Ron Kampeas’ JTA report on the Jon Stewart Rally for Sanity is clearly “misguided” (“Rallying Against The Meshuggenehs,” Nov. 5).
I use that term and not “wrong” and “obviously biased” (which it was) out of respect to Jon Stewart and the underlying rationale for the rally.
According to Stewart, extremists on both the left and the right monopolize the media. The 80 percent of us in the center are not being heard above the political rhetoric of these extremists. That being said it is “misguided” that The Jewish Week, in publishing the JTA report, portrayed the rally as being in any way being representative of the J Street/New Israel Fund/ultra-liberal leftist point of view.
The vast majority of the Jews who attended were there to support the moderate, rational point of view that respects the expression of free speech but not necessarily the ideas expressed. Obviously, the organizers of J Street, and NIF encouraged their members to attend the rally. However, the rally no more supported their ultra-left rhetoric than that of Glenn Beck.
As a true Jon Stewart fan I equally respect the rights of both those extremist groups to be wrong, but I expect my newspaper to get the facts right.
Stamford, Conn.
The New York Jewish Week brings you the stories behind the headlines, keeping you connected to Jewish life in New York. Help sustain the reporting you trust by donating today.