Letters to the editor
George Soros no victim
I applaud the Observer-Reporter for its editorial on anti-Semitism (Nov. 11).
However, I found this sentence very troubling: “Certainly some of the blame must be pinned on officials who try to push anti-Semitism with a wink and a nudge.
By, for example, accusing financier and Jewish emigre George Soros of masterminding conspiracies and other dark misdeeds without a smidgen of proof, they are pushing anti-Semitism out of the fringes and into the mainstream.”
To portray or even hint that Soros is some sort of paragon of virtue is not only a gross insult to all practicing Jews, but to people of all faiths.
It’s well known that Soros is an atheist, not a Jew. He has said that he grew up in an “anti-Semitic household.” Although he was born “Gyorgy Schwartz” in Budapest, Hungary, his family changed their name to “Soros,” an Esperanto name that means “to soar.” CBS aired an episode of 60 Minutes called “George Soros – One Evil Man.” Soros’s father, Tivadar, also known as Teodoro, a lawyer, split his family up during the Nazi invasion of Budapest.
The elder Soros bought forged papers and bribed a government official to take the boy and swear that George was his Christian godson.
As Hungarian Jews were being shipped to death camps, young George accompanied his phony godfather on rounds through Budapest’s Jewish neighborhoods. As George pointed out where his Jewish friends lived, they were hustled off to concentration camps, leaving young George to take whatever he wanted of their possessions. To say that Soros is “accused of misdeeds without a smidgen of proof” is an outrageous lie!
Furthermore, when Soros was asked about his actions on camera, he explained that he had no remorse for his actions. “I admit that I have always harbored an exaggerated view of self-importance – to put it bluntly, I fancied myself as some kind of god,” Soros wrote in his 1987 book, “The Alchemy of Finance.” In a British television interview, he said, “Next to my fantasies about being God, I also have very strong fantasies of being mad.”
Through his Open Society Foundation, Soros has dumped a reported $33 million into malcontent groups such as Black Lives Matter, Antifa, Organization for Black Struggle, Moveon.Org and Center For American Progress (a leftist think tank), as reported in the Washington Times in 2015.
Perhaps the thing that he is best known for is being “The Man who Broke the Bank of England.” In 1992, Soros initiated a British financial crisis by dumping 10 billion sterling, forcing the devaluation of the currency and gaining a billion-dollar profit.
To hold up this vile human being as some sort of victim of anti-Semitism is nothing short of appalling.
John Quayle
North Franklin Township
Vote values, not labels
There is a tendency, during recent political campaigns, to label Republicans as conservatives and Democrats as liberals.
Take a moment, grab a dictionary and look up the definitions of those terms. After you have done that, and before you label anyone, including yourself, here are a few things to consider in the style of comedian Jeff Foxworthy:
If you think government has too much arbitrary authority and that there are too many laws restricting your freedom, you might be a liberal. If you believe that you are a generous person, or belong to a charitable organization like the Lions, Rotary, grange or practice a religion that does charitable work, you might be a liberal. If you are a farmer or a hunter and you share your harvest, you might be a liberal. If you stand on tradition, including the traditional arts and sciences, you might be a liberal. On the other hand, if you believe government regulations are good and you are opposed to change, you might be a conservative. If you believe government programs should be left alone, you might be a conservative. If you believe protecting our environment and natural resources are important, you might be a conservative.
Too many qualified candidates from both parties lose elections because they are branded by a D or an R. Before you attach a label, read it first, and the next time you vote, vote your values, not the label.
Judy Kramer
Bulger
President playing dangerous game
As votes continue to be counted in close races from the Nov. 6 election and recounts take place, the president is playing a dangerous game, making accusations with no basis that fraud is taking place which favors the Democrats.
His posture, in which he has been joined by other prominent elected GOP officials, is serving to gin up the Trump mobs as they engage in protests to demand that Republican candidates prevail.
I worry that as this process reaches a crescendo, the fever that is being induced in Trump loyalists could manifest itself in civil unrest if the process concludes with GOP nominees coming up short.
If vote-counting shenanigans are occurring which impact the result of key elections in favor of the Democrats, of course they should not be allowed, but for the leader of the nation to make baseless accusations is beyond the pale and dangerous.
We know that Donald Trump will engage in obfuscation, distortion and lies to get what he wants, and he recklessly predicted and served to encourage rioting if he did not win the 2016 election. Had he not won, he would certainly have alleged that widespread voter fraud was the reason.
When a president’s statements consistently fail to follow from facts, we go down a perilous road.
Oren Spiegler
South Strabane Township