Editorial voices from across the country
Editorial voices from newspapers around the United States as compiled by the Associated Press:
Leave it to Donald Trump to express absolutely the wrong view on the terrorist attacks that left at least 30 people dead and more than 200 injured in Belgium Tuesday.
“Brussels was a beautiful city, a beautiful place with zero crime. And now it’s a disaster city. It’s a total disaster,” Trump said. “And we have to be very careful in the United States, we have to be very careful and very vigilant as to who we allow in the country.”
The Republican presidential candidate seems intent on making America’s open society as closed as the European nations that have become breeding grounds for the terrorist acts being committed by disconnected, disaffected immigrants.
That a number of Americans are known to have joined ISIS shows this nation isn’t immune to radicalism. But the more inclusive treatment that immigrants have been afforded in this country has diluted the strength of appeals to American Muslims to join jihadists in establishing an Islamic caliphate.
Many European Muslims live in isolated ghettos populated by families that emigrated from former colonies, such as Algeria and Morocco in France’s case. Muslim immigrants in America, conversely, come from many countries and are not typically segregated. A Pew Research study showed that Muslims are also as likely as other Americans to graduate from college, report household incomes of $100,000 or more, and be generally satisfied with their economic lot in life.
America’s existence as a pluralistic society that offers opportunities for immigrants to succeed – and for adherents of various faiths to coexist – has helped limit the threat of the type of domestic terrorism that has taken such a terrible toll on the people of Belgium.
The United States must be vigilant in rooting out the internal threats to national security that do exist. But it also must guard against cultivating the hatred that breeds terrorism by unnecessarily imposing xenophobic policies.
There are legitimate reasons to not vote for Hillary Clinton for president. The fact that she’s a woman, however, is out of bounds.
A new line of criticism, leveled solely at Clinton, reverts to a 1950s mentality that gender is a legitimate campaign issue. St. Louis radio host Charlie Brennan apparently embraces it.
The day after she won the Democratic primary in Missouri, Brennan described Clinton’s voice as shrill and said her yelling would be a turnoff to some voters. Several national male political pundits offered similarly tired observations that seem not to apply to men in the presidential race.
Telling a woman of Clinton’s stature how to speak and when to smile goes far beyond the realm of legitimate political punditry and analysis. It’s sexism.
Gender shouldn’t matter in the White House. American voters should demand higher qualities of discourse on the campaign trail. They shouldn’t have to watch an accomplished woman be treated like a child.
For many investigative journalists and documentary filmmakers, days like March 17 are the reason they do the hard work and put in the time and effort.
Years of public pressure, some resulting from the highly damning and critically praised 2013 documentary “Blackfish,” finally came to a head with SeaWorld announcing that it will no longer breed killer whales in captivity and will stop making them perform tricks.
While protests have gone on for decades, Gabriela Cowperthwaite’s film brought home to many the tragedy of the situation and the horrible, tiny living conditions for the majestic animals, not to mention the dangers for the trainers who worked with the orcas.
While Cowperthwaite is not a journalist and her film had a clear point of view, it is a reminder of the power of the media and what can happen when people push beyond the “official” story in search of a deeper understanding.