Year End Reflections, Part VIII (Happy New Year?)

Erin Aubry Kaplan is a regular Op-Ed contributor to the Los Angeles Times.  Her 12/29/23 year-end column is titled "Why I'm not wishing you happy holidays."  She explains:  "We need every bit of our attention focused on what's going on - Israel's merciless war on Gaza, the dangerously stagnated international effort to combat climate change, our frighteningly partisan judicial system...and we cannot avoid what's shaping up to be a terrifying 2024..."  

So, basically, many of the leftwing talking points.  Nothing about the millions entering illegally.  Nothing about crime.  Nothing about people's concerns over "Bidenomics."  Nothing about trying to eliminate fossil fuels, with apparently no understanding of the thousands of products made with petroleum.  And nothing about the Biden family corruption, or the very anti-democratic efforts to keep Trump off the ballot.

No, after telling us the leftwing talking points, she, of course, turns to Trump, and "the realization that Donald Trump could win a second presidency."  She then suggests that evangelical Christians push racism and xenophobia and a belief in racial superiority.  We can thank Biden for being the most divisive President in history for pushing this racial division and DEI nonsense.  

Kaplan:  "...this is troubling.  That 30% to 40% of my fellow Americans actively support or are willing to accept such a dark vision of this country - our country - is colossally depressing."  I agree.  How can so many people still support the Democrats, who are doing everything possible to undermine our democracy and eliminate the idea of national sovereignty for the USA.  Imagine the Secretary of State of Maine, leftwing Democrat Biden supporter that she is, thinks it is somehow supporting democracy, by taking Trump off the ballot.  I guess the Left is proving to us "if you can't beat 'em, cheat."

After acknowledging that she will be criticized for not realizing the greeting is about family and love and affirmation and "nothing to do with Trump," she still can't bring herself to extend New Year's greetings.  Here's why:  "The long campaign to dismantle pluralistic America isn't taking a holiday and I can't either."   

I don't know how much longer our country can exist if it continues to be governed by the progressive/Marxist people running the Democrat party.  Nevertheless, I have happily wished many a "Happy and Healthy New Year."  Even in the darkest times, we need to be beacons of light.

So a Happy and Healthy New Year to all my friends and readers of the blog!

Year End Reflections, Part VII (What a Surprise)

Just as I was already preparing a post in my head about how the D-MSMC is so focused non-stop on Gaza, with far less concern about Israel and the hostages, I picked up today's New York Times.  On the front page, the lead article was "'Screams Without Words':  Sexual Violence on Oct. 7."  I'll let the article speak for itself, other than a few sentences by me at the end.  The Times says they conducted a two-month investigation "relying on video footage, photographs, GPS data from mobile phones and interviews with more than 150 people, including witnesses, medical personnel, soldiers and rape counselors."

One witness saw a woman forcibly bent over while she raped from behind.  "Every time she flinched, he (a Hamas terrorist) plunged a knife into her back."  

The witness saw another woman "shredded into pieces."  As the Times recounts it:  "While one terrorist raped her...another pulled out a box cutter and sliced off her breast."  "One continues to rape her, and the other throws her breast to someone else, and they play with it, throw it, and it falls on the road."  Then they sliced her face.  

Another witness tells of seeing a group of five terrorists raping a woman, and she screams.  "I still remember her voice, screams without words."  "Then one of them raises a knife and they just slaughtered her."  

Others tell of terrorists "talking, giggling and shouting" while taking a knife and "literally butchering her."  Others tell of a woman's vagina sliced open.

Still other described women and girls found "naked or half naked, some mutilated..."  

Another described having "seen several bodies with cuts in their vaginas and underwear soaked in blood, and one whose fingernails had been pulled out."

These atrocities were committed by Hamas, a terrorist group that not only finds support around the world: but also, incredibly, finds support for their involvement in a future Palestinian state in Gaza.  It should be mandatory for every protester in this country to be arrested when violating the law (such as blocking traffic), and the sentence should be a requirement that they view all the photos and the videos documenting these unspeakable, abominable and atrocious acts.  And preferably with their hands bound behind their backs, like many of the victims were found.  And, sorry to say, but let the protesters have some sense of what these victims experienced, by having to also watch while naked.  

Year End Reflections, Part VI (My Beef With Tucker Carlson)

I've known for sometime that Tucker Carlson is an isolationist.  I happen to disagree with that philosophy, because I think it is dangerously naive.  Still, he is not alone in holding that viewpoint, as is his right.  But recently, it appears that he crossed over into antisemitism - and that is not acceptable.  In speaking with Saagar Enjeti on "Breaking Points," Carlson attacked fellow conservative Ben Shapiro and others on the right for something he either does not understand (which I doubt, because Carlson is not stupid) or willfully ignores.

Carlson:  "...there are people on the 'right' who have spent the last two months every single day focused on a conflict in a foreign country as our own country becomes dangerously unstable, on the brink of financial collapse, with tens of millions of people who shouldn't be here in the country, we don't know the identities or the purpose of their being here."  He then expresses his concern for those things making it impossible "for my kids to live here."

Then he makes this incredible assertion:  "I'm shocked by how little they care about the country (including Ben Shapiro).  And I can't imagine how someone like that could get an audience of people who claim to care about America, because he doesn't, obviously."  Carlson, that is just reprehensible!

Let me give you a little background, Carlson.  I know you are not Jewish.  Shapiro is an observant Jew.  All Jews who pray know that Jerusalem and Israel are mentioned in our prayers.  You may have felt bad for the people who were brutally murdered on October 7, but myself, like many, many Jews, felt it to our core.  This was the worst attack on the Jewish people since the Holocaust.  And whether you like it or not (I don't give a damn if you don't), we Jews understand that Israel is not only our Biblical homeland, but since 1949 it has been a safe haven for Jews suffering from oppression around the world. 

The first two weeks after October 7, I had a difficult time sleeping.  When I would get up during the night to go the bathroom, I would go to the family room and turn on the TV and watch i24News, out of Israel, for an hour or two.  Maybe you understand that, maybe you don't.  If you don't, I don't give a damn.  And, apparently you are not terribly concerned about the worst antisemitism since the Holocaust, as you believe Jews are behind the "white replacement" theory.

So, let's clarify a few things.  Ben Shapiro is a strong conservative and a strong defender of America.  But you are willing to take this relatively brief window of time, when Shapiro and many Jews, have been focused on Israel and the growing antisemitism, and conclude that Shapiro does not care about America.  I have written this blog since 2009.  Over 640 posts.  But since October 7, 12 of my last 15 posts have been about Israel and antisemitism.  I assume you would conclude from that number that I don't care about America either.

I guess my other 630 posts over 15 years would not mean anything to you.  My constant defense of American values would not mean anything to you.  My repeatedly saying that the USA is the best country in the history of the world, would not mean anything to you.  If you were a man, Tucker, you would give a very public apology to Ben Shapiro and all the other Jews on the right who you claim do not care for America, simply because you willfully ignore the history of the Jewish people.  

I'll finish with this, Carlson.  Jews will continue to focus on Israel, given the very existential threat to the country from Hamas, Islamic Jihad, Hezbollah and Iran.  And I will do so in my blog.  And Jews will also focus on the growing antisemitism/outright Jew-hatred in this country, making us wonder if America will continue to be the best country in the world for the Jewish people (outside of Israel).  I will also continue to focus on that.  So, good for you being a Christian in a Christian country, with none of these concerns.  Instead of attacking us, why not try to be grateful for the fact that you have two less things to worry about than we do.       

Year End Reflections, Part V (More Politics)

First, some interesting information.  Where did people move from 2022 to 2023?  Texas ranked first with 473,000 more people.  And, no surprise, Florida was second with 365,000 more people.  The California minimum wage goes up to $16 per hour as of January 1.  Unfortunately, the ADL (Anti-Defamation League) reported an increase in antisemitic incidents from 465 in 2022 to 2031 in 2023.

Fox reported that a 10th grade Seattle High School had a class on "Ethnic Studies World History."  The class was given an exam of True-False and multiple choice questions.  Here was one question:  All men have penises.  True or False?  Here was another:  Only women can get pregnant.  True or False?  A student who answered True to these questions was told those answers were incorrect.  Does anyone really need any further proof of the sickness of leftwing ideology?  MEN CANNOT GET PREGNANT!  MEN, AND ONLY MEN, HAVE PENISES!  But the truth is not a value for the left.  All lies in support of their agenda are deemed worthy.

Los Angeles County District Attorney, far left George Gascon, recently appointed one of the assistant DAs to be his chief of staff.  Nothing unusual there.  Until we find out that this woman, following the death of George Floyd, called the LAPD "barbarians."  And she referred to them as "an occupying army."  No surprise that she called for defunding the police.  And it was reported that she has a T-shirt that reads "the police are trained to kill us."  Exactly how is the DA's office supposed to work with the police to prosecute criminals, given those attitudes?  Oh, that's right.  Gascon is one of those DAs who does not believe in prosecuting criminals.

Boston Mayor, Michelle Wu, decided to have a holiday party for the members of the City Council.  But not all the members were supposed to be invited.  However, her assistant inadvertently sent the invitation out to the entire Council.  The invitation read:  "Electeds of Color Holiday Party."  Said Wu, in defending this nonsense:  "It is not at all divisive, it is creating spaces for people and communities and identities with shared experiences to come together."  This is yet another example of the evil of "identity politics."  But if that is deemed to be acceptable, then I would not object to an "Electeds White People Holiday Party."  

Of course, I object to all of it.  I believe, as MLK said, that people are to be judged based on the content of their character.  Why is skin color important?  Another way to look at it is what Dennis Prager often says.  The world is divided into only two groups - the decent and the indecent.  

On the good news front...California enacted a law banning concealed carry in 26 different public places, making it all but impossible to actually carry a gun outside of the home.  No, that's not the good news.  The good news, as reported by the AP, is that a Federal Judge blocked enforcement of that law.  As the AP reported it, the Judge felt "that would have banned carrying firearms in most public places, ruling that it violates the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and deprives people of their ability to defend themselves and their loved ones."

As readers know, I always like to read the "Letters to the Editor" in the newspapers.  One letter in the 12/20/23 New York Times was by a Jewish man described by the paper as a "distinguished emeritus professor of anthropology at the State University of New York."  The writer says he is "a Jew by culture and ancestry, albeit a secular one."  He tells us he "abhors contemporary violence by both Hamas and Israel."  Typical leftwing view that all violence is the same and is bad.  Violence in the defeat of evil is not bad.  It may be unfortunately necessary, but it is definitely not bad.  

The letter writer continued and said his father bought Israel bonds for him and his siblings when they were younger.  But, "in the late 1960's and early '70's, when I had my own children and when Israel had become an expansionist power, I asked him to stop."  More leftwing lies; this time lies of omission.  Israel was able to gain more territory by defending themselves in war and winning.  That does not make them an expansionist power.  Good to know that a "distinguished emeritus professor" lacks all common sense and reason.  Which is what happens when leftwing ideology defines your world view.  Or, as I like to say, letting your beliefs dictate your reality.   

Year End Reflections, Part IV (Back To Politics)

(Note.  I'm sure my readers are well aware that since the attack on Israel on October7, virtually all my posts have been about that and the increasing antisemitism.  The atrocities of October 7, followed by the increasing Jew hatred, have really gotten to me in a way that few stories have.  Obviously 9/11 is another example.  Let's pray for no more 9/11's or 10/7's.)

The Colorado Supreme Court decided that Donald Trump should not be on their state's primary ballot  because he is guilty of insurrection, as defined in Section 3 of the 14th Amendment to the US Constitution.  This post will not go into a detailed legal analysis of that Amendment.  But the case was brought by a group of never Trumpers against the Colorado Secretary of State, alleging that the Secretary must not allow Trump to be on the ballot because of insurrection.

The trial court found that Trump was guilty of insurrection, but that Section 3 of the 14th Amendment did not apply to the office of President.  Therefore, he could be on the ballot.  The Colorado Supreme Court disagreed, by a 4 to 3 vote.  The Majority:  "President Trump incited and encouraged the use of violence and lawless action to disrupt the peaceful transfer of power."  And this:  "President Trump's speech on January 6 was not protected by the First Amendment."  

I admit to not having read this lengthy decision.  However, I am very curious to know exactly what words in the speech were deemed by the Court to not be protected speech; what words were deemed to create an imminent threat of violence or lawless action.  I also thought it was interesting that the Court found Trump guilty of insurrection without him being a party to the case.  I guess I should not be surprised, as the second House impeachment vote on Trump was conducted with no Judiciary Committee hearings first.  No evidence was presented prior to that vote.  

So I decided to ask another attorney, very leftwing, exactly how the decision would play out.  After all, other states have similar cases pending.  Do we now have a situation where each of the 50 states gets to decide who can be on the ballot?  Obviously, there would not be uniformity among all 50 states.  What if Trump were to win a sufficient number of electoral votes where he was on the ballot.  Would he only be the president over those states?  Would those states where Trump was disqualified from the ballot have a different president?

Back to that leftwing attorney.  Having no answer for the possible chaos created by the Colorado decision, he simply said the US Supreme Court will decide.  Then, as often happens, he reverted to Trump is bad, and therefore should not be on the ballot.  Explaining how that would work with 50 states was of no apparent concern to him.    

Is this how the Court is protecting our democracy?  Trump has never been convicted of "insurrection."  Trump was not involved in the Colorado case.  Four unelected judges decided to remove from the ballot the main opponent to the sitting President, and not let the voting public decide.  And, again, thinking forward, might we end up with a country having one president for some of the states, and another president for the rest of the states?  Is this what the Democrats call protecting our democracy?  Because none of it looks the least bit democratic to me.

The Court Majority:  "We do not reach these conclusions lightly.  We are mindful of the magnitude and weight of the questions before us."  I don't think so.  The office of the President of the United States is the one and only office that the entire country votes on.  (The VP is essentially a tag along.)  So I would ask the Court just how mindful they were of creating different qualifications for being on the ballot, qualifications that surely will not be required in many of the other states.

Let's think back to the 2016 election.  There were dire predictions about what would happen if Trump won.  The most serious was that Trump would start a nuclear war.  None of the awful predictions came about.  And Trump won.  So we had the Russian collusion hoax.  That didn't succeed in getting Trump out of office.  We had the first impeachment over a telephone call with Ukraine.  That didn't work.  We had the second impeachment.  None of these actions taken by the Democrats succeeded in removing Trump from office.  In 4 years in office Trump started no wars.  No one lost any rights.  

Biden won in 2020, but looks to be easily beatable in 2024.  So now we have 4 different politically motivated prosecutions.  But they don't seem to be working either, as Trump's poll numbers keep going up.  So here is the next idea - keep Trump off the ballot.  I honestly do not know how it could be any clearer - the Democrats do not believe in our democracy.  Or in any democracy.  

 (Afterword.  I have my own issues with Trump.  The silly name calling.  The unnecessary commenting on everything.  Costing the Republicans the 2 Georgia Senate seats.  Having a meal with antisemites like Nick Fuentes and Kanye West.  And personally calling state and local officials about the 2020 election results.  But don't tell me the Colorado Court cared about democracy.)

Year End Reflections - Part III (Is This The True Face Of Islam In America?)

We already know that the group "Students for Justice in Palestine" celebrated the atrocities of October 7, by calling it "a historic win for Palestinian resistance."  But the "Council on American-Islamic Relations" (CAIR)  bills itself as a moderate group, reflecting the interests of Muslims in America.  Therefore, it may surprise some to learn (although it shouldn't) what the executive director of CAIR, Nihad Awad, was found to have said.  As reported in an editorial in the 12/9-12/10/23 weekend edition of the Wall Street Journal, Mr. Awad claimed that his comments were selectively chosen to, essentially, make him look bad.

But The Journal said they were able to get a copy of Awad's speech before it was taken off line.  Here are some of his comments as reported by The Journal.  "The people of Gaza only decided to break the siege, the walls of the concentration camp, on October 7.  And yes, I was happy to see people breaking the siege and throwing down the shackles of their own land, and walk free into their land, that they were not allowed to walk in.  And yes, the people of Gaza have the right to self-defense, have the right to defend themselves.  And yes, Israel as an occupying power, does not have that right to self-defense."    

Clearly, there was no concern for the men, women, children and even babies who were brutally murdered by Hamas.  Awad said that Israel does not have the right to self-defense because he clearly does not believe that Israel has the right to exist at all.  He made that clear when he referred to the people of Gaza "walk(ing) free into their land."  What they did was break into land that is considered part of the territory of Israel.  By referring to that land as "their (the people of Gaza's) land," Awad is telling us that Israel should not exist.  This is no different from the chant "from the river to the sea Palestine will be free."  It would appear that the only rights that Jews have are to either be killed or leave Israel.    

Then, Awad attacks AIPAC (the American-Israel Public Affairs Committee) and "corrupt members of Congress."  Awad:  "We have to free so many people from the shackles of AIPAC and its affiliates who have sold the soul of America."  In an apparent attack on Biden's support for Israel, Awad goes on:  "For how much?  It is for how much AIPAC and its affiliates have been controlling the U.S. Congress...Unless we free Congress, we will not be able to free Palestine."

This is not much different from one of Ilhan Omar's many antisemitic comments, when she said "it's all about the Benjamins."  It couldn't be that Congress and the American people support Israel because of shared values, with Israel being the only democracy, and Western style country, in the Middle East.  

Awad:  "When we say 'if there is no cease-fire, there will be no votes for you in 2024 elections, we started to see the tone changing - and the position changing."  Also speaking with Awad was the director of American Muslims for Palestine, Osama Abuirshaid.  The Journal reports that at a rally on December 1, Abuirshaid said this:  "What they alleged that happened on October 7 turned out to be a lie.  Most of the (Israeli) civilians were killed by their own army."  Talk about a lie - disgusting!

And, proving that these people remain quite adept at propaganda, Awad said this:  "I ask young people:  be wise.  You are not in Palestine.  You are not in Gaza.  The language there doesn't work here."  It is the kind of language that we hear from the Muslim members of Congress.  They speak of the "human rights" of Palestinians, not of the atrocities committed against the Jews.  And, of course, they never say that it is Hamas that violates the human rights of the people of Gaza.  (Although, recent polling suggests that as much as 75% of the people of Gaza supported the atrocities committed by Hamas.)

Year End Reflections - Part II (The Evil of DEI)

The New York Times is not a fan of either Christmas or Chanukah.  Nevertheless, a front page article in the December 7 edition, is quite instructive.  The headline of the article is "A Divide Over Israel Frays American Families."  The discussion, not surprisingly, centers around Jewish American families.  And, while they have interviewed a number of young people, the focus is mostly on one family.  

The parents (boomers) moved from Madison, Wisconsin to Israel.  The divide over Israel between the parents and their daughter seemed to begin when the daughter became a grad student at UC Berkeley.  Big surprise.  At Berkeley, the daughter found her attitudes about Israel being challenged by "classmates and friends."  One friend pulled away from her over her ties to Israel.  Another criticized her for not being "vocally pro-Palestine," saying that she was on "the wrong side of history."  

As this Berkeley grad student  started reading materials by black feminist authors, it motivated her to think about "questions around power, privilege and whiteness."  Ultimately, she became pro-Palestinian.  And she reached this conclusion:  "I don't think the state of Israel should ever have been established.  It's based on this idea of Jewish supremacy.  And I'm not on board with that."  Clearly, she is on board with Arab Muslim supremacy.  I can't imagine a better example of the evil that has been taught and perpetrated by schools, universities, administrators, professors and college presidents (witness the 3 presidents of the most "elite" universities telling Congress that speech calling for the genocide of Jews might be within school policy - depending on the context).  That evil being taught is DEI (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion).  

When her father asked this Berkeley grad student why she did not condemn Hamas' brutal attacks on her social media, the reply was quite telling.  She wanted to know why her father did not "emphasize the historical context - the occupation and Palestinian displacement - that shaped the current war."  There's that word again - context.  As noted in Part I of Year End Reflections, the context is the fact that Israel exists.  That, in turn, apparently justifies the atrocities committed by Hamas.  

The article cites a poll by what is described as the "Democratic pollster GBAO Strategies."  The poll was just taken this November, of American Jews.  It found that 82% of those age 36 or older were in favor of Biden's support for Israel.  But only 53% of those age 18 to 35 supported Biden on his approach to Israel.

The authors of the article made this interesting admission:  "Most of the people interviewed for this article did not identify as Orthodox, a small segment of the American Jewish population who tend to have a stronger attachment to Israel than others do."  A shame that they did not interview any people from Chabad, an orthodox segment which also happens to be the fastest growing segment within Judaism.  They would gotten a much different take, as Chabad is very strongly pro-Israel.

Heather MacDonald had a very important Op-Ed in the December 7 edition of the Wall Street Journal.  It is titled "DEI Drives Campus Antisemitism."  MacDonald:  "The real issue on campuses isn't antisemitism but the anti-Western ethos that has colonized large swaths of the curriculum."  And, given the belief that "the West is built on white supremacism and oppression...Israel is cast as the Western settler-colonialist oppressor par excellence."  I would categorize these ideas as just another form of Marxism.  The oppressed working class proletariat (dark skinned) vs the bourgeoisie (whites).  

But here is the interesting thing.  With the ideas of DEI and intersectionality, MacDonald mentioned a discussion given at Cornell by a professor of Judeo-Islamic Studies.  The title of the lecture was "The Intersectionality of Antisemitism, Islamophobia and Racism."  MacDonald then tells us that the usual suspects at that intersection are "white supremacists, former Trump administration officials, evangelical Christians and white opponents of mass immigration from Muslim countries."  In other words, right wing "deplorables."  

MacDonald:  "None of these supposed oppressors play a significant role in pro-Hamas campus protests.  The actual protesters - Muslims, Black Lives Matter activists, Queers for Palestine, socialist groups and proponents of the anti-Israel boycott, divest and sanctions movement - went unmentioned in the lecture" at Cornell.  

Starting in 2010 and going through 2016, I wrote a six part post called "Are We At War With Islam."  If one looks around the Muslim world it is immediately obvious that Islamic rule of a country is contrary to Western notions of freedom and liberty.  And in this country, it is the Left that holds the same anti-Western views.  Views that lead them to be anti-American and anti-Israel.  Which is why you will see these leftwing groups marching with Palestinians in support of Hamas.  But none of these groups, Queers for Palestine for example, would actually want to live in a Palestinian controlled state.  There is one gay pride parade every year in the Middle East, and it is in Tel Aviv, Israel.  Good luck being openly gay in the Arab countries or Gaza.