Editorials

At least 15 States have passed resolutions declaring pornography a public health crisis. Others are moving in that direction. Ohio now has H. R. No. 180—a resolution “to declare that pornography is a public health hazard with statewide and national public health impacts leading to a broad spectrum of individual and societal harms.”

Let us hope that all the revelations about sexual crimes and indiscretions that occurred in decades past will embolden those who have been violated to report attacks quickly. There are several reasons why victims of crimes of all sorts do not press charges against the perpetrators or ever acknowledge that crimes have been committed: fear of reprisal or embarrassment, a sense that no one will believe the stories told, hopelessness where disparity in wealth or status between victim and violator is stark.

Every now and then the most profound questions arise. Just a look at the clear night sky splattered with stars reveals a scale—immensity—against which the measures of our little lives wither. The view can prompt the biggest questions—questions about how it all began and where it all is going, questions about our importance or insignificance in the universe—and are we alone?—even the ultimate question 'why is there anything at all, rather than nothing?' We are on a dangerous path. It can be uncomfortable. Most of us do not pursue very far the answers; we can recoil at the consequences.

[Published in the Congressional Record—Appendix, May 6, 1965, pp. 2235-2236.]

Putting a hand deep into the punch at a party is a deviation from polite behavior that typically does not signify much else except, perhaps, retrieving a ring, grabbing a piece of fruit, trying to shock, offend or amuse people. Such an act is generally considered uncouth but apolitical: it does not express an idea or opinion, but only reveals at most an urgency to snag something, or convey an attitude or emotion.

The attack by American forces on the Shayrat airbase in Syria on April 7, 2017 was enough to show that our president and our country are aware that a chemical agent was used to kill civilians in Syria. The cruise missiles that targeted some of Assad’s military assets should clearly have demonstrated our disapproval of the use of any chemical or biological means for harming humans. Unfortunately, as a number of analysts have pointed out, the toughest problem is what America should do next.

At and around the founding of the American republic, a well-armed militia or a combination of a few could have overthrown the government. If necessary, citizen soldiers could have prevailed in a fight to protect the country from tyranny, preserve the rights of the people, abolish a regime that had lost its legitimacy.