Some Comments on the Events of the Last Two Months

Yesterday, an evil anti-Semitic, likely white nationalist, went into a Pittsburgh synagogue during a Shabbat service and opened fire on innocent unarmed people. Tell me how this is any different from the Nazis having Jews line up and then simply shooting them dead. Evil exists in the world, and it will not go away with wishful thinking. Therefore, all such soft targets as houses of worship need to defend themselves. It may be a sad state of affairs, but when in history has evil not existed. Think Cain and Abel.

This horrific shooting follows by days the capture of another evil man who sent packages filled with bombs to various Democratic officials and left-wing individuals. I tuned in to MSNBC only to see the moderator attempt to have every person on a panel blame President Trump for all the bomb packages, and even for the killing of the Saudi journalist Khashoggi. I blame the individual perpetrators. The mainstream media would never consider that Hillary's comment about not being civil to Republicans, or Holder's comment about "kicking them" when they're down, as possibly inciting people to violence. Or maybe being angered by a Robert De Niro feeling free to say to a national TV audience during the Tony Awards: "Fuck Trump." And then virtually the entire audience stands and applauds De Niro. The media believes that only Trump's comments may have negative consequences. I have said it before - being on the Left means never having to say you're sorry.

I also tuned in to CNN. On the bottom of the screen was this "headline" or news ticker: "Manhunt for serial bomber going after Trump's targets." The clear implication is that Trump set the targets for the bomber, and the bomber complied. This is odious. They did not even say "Trump's critics." No, they wanted the viewer to associate Trump with the bomber. Is it any wonder that Trump calls them "fake news?" This blog has for years written posts on the bias of the mainstream media, beginning well before Trump entered the presidential race. (One need only scroll back to find those earlier posts.)

Much was made of Hillary's call for incivility when she said: "You cannot be civil with a political party that wants to destroy what you stand for, what you care about." However, I find the second part of her comment far more telling: "a political party that wants to destroy what you stand for, what you care about." Hillary essentially opined what this blog has previously discussed - the Democrats no longer share in the basic American values, and therefore she was able to say that Republicans want to destroy what she stands for. (See the 2016 posts on why I would not vote for Hillary to see what she and the Democrats stand for.) Just one current example - immigration. The Democrats want to eliminate ICE, and some want open borders. They support the "caravan" of thousands people coming from Central America into the USA, with no concern for US laws or US sovereignty.

The Kavanaugh hearings were a disgrace. CA Senator Dianne Feinstein knew well before the hearings commenced about the allegations made by Christine Ford. She did not bother to tell Chairman Grassley. Instead, the Dems attempted to prevent the hearing from going forward, constantly interrupting the Chairman's opening comments. The Dems goal of convincing some Republicans to vote against moving Kavanaugh's nomination forward failed. He was clearly exceedingly well-qualified. It was only after the hearing closed that Feinstein came forward with Professor Ford. It was hardly coincidental that Ford's attorneys were Democratic activists who worked for free and whose names were provided to Ford by none other than Senator Feinstein. Ford claimed she did not want to travel to DC (fear of flying, even though she flew all over for work and leisure) and did not want to testify publicly. Grassley says he made three separate offers to Ford and her legal team to have her testify in her home state of California. Ford denied knowing of any such offers. Was she lying, or did her attorneys not tell her, preferring to have a political circus on national TV? I know where my money would go.

Whenever the Dems do not get their way, it's time to change the Constitution. With the Citizens United case, the Dems wanted to change the First Amendment in order to limit political speech. With Trump's victory in 2016, the Dems wanted to eliminate the Electoral College. With Kavanaugh's confirmation by the full Senate, the Dems want to change the make-up of the Senate. Their argument - why should low population states get 2 senators when much more populated states also only get 2 senators? Good luck with that. As David Rivkin and Lee Casey wrote in the 10/16/18 Wall Street Journal, the "Connecticut Compromise" allowed more populated states greater representation in the House, and gave smaller States equal representation in the Senate. It had nothing to do with racism as alleged by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Any change to equal representation of the States in the Senate would require agreement by all 50 states. As the WSJ writers point out, Article V provides: "no State, without its Consent, shall be deprived of its equal Suffrage in the Senate."

The mid-term election is only days away. The Democrats are fielding a number of anti-Israel candidates, reflecting the pro-Palestinian bias of rank and file Democrats. As reported by Gil Troy in the 11/1/18 Jewish Journal of Los Angeles, Rashida Tlaib (Michigan) says she will oppose aid to Israel. Scott Wallace (Pennsylvania) supports the BDS (Boycott, Divest, Sanction) movement against Israel. (As an aside, BDS suppotters never express concern about countries such as Iran, Syria or Saudi Arabia, for example. That tells me these people are fundamentally anti-Semitic.) Then we have Ilhan Omar (Minnesota) calling Israel an "apartheid" state. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (New York), admitting she is no expert on geopolitical events, referred to Israel's "occupation" of Palestine (as did Obama), and seemed to blame only Israel for deaths at the Gaza border. Then we have Leslie Cockburn (Virginia) who wrote a book claiming "that the Israeli-American connection is somewhere behind just about everything that ails us," according to a review in the liberal New York Times.

One thing should be clear to everyone. Anti-Semitism, at times disguised as "anti-Israel," is alive and well. It comes from the extreme right, and, unfortunately, it now comes from mainstream Democrats (see above paragraph). It comes from too many Muslims. I know - anti-Semitism is the oldest form of hatred based on "the other." But it is increasingly happening in what has been the safest country in history for the Jews. It is time for all Jews to stand for Israel and for Judaism. I hope that Jews in the above-referenced states do not vote for these anti-Israel candidates just because there is a "D" after their name.

Finally, I see no indication that Trump, the Democrats, or the mainstream media will stop their inflammatory speech. Therefore, it is up to each and every one of us to set the example. We need to do better.