Editorial voices from elsewhere
Excerpts from recent editorials in newspapers in North America as compiled by the Associated Press:
Donald Trump continues to lead the GOP presidential field in the polls, which means it’s time to start taking his ideas more seriously. One place to start is his argument that because he’s a billionaire who doesn’t depend on contributions from others, he’s somehow superior because he’s immune from political influence.
The argument plays into the current political frustration with Washington, D.C., but it is as self-serving as it is dangerous to democracy. What he’s really saying is that nobody who isn’t wealthy should be able to run for president because only the superrich can be untainted by political corruption.
But most politicians aren’t rich, which means they have to raise money from others. This has the benefit of testing the level of their support as well as forcing them to build political coalitions. The broader their support, the less likely any single donor or constituency would have inordinate influence.
The stolen base in the Trump argument is that if elected the other candidates would have agendas but he wouldn’t. The truth is that even if he never takes a nickel from a lobbyist, Mr. Trump will still be influenced by his largest campaign donor – himself. To say the least, he’s never been shy about pursuing his interests.
In business that’s fine and plastering his name everywhere has built a well-known brand and accumulated a fortune that may even be as large as he says it is. But it’s naive to examine his career and conclude that he lives only to serve others. It’s not clear to us why the agenda of one rich guy in Manhattan is superior to one that incorporates the views of a thousand rich guys across the United States.
Cool, composed and as forthright as ever, former President Jimmy Carter said in a news conference last week that, in the wake of a cancer diagnosis, he is “perfectly at ease with whatever comes.” The way Carter handled the news conference underscores the grace with which he has conducted his entire post-presidency, and only makes it harder for the rest of us to be perfectly at ease with the possibility of his death.
Carter at times has stirred controversy with his deeply held views on the Middle East and other global challenges. Yet even those who have found themselves disagreeing with him, as we have from time to time, have stood in admiration of the honorable life he has lived and the model post-presidency he has shaped. Carter has spent the years after his single term as president focusing not on constructing a lavish library-memorial, nor on earning millions through speechmaking, but on substantive, civic-spirited initiatives intended to improve the world in ways both big and small.
Now, as he begins treatment for a cancer that has spread to his brain, Carter again offers a model of quiet courage, neither fatalistic nor unrealistic, expressing more concern for his loved ones than for himself. We have no doubt that others facing illness will find inspiration in his example.
Marvin Gaye may have heard it through the grapevine back in the day. But today, it’s bad vibes from the Dark Web that have left Canadians about to lose their minds over relationships gone sour.
The data dump of confidential Ashley Madison customer information, courtesy of a blue-nosed band of hackers with a hurt on for “cheating dirt bags,” has the owners of email addresses ending in “.ca” squirming over their errant mouse pads.
Customers of the world’s “leading married dating service for discreet encounters” – the site boasts nearly 39 million worldwide – rue the day they bought into the slogan “Life is Short. Have an Affair.” They never counted on signing on for an “outing” as well. The hackers have now shared customers’ names, email addresses, home addresses, sexual fantasies and worse for all the world to snigger at.
So much for putting any faith in a company that traffics in infidelity.