Moral equivalence has two purposes: One is to enable the morally confused to hide their confusion. The other is to enable the immoral to hide their immorality. Here are two examples as applied to the Israeli-Arab conflict. One is the assertion we hear regarding the Israel-Hamas war by members of the Western Left, by Muslim supporters of the Palestinians and even by a few individuals on the right: “Palestinian babies are as precious as Israeli babies.” Professor Cornel West, a lifelong progressive running for president as a Democrat: “As I have said for the past 50 years, a precious Palestinian child has the same value as a precious Israeli child.” David Cronin, an editor at Electronic Intifada, a large pro Palestinian, anti-Israel website: “Palestinian babies are just as precious as my new daughter.”

In every generation they arise to annihilate us.” That statement appears in the Haggadah, the book read from at the Passover Seder. The book is about 1,000 years old; the statement is more than 2,000 years old.

In the aftermath of Hamas’ horrific attack on Israel and the barbaric kidnappings, torture and slaughter of hundreds of civilians, Jews across the world are asking hard questions about whom they can truly count on.

Dear Editor and Lampasas voters, I respectfully ask you to seriously consider voting “YES” for two of the upcoming Constitutional Amendments. 1.

Texas has 14 proposed constitutional amendments on its statewide ballots. These propositions were passed during the 88th Texas Legislature by twothirds of the House and Senate members. Now they go before Texas voters on Nov. 7 for either ratification or rejection by a simple majority of those who participate in the election.

Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York may serve as the Senate majority leader, but the press releases he posts on his official Senate website do not tend to focus on national issues. They focus instead on spending federal money -- in New York.

I have taught at Lampasas High School for many years, loving the students, the school and the community. As a retired teacher, I would like to join with retired teachers of Texas in asking you to vote for Proposition 9, a cost-ofliving raise for retired teachers.

Even on a good day,” Senator John Kennedy (R-Louisiana) said, “most Americans look at Washington, D.C., and they ask themselves, ‘How did these people make it through the birth canal?’ That’s on a good day.” But good days have been hard to come by lately, as the House devolves into chaos and the vacant speakership into an Emmy Award-winning soap. And while there’s not much Senate Republicans can do to rescue their House counterparts, that doesn’t mean they won’t try.

Over the past few weeks, England’s Daily Mail has published several articles about the growing political unrest in South Africa and the rise of Julius Malema, head of the Economic Freedom Fighters, an expressly “Marxist-Leninist” party calling for “seizure of private property without compensation” and nationalization of the country’s gold mines, banking institutions and other industries. Malema has declared his plans to “destroy South African capitalism” and turn the country into Cuba, which he describes as a “successful socialist state.” Malema follows the Marxist playbook, demonizing entire classes of South Africans -- mostly white farmers -- and calling for their deaths. His followers are listening; in 2023 alone, there have been 42 murders of white farmers in South Africa -- more than one a week.

Acommon theme in political news coverage over the past few years has been how “fractious” and “divisive” politics has become. Newspapers, magazines and social media have countless articles of political disagreements that have torn families apart and destroyed longtime friendships. It seems to many observers that the political divisions in our country are growing larger and more difficult to navigate.