Speaker 1: It's Night Side with Dan Ray. I'm w BZY Boston's Radio.
Speaker 2: All right, welcome back. We apologize for that last guest
Speaker 2: last hour. Very infrequently do we have the no show guest,
Speaker 2: but that's we had last hour. We have a great
Speaker 2: guest this hour, though, who's going to take your phone calls?
Speaker 2: As a matter of fact, I have been following her
Speaker 2: time with The Boston Globe with a great deal of interest,
Speaker 2: and I'm delighted to introduce to all of you Kareeen Hajar,
Speaker 2: who is the one of the editorial writers and an
Speaker 2: opinion writer at The Boston Globe. Kareen Hajar, Welcome to Nightside.
Speaker 2: How are you?
Speaker 3: I'm good, Thanks for having me on. Thanks for a
Speaker 3: nice introduction.
Speaker 2: Well, I've just started because you have written on foreign policy,
Speaker 2: on deterrence, on all sorts of issues, including immigration issues.
Speaker 2: You are someone who grew up in the Greater Boston area,
Speaker 2: went to a wonderful high school, Ursuline Academy, matriculated at
Speaker 2: Harvard University, graduating in twenty twenty one, if I'm reading
Speaker 2: your resume correctly, and then you went on and did
Speaker 2: a lot of different things, working in a Senate office,
Speaker 2: in Washington, working at National Review and at the Wall
Speaker 2: Street Journal, all of which are pretty right of center organizations,
Speaker 2: you know, you know, somewhat right of center, and now
Speaker 2: you find yourself at the Boston Globe, no less the
Speaker 2: editorial Board's that's a pretty interesting career path here, kareen
Speaker 2: to end up at the Boston Globe. Can you sort
Speaker 2: of sort that out for us if you will?
Speaker 3: From your perspective, Yah, Well, it's great to be at
Speaker 3: the hometown paper. You know, growing up, the Globe was
Speaker 3: a constant presence. I had a lot of family members
Speaker 3: that I had to drive to DC High back in
Speaker 3: my high school days, and you know, passing the Globe
Speaker 3: office and now getting to go downtown and go to
Speaker 3: the Globe office is sort of a, you know, an
Speaker 3: iconic Boston feeling. But I came on to be a
Speaker 3: different voice, and I've enjoyed that my colleagues on the
Speaker 3: opinion side are incredibly open minded, and I think our
Speaker 3: page presents a diversity of opinions on a lot of issues,
Speaker 3: and you know, I enjoy getting getting to be just
Speaker 3: another perspective there. But you know, bringing along those experiences
Speaker 3: from the journal, from National Review, I think it sort
Speaker 3: of brings a different flavor.
Speaker 2: Well, I think credit to the Boston Globe they have
Speaker 2: had over the years occasional Well, Jeff Jacoby, our mutual friend,
Speaker 2: you know, writes pieces from the Globe for the Globe
Speaker 2: from a conservative slash, I think, libertarian perspective. But to
Speaker 2: be in this group of of editorial writers, you told
Speaker 2: me today that it is a group that represents pretty
Speaker 2: much eight to ten different people within the Globe. Are
Speaker 2: those conversations pretty friendly and respectful?
Speaker 3: I would hope they sure are.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 3: I mean I feel comfortable to bring different viewpoints to
Speaker 3: the table, and I really enjoy the meetings. I mean
Speaker 3: I felt the same way, and I felt a similar
Speaker 3: way in college, where Harvard's obviously an extremely left leaning campus,
Speaker 3: and being in those sort of being in those places
Speaker 3: forces you to really consider your ideas and to hone
Speaker 3: your opinions, and I enjoy that exercise. I think it's
Speaker 3: I think it's good for everyone to sort of expose
Speaker 3: themselves to different opinions on a regular basis and have
Speaker 3: to really defend the way they think.
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's one of the things that always has bothered
Speaker 2: me Korean, and that is that in a lot of
Speaker 2: the institutions that stress a diversity. The one type of
Speaker 2: diversity that they are not particularly interested in is diversity
Speaker 2: of philosophical opinion. And they even don't even they don't
Speaker 2: recognize that within some of the groups that they perceive
Speaker 2: as being marginalized, whether it's women, or or or Black
Speaker 2: Americans or Hispanic Americans or Asian Americans, there's genuinely diversity
Speaker 2: of viewpoints within those groups. None of those groups are
Speaker 2: you know, monolithic, And yet as they stress diversity, they
Speaker 2: seem to focus upon people from different groups, but all
Speaker 2: of whom think the same. I see that as as
Speaker 2: incredible irony. I don't know if you share that few
Speaker 2: I suspect you may.
Speaker 3: Yeah, sure, I sure do. And I think, you know,
Speaker 3: one of the central ideas in conservatism is you know, individualism,
Speaker 3: individual freedom, and the idea that you know, I think
Speaker 3: it's important to have this idea that the individual can
Speaker 3: have all types of different ideas, regardless what they look like,
Speaker 3: where they come from, how much money they have, what
Speaker 3: race they are. I had a great conversation sort of
Speaker 3: in that vein with Glenn Lowry, which I wrote up
Speaker 3: for our idea section, and Glenn Lowry obviously a heterodox thinker,
Speaker 3: an iconic professor and black conservative. You know, you can't
Speaker 3: put him in a box. He has these interesting ideas. So,
Speaker 3: you know, as a young woman who's conservative, speaking to
Speaker 3: someone like Glenn Lowry was just a fascinating conversation.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, And is that sort of perspective that I
Speaker 2: think the Globe would do well to to even find
Speaker 2: more more different voices. So let's talk about some of
Speaker 2: the work that you've done recently, because it certainly came
Speaker 2: to my attention recently that it was your f it's
Speaker 2: that produced the redacted, the fully redacted reports on some
Speaker 2: of the migrant shelter serious crime. And I believe that
Speaker 2: the Globe actually produced an editorial which I suspect you
Speaker 2: if you didn't write, you probably help craft that basically
Speaker 2: called the Healy administration out for not being as transparent
Speaker 2: as they would like us to believe they are.
Speaker 3: Yeah, we you know this. The unreducted version came from
Speaker 3: John Featherston, who was a shelter operator in Marlborough at
Speaker 3: the Holiday and Shelter there. He previously worked there and
Speaker 3: you know the state it took months, but the new
Speaker 3: side had been pushing. I know other groups like Mattheop
Speaker 3: and a Herald had been pushing for the serious incident
Speaker 3: reports in the various hotel shelters and emergency shelters. We've
Speaker 3: had proliferate across the state because we sort of knew
Speaker 3: something was going on there. You had fires at some
Speaker 3: you had different incidents at others, and we wanted to know.
Speaker 3: You know, tex Players are spending a billion dollars and
Speaker 3: we're putting the state. We'll say, you know, we're putting
Speaker 3: migrants there, vulnerable migrants. We want to know if people
Speaker 3: are safe, if communities are safe. We finally got those
Speaker 3: records after a long time of acting, and then they
Speaker 3: were extremely redacted, and the line was that they were
Speaker 3: redacted to protect the safety of migrants, the safety of
Speaker 3: residents in these emergency shelters. The problem is that, you know,
Speaker 3: people were not safe and we didn't know about it.
Speaker 3: So having the details and just being able to show
Speaker 3: the details of one example of domestic salt that happened
Speaker 3: in one of these shelters was really telling.
Speaker 2: Yeah, the thing that that's troubling is that, Okay, political
Speaker 2: decisions are made where we're going to become you know,
Speaker 2: a de facto a sanctuary state, even though the governor
Speaker 2: says we're not a a sanctuary state. Many communities are
Speaker 2: de fact are day jury in fact act, you know,
Speaker 2: either welcoming cities or sanctuary cities. And if we're going
Speaker 2: to invite people in some form profession to come here
Speaker 2: and promise them shelter, that shelter should be adequate and
Speaker 2: their children and they should be protected. So you're on
Speaker 2: the side and the globe, and this one was on
Speaker 2: the side of the angels, and the Heally administration with
Speaker 2: all of the redactions were basically absolutely non non transparent
Speaker 2: and arguably had engaged in a cover up. I'm not
Speaker 2: saying that that the governor was the one with the
Speaker 2: magic mark er real blacking things out, but some one
Speaker 2: of their functionaries were. And I'd be loved to know
Speaker 2: if the functionary has ever served any sort of a
Speaker 2: punishment for that sort of behavior.
Speaker 3: Was it?
Speaker 2: Did you guys look at that as to if anybody
Speaker 2: was called to task for being overreacted the reports that
Speaker 2: had been requested.
Speaker 3: Not that I know us, but it's you've given me
Speaker 3: an idea of something to look into. I mean, I
Speaker 3: doubt that anything's happened to that effect, I would doubt.
Speaker 2: I would doubt that that's my instinct. I don't know.
Speaker 2: I also, when we get back, I want to talk
Speaker 2: about not only the news story of the weekend, at
Speaker 2: least in Boston, the shooting of the individual inside the
Speaker 2: Boylston Street eatery uh and comments that Mayor Wu has made.
Speaker 2: But she finds herself in this fight with the Homeland
Speaker 2: Security Director Tom Homan, and you wrote a really interesting
Speaker 2: piece last week which basically says that Holman should be
Speaker 2: bringing hell to Beacon Hill and and not necessarily attacking
Speaker 2: the police commissioner in Boston. I want to I want
Speaker 2: to walk look at that a little bit and all.
Speaker 2: So I want to invite people to call if you
Speaker 2: like to join the conversation and ask anything of Kareem
Speaker 2: Hajar again, a Massachusetts native who now finds herself in
Speaker 2: a position of real influence as a member. You don't
Speaker 2: have to like the Boston Globe listeners. You may disagree
Speaker 2: with the editorial policy. I like the Globe because I
Speaker 2: think that it has the best sports page in the country.
Speaker 2: And now that I know that Korean has is there,
Speaker 2: I'm going to read the editorials even more carefully than
Speaker 2: I have before. Six one, seven, two, five, four ten
Speaker 2: thirty six one seven, nine, three, one ten thirty. I'll
Speaker 2: continue my conversation, hope you'll join us as we talk
Speaker 2: with Boston Globe editorial writer and opinion writer Kareem Hajah
Speaker 2: back on Nightside right after this.
Speaker 1: Now back to Dan ray Line from the Window World
Speaker 1: night Side Studios on WBZ the News Radio.
Speaker 2: With me is Boston Globe opinion writer and editorial writer.
Speaker 2: She is She's a young woman who graduated from Ursuline
Speaker 2: High School here in Milton in Denham, excuse me. Grew
Speaker 2: up in the Great Boston area, graduate from Harvard twenty
Speaker 2: twenty one and as a conservative and as a member
Speaker 2: of the editorial team at the Boston Globe. She has
Speaker 2: worked journalistically for the Wall Street Journal and for National
Speaker 2: Review magazine. And we're talking about, you know, her experience.
Speaker 2: I think it's great that the Globe has reached out
Speaker 2: and we were talking a little bit about some of
Speaker 2: the work that Korean Hajar has done dealing with immigration issues.
Speaker 2: Those issues I think are going to come to the
Speaker 2: forefront this Wednesday when Mayor Wu is appearing in Washington.
Speaker 2: You've worked in Washington. What sort of of a situation
Speaker 2: do you think Michelle Will was going to find yourself?
Speaker 2: And I also want to bring in to the conversation
Speaker 2: your criticism or your suggestion to Tom Holman that he
Speaker 2: should lay off of the city of Austin and basically
Speaker 2: focus his fire on Beacon Hill.
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 3: I mean, look, tomorrow is going to be Wednesday. Rather
Speaker 3: her hearing in Congress is going to be quite the spectacle.
Speaker 5: I think.
Speaker 3: You know, Republicans generally have a winning issue here. They
Speaker 3: see the disorder in places like Massachusetts, they see sort
Speaker 3: of the disaster we've seen in the shelter system. But
Speaker 3: that doesn't necessarily mean they're always putting the blame in
Speaker 3: the right place. So with the Tom Holman fiasco at Seapack,
Speaker 3: for example, I mean, he's generally right that there's disorder
Speaker 3: in Massachusetts in Boston, but that's there's really nothing that
Speaker 3: Commissioner Cox or mayor Wu can do about it. Their
Speaker 3: hands are pretty much tied by by s JC ruling
Speaker 3: from twenty seventeen, the one decision that says that you know,
Speaker 3: federal or state law enforcement cannot hold a migrant either
Speaker 3: charge or convicted of criminal activity solely based on an
Speaker 3: immigration detainer. So if anyone wants to change this or
Speaker 3: create an avenue for ICE to be working with state
Speaker 3: law enforcement, it would have to be the legislature. The
Speaker 3: justice is said that quote. The prudent course is not
Speaker 3: for this court to create an attempt to define some
Speaker 3: new authority they go want to say. The better course
Speaker 3: is for us to defer to the legislature to establish
Speaker 3: and carefully define that authority. So the pressure really needs
Speaker 3: to be on a Democrat led legislature to make any
Speaker 3: changes here.
Speaker 2: But it's going to take quite a while for the
Speaker 2: leadership of this legislature and for this governor to do that.
Speaker 2: I think they have no interest in doing that, And
Speaker 2: it will be Mayor Wou that will take the heat
Speaker 2: on Wednesday and washed Uh. Now I'm wondering if she,
Speaker 2: being more of a political player, she will survive that
Speaker 2: crucible more effectively than the former president of the great
Speaker 2: University from which you graduated, Claudine Day, successfully uh dealt
Speaker 2: with those issues.
Speaker 3: The sense of that, I mean, I'm sure she very
Speaker 3: closely studied the Claudine Gay hearing and is trying to
Speaker 3: avoid some of the similar similar pitfalls there. But you know,
Speaker 3: especially now that were going into sort of re election
Speaker 3: season campaign season, it's also a chance for her to
Speaker 3: to sort of back up some of these progressive bona
Speaker 3: fides and and uh, look like she's fighting back against
Speaker 3: an administration that isn't that popular back in Massachusetts. And
Speaker 3: you know, it's it's quite easy for her to say, hey, look,
Speaker 3: hands are tied. There's nothing I can do. Point at
Speaker 3: the Lund decision. We don't have the authority to do so. Now,
Speaker 3: if the Republicans in Congress want to be smart about
Speaker 3: their questioning, they will hone in on that and they'll
Speaker 3: put her on the spot and they'll say, okay, well,
Speaker 3: would you support a bill that would potentially give Boston
Speaker 3: police and just law enforcement the power to work with ice,
Speaker 3: even if it's a narrow bill, even if it's just convictions.
Speaker 3: That's what they should do if they really want to
Speaker 3: put her on the spot.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and I suspect that she wins and loses no
Speaker 2: matter how she answers that, or she loses no matter
Speaker 2: how she answers that. If she says no, I wouldn't
Speaker 2: support that legislation, which would you know, overturn or redefine
Speaker 2: the Lund decision. She's going to be blasted by her
Speaker 2: progressive base, should be supported by her progressive base, I
Speaker 2: should say, But then it will reinforce in the minds
Speaker 2: of people that no matter what the law was, she
Speaker 2: would stand in the way of that, and if she,
Speaker 2: of course went the other way, then she would potentially
Speaker 2: alienate her progressive base in a mayoral election. I think
Speaker 2: it was James Pindell of your newspaper who wrote that
Speaker 2: this is a gift to Mayor Woo, that that the
Speaker 2: Republicans are giving her by putting her on the griddle
Speaker 2: during you know, an election season when she's running for reelection,
Speaker 2: And I think that that can be argued pretty effectively
Speaker 2: as well. Your thoughts on that.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think it certainly can be gift. I mean,
Speaker 3: she's going to go up there and again it's going
Speaker 3: to be, you know, WU a progressive champion up against
Speaker 3: the Trump administration or you know, Trump allies a Republican
Speaker 3: led Congress, and that plays well in deep blue Massachusetts,
Speaker 3: that plays even better in deeper blue Boston. So I think,
Speaker 3: you know, if she can avoid any particularly pointed gotcha questions,
Speaker 3: she'll get some good clips out of that. But again,
Speaker 3: Republicans can put her on the spot if they ask
Speaker 3: the right questions. These can't just be general questions about
Speaker 3: why aren't you working with ICE? Why is this individual
Speaker 3: or that individual being released? It has to be do
Speaker 3: you support some type of legislation that allows law enforcement
Speaker 3: to work with ICE?
Speaker 2: I agree with you. A friend of mine works in
Speaker 2: a program that you may not have a lot of
Speaker 2: familiarity with. But we have a program where medical personnel, doctors, nurses,
Speaker 2: pharmacists are always on twenty four hour notice to rally
Speaker 2: and to provide medical support, nursing support, et cetera, pharmaceutical
Speaker 2: support in areas of crisis like Hurricane Katrina, domestic situations
Speaker 2: like the Los Angeless. And it's an all volunteer force.
Speaker 2: And this friend of mine has been dispatched not only
Speaker 2: to places in this country, but also to Haiti uh
Speaker 2: and Too Iran for an earthquake a few years ago.
Speaker 2: He informs me today that he was sent a memo
Speaker 2: that their membership these are volunteers, okay, volunteers that they
Speaker 2: have to comply with the Elon Musk. Tell me five
Speaker 2: things you did last week, which to me sounds absolute overkill. Now,
Speaker 2: I know I'm opening up another area of conversation here,
Speaker 2: but I would like to get your response when when
Speaker 2: when we come back after the news break as to
Speaker 2: whether or not the administration, the Trump administration has been
Speaker 2: preps a little too aggressive, uh in terms of this
Speaker 2: this doge activity that that you know as matter of fact,
Speaker 2: have a minute, just give me a quick risk spons
Speaker 2: if you could to how has the Trump administration been
Speaker 2: too heavy handed, too quick and made too many mistakes
Speaker 2: with their doge their early doge efforts.
Speaker 3: In your opinion, it's almost hard to keep up with
Speaker 3: what's been happening. You know, every day there's a new cut,
Speaker 3: a new mandate. But I think, like with the point
Speaker 3: that you make about the five points in the email
Speaker 3: with Elon Musk, on one hand, it just it can
Speaker 3: strike you as sort of unnecessary trolling and easy red
Speaker 3: meat for the base. But on the other hand, it
Speaker 3: gets you to sit there and think, huh, is it
Speaker 3: really that hard for somebody to think about five things
Speaker 3: they did they've done over the last week.
Speaker 2: Let me let me just interrupt you because I'm coming
Speaker 2: up on a CBS news break. I will finish by saying,
Speaker 2: when you talk about volunteers who can be called on
Speaker 2: a moment's notice, maybe they haven't done anything the last week.
Speaker 2: We'll be back with Kareem Hajar, the Boston Globe editorial staff.
Speaker 1: It's Night Side with Dan Ray Boston's Radio.
Speaker 2: We're joined by Kareem Hajar. She is a Boston Globe
Speaker 2: editorial writer. Harvard graduate twenty twenty one. She's worked for
Speaker 2: The National Review for the Wall Street Journal. Also worked
Speaker 2: in Washington in the halls of Congress. And we're talking
Speaker 2: about the immigration fight that is going on. Kareean, as
Speaker 2: as you look at all of this, and we look
Speaker 2: at some of the the actions that the Trump administration
Speaker 2: has taken in the first six weeks, and of course
Speaker 2: tomorrow night he has his speech to Congress. Do you
Speaker 2: anticipate any surprises in that speech tomorrow night? Obviously you all,
Speaker 2: it's not a State of the Union address, it's a
Speaker 2: it's a speech to Congress. What do you think if
Speaker 2: you were advising Donald Trump he should what tone should
Speaker 2: he strike? I mean no, he struck a tone on
Speaker 2: Friday with Zelensky. President Zelensky, which in the short run
Speaker 2: has I think been problematic. Today he followed on with
Speaker 2: the tariffs or pledged to follow on with the tariffs
Speaker 2: despite the fact that Mexico is ying to stand that
Speaker 2: has handed over some of the members or the leaderships
Speaker 2: of cartels. I'm not quite sure what he's trying to
Speaker 2: prove at this point. Do you have a reading that
Speaker 2: you would like to share with me as to what
Speaker 2: do you think is in his mind?
Speaker 3: After being on the campaign trail and during a presidential
Speaker 3: this last presidential election, I've learned not to try to
Speaker 3: anticipate what President Trump is going to say.
Speaker 2: That's a solid position to take, yeah, ahead of or
Speaker 2: otherwise go ahead.
Speaker 3: But you know what I think a lot of Trump
Speaker 3: Republicans would say is that he's trying to be extremely
Speaker 3: strong right off the bat to have favorable terms to
Speaker 3: negotiate that sort of whether or not that is a
Speaker 3: pre planned strategy or just a rationalization of what is
Speaker 3: happening is to be determined. But you know, I think
Speaker 3: the president is going to I don't. I don't expect
Speaker 3: him to take on a more a softer tone. I
Speaker 3: guess in the way he addresses Congress, I think it's
Speaker 3: going to be strong, decisive, Uh, He's going to stand
Speaker 3: by everything. He's done because he he hasn't backed off
Speaker 3: on anything.
Speaker 2: There's some suggestion that Zelensky may have met with Democratic
Speaker 2: Senate leaders on Friday before he went to the White House.
Speaker 2: Have you have you heard that that suggestion.
Speaker 3: To be honest, I haven't seen details about that, but
Speaker 3: I'm sure that he's meeting with anyone and everyone who
Speaker 3: could sort of help his cause or you know, potentially
Speaker 3: sway public opinion. And he's been doing this, you know,
Speaker 3: media tour, government tour everywhere.
Speaker 2: But what I don't understand, and again I've watched it
Speaker 2: for a long time, but I don't understand is how
Speaker 2: you can have a signing ceremony that can blow up
Speaker 2: on everyone's face that all of that stuff is supposed
Speaker 2: to be litigated and dealt with, and every I has
Speaker 2: dotted and T is crossed and those papers should have
Speaker 2: been sitting on the desk for them to sign when
Speaker 2: they emerged from the you know, the behind closed door meeting,
Speaker 2: and it it looked to me as it was, it
Speaker 2: almost seemed embarrassing. I mean, it was like almost amateur
Speaker 2: hour as this. And I think that the president, I
Speaker 2: think he enjoyed the the confrontation. I really think he
Speaker 2: enjoyed the confortation, which said to me, why do that's
Speaker 2: what's gained by that? If Celenski didn't want to sign,
Speaker 2: why would you even bring him to the White House.
Speaker 3: Yeah, you know, I've been asking myself a lot of
Speaker 3: similar questions, and something that President Trump said is pretty
Speaker 3: telling that this is going to make great television. I
Speaker 3: think he likes the clips. I think he likes the
Speaker 3: sound bites. I think he likes that these instances go viral,
Speaker 3: and I think a lot of people in his camp
Speaker 3: feel that it gives them leverage to ask even more,
Speaker 3: not just of Zelensky, but also of the Europeans. This
Speaker 3: is sort of a similar argument that they've made about
Speaker 3: NATO in the past. You know, Trump's made these really
Speaker 3: scathing comments about NATO, even making some people fear that,
Speaker 3: you know, will will the US exit will it not?
Speaker 3: And then in turn European countries contribute more of their
Speaker 3: GDP to their defense. So that's sort of the rationalization
Speaker 3: we're seeing from the MAGA world. But I'm curious to
Speaker 3: see how this will play out and if he does
Speaker 3: actually get better terms from what was, as you said,
Speaker 3: you know, quite a shocking exchange. In the White House
Speaker 3: and sort of the type of exchange you expect to
Speaker 3: happen behind closed doors, and with good reason behind closed doors.
Speaker 2: Let's let's get a phone call in here, and we'll
Speaker 2: continue to take some phone calls for the balance of
Speaker 2: this hour. Six one, seven, two, five, four, ten thirty six, one, seven, nine,
Speaker 2: three thirty Ernie and Lowell. I'm going to get Ernie
Speaker 2: in before we go to our break. Ernie, you uh
Speaker 2: first this hour with Kareem Hazar of the Boston Globe
Speaker 2: Editorial Department.
Speaker 5: Ernie, hiy, Yeah, I got a quick question with you, Dan.
Speaker 5: It's not it's not exactly about your topic, but it's
Speaker 5: about Governor.
Speaker 2: Heay, well, what let's hear the question? Yeah, And if
Speaker 2: it's not about the topic, we can move into another
Speaker 2: another night topic.
Speaker 5: You know, speaking of amateur hour, you you heard about
Speaker 5: the two thugs from Stoneham who stole forty million dollars.
Speaker 5: Is from mass stage right.
Speaker 2: I have no idea what you're talking about her, Andy,
Speaker 2: Let's save that for another night. Talk to Rob and
Speaker 2: tell him about that that story, and maybe we can
Speaker 2: follow up on it. But I have no idea what
Speaker 2: you're talking about, and I don't think my guest does either.
Speaker 2: Sorry about that, Karain. We'll be back with a more
Speaker 2: relevant phone call six one seven, two five four ten
Speaker 2: thirty six one seven nine three one ten thirty if
Speaker 2: you'd like to speak with kareein Hajar. She is the
Speaker 2: i think the newest Boston Globe editorial writer UH and
Speaker 2: and opinion writer. She also, I'm certain is the youngest,
Speaker 2: having graduated from Harvard UH in twenty twenty one. A
Speaker 2: great grew up in Great Boston, educated at Erstline Academy.
Speaker 4: UH.
Speaker 2: Certainly that school has to be very proud of her,
Speaker 2: and we're we're talking with her about her position with
Speaker 2: the Globe and also getting a sense of how she
Speaker 2: sees the world, and she has She's has been a
Speaker 2: very active participant working at the Globe for a year
Speaker 2: and a half and there has been I think somewhat
Speaker 2: of a change in the editorial philosophy at the Globe,
Speaker 2: and she I'm sure has had her hend in that.
Speaker 2: And that's why i have her hon as a guest.
Speaker 2: And if you'd like to ask her a question or
Speaker 2: make a comment, you are more than welcome. My name's
Speaker 2: Dan Ray. This is Nightside. Will be right back.
Speaker 1: Now back to Dan Ray live from the Window World
Speaker 1: Nightside Studios on WBZ News Radio.
Speaker 2: My guest Boston editorial writer and Boston Globe. Boston Globe
Speaker 2: editorial writer in Boston Global opinion writer Kareen Hajar, who
Speaker 2: again is a not too many people end up being
Speaker 2: able to work on the editorial page on the editorial staff,
Speaker 2: if you will, of the Boston Globe, particularly if they've
Speaker 2: just graduated from Harvard in twenty twenty one, speaks to
Speaker 2: the experience that she has had at a relatively young age.
Speaker 2: I can't tell you how jealous I am of Europe,
Speaker 2: your your age, Korean. So let's let's keep going here
Speaker 2: with callers six one, seven, two thirty, six one, seven, nine, three,
Speaker 2: ten thirty. Let me go to Rick in Dover. Rick,
Speaker 2: you were next on Nightside with Korean. How's your go
Speaker 2: right ahead? Rick? Hi? Hi? Dan Hi?
Speaker 6: Korean? Ah, Hey oh, I'd like to know what your
Speaker 6: opinion is, uh, mister Trump uh deciding to side with
Speaker 6: a dictator as the I don't know, Pootin. I guess
Speaker 6: a dictator our enemy for seventy years or whatever, against
Speaker 6: the democratic theory world in the European Union, don't you
Speaker 6: think that's an American?
Speaker 2: You want my answer, do you want Koreans, I'll give
Speaker 2: you mine first, Okay, okay, sure, yeah, oh I can
Speaker 2: tell I think that Trump is attempting, and maybe unsuccessfully,
Speaker 2: is attempting to play chess as opposed to checkers. And
Speaker 2: I think what he's hoping he can do is get
Speaker 2: Zolensky to the point where he would say, Okay, I'm
Speaker 2: willing to end this confrontation, this war, which has cost
Speaker 2: a couple of million lives, but I want to end
Speaker 2: it on terms that will secure the independence of my country.
Speaker 2: And he's hoping he's hoping that if Zelensky's willing to
Speaker 2: at least engage in that conversation, he might be able
Speaker 2: to get Putin to end clearly the invasion. I mean,
Speaker 2: you know, Zolensky did not invade Russia. Ukraine did not
Speaker 2: invade Russia. And that's my view that he and I
Speaker 2: think that he is looking to maybe maybe uh end
Speaker 2: the war, not with Ukrainian troops marching into into Red
Speaker 2: Square in the Kremlin, but simply to end the war.
Speaker 2: Koreine want to take a shot at this.
Speaker 3: For Rick from Dover, I actually couldn't agree more with
Speaker 3: with your assessment therett. I think, you know, he's trying
Speaker 3: to put Zelenski in a position where he has to
Speaker 3: accept a deal. You know, for Ukraine to win the
Speaker 3: war would be extremely unlikely at this point without you know,
Speaker 3: probably US troops on the ground or European troops on
Speaker 3: the ground, and that's just not going to happen. There's
Speaker 3: no political appetite for it, not here and not in Europe.
Speaker 2: That is world War three. That that is World War three. Yeah.
Speaker 6: Well, not to say that, you know, yeah, go.
Speaker 2: Ahead, Rick, hold on later to finish your comment, please, yeah, correct,
Speaker 2: Not to.
Speaker 3: Say that the manner that he that you know, Trump
Speaker 3: is going about this. Obviously it's rustling a lot of feathers.
Speaker 3: Obviously the optics are complicated here. But I do think
Speaker 3: he's just really pushing for a deal.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 6: I kind of agree with most of you, you know,
Speaker 6: kind of you know, I mean, I think it's making
Speaker 6: us really look bad as you know, the beacon of freedom.
Speaker 6: But uh, on a follow up, I mean, have we
Speaker 6: ever extorted a country to help them before?
Speaker 2: I don't understand, I don't I don't think extortion is
Speaker 2: what's going on. Here. I think he's trying to to
Speaker 2: to to force Zelensky to to deal with the reality
Speaker 2: of the moment.
Speaker 6: And well, it seems like.
Speaker 2: One of those words that just just let me just
Speaker 2: say that as a lawyer, extortion is one of those
Speaker 2: words that raises the hair in the back of my
Speaker 2: head because you gotta you got to show the quid
Speaker 2: pro quo here, and uh, you know it does it
Speaker 2: doesn't fit.
Speaker 6: Give us as minerals, Ukraine, give us your minerals, and
Speaker 6: we might give you Somehow, No, I.
Speaker 2: Think I think you're reading it quite differently. I think
Speaker 2: his position is that by we when we invest with
Speaker 2: Ukraine in these rare earth minerals and we have an
Speaker 2: investment in the ground, that is going to protect the
Speaker 2: integrity of Ukraine because Russia at that point will be
Speaker 2: hesitant to say, well, why don't we go back and
Speaker 2: you know we had a peace deal, but let's go
Speaker 2: back and break that peace treaty. As what Solonski was
Speaker 2: referring to, knowing all well that by going in, uh,
Speaker 2: they then would be be putting US civilians who would
Speaker 2: be working in those minerals in jeopardy. Rick I got
Speaker 2: to get some other calls.
Speaker 6: In here, and I appreciate it for your responses.
Speaker 2: You're welcome. Thanks Rick. Let's go to Frank in Montreal.
Speaker 2: Frank say had to Korean Hasjar Go right ahead, Frank.
Speaker 7: I I'm sorry I missed your name, but.
Speaker 4: Korean.
Speaker 2: Her name is Korean. Frank is calling Korean from Montreal.
Speaker 2: He's a regular. Frank.
Speaker 7: I'm I think I joined it a bit late. But
Speaker 7: we're talking about the Korea, the Ukraine War, correct, and
Speaker 7: that end up funding.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, Frank, let me bring it to date. Okay.
Speaker 2: Korean is a Conservative. She's a Harvard graduate twenty twenty one,
Speaker 2: and she's now a member of the Boston Globe editorial
Speaker 2: opinion writer and editorial writer, which I think is an
Speaker 2: extraordinary accomplishment. And we're talking tonight. So go right ahead, Frank,
Speaker 2: your question.
Speaker 7: Thank you? Well, Yeah, so Korean. I think I'm not
Speaker 7: sure why the Republicans are not bringing to light the
Speaker 7: fact or putting into perspective the situation where in twenty
Speaker 7: fourteen President Obama funded a coup to overthrow a pro
Speaker 7: Russian or a sympathizer. I guess I could say.
Speaker 2: Who was elected who was elected president by.
Speaker 7: At exactly exactly, and and then the thought of bringing
Speaker 7: Ukraine into NATO was also I think threatening to Putin,
Speaker 7: and Putin did reach out to the US and asked
Speaker 7: and said suggested maybe we could have a diplomatic resolution
Speaker 7: to Ukraine.
Speaker 2: Rank let me let me get you to a question
Speaker 2: from my guest. I'm sure she is familiar with the
Speaker 2: facts that you're right.
Speaker 7: Well, listeners, My question really is that why would why
Speaker 7: would president or President Trump not bring to light the
Speaker 7: fact that US GDP versus the European GDP is almost
Speaker 7: identical fifteen percent of the global economy, and yet your
Speaker 7: two x the funding of of any other country. Of course,
Speaker 7: President Trump is saying enough is enough? No, no, yeah,
Speaker 7: why is this not being brought to light?
Speaker 2: Well, he's talked about that a lot.
Speaker 3: Go ahead, Kreane, Yeah, I was gonna say. I actually
Speaker 3: think that's sort of a central pillar of his Ukraine
Speaker 3: strategy and a big part of just this foreign policy,
Speaker 3: especially as it pertains to Europe. His line about NATO
Speaker 3: has always been that the Europeans have to contribute more.
Speaker 3: So I do think that that's a pretty central aspect
Speaker 3: of it. But when you're talking about you know, the
Speaker 3: last few years. We were recently talking about the minerals
Speaker 3: deal with Zelensky. We're talking about the last few years
Speaker 3: and Putin's spears about Ukraine joining NATO. I think that's
Speaker 3: another reason why this mineral deal is so big, because
Speaker 3: you know, US interests. It wouldn't just the US civilians
Speaker 3: and US interests in Ukraine. It would be against US
Speaker 3: economic interests if Russia were to encroach on that deal
Speaker 3: or interfere with it in any way. So I see
Speaker 3: this as sort of a different way to get US
Speaker 3: interest without going full BONNATO in Ukraine.
Speaker 2: Frank, Frank, Unfortunately, I wish Frank, I wish you called earlier.
Speaker 2: I'm flat flat at the time, Buddy. We'll talk about it.
Speaker 7: Thank you so much.
Speaker 2: All Right, one of my favorite Canadian callers. Let me
Speaker 2: see if I get one more final quick question, and
Speaker 2: if it can be a quick question, that's great. If
Speaker 2: it Cod, we're gonna have to move on. Frank in Boston,
Speaker 2: Gotta have a quick question for my guest.
Speaker 4: Why is all of this talk on other stuff except
Speaker 4: the economy? Why is everybody talking about this stuff when
Speaker 4: the economy was supposed to be the number one issue
Speaker 4: that propelled this guy into office, and that the conservatives
Speaker 4: were rolling about all over the place.
Speaker 2: That's that's a broad that's a broad question. Frank, I'm
Speaker 2: flat out of time. I'm going to give Kareem about
Speaker 2: thirty seconds to take a shot at that. Obviously, the
Speaker 2: economy is being addressed, but let's see what Kareen has
Speaker 2: to say. This is a matter sometimes presidents can't take
Speaker 2: the crisis that they would prefer to deal with in
Speaker 2: a vacuum. Kareem.
Speaker 3: Yeah, and I'd say it's sort of I agree that
Speaker 3: the economy, it was a big part of our Trump
Speaker 3: was elected, but it's sort of early to assess how
Speaker 3: his policies, especially because we haven't had the tax bill
Speaker 3: that he's promised. It's a bit early to assess how
Speaker 3: his economic policy is going to play out.
Speaker 2: Frank, I wish it called early, but I'm flat out
Speaker 2: of time. Look at the clock. Thank you, my friend.
Speaker 2: Call early. We'll have a much better conversation. Korean has Ar,
Speaker 2: Thank you so much for your time. It's a pleasure
Speaker 2: to have met you, at least over the phone, and
Speaker 2: I'll be following your work very closely with the Globe.
Speaker 2: Thank you so much for having me on I hope
Speaker 2: you've enjoyed it. You've enjoyed this, Thanks Kreen. We'll talk soon.
Speaker 2: When we come back, we're going to talk about Mayo
Speaker 2: Wu's comments over the weekend regarding these shooting on Boylston Street,
Speaker 2: amongst others.