Sunday, February 9, 2020
Sunday Reading: All the President’s Men
https://www.newyorker.com/books/double-take/sunday-reading-all-the-presidents-men
In 1972, the journalist David Halberstam published his classic work “The Best and the Brightest,”
which chronicles the missteps of a group of White House advisers who,
against the advice of career State Department employees, advocated
dubious foreign-policy strategies and ultimately helped lead America
into a lengthy war in Vietnam. When both the Kennedy and Johnson
Administrations appointed their foreign-policy staff, Halberstam writes,
the process came down to “a search not for the most talent, the
greatest brilliance, but for the fewest black marks, the fewest
objections.” The judgment and wisdom of those within a President’s inner
circle are often crucial not only to the health of the Presidency but
to the progress and stability of the nation. This week, we’re bringing
you a selection of pieces about some of Donald Trump’s most influential
advisers. In “Mike Pompeo, the Secretary of Trump,” Susan B. Glasser
describes how the evangelical Pompeo became one of the President’s loyal
soldiers, and, in “Audience of One,” she explores Lindsey Graham’s
position as Trump’s advocate and examines how flattery has played an
increasing role in guiding the President’s foreign-policy decisions. In
“William Barr, Trump’s Sword and Shield,” David Rohde writes about the
Attorney General’s push to expand executive power, and recounts Barr’s
role as a protector and warrior for Trump. Jeffrey Toobin reflects on
how Rudolph Giuliani transformed from “America’s mayor” into an
aggressive peddler of the President’s mix of falsehoods, exaggerations,
and half-truths. In “John Bolton on the Warpath,” Dexter Filkins
examines Bolton’s role when he was the national-security adviser and the
measures he pushed during that period. Finally, in an excerpt from her
new book, Andrea Bernstein chronicles Jared Kushner’s family history and
considers his current role in his father-in-law’s Administration. Taken
together, these pieces offer an illuminating portrait of the
President’s inner circle.
IDF BLACKMAILING Jewess Into 6 MON.Jail!
BS"D
Israeli Army Now BLACKMAILING Lital bas Miriam:
Accept SIX MONTHS of Military Jail Without a Fight -- or Face Years in Jail in Without A Fair Trial
The Crusade to Terrorize Girls Into Army Enlistment Escalates Dramatically
14 Shvat, 5780 °° Feb. 9, '20
(This
update is a revised and updated version of a previous post circulated
last Thursday in the weekly email of the Coalition for Jewish Values.)
By Binyomin Feinberg,
FeinbergBinyomin@gmail.com
~~~~~~~~~~~
To check for updates, on first view of this article, as well as throughout the week, please visit https://saveHischildren. blogspot.com -
or/and see updates for month of Shvat '80:
https://drive.google.com/open? id=1lddXuWtrhFZxLVA4__ PVS7Zo53zNRPk8Cz7nIfxSXBE
By Binyomin Feinberg,
FeinbergBinyomin@gmail.com
~~~~~~~~~~~
To check for updates, on first view of this article, as well as throughout the week, please visit https://saveHischildren.
or/and see updates for month of Shvat '80:
https://drive.google.com/open?
*********************
Refusenik Updates:
*********************
LITAL BAS MIRIAM:
1. We've reported several times on Lital
bas Miriam. She is a religious bas-Cohen from Tel-Aviv, who has been
literally persecuted in Military Prison Four for four weeks, in the wake
of her arrest at the airport on Jan. 13, '20. See:
https://daattorah.blogspot. com/2020/01/when-criminal- justice-is-truly-crimina.html
https://savehischildren. blogspot.com/2020/01/bascohen- resists-hegmonist-draft.html
http://firstamendmentactivist. blogspot.com/2020/01/when- criminal-justice-is-truly- criminal.html.
https://daattorah.blogspot.
https://savehischildren.
http://firstamendmentactivist.
http://firstamendmentactivist. blogspot.com/2020/01/from- behind-israeli-iron-curtain. html *
{* Rivka No'ah bas Yehudis is the name of the religious French immigrant girl in Prison Six.}
{* Rivka No'ah bas Yehudis is the name of the religious French immigrant girl in Prison Six.}
There was even a recent appeal to Russian President Putin to help save her (http:// firstamendmentactivist. blogspot.com/2020/01/ righteous-outrage-goes- international.html;
photos: https://drive.google.com/open? id=1nTJT9255QwfrfYLMJ3_ NaE8woQPF70MC ).
photos: https://drive.google.com/open?
~~~
2. Last Tuesday, Feb. 4, Lital
had yet another military court hearing. Chillingly, the prosecution
(i.e., the Army) wanted to hit her with an extraordinarily brutal
sentence. Just how long? Judging from the "compromise" that the Judge
reportedly directed the prosecution to consider, the Army wanted to
imprison Lital not - G-d forbid - for days, weeks, or even months -- but
for YEARS! We are informed by someone in the know that this is no
ploy; the Army is apparently "out for blood." It is our duty to ensure
that it's not her blood - or that of any innocent person - that they
get.
3. An important question here is:
why is the Israeli Army trying to impose such a draconian punishment on
this non-violent, 26 y/o "threat to national security?" Granted,
according to the Army, Lital is long-term "draft-dodger," [sic] -- being
"absent for years" from the military - in which enlistment is strictly
prohibited by Jewish Law, to the extent we are all required to give up
our lives to ensure girls are not drafted. But why a sentence so
extraordinary brutal?
4. Clearly, the
extraordinary length of the desired sentence appears to be indicative of
the Army motivation operative here. It's not that they're prosecuting
and persecuting this young lady IN SPITE OF of her dedication to the
Torah prohibition against enlistment in the notoriously promiscuous
Israeli military. In that case, they would temper their vindictiveness
with a veneer of token lucidity. Rather, it's precisely BECAUSE of her
steadfast dedication to safeguarding her purity and her religious values
that the Israeli Army is persecuting Lital.
[Be
aware that perhaps over a fifth of the roughly 55-60 girls(!) now
incarcerated in Israeli military prisons are conscripts imprisoned
because they wanted to shift to alternative positions in the Army. When
they finish their sentence, they often get what they want. Contrast
that treatment with the antireligious abuse of girls who are religious
objectors.]
5. Moreover, not only does
the Army aim to break Lital, they also want to terrorize many other
girls and women standing up to the Army's crusade to force women into
the immoral, exploitative military. Clearly, this young lady has been
targeted to serve as a sacrificial lamb, a "Korban," to
"Maitav" (the Draft Office), in order to strike terror into the hearts
of even some of the strongest, most devoted girls and women resisting
the Army draft.
6. That's not all. Last
Tuesday, the Judge directed the prosecution to strike a "compromise"
with the defense. That "compromise" reportedly involves imposing a
"settlement" on Lital - that requires she agree to a staggering SIX
MONTHS in Military Prison, without even allowing her a chance to fight
for her religious and human rights in court.
7.
In essence, this "compromise offer" itself is judicial blackmail:
either agree to a half a year without fighting for your rights, or else
face the tyranny of years in Military Prison, all without the chance to a
fair fight in court (see posts above). Or else, give up and enlist to
serve the male officers in the IDF as "Mizron Tzahali."
Moreover,
the litany of illicit and illegal actions of the Draft Office, and the
Prison System, all provide additional clarification as to why the
government is blackmailing Lital into giving up before even beginning
her legal battle in earnest: they don't want all of their illegalities
and corruption involved in this case to be exposed to the Free World. In
other words, the government is acting like guilty bullies normally act:
they terrorize the victim commensurate with their guilt, in order to
cover it up. (This pattern of malfeasance should be familiar to those
who've dealt with child molesters and similar criminals.)
Plea-deals often make sense - for guilty people. But this is plain judicial tyranny.
8.
Above all, this travesty is a clear case of the Army terrorizing an
innocent religious woman for remaining steadfast in her adherence to the
Torah prohibition against enlistment in the immoral, exploitative
military. If this abomination would be perpetrated anywhere else in the
world, we'd call it what it is: Jew-Hatred, of the worst sort.
It's noteworthy that Lital is a "Bas-Cohen" (the daughter of a Cohen, descending from priestly lineage). The last
time the precursors of the ruling antireligious Hellenistic
Establishment tried forcing a Bas Cohen into a similarly repugnant
arrangement - with a Greek officer ("Hegmon") - over 2,100 years ago -
we procured a new Holiday (Chanukah). That occurred in the wake of the
bloody Civil War triggered by the priestly brothers of Yehudis. Her
brothers, and the many Jews who joined them, opted to fight, and
ultimately defeat the enemy, rather than let their sisters and daughters
be treated as "Mizron Yevani."
9. As
explained in previous posts, all of this torment struck Lital in the
wake of her naively submitting to a Religiosity Interview ("Rayon Dat")
over seven years ago, around the the time she finished school. At that
time, the (female) Draft Officer tripped Lital up on a question about
the Reading of the Torah, something from which women are generally
exempt, by Jewish Law. It was a question that should not have even be
asked. At this time, it appears that under the pretext of that, and
perhaps some other similarly irrelevant questions, Maitav (the Draft
Office) refused to provide Lital the religious exemption to which she
was entitled. (See also:
10.
Subsequently, Lital reportedly got mixed messages, and never got a
conclusive picture of her final draft status. Like thousands of other
girls, she never got any documentation to clarify her draft status one
way or the other. Additionally, Lital was apparently misled by Border
Police. Her family claims that immediately prior to her surprise-arrest at the airport in mid-January, she repeatedly checked with Israeli Border Police. They
told her that she's ok to travel, without concern of her name being on
the list of non-exempted girls. When she arrived at the airport, they
arrested her, to the shock of her parents.
Did Israeli Border Police intentionally
give Lital misinformation to ambush her? If so, that would explain why
the Army consistently refuses to comply with the government requirement
that the Army notify the girls shortly after they submit their
religiosity certification. This way, they can entrap girls anytime the
opportunity presents itself, and then use the threat of extended
incarceration in the brutal military prison environment as blackmail -
to force religious girls into the Army, all in flagrant violation of the
Torah.
11. Lital's next hearing is set
to be held this coming Monday, Feb. 10 (Parshas Yisro). Prior to that,
Lital is expected to make a THIRD visit to an Army officer who could
potentially help arrange for a military-service exemption. The previous
two visits failed to help her, however. It's quite apparent that
they're all playing games, with her life on the line.
12.
In addition, it was reported that her right of communication (already
severely limited) has been [illegally] impeded by the prison
authorities, on multiple occasions. How can Lital possibly ensure a
semblance of a fair hearing and a proper arrangement of an exemption -
especially when the stakes are so monumental - without the ability to
communicate with whomever she needs to?
13.
This barbaric, anti-Jewish abuse of an innocent young lady cannot be
allowed to pass quietly. For instance, Gedolim in the past had helped
organize womens' demonstrations against the government, over the
drafting of girls. It is so much more necessary, and so much more
technically feasible nowadays.
~~~~~~~~~~
14.
Shockingly, there are currently approximately 55-60 girls and women
imprisoned in Israeli Military Prison. True, not every imprisoned girl
is necessarily in jail for refusing to serve in the Army. Some are
incarcerated for other reasons (including seeking to be shifted to an
alternative position in the military). But, regardless, the Israeli
government has no right to enlist females; therefore they has no right
to impose Army regimen on them. All the more so, they have no right to
impose military incarceration.
15. Ta'i ["Ta-ee"] bas Oshrah has been imprisoned in Military Prison Six in the North for over a week for her refusal to enlist in the Army.
15. Ta'i ["Ta-ee"] bas Oshrah has been imprisoned in Military Prison Six in the North for over a week for her refusal to enlist in the Army.
16. Another girl, Mai, was reportedly just released from Military Prison Four about a week ago, B"H.
17.
Another religious girl, Tal-Yah bas Liz, continues to languish in
Military Prison Four for her refusal to serve in the Army. So far, she's
been suffering there for an outrageous amount of time, about EIGHT
weeks total.
18. Another religious girl, an
immigrant from France, Rivka No'a bas Yehudis, has been similarly
incarcerated for an outrageous amount of time, (also) approaching TWO
MONTHS, in Military Prison Six. She was notified that she will get an
exemption from Army service, BE"H. However, despite that exemption, they
insist on keeping her imprisoned until she completes the 12-day
punitive sentence handed up Jan. 30.
Bear in
mind that even though she ostensibly submitted her religiosity
certification late, there is additional reason to have waived that minor
technical infraction: she is much needed to care for her disabled
father. Her father was severely injured in a car-crash two years ago,
and still cannot walk or properly function on his own.
This
persecution of girls with seriously ill parents or siblings is a
consistently recurring theme in the narrative of female military
incarceration in Israel. It's frequency really warrants a dedicated
expose, perhaps entitled "Government Klinghoffer Syndrome."
~~~
19. One of the outstanding questions here is:
Where
are the ostensibly rightwing and religious Knesset members? Even just
prior to a high-stakes election (a third consecutive election at that),
they cannot muster the self-interest-impelled gumption to raise a
massive alarm over these blatant and unrelenting evils, assaults against
Jewish girls that threaten the very future of the Jewish People?
20. Another is: Is this genre of anti-religious persecution of Jewish women the price that righteous Israeli
women must pay to ensure that ostensibly "rightwing" and religious
"representatives" continue to hold seats in the Knesset?
~~~
21. Also see:
CREEP STATE: Sexual Exploitation - Via Escalation of Religiosity-Interrogations
http://firstamendmentactivist.
My mom asked for a divorce. My dad made his mother his pension beneficiary — then killed himself. Now my mom and grandma are feuding. Who is right?
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/my-mother-asked-my-father-for-a-divorce-he-replaced-her-with-my-grandmother-as-beneficiary-on-his-pension-then-took-his-own-life-what-should-they-do-2020-02-08?mod=cx_picks&cx_navSource=cx_picks&cx_tag=mw&cx_artPos=7#cxrecs_s\\\
‘My grandmother and mother both have lawyers, and they both say that
they are going to get this pension. It’s been dragging on for nearly two
years’
Michael Bloomberg goes full Trump troll in his new golf ad
https://edition.cnn.com/2020/01/31/politics/michael-bloomberg-trump-golf-ad/index.html
Trump, as Bloomberg well knows, is decidedly vain and appearance focused. There is nothing that will bother Trump more than seeing an ad like this that is clearly intended to make Trump look out of shape and sort of bumbling. (One image shows Trump climbing up a hill at a golf course on all fours.)
Trump, as Bloomberg well knows, is decidedly vain and appearance focused. There is nothing that will bother Trump more than seeing an ad like this that is clearly intended to make Trump look out of shape and sort of bumbling. (One image shows Trump climbing up a hill at a golf course on all fours.)
Did Pastor Rick Wiles Call Trump Impeachment a ‘Jew Coup’?
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/rick-wiles-trump-impeachment/
In late 2019, we received multiple inquiries from readers about
reports that Rick Wiles, a controversial right-wing pastor, had launched
a virulently anti-Semitic attack on leading congressional Democrats,
claiming that impeachment proceedings against U.S. President Donald
Trump amounted to a “Jew coup.”
Such reports were published by the Times of Israel, and the websites BoingBoing.net and RightWingWatch.org, among others.
Those articles were accurate. On Nov. 22, Wiles dedicated an entire
97-minute episode on his online channel TruNews to what the episode
billed as “Jew Coup: Seditious Jews Orchestrating Trump Impeachment
Lynching.”
Trump ousts Jewish officer, ambassador who testified in impeachment inquiry
https://www.timesofisrael.com/jewish-officer-who-testified-against-trump-escorted-out-of-white-house/
Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, who served on National Security Council, and Gordon Sondland, Trump’s ambassador to the EU, both fired two days after president’s acquittal by Senate
'Campaign of intimidation': Vindman's lawyer responds to new attacks by Trump
https://www.politico.com/news/2020/02/08/alexander-vindman-trump-attacks-112512
Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman’s attorney
vigorously pushed back Saturday on President Donald Trump publicly tying
the impeachment witness’ ouster to insubordination and leaking
information.
In a statement, attorney David
Pressman said Trump’s claims “conflict with the clear personnel record
and the entirety of the impeachment record of which the President is
well aware.”
The Trump administration went back on its promise to protect whistleblowers' safety
https://www.businessinsider.com/vindman-firing-us-government-protecting-whistleblowers-2020-2
In a Friday night segment, MSNBC host Rachel Maddow
pointed to a November 2019 tweet from Marcus Weisgerber, an editor at
military and defense outlet Defense One, which contained a transcript of
an exchange with Esper, where the secretary said there was "no
retaliation" allowed under the law against whistleblowers.
"All
I'm saying is that if you come forward with information that you feel
is, that you feel you are a whistleblower, then you are protected,"
Esper said, according to the transcript.
Judge Andrew Napolitano: Despite his impeachment trial acquittal, Trump clearly guilty of a high crime
https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/judge-andrew-napolitano-despite-his-impeachment-trial-acquittal-trump-clearly-guilty-of-a-high-crime
"The party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command." – George Orwell, "1984"
The Senate impeachment trial of President Trump ended not with a bang but a whimper. What different outcome could one expect from a trial without so much as a single witness, a single document, any cross-examination or a defendant respectful enough to show up?
Law students are taught early on that a trial is not a grudge match or an ordeal; it is a search for the truth. Trial lawyers know that cross-examination is the most effective truth-testing tool available to them.
But the search for the truth requires witnesses, and when the command from Senate Republican leaders came down that there shall be no witnesses, the truth-telling mission of Trump's trial was radically transformed into a steamroller of political power
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