The author of the Empire’s Sept 24. editorial “Reckless endangerment” should be relieved of future editorial responsibilities. It is so full of hate, hyperbole, insult, disrespect and fear-mongering that it does not belong as a product of a newspaper that fancies itself a champion of rational, civil discourse. It is no less than the Empire borrowing a page from Donald Trump and insinuating that all Muslim immigrants from the Middle East are terrorists and murderers.
How can you seriously assert that “the administration has turned a blind eye toward Islamist terrorists groups,” “the administration seems to have forgotten the 9/11 attacks,” “administration has crossed over into insanity,” and use such loaded and incendiary terms and phrases as “pistol neatly pointed,” “reckless lunacy,” “this country… committing suicide” and pretend to be engaging in rational discourse.
Frankly, this kind of unsigned, radical appeal to fear, nativism, racism and religious intolerance disgusts me, and has no place in a civic institution in Juneau. As with the anti-Planned Parenthood editorial cartoon some weeks ago that personally attacked Cecile Richards, the decision to run this editorial shows a profound lack of judgement. When you publish intemperate voices such as these you give your sanction that they are worth being considered as serious points of view. It is no wonder that our society is so divided, antagonistic, fearful, intolerant, uncharitable, and dare I say, un-Christian. Thanks, Juneau Empire, for doing its best to keep us mean-spirited, selfish, and afraid.
I will try to pass this on to someone on your Citizen Editorial Board. I am interested in what that group thinks about this.
Tom Paul
Juneau