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Gov. Jim Pillen has always insisted that he’s “not a politician,” but more of a regular guy.
“Speech-i-fying” isn’t his cup of rhetorical tea. I’m sure he’d admit that.
But every so often, we get evidence of, shall we say, a misstep of the vocal variety.
Most recently, it was when he was signing an executive order intended to “further eradicate” antisemitism, a worthy goal.
Pillen had already ordered state agencies to use a definition of antisemitism developed by an organization, the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, when investigating cases of discrimination and harassment.
The new order directed the state’s public schools, colleges and universities to also utilize the IHRA’s definition – one that several Jewish groups have rejected but one adopted by many states – and to annually report incidents of antisemitism. One more mandate for our schools to deal with.
But things got off-track when the governor was asked whether his order (patterned after a bill that failed in the Legislature) might conflict with the right to free speech. Could it also target criticism of Jews in general – rather than the Israeli government — over the war in Gaza?
Pillen, in response, recalled a recent trip to Israel and a meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“Anybody that wants to stand up and talk about … the Palestinians, they’ve got to understand that those people are born to kill Jews and Christians,” he said.
Whoa. Angry letters to the Lincoln Journal- Star followed, as well as harsh reaction on social media.
The letters condemned Pillen for broad-brushing all Palestinians as hateful, even though they are a diverse group of people that includes those who promote co-existence and those who promote hate.
Other letters chided the governor for directing hateful comments at Palestinians while also saying that Nebraskans “do not tolerate hate in any form.”
I am far from any kind of expert on the Middle East, and I have not travelled to Israel like the governor.
Israelis were rightly shocked and outraged when a militant group based in Gaza, Hamas, staged a bloody, surprise border attack in 2023. Nearly 1,200 Israelis were killed and another 250 were taken hostage.
It was horrendous. Israel responded with bombing and invading the Gaza Strip, killing an estimated 70,000 rebels and civilians, destroying almost all of the civilian infrastructure (water, sewer and electricity), and displacing nearly all of the area’s 2.3 million residents. Blockades of food aid led to near famine conditions, and blocks upon blocks of Gaza are rubble.
That was horrendous, too. You can judge for yourselves if the destruction went on too long, but it’s our right to voice an opinion.
It should be noted that not all residents of Gaza hate Israel and want people there dead. There are Christians and Muslims living there. Many Palestinians live and work peacefully in Israel. This isn’t the first time that the governor’s speech has sparked a backlash. Back in 2023, he dismissed reporting by the Flatwater Free Press about extremely high levels of nitrates in groundwater near his hog sites by saying the journalist who wrote the stories was “from communist China. What more do you need to know?”
(The story was based on publicly available groundwater tests, which clearly show that Nebraska has a problem with nitrates. The reporter, Yanqi Xu. Xu, grew up in China but left to study journalism in the U.S., which guarantees a free press in the Constitution.)
More recently, Pillen boiled up some more hot water by using the term “libtards” to describe critics of his policies and decisions.
(“Libtard” is a derogatory word used to describe liberals. It’s also a term that families with developmentally disabled kids feel resurrects the word, “retard” – a term they find offensive and consider a slur.)
It’s sad to say, but name calling and finger pointing seems to be par for the course in our solidly divided politics today.
Unfortunately, that tends to reduce really complicated issues – like the war in Gaza and awarding no-bid contracts – to single words, words that distract and demean.
Here’s hoping we can all use words more judiciously. And when we misspeak, that we can muster up an apology.
Paul Hammel has covered state government and the state for decades. He is a retired senior reporter for the Nebraska Examiner and the former Capitol Bureau Chief for the Omaha World-Herald.
