Editor’s Note: Welcome to new subscribers. Lessons in leadership were abundant this week. Americans took to the streets across the nation to protest the evils of the current administration. Why? Anyone with brown skin, regardless of being born in America, have to watch where they are going in America, cities and states with Democratic governments are being openly threatened by the current occupant, and the justice department has been turned into a soviet-style tool to vanquish enemies.

Be seen and be heard.

This week, our current president stood before the Israeli government with arms raised in victory, declaring "The hostages are back! It feels so good to say it!" In an hour-long speech full of self-congratulation and partisan attacks on his predecessors, he missed the gravity of what had transpired and chose instead to use it for theater.

Even after the deaths of tens of thousands of innocent civilians.

I’ve written before about the concept of a just war. While peace is the natural want of an outcome, how you get there can be problematic. Historians will parcel this one-sided war for decades on whether the Israeli level of response to the Hamas invasion was entirely justified. It’s a prime objective of studying history to learn what works and what doesn’t for real progress and a lasting peace.

The death of so many demanded something this president is incapable of; a more somber and thoughtful tone.

His speech treated a conflict that killed over 67,000 Palestinians, or 48 Palestinians for every Israeli, as a conventional victory to be celebrated, embodying everything wrong with how power can be misused. ​Gaza today resembles what the president himself described as "a demolition site", yet he spoke of this devastation as if it were merely an inconvenience to be cleared away before Gaza could become, in his words, "like the Riviera". ​

When Hamas launched its sinister October 7 attack, killing approximately 1,200 Israelis and taking 251 hostages, it committed an unconscionable act of terrorism. But the response was a military campaign that destroyed entire neighborhoods, displaced nearly two million people multiple times, and left children comprising 30% of the dead.

That’s not equivalent warfare. ​

Instead of the dangerous fiction we heard, a truly statesman-like response would have acknowledged this.

Instead of celebrating Israeli military superiority, a president who recognized his world role would have spoken thoughtfully about the moral complexities inherent when a nuclear-armed nation fights an organization operating from the underground of a strip of land. Seeking applause was precisely what the moment did not require.

A more appropriate presidential response would have begun not with celebration, but with an acknowledgment of suffering, how hate leads to hate, violence to violence, and our need to grow as one human race.

The current occupant might have said something like, "Today is not a victory, but an end to a tragedy. We mourn every Israeli killed on October 7 and every Palestinian child who died in this conflict."

Rather than finding time for partisan attacks on past presidents, a genuine leader would have emphasized America's role as an honest broker committed to justice. He could have called for accountability and justice for all victims of this conflict. ​

Most importantly, a real statesman would have addressed how to prevent future cycles of violence.

While Israelis mourn their losses, many also mourn what their president has done to their country. While the next Israeli election will surely be the end of Netanyahu’s government, Gaza's 2.1 million survivors face a Dante’s Inferno. Trump's speech offered only vague promises about reconstruction while ignoring the political arrangements that are going to be necessary for a lasting peace.​

Palestinians now and future terrorists brought up in the devastation will not forget the unlimited destruction that characterized Israel’s response. A president truly committed to peace would have used this moment to urge new norms for how democracies conduct warfare in the 21st century. Instead, the current president’s speech suggested that overwhelming military superiority justifies any level of civilian casualties, setting a dangerous precedent for future conflicts worldwide.

The families of freed hostages deserved their moment of joy, and Trump was right to celebrate their reunion, but transforming the moment into theater, complete with MAGA-style hats reading "Trump The Peace President," revealed someone more interested in his own legacy than in the moral complexities of modern warfare. Given his history, this shouldn’t surprise us. When over 67,000 people are dead and millions displaced, the correct response is not to take a victory lap but to acknowledge the hard work ahead for a lasting peace.

True leadership would have recognized the moment for what it could be. Instead, we got another performance.

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I thoroughly enjoyed reading this story about a prolific reader. The most I ever read in one year was 78 books. Mr. Pelzer kept track the old-fashioned way with pen and paper. Nowadays, I try and keep a list on places such as Goodreads. I realize at this stage I’ll probably pass before I’ve read all the books I want to read, but there are worse problems to have.

There’s a lot of growth and peace that comes with a regular reading habit, and Mr. Pelzer seems to have found his Zen of contentment. Whatever motivates you to read more, whether starting a list or picking up something off your shelf or the library, or maybe pursuing his list of books in this piece, you can do it.

Let it be a gift to yourself.

Thrilled to read this. Reading Rainbow was one of those shows that influenced a generation of readers. Same thing for programs like Mr. Rogers and Sesame Street. These were productions dedicated to influencing kids in ways that better their health and knowledge; not simply to create a new generation of consumers by selling stuff.

Efforts like this will be incredibly important moving forward. Why? Because screens are pervasive in our lives now, and some things need to be dedicated to time that doesn’t involve a plug or a transaction.

Real books are portable. And the decades of research are clear. You get a kid interested in reading and carrying a book around, their brains will grow and stay open and thirsty for knowledge. It is one of the easiest and most inexpensive ways to set your child up for success.

And Now….

By the time you read this, marches across the nation will have taken place, hopefully in peace. If there is one thing this time has taught us, it is that we must act in the face of threats to the freedom of any American. Democracy is not God-given, guaranteed, or a certainty. In the annals of history, it is perhaps the rarest of all forms of government.

Keep working to be an excellent human.