University leaders’ hypocrisy in speeches, Israel’s desire to withdraw from Gaza, and other perspectives

Libertarian: Uni Leaders’ Speech Hypocrisy

“Campus administrators who said they would never censor anti-Jewish speech . . . are hypocrites. They routinely, eagerly censor speech when the speech is flagged as hateful,” fumes Reason’s Robby Soave. A few examples: “George Washington University decided to investigate students for putting up flyers that were critical of the Chinese government,” Princeton canceled “an art exhibition of 19th-century Jewish-American artists because two of the featured artists had been Confederate soldiers,” and MIT canceled a lecture on climate change by a geophysicist because “he had dared to write an op-ed criticizing affirmative action.” “When elite university presidents claim that even hateful speech should enjoy ironclad protection on college campuses, they are absolutely correct. But if they are asserting that speech characterized as hateful currently enjoys ironclad protection on their campuses, they are blind.”

Mideast watch: Israel Wants Out of Gaza, Too

“If there’s one thing the pro-Israel and pro-Palestine camps agree on, it’s that neither wants to see Israel’s soldiers fighting inside Gaza,” observes Aviva Klompas at The Hill. But “Hamas has openly promised to conduct Oct. 7-style attacks again and again.” That massacre made it “clear that Israel can no longer ignore the jihadi death cult” on its border; Israeli families won’t return to the “towns surrounding Gaza as long as Hamas remains a threat.” “Israel did not ask for this war,” yet “its only choice is to fight it fully.” A “terror state built over 15 years cannot be dismantled overnight”; but once it is, “both Israelis and Palestinians will welcome the day when Israeli soldiers no longer fight in Gaza.”

Liberal: Dem Coalition Falling Apart

“The Democratic coalition is in poor shape,” frets The Liberal Patriot’s Ruy Teixeira, especially with “moderate and independent voters.” One big reason: Those voters “see the parties as tied on ‘democracy being secure’ and give [President] Biden and the Democrats negligible leads of 2 points on ‘presidents not being able to act as autocrats’ ” and deem “the Democratic Party more ideologically extreme than the Republicans by 9 points.” And if Trump “is indeed as bad as most Democrats seem to believe — i.e., we’re one step away from fascism, it’s Weimar Germany 1932 all over again,” then Dems should be “compromising on anything and everything to make their party maximally accessible to persuadable voters.” “But that’s not what’s happening,” which is “not a recipe for success.”

China beat: Xi Goes Full Stalin

“While the world is distracted by war in the Middle East and Ukraine, a Stalin-like purge is sweeping through China’s ultra-secretive political system,” reports Politico. “The unexplained disappearance and removal of China’s foreign and defense ministers — both Xi [Jinping] loyalists who were handpicked and elevated mere months before they went missing earlier this year — are just two examples.” Others “include the generals in charge of China’s nuclear weapons program and some of the most senior officials overseeing the Chinese financial sector.” Those purged are “loyalists from the inner ring of Xi’s own clique, leading to serious questions over the regime’s stability” and “fears that an isolated and paranoid Chairman Xi could miscalculate,” even “launch a full-scale invasion of democratic Taiwan in order to distract from his domestic troubles.”

From the right: Hunter Indictment Imperils Joe

“Joe Biden made cracking down on tax-cheating millionaires a centerpiece of his presidency,” even securing funds for thousands of new IRS agents, recalls Just the News’ John Solomon. Hah! Last week, “his Justice Department branded first son Hunter Biden” a “quintessential tax cheat who chose to underwrite an ‘extravagant lifestyle’ with millions in foreign monies” rather than pay Uncle Sam. And several passages of the “sweeping” indictment “directly contradict” Joe’s assertions — confirming, for example, the Bidens got millions from China, something the prez has denied. The charges, including three felonies and six misdemeanors, boost the “legal peril” for Hunter — but also cast “a dark cloud over the president’s own political fortunes” just as the House is set to vote on authorizing an impeachment inquiry.

— Compiled by The Post Editorial Board