeatedly demonstrated. If humanity is to thrive, peaceful coexistence must be prioritized above all else.
War is inherently cruel, and there is no way to make it more humane.
Friday, April 4 Report this
reenjoe
JDonne, willful ignorance and democracy are not mutually exclusive. It is very possible for vast numbers of people to vote based upon their ideology while they purposely ignore facts. How many people made their voting decisions in 2008 & 2012 believing Obama was a Muslim or that Saddam Hussein ordered the 9/11 attacks? How many still believe this nonsense?
Abe Lincoln recognized willful ignorance when he said "you can fool some of the people all of the time and all of the people some of the time, but you can't fool all of the people all of the time".
Thursday, April 10 Report this
JDonne
Reenjoe,
In your post, you explore the concept of coexistence between willful ignorance and democracy, using voters’ beliefs about Obama and Saddam Hussein as an example. This is indeed a thought-provoking idea!
However, in the concluding paragraph of your post, you cite an alleged quote attributed to Abraham Lincoln: “You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you can’t fool all of the people all of the time.” Unfortunately, this quote lacks proper attribution. It’s crucial to exercise caution when sharing information, especially when your claims are based on the notion of willful ignorance.
For your information, Abraham Lincoln never uttered or wrote the quote you attribute to him. These attributions emerged over half a century after his passing and are generally considered unreliable. (Thomas Schwartz, a former historian at the Abraham Lincoln Museum, described these claims as “tenuous, at best.” Don and Virginia Fehrenbacher, the authors of Recollected Words of Abraham Lincoln, gave them a grade (D.).)
Nevertheless, Lincoln did express his belief that “We, the people, are rightful masters of Congress and the courts, not to overthrow the Constitution, but to overthrow those who prevent its implementation.”
Thursday, April 10 Report this