Editorial
I
Extreme Games
t is with great pleasure and enthusiasm that I write to you my first editorial for Binghamton Review. For years, this student journal has provoked debate, discussion and controversy at BU. I find, partly because I lean libertarian in my views, that I tend to invite controversy myself—a criticism which has been leveled against me since childhood. I cannot dispel the veracity of this allegation, but I can say that I am a firm believer in logic, truth and reason; often times people have trouble with these things. Notions such as these are not to be taken for granted; often we are confronted with illogic and irrationality. It is only through a series of games; extreme games—that we can isolate truth and logic. This is the mission of Binghamton Review. Modern liberalism, a matter of concern here at the Review, is something which is anathema to the spirit of reason, logic and societal advancement. We hold the Constitution of the United States in high esteem, and seek to preserve its legacy. For example, citizens should not have to pay more that half of their earnings in taxes to the government. Someone is not automatically a racist if they disapprove of Affirmative Action. The government does not have the authority to tell us where we can and cannot smoke, or what fats we can and cannot eat. In high school I experienced first hand the fallacy that is modern liberalism. My fledgling school in Boston prided itself on pluralism and tolerance. Pluralism and tolerance. These are notions which are abstract, and cannot possibly function practically in the way they are intended to. What ends up occurring, in the actual application of this notion, is pluralism and tolerance for everyone—with the clear exception of those who disagree with the administrations warped sense of reality. For example—establishing the Conservative Club was a little controversial, but refusing school charter to a Gay Lesbian Transgender Alliance—well, that would be discriminatory. This school was educational only in the sense that it presented me with an accurate microcosm of a world controlled by liberals. If you perused our previous issue, you know that a theme which we consistently encounter is that of race. Racism is a sensitive subject, but we at the Review refuse to be intimidated by it. And if God forbid I ever make an Imus-esque slip up, I will not apologize to racist charlatans like “The Reverends” Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson. Recently, comedian Jackie Mason and celebrity
attorney Raoul Felder wrote a book called “Schmucks!: Our Favorite Fakes, Frauds, Lowlifes, Liars, the Armed and Dangerous, and Good Guys Gone Bad.” The State Commission on Judicial Conduct, which Attorney Felder chairs, stripped him of his right to speak and sign letters for the commission due to the contents of the book he co-wrote. As a result of criticizing Affirmative Action as “insidious,” and classifying it as one of the most significant problems facing the United States today, he was vilified as a reactionary and a racist. Funny—as in fact the very concept of Affirmative Action is inherently racist itself. A separate, but analogous issue exists in the Middle East. The State of Israel is constantly pilloried for her “racism” and “oppression” of Palestinians, whereas the reality is, again, precisely the opposite. The Arab countries surrounding the beleaguered Jewish State either refuse to recognize her existence, or reluctantly maintain a cold peace because of the inferiority of their military power. This is not because of “occupied territories” or anti-Palestinian governmental policies; Jew hatred and anti-Semitic terrorist attacks existed in Israel long before they had administrative control of the West Bank. In addition, many still insist on applying a moral equivalency between a democratic country’s war on terror and a savage, violent people seeking to destroy it. Despite these facts, most of the world is inclined to believe the opposite of the truth. On the local scale, there is also no shortage of malfeasance. From student groups like NYPIRG to the bureaucracy that is parking services, Binghamton University and the city of Binghamton are replete with frustrations. I have even been known to drive all the way to Queens for a decent sandwich. Fortunately, we here at the Review do not solely focus on the negatives surrounding us. We often cover such vital topics as music, strip clubs, good food, and where to find the cutest girls on campus. Someday, I hope we will only focus on these things. I look forward to running this journal, and working with Binghamton University’s finest students who make up our staff and our regular readers. For twenty years, the Review has existed as the sole bastion of logic and reason on campus, and I aim to continue this tradition and then some. If some of you decide to join us for some extreme games, then I will not be wasting my time.
Binghamton Review, May 2007
-Nathaniel Sugarman, Editor-in-Chief