‘This Leak Is Big ... Heads Should Roll’

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/09/nytnow/this-leak-is-big-heads-should-roll.html

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Here are the top 10 comments of the week on our digital platforms, as selected by our readers and the journalists who moderate nearly every comment.

1. It took the resignation of Iceland’s prime minister for U.S. media, particularly the NYTimes, to give the Panama Papers the attention it deserves.

What these papers reveal is they confirm what the common man has suspected for a long time. The capitalist class is screwing us over.

The rich people of the world who buy our labor for a pittance reap all the profits and use tax havens to avoid the tax man. As a result, the tax burden is disproportionately shifted to those of us who cannot afford elaborate tax schemes.

This leak is big. It should be consequential. Heads should roll. But unfortunately, the powers that be, the people that should take action, are the very people indicted by these leaks. It’s in their interest to protect the status quo.

— Civis Romanus Sum in Lexington, Va., reacting to an article about the resignation of Iceland’s prime minister after his offshore holdings were exposed in the Panama Papers.

This article received more than 875 comments.

2. He may certainly attempt to find a way to provide for the spiritual needs of those who are involved in extramarital unions or homosexual relations.

However, to admit such individuals to communion would signify acceptance and approval of behavior which contradicts the will of God and the loving command of Christ.

These have been revealed in the holy scriptures.

The pope’s fundamental duty is to uphold and defend these truths.

This is the inner essence of the papacy.

— Elia Malgieri, New York, 72, responding to a callout for reaction to Pope Francis’ statement on the family, which seemed to open the door for divorced and remarried couples to receive communion.

3. Last spring, shortly before her death, I took my 94-year-old mother to a Catholic mass in a sweet little church near my home. The priest’s sermon was a thirty-minute rant about the “gay agenda,” and after ten minutes of it, I thought my mom would faint.

Two of my (wonderful) brothers are gay. I was desperate to leave — or to scream at him — but I would never abandon my mom in the same way the Catholic Church has abandoned half my family.

As for this encyclical — far too little, far too late.

— M.E. in Paris

4. There were no losers last night — I had to say it. This game had all the intangibles and subplots that made it, arguably, the greatest National Championship game of all time.

Consider the story of the two brothers, Villanova’s Kris Jenkins, adopted by North Carolina junior Nate Britt’s mother in 2007, who happens to hit the final shot that breaks his brother’s heart.

Or consider in the crowd, the old basketball coach, Rollie Massimino, who coached Villanova to a shocking upset of the mighty Hoyas of Georgetown, led by Patrick Ewing in 1985.

Or consider Michael Jordan in the crowd and his interview with Craig Sager, who is battling cancer, and Michael asking, “How you feeling?” and then saying, “It’s good to see you, brother.”

Then consider the game with its ebbs and flows, and the incredible double-pump shot by Paige to tie the game, then Jenkins’ improbable game ending shot.

What a game!

— Julius Pulp in Washington, responding to an article about the winning shot in the N.C.A.A. men’s championship game. Villanova defeated North Carolina, 77-74.

5. Even if Bernie Sanders doesn’t win the nomination, I would still be thankful that I was able to see and hear this man, that he rekindled the long-lost hope that our country can remain a functioning democracy, and that American politics was still not completely a game for scoundrels.

I would be so thankful that his timeline crossed with mine before we went our separate ways in life.

And, most of all, I would be thankful that Bernie Sanders was able to teach my children that not everything is rotten in Washington, D.C., and that “government of the people, by the people, for the people” are not simply a few words from the most famous American speech, but a call to action, a call never to be forgotten, as we strive through generations to achieve a just and equitable society.

— RajeevA in Phoenix, reacting to an article about early missteps in Bernie Sanders’s campaign.

This article received more than 3,000 comments.

6. “What a horrible way to go through life, focusing on screens instead of reality in all its beauty,” says the guy commenting on his iPhone.

— Stephen Brannon on The Times’s Facebook page, responding to an article about a young, wealthy group in New York that uses Snapchat and Instagram to memorialize nights out.

7. As an Ohioan, I have come to see Kasich as an imperfect but talented governor who has been able to save the state financially, while still looking out for the right of the poor (see Medicaid expansion).

Kasich did not “eviscerate voting rights in Ohio”; in fact, in many instances, he moderated the positions of the more conservative Republicans who control both houses in the legislature.

In the end, I firmly believe Kasich is the only candidate who could take on the massive budget deficits which are looming, and that’s enough to get my support.

— Jeanne in Ohio, reacting to an article about Senator Ted Cruz’s mounting frustrations over Gov. John Kasich’s campaign.

This article received more than 1,125 comments.

8. In 1974, I was home for the summer from college and working a summer factory job building farm equipment at the John Blue plant in Huntsville, Ala. I was just starting to listen to country music, mostly filtered through the Byrds, Grateful Dead, Gram Parsons and other country rock bands of my generation.

After our shift at the factory was over, I would often go out with some of the older guys for a beer before heading home. I’ll never forget the afternoon when someone dropped a few quarters in the juke box and I heard for the first time Merle Haggard singing “Workin’ Man Blues.”

That is when I realized what real country music was and why Merle was the poet of the common man.

There are so many great country songs — you can never really pick just one as the best. But for me, “Workin’ Man Blues” is always at the top of any list.

“This one’s for the Working Man.”

Rest in Peace, Merle.

— John Schaffer in Orlando, Fla., reacting to an article about the death of Merle Haggard at 79.

9. I had a dear, funny, brilliant friend who had a very difficult adolescence. Her younger sister was prettier, thinner, more conventionally accomplished, and she sailed through her teenage years with barely a ripple.

Whenever the whole family was at the table, it was painful to see how much their parents blatantly favored the younger sister — constantly praising the younger and belittling the older. The favoritism was obvious, even though I think they did love their children.

In the end, my friend killed herself in her twenties. She had many challenges, but I think the first and perhaps the most lasting was the pain of believing she would never be good enough for her parents.

— aneguet in New York, reacting to an article about the impact of favoritism on children.

10. At some point, maybe we will realize that playing football is kinda like being a gladiator in the coliseum. It may have been popular for a long time, but in the end, people finally realized it was just plain stupid to risk your life for the sake of a game.

— Kierstan Boyd on The Times’s Facebook page, reacting to A.J. Tarpley’s retirement from the N.F.L. at age 23 because of concussions.