Congressman Jake Auchincloss explained perfectly the situation regarding universities, both in terms of what they fail to do and what they are responsible for in regards to Title VI and federal funding. He said that "...universities, particularly since October 7th, have lost the public's trust because they are clearly divorced from their telos of
truth seeking and education. And they have become, I think, many of them, uh captured by the hard left in a way that is alienating to americans and is contrary to an environment of civil discourse and contrarian opinions and the pursuit of truth so university's got to do a better job."
Would like to see and hear more from Jake Auchincloss. Don’t agree with him on everything but he appears to be ….competent and able to understand complexities. Also very good communicator and possibly a millennial.
This is heartbreaking, hard to comprehend. These are supposed to be the people fighting to salvage democracy - and yet, they are more worried about losing talent than about the harrowing violence of disappearing people. Senator Auchincloss is proudly supporting the genocide in Gaza, as if that was just a matter of disagreement - as if supporting a persecution of certain people still entitled you to feel democratic.
And then, he criticises the universities for allowing free speech - they fail in their role after October 7, according to him. It seems that they should just blindly support Israel? What makes all this more painful is that this is being said at the moment when Columbia Univ. is directly supporting the persecution of its students for holding certain beliefs, and when other top universities are giving in to pressures from the government and the Israel lobby. A black woman president of Harvard lost her job only because she believed in the right of Palestinians to keep existing. I am shocked to see that this platform, that I so much hoped would defend democracy, is willing to betray the most fundamental principles of solidarity and justice for the sake of political agenda.
I agree with you on this. In fact, I quickly googled Rep Auchincloss and was disappointed, albeit not surprised, to see that his largest donor is AIPAC. Until the Democrat Party ends corporate and SuperPac campaign financing they will continue to be saddled by hypocrisy when speaking on the important issues facing our democracy. The undemocratic influence of monied interests has created the very milieu that allowed MAGA to emerge and thrive. The Democrats must reform their own party to be the antidote to Trump/Musk/MAGA.
It is ironic and enraging that Rep Auchincloss is furthering a narrative that makes it unsafe to vocally support Palestinian dignity and human rights. I have spent my entire adult life working for peace and justice in the Middle East and the notion that this should be equated with the "radical left" is dangerous and enraging. While the Representative made a nod to the importance of civil disagreement in a democracy, he negated that very point in his mischaracterization of Universities. When I have attended campus protests since Oct 7th I have heard slogans and comments from both sides that made me very uncomfortable. As a student activist at Emory University in the early 1990s, I had my car vandalized (it had a "Free Palestine" bumper sticker) and was spat upon and called all sorts of names. As stated by Goran, this stance by Rep Auchincloss is deeply troubling and at a time when pro Palestinian free speech is leading to the disappearing of individuals, irresponsible.
Thank you for responding, and helping illuminate the problem, from your direct perspective. This is extremely troubling, the most troubling aspect of the threat to democracy in the US - that people like Ms. Rubin and Rep. Auchincloss are themselves in reality supportive of autocracy and - I have been pondering a lot over the language I am using and would be happy to debate it to the bitter end - the genocide, and the destruction of Palestine. This is a platform that should be salvaging democracy, but yet Ms. Rubin is betraying the most sacred principles of democracy: truth, justice and solidarity. I am heartbroken and more worried than ever, for I had hoped to find fellow humanists here. While money is playing an important role in this, the problem is much deeper: a need to belong that makes people adhere to groupthink, to the point of joint collective madness on fundamental issues. We are all aware how it plagues the supporters of Trump and his cronies, but it is even here, on our platform - most people are either ignoring this crucial issues or supporting the insane destruction of Gaza that is threatening deeply not just Palestinians, but Israelis and Americans. After all, nazism managed to almost completely destroy Germany itself. We have a sacred moral and political duty to help not just Palestine but Israel too - otherwise this cancer will lead to metastasis, if it did not do it already. But what I really cannot comprehend for the life of me: how can one not feel empathy for the decades old suffering of Palestine, which turned Gaza into the world's largest concretation camp, now almost totally in rubbles - and literally threatening the very survival of entire people? We all know that Israel is led by an almost nazi like government that is openly preaching ethnical cleansing and the expulsion, and even extermination, of Palestinians from their land. Think of this please: the other day Netanyahu - a proven criminal - had to appear in court in Tel Aviv, and the way out for him was to intensify bombing of Gaza, which killed hundreds In 24 hours, good many children. Being silent on this is being complicit of crimes against humanity, period. There are no two sides here, just as there were no two sides during the Holocaust.
I don't believe I gathered quite the same info as you did per the first part of your comment. I will say that it is difficult to be taught to support our Jewish friends when the mostly peaceful Palestinians lose their lives and homes for what appears to be way too much or continuing attacks on the Gazans that use the Palestinians in a bad way. It is always hard to consider religions in opposites and keep in mind how awful the effects of war and attacks are on all involved.
Correct. There is a reason for the less pleasant but more accurate term of "Christofascism."
PS... In travels across the country, especially in the Midwest and South, many friends who have attended churches note that Jesus is most often depicted, in paintings and statues, as pale skinned with blonde hair. Interestingly, these images of Jesus never feature him with a gritted-teeth Sylvester Stallone body wearing bandoliers and carrying an AR-15, as they have done with Trump, yet they remain convinced that Jesus would approve of fascism. It is part of the cultism and the disconnect from reality.
And they are all in to push more people to the margins and otherwise ignore them. The fact that Jesus also went to the margins escapes their ideology, as does Matthew 25.
I disagree that universities have to do a better job when it comes to protests - universities are supposed to be bastions of free speech, where anyone, right or left can speak their opinion and protest whatever they want. There there is an argument to be made that universities need to do a better job protecting ALL of their students from harassment - brown and black students as well as Jewish students - but they also need to PROTECT their students rights to protest and engage in debate and voice their opinions!
Jen - absolutely yes! Students must have their rights to protest, but they also must respect other opinions as they are expressed as well. There is such a need for listening skills, for empathy, and for affirming common ground. If we can find the areas we agree on, we can better hear one another's strongly held point of view. Although I appreciated this interview, I immediately felt disappointed when the words "radical left" appeared. Labels often indicate that careful listening is not happening, but judgement is. We have to do better.
Loved Rep. Auchincloss' clear, concise comments on multiple topics. His comment on Russia not giving up anything for concessions seemed spot on. Knowing the difference between two northern countries Canada (that's our friend) and Russia (that's our enemy). And losing out on the future by not backing science and related research to keep us healthy and safe ... HHS moving in the opposite direction under RFK, Jr.
Its time to defend ALL forms of free speech, whether political, economic, or religious. Trump and his minions should be prosecuted for First Amendment violations, which are NOT part of his “core” duties under the Constitution; he is not protected from prosecution for violating the First Amendment by the recent Supreme Court rulings on prosecuting presidents.
Question for Democrats: What are you going to do about Signalgate? You don't have control of any branch of government.
Correct Answer: Unless Republicans correct the problem, we are going to campaign on it up to the 2026 election, and we are going to use it to capture every vote possible, especially the votes of veterans. No one should vote for people who regularly undermine our national security.
Excellent questions, Jen.
Congressman Jake Auchincloss explained perfectly the situation regarding universities, both in terms of what they fail to do and what they are responsible for in regards to Title VI and federal funding. He said that "...universities, particularly since October 7th, have lost the public's trust because they are clearly divorced from their telos of
truth seeking and education. And they have become, I think, many of them, uh captured by the hard left in a way that is alienating to americans and is contrary to an environment of civil discourse and contrarian opinions and the pursuit of truth so university's got to do a better job."
Would like to see and hear more from Jake Auchincloss. Don’t agree with him on everything but he appears to be ….competent and able to understand complexities. Also very good communicator and possibly a millennial.
This is heartbreaking, hard to comprehend. These are supposed to be the people fighting to salvage democracy - and yet, they are more worried about losing talent than about the harrowing violence of disappearing people. Senator Auchincloss is proudly supporting the genocide in Gaza, as if that was just a matter of disagreement - as if supporting a persecution of certain people still entitled you to feel democratic.
And then, he criticises the universities for allowing free speech - they fail in their role after October 7, according to him. It seems that they should just blindly support Israel? What makes all this more painful is that this is being said at the moment when Columbia Univ. is directly supporting the persecution of its students for holding certain beliefs, and when other top universities are giving in to pressures from the government and the Israel lobby. A black woman president of Harvard lost her job only because she believed in the right of Palestinians to keep existing. I am shocked to see that this platform, that I so much hoped would defend democracy, is willing to betray the most fundamental principles of solidarity and justice for the sake of political agenda.
I agree with you on this. In fact, I quickly googled Rep Auchincloss and was disappointed, albeit not surprised, to see that his largest donor is AIPAC. Until the Democrat Party ends corporate and SuperPac campaign financing they will continue to be saddled by hypocrisy when speaking on the important issues facing our democracy. The undemocratic influence of monied interests has created the very milieu that allowed MAGA to emerge and thrive. The Democrats must reform their own party to be the antidote to Trump/Musk/MAGA.
It is ironic and enraging that Rep Auchincloss is furthering a narrative that makes it unsafe to vocally support Palestinian dignity and human rights. I have spent my entire adult life working for peace and justice in the Middle East and the notion that this should be equated with the "radical left" is dangerous and enraging. While the Representative made a nod to the importance of civil disagreement in a democracy, he negated that very point in his mischaracterization of Universities. When I have attended campus protests since Oct 7th I have heard slogans and comments from both sides that made me very uncomfortable. As a student activist at Emory University in the early 1990s, I had my car vandalized (it had a "Free Palestine" bumper sticker) and was spat upon and called all sorts of names. As stated by Goran, this stance by Rep Auchincloss is deeply troubling and at a time when pro Palestinian free speech is leading to the disappearing of individuals, irresponsible.
Thank you for responding, and helping illuminate the problem, from your direct perspective. This is extremely troubling, the most troubling aspect of the threat to democracy in the US - that people like Ms. Rubin and Rep. Auchincloss are themselves in reality supportive of autocracy and - I have been pondering a lot over the language I am using and would be happy to debate it to the bitter end - the genocide, and the destruction of Palestine. This is a platform that should be salvaging democracy, but yet Ms. Rubin is betraying the most sacred principles of democracy: truth, justice and solidarity. I am heartbroken and more worried than ever, for I had hoped to find fellow humanists here. While money is playing an important role in this, the problem is much deeper: a need to belong that makes people adhere to groupthink, to the point of joint collective madness on fundamental issues. We are all aware how it plagues the supporters of Trump and his cronies, but it is even here, on our platform - most people are either ignoring this crucial issues or supporting the insane destruction of Gaza that is threatening deeply not just Palestinians, but Israelis and Americans. After all, nazism managed to almost completely destroy Germany itself. We have a sacred moral and political duty to help not just Palestine but Israel too - otherwise this cancer will lead to metastasis, if it did not do it already. But what I really cannot comprehend for the life of me: how can one not feel empathy for the decades old suffering of Palestine, which turned Gaza into the world's largest concretation camp, now almost totally in rubbles - and literally threatening the very survival of entire people? We all know that Israel is led by an almost nazi like government that is openly preaching ethnical cleansing and the expulsion, and even extermination, of Palestinians from their land. Think of this please: the other day Netanyahu - a proven criminal - had to appear in court in Tel Aviv, and the way out for him was to intensify bombing of Gaza, which killed hundreds In 24 hours, good many children. Being silent on this is being complicit of crimes against humanity, period. There are no two sides here, just as there were no two sides during the Holocaust.
I don't believe I gathered quite the same info as you did per the first part of your comment. I will say that it is difficult to be taught to support our Jewish friends when the mostly peaceful Palestinians lose their lives and homes for what appears to be way too much or continuing attacks on the Gazans that use the Palestinians in a bad way. It is always hard to consider religions in opposites and keep in mind how awful the effects of war and attacks are on all involved.
GREAT interview,no frills, no snark, straightforward questions with interesting and illuminating answers. Auchincloss is terrific.
Christian nationalism is not Christianity
Correct. There is a reason for the less pleasant but more accurate term of "Christofascism."
PS... In travels across the country, especially in the Midwest and South, many friends who have attended churches note that Jesus is most often depicted, in paintings and statues, as pale skinned with blonde hair. Interestingly, these images of Jesus never feature him with a gritted-teeth Sylvester Stallone body wearing bandoliers and carrying an AR-15, as they have done with Trump, yet they remain convinced that Jesus would approve of fascism. It is part of the cultism and the disconnect from reality.
And they are all in to push more people to the margins and otherwise ignore them. The fact that Jesus also went to the margins escapes their ideology, as does Matthew 25.
So true from what I have seen and read.
I disagree that universities have to do a better job when it comes to protests - universities are supposed to be bastions of free speech, where anyone, right or left can speak their opinion and protest whatever they want. There there is an argument to be made that universities need to do a better job protecting ALL of their students from harassment - brown and black students as well as Jewish students - but they also need to PROTECT their students rights to protest and engage in debate and voice their opinions!
Jen - absolutely yes! Students must have their rights to protest, but they also must respect other opinions as they are expressed as well. There is such a need for listening skills, for empathy, and for affirming common ground. If we can find the areas we agree on, we can better hear one another's strongly held point of view. Although I appreciated this interview, I immediately felt disappointed when the words "radical left" appeared. Labels often indicate that careful listening is not happening, but judgement is. We have to do better.
Many great points in this interview!
Excellent, especially when Rep. Auchincloss and Jen didn't see eye to eye. Why? Because they both give explanations that make sense.
Loved Rep. Auchincloss' clear, concise comments on multiple topics. His comment on Russia not giving up anything for concessions seemed spot on. Knowing the difference between two northern countries Canada (that's our friend) and Russia (that's our enemy). And losing out on the future by not backing science and related research to keep us healthy and safe ... HHS moving in the opposite direction under RFK, Jr.
Its time to defend ALL forms of free speech, whether political, economic, or religious. Trump and his minions should be prosecuted for First Amendment violations, which are NOT part of his “core” duties under the Constitution; he is not protected from prosecution for violating the First Amendment by the recent Supreme Court rulings on prosecuting presidents.
Question for Democrats: What are you going to do about Signalgate? You don't have control of any branch of government.
Correct Answer: Unless Republicans correct the problem, we are going to campaign on it up to the 2026 election, and we are going to use it to capture every vote possible, especially the votes of veterans. No one should vote for people who regularly undermine our national security.
Insurance costs are really important to most of us: As they rise, our monthly home budgets are being really challenged!