BOWED, BUT NOT BROKEN

Dear Reader:

It is entirely possible that by the time you read this editorial, new developments will already have eclipsed some of the current ones that have just recently taken us by storm.

Neither the most profound lessons taught in journalism school, nor the wealth of experience accumulated from decades of publishing, could have prepared us for the sheer madness otherwise known as the 2016 presidential campaign.

According to reliable news sources, six out of ten registered voters think negatively about both candidates. Think about it. That means that the majority of citizens who actively participate in the electoral process are disappointed with their options, and worried about the future might bring.

The presidential debates, which sometimes serve as the basis for some clarity to a high percentage of undecided voters, were disastrous. Not only were they not constructive in helping voters choose a candidate, they exposed the shamelessness of desperate candidates, ready to sacrifice any last vestige of dignity to gain power.

Voters across America could not help but lose faith in the institution of democracy. One day, the general media, which helped orchestrate this sad reality, will be held accountable for its unforgivable breach of trust to its constituency.

Again and again we were reminded over the past year, as we reported on events as they unfolded, events far stranger than the most creative works of fiction, that we are mere puppets being led by the Yad Hashem.

No credible pundit could have imagined that a man without a shred of political or military experience would manage to win the GOP nomination. Nor did it seem feasible that a Democratic candidate with such high negative ratings, weighed down with so much political baggage, would end up being the nominee.

No one could have possibly foreseen the astonishing twists and turns, the seemingly endless parade of gaffes and scandals on both sides of the political aisle. Far more suitable candidates were forced to drop out of presidential races after revelations that pale in comparison to the missteps of each of the candidates representing the two major parties in a campaign that has gone from the bizarre to the macabre and now can only be described as humiliating the American people.

Throughout the campaign — and especially in the past few weeks — we were forced to expend much efforts and energy to protect our readers’ right not to know. It is a sad illustration of how far America has fallen when a presidential debate is something that no responsible parent would allow their children to listen to.

We have no way of knowing what the next days will bring in a campaign in which what is least expected is the most likely to occur.

As we find ourselves facing a situation that seems helpless, we as believing Jews do not give in to despair, because this situation just crystallizes that which we must always remember: Ein od milvado — There is no one other than Him.

Ruth Lichtenstein

Publisher