Why are there few Torah giants today? Rabbi Sternbuch explains

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/275845

Edah Haharedit Rabbinical Court Judge Rabbi Moshe Sternbuch addressed in his lesson the reason for the small number of great Torah scholars in our generation, attributing this phenomenon to the absence of continuous diligence in Torah study.

 

"I heard from the great Rabbi Isser Zalman Meltzer that the world is wondering and asking why it is that our portion has worsened in that Torah giants don’t emerge from among our ranks as they did from the students of the Volozhin Yeshiva,” he said in a lesson delivered to students in Modi'in Illit, according the the haredi website JDN.

Making A Historical Parallel To Trump’s Impeachment Revenge Tour | Deadline | MSNBC

CNN's John Avlon: I've got bad news for Susan Collins

Judge Jeanine's message for Mitt Romney

Trump Vindictiveness Sends Chilling Message To U.S. Officials | Rachel Maddow | MSNBC

Hunter Biden is a nepotistic slouch compared to Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner

https://www.azcentral.com/story/opinion/op-ed/ej-montini/2020/01/28/hunter-biden-slouch-compared-ivanka-trump-and-jared-kushner/4594904002/

Opinion: When it comes to using a family connection to rake in the dough, Biden is a sad and sorry slacker compared to the president’s daughter and son-in-law.

 

Moral equivalence and Donald Trump

https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-partisan/wp/2016/09/10/moral-equivalence-and-donald-trump/

It was Kirkpatrick who in 1985 wrote an essay revered on the right called, “The Myth of Moral Equivalence.

To encourage more conservatives to speak out, I offer a few excerpts from Kirkpatrick’s essay:

“To destroy a society it is first necessary to delegitimize its basic institutions so as to detach the identifications and affections of its citizens from the institutions and authorities of the society marked for destruction.”

“An alliance among democracies is based on shared ideals. The process of delegitimization is, therefore, an absolutely ideal instrument for undermining an alliance, as well as for undermining a government. The NATO alliance among democracies simply cannot survive a widespread conviction among its members that there is no difference between the superpowers. It is not necessary to demonstrate that the Soviet Union is flawed, or deplorable. To destroy the alliance, it is only necessary to deprive the citizens of democratic societies of a sense of shared moral purpose which underlies common identifications and common efforts.”

 

Aharon Ramati, suspected cult leader, insists he 'didn't hold anyone by force'

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/275799

 In an interview with Kikar Hashabbat, Ramati discussed both the money laundering charge, as well as the charge that he ran a cult.

"There is a G-d in the world, and He's in charge," Ramati said. "Every idiot understands that everything happening right now is far from normal. Now, all of a sudden, they remembered something from five years ago, when all the others involved have long since been tried."

He added that "it's clear to everyone" that he is being persecuted.

They've got to go': Alan Dershowitz blasts Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/275757

Prominent American jurist and member of President Donald Trump’s legal defense team Alan Dershowitz excoriated congressional Democratic leaders on Sunday, saying the top Democrats in the House and Senate “have to go”.

Speaking on John Catsimatidis’ radio show Sunday, Dershowitz, a life-long Democrat who joined President Trump’s legal defense team during the impeachment proceedings, said his party was in need of new leadership, adding that Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (NY-D) and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (CA-D) should be replaced.

“I think they need new leadership. I think Schumer and Pelosi have to go. Schumer because of his history of lying. You know, Pelosi actually called for me to be disbarred ... because I had persuaded some senators” said Dershowitz.

Rick Wilson: Trump Deserves The Title Of Traitor | The 11th Hour | MSNBC

https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/political-commentary/traitors-donald-trump-republican-party-922194/

Steve Bannon and Bill Maher Go Head-to-Head | Real Time (HBO)

Gaetz reacts to Trump firing impeachment witnesses Sondland, Vindman

Rick Wilson - Being an Anti-Trump Conservative and “Running Against the Devil” | The Daily Show

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.