- The Guardian
- Issue #2125
Faceless men
I would like to know who these faceless (and unelected) people are who wield enormous influence in our society. [“HR Who” by Peter Farmer, Guardian 11/11/2024]
Am I right in suspecting that Peter Costello could be one? No doubt others – probably mining magnates and judicial pals – are involved. Perhaps we need to expose them all and look into their influence which has gone on for decades – whoever is in government.
E N Whitehead
First Transgender woman to Congress
The one glimmer of hope from the US November election is the election of Democrat Senator for Delaware, Sarah McBride, as the first transgender person to be elected to Congress. McBride is a well-known LGBTQ activist who came out on NPR, The Huffington Post, and by Lady Gaga’s Born This Way Foundation.
In 2016, she was the first openly transgender person to address the Democratic National Convention. McBride has sponsored many social and health programs. She supports legislation to create a statewide paid family and medical leave insurance program; has addressed Medicaid reimbursement rates for home health care services, and expanded access to dental care for those on low incomes in Delaware; and she wants to impose a 3.6 per cent tax on net revenue of Delaware’s hospitals to leverage additional Medicaid funds.
Although McBride’s win as a transgender person is to be congratulated, that glimmer of hope is dashed when her strong pro-Israel stance is considered. In an interview in August 2023 with Jewish Insider, McBride describes herself as “a staunch supporter of Israel and the US-Israel relationship, as well as a committed fighter against antisemitism.” She voiced “serious concerns about any policy that would single out Israel and treat it differently than other countries that we support through foreign aid” or hold it “to a different standard.” McBride supports the fulfilment of the 2016 Memorandum of Understanding for US military aid to Israel, and the Abraham Accords.
While her pro-Israel stance is common amongst Democrats her stand provides little hope for the end of the genocide in Gaza. I find it strange that while McBride supports the rights of the poor in Delaware, she fails to remember the human rights of the Palestinians in Gaza.
Graham Holton
