Democracy first
Regarding “AIPAC PAC endorses dozens of Republicans who refused to certify Joe Biden as president” (March 10):
The United States and Israel are both nations founded as democracies. Democracies reflect the will of the majority of the people who choose the candidates who will lead them. AIPAC’s PAC fails to realize that all pro-Israel candidates, whether Republican or Democrat, should first and foremost stand for the value of democracy.
BARRY DWORK
Alexandria
AIPAC’s single issue does not include U.S.
I strongly disagree, but I am not surprised, with the decision of AIPAC to endorse U.S. congressional candidates who voted against certifying the election of Joe Biden. The reason AIPAC gave for this position is that it is “a single-issue organization.” This logic is shortsighted. Based upon this reasoning, if a totalitarian regime provided support and benefit to Israel, AIPAC would welcome this assistance with open arms, regardless of the fact that this regime might be guilty of human rights abuses.
Additionally, building bipartisan support from congressional candidates who did not vote to certify Joe Biden’s election without a scintilla of truth of former President Trump’s assertion that the election was fraudulent, speaks volumes of the intelligence, or lack thereof, of those candidates. They do not necessarily have Israel’s interest at heart, but are merely taking a self-serving stance, furthering their perceived electability as sycophants for Mr. Trump.
There is nothing wrong with AIPAC having pro-Israeli points of view on various issues. Having those points of view should not be anti-American. Unfortunately, that is what AIPAC has done with these endorsements.
MITCHELL WASSON
Olney
I am livid that WJW this week chose to print two letters that present a distorted view of American democracy and a lack of knowledge about the democratic process of choosing a U.S. president.
Mr. Dwork is correct that the U.S. was founded as a democracy — but not as a pure democracy, as were some of the ancient Greek city-states, where majority rule is absolute. Thanks to the Framers of our Constitution, we have a more just and equitable form of democracy — a constitutional Republic, where majority rule is tempered by a sophisticated system of checks and balances that thwart a “tyranny of the majority,” and the tendency of that majority to trample upon the inalienable rights of individual citizens. Those who have forgotten, or are unfamiliar with these concepts, should become more familiar with the Constitution, the Declaration of Independence and the Federalist Papers ( No. 10 in particular).
As for Mr. Wasson’s shock at AIPAC’s support for pro-Israel Republicans who did not rubber stamp the certification of Biden’s election by the Electoral College, their vote against certification is part of the checks and balances that give members of Congress the opportunity to question what they see as improprieties in the election process. Perhaps Mr. Wasson is unaware that Democrats as well as Republicans have questioned the outcome of Electoral College votes in the past — yet one more sign of the fairness and vitality of our democratic system.
My disappointment is made even more so because WJW had a choice to print my letter about Biden’s “Purim spiel” SOTU address to balance the letters of Dwork and Wasson (which are based on Democratic Party propaganda and apparent ignorance of American democratic principles).
For whatever reason, WJW chose to print only those two. So for the edification of readers, on this eve of Purim I will post my letter below. Hopefully, WJW will at least allow my letter to be posted as an online comment.
As promised, here is the letter to the editor that I sent to WJW a number of days ago:
Your editorial on President Biden’s State of the Union address (SOTU) reflects wishful thinking more than it represents a realistic assessment of the Biden administration’s impact on our Republic (“Biden leans center,” March 10).
Biden’s address was filled with more of the same bluster and blunders that we have come to expect from a president who cares more about derailing the accomplishments of his predecessor than improving the state of the nation.
His foreign policy has been anything but successful — the catastrophic withdrawal from Afghanistan, the failure to follow up on the historic Abraham Accords and to enforce the Taylor Force Act against the PA, the appeasement of Iran in negotiation of a new nuclear deal, inveighing against Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria that the previous administration concluded are legitimate under international law, and the failure to deter Russia and China from threatening world peace in Ukraine and beyond.
His domestic policies have been hamstrung by a need to appease the radical progressive, socialist base of the Democratic Party. He may talk a good talk about funding police but his base continues to insist on the opposite. He kowtows to them by falsely referring to common sense voter ID requirements as “voter suppression.” His “open border” policy continues to create havoc with the health, welfare and security of our citizens. Last but not least, he has yielded to climate change fanatics in his party who have convinced him to suppress our fossil fuel industry at the expense of our energy independence and national security.
As I see it, the SOTU address is Biden’s Purim spiel to the nation — a topsy-turvy version of reality.