A skewed sense of morality

A skewed sense of morality

The May 23 editorial dealing with the Middle East situation starts with a balanced description of this conflict. However, the last sentence, “Obama’s starting point is more morally and politically defensible than Netanyahu’s” defies the logical conclusion of its preceding paragraphs.

As mentioned there the Palestinians used the voluntary evacuation of Gaza by Israel to create a terror state which is essentially a beachhead of Iran, and to rain upon the neighboring Israeli towns with thousands of rockets. This is the most likely scenario waiting to happen if Israel evacuates the border area regardless of any written but unreliable agreement. Only this time the major population of Israel, including the only international airport as well as most of the military airports will be paralyzed.

To call the president’s position, which will jeopardize the existence of the only Jewish state, in order to improve the borders of the 24th Arab state, a morally superior position is morally indefensible. In fact, this editorial sentence can be easily defined as immoral.

A. Z. Rabinowitz, Liberty

Party’s sum is more than its parts

Kudos to David Skolnick for pointing out that taking turns is not a part of politics. I was irked by a letter to the editor by a young Republican that ran on May 19 in which the writer attempted to capitalize on the anger that many citizens may rightfully feel after another elected official violated the public trust. However, he naively assumes that this anger is sufficient for people to abandon their values in order to become card-carrying members of the Mahoning County Republican Party.

At the end of the day, both Democrats and Republicans are human — believe it or not — and are therefore susceptible to sin. It is a sad reality that nationwide both Democrats and Republicans have broken laws over the years. This should not be a reflection of either party as a whole.

Citizens elect officials based on whose values are closest to their own. In order to attract voters; parties should be able to stand on their merits, rather than the faults of their opposition. With that being said, the Mahoning County Democratic Party can stand on its merits as a champion the issues and values of the working class citizens of the Mahoning Valley.

Rachel I. Hanni, Youngstown

The writer is president of Mahoning County Young Democrats.