Mitch McConnell's deeply disingenuous call for Barack Obama to keep 'his mouth shut'

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/05/12/politics/mitch-mcconnell-donald-trump-barack-obama/index.html

Taken broadly, what McConnell is doing here is what Trump and his party have been doing for the last three-plus years: Shattering every possible presidential norm with glee while also demanding that political opponents adhere to those same norms. I've lost count at the number of times Trump expresses faux shock at the language used by one of his rivals even as he curses and impugns them without a second thought. Or demands that someone be fired for making a mistake or airing an incorrect claim even as he has racked up literally thousands of misstatements and falsehoods during his time in office.

 

Fauci tells Congress that states face serious consequences if they reopen too quickly

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/05/12/politics/anthony-fauci-congress-hearing/index.html

 Dr. Anthony Fauci, a key member of the White House's coronavirus task force, warned senators Tuesday that states and cities face serious consequences if they open up too quickly, urging states not to reopen until they know they have the capabilities to handle an inevitable uptick in cases once they relax stay-at-home orders.

In a high-profile hearing where witnesses and many lawmakers joined via video conference, Fauci also told a Senate committee on Tuesday it was a "bridge too far" for schools to expect a vaccine or widely available treatment for Covid-19 by the time students return to campuses in the fall, though he expressed optimism a vaccine would be developed in the next year or two.

 

Alexander and other Republicans on the panel viewed Tuesday's hearing as a showcase for what the administration has been working on, hoping that the reputations of scientists like Fauci would lend credibility to the work that is occurring. In his opening statement, Alexander urged senators not to engage in "finger-pointing" when the entire world underestimated the virus.

 

 

"As much as I respect you, Dr. Fauci, I don't think you're the end-all," Paul said. "I don't think you're the one person that gets to make a decision. We can listen to your advice, but there are people on the other side saying there's not going to be a surge and that we can safely open the economy. And the facts will bear this out."

Slammed by COVID-19, ultra-Orthodox Jews try to understand what God hath wrought

https://www.timesofisrael.com/slammed-by-covid-19-ultra-orthodox-jews-try-to-understand-what-god-hath-wrought/

Why would the heavenly power permit such evil? Posters see punishment for gossip and women’s immodesty; rabbis spy signs of messiah’s coming; others say they just don’t know

 

Dr. Fauci: Reopening early could have 'really serious' consequences

Rand Paul says Fauci isn't the 'end all'. See Fauci's response

“Obamagate” conspiracy theory falls apart after a reporter asks President Trump one question

https://www.salon.com/2020/05/12/obamagate-conspiracy-theory-falls-apart-after-a-reporter-asks-president-trump-one-question/

"It is true that the investigation into ties between Russia and the Trump campaign, and into Russia in particular, began during the Obama administration. But it continued well into Trump's own administration. The investigation into Flynn was taken over by a special counsel who was appointed by Rod Rosenstein, Trump's own deputy attorney general," the outlet explained. "The internal FBI correspondence that has emerged in the last two weeks also doesn't reveal agents saying that the goal of the investigation was to take down a president."

 

Despite a lack of evidence to support the conspiracy theory, Fox News quickly became an echo chamber for Trump's attacks.

Fox News Judge Jeanine Pirro accused former Vice President Joe Biden of participating in a "bloodless coup" in the Obama administration to overthrow Trump.

Fellow host Sean Hannity claimed that Obama's leaked comments showed that he was "sending a message to deep state operatives to go out and do more dirty work."

Fox Business host Lou Dobbs went all-in on the conspiracy theory on his show.

"We know that the whole thing was not only a conspiracy to overthrow a president, but it was a web of deceit and lies that were the basis for the special counsel and all of the nonsense that the radical Dims, the deep state, and yes, the Obama administration put in motion," he alleged. 

But outside of that Fox echo chamber, Trump and his allies were accused of using the conspiracy theory to distract from his bungled coronavirus response.

Cooper: Trump's testing claim is not and has never been true

Is 'Obamagate' A Phrase With Any Meaning? | Morning Joe | MSNBC

Donald Trump Tweets Video of 'Ask China' Press Conference Clash, Says Reporters Were Conspiring Against Him

https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-ask-china-clash-media-1503298

Donald Trump has branded the media "out of control" after walking away from a press conference in which he told a reporter to "ask China" when she questioned his comments on coronavirus test levels.

The president left Monday's COVID-19 briefing after clashing with journalists, following a query from CBS White House correspondent Weijia Jiang which he branded "nasty."

Sharing a video of the exchange on Twitter, Trump wrote: "The Lamestream Media is truly out of control. Look how they work (conspire!) together. They are the Enemy of the People, but don't worry, we will WIN in November!"

Fauci Warns Premature Reopening Could Trigger an Uncontrollable Outbreak Leading to 'Suffering and Death'

https://www.newsweek.com/fauci-warns-premature-reopening-could-trigger-uncontrollable-outbreak-leading-suffering-death-1503477

 Dr. Anthony Fauci, the country's top infectious disease expert at the National Institute of Health, on Tuesday cautioned that states which circumvent the White House's criteria to relax social distancing guidelines could result in a second outbreak that overwhelms society.

 

Trump goes on wild tweetstorm to distract from Fauci testimony

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/05/12/politics/donald-trump-coronavirus-reelection/index.html

 Hours before his top medical adviser is expected to contradict his assurances that it's safe to reopen America, President Donald Trump is on a Twitter tear amplifying conspiracy theories and covering up for his own racially-tinged rhetoric to distract from his failures during the pandemic.

Trump is making unfounded charges against his predecessor Barack Obama and wading into the row over his treatment of an Asian American journalist ahead of an appearance before a Senate committee by Dr. Anthony Fauci, the government's top infectious disease specialist, and oral arguments before the Supreme Court about Trump's attempt to keep his financial information and tax returns from Congress and New York prosecutors.

 

Trump on Monday accused Democratic-led states of deliberately slowing openings of their economies to hurt him politically in an election year and is ignoring warnings of global health experts that reopening societies will spark new spikes in infections without the massive testing and tracing program that he has failed to put in place.

Fauci testifies on Trump's coronavirus response

https://edition.cnn.com/politics/live-news/fauci-testifies-coronavirus-05-12-2020/index.html

He was responding to GOP Sen. Mitt Romney's question about President Trump's recent suggestion that Obama was responsible for the lack of a vaccine.

"The President said the other day that President Obama is responsible for lack of vaccine. Dr. Fauci, is President Obama — or by extension President Trump — did they do something that made the likelihood of creating the vaccine less likely?" Romney asked.

 Neither President Trump nor his predecessor President Obama are responsible for the lack of a coronavirus vaccine, Dr. Anthony Fauci said.

Sages not concerned with absolute truth but rather correct procedure

אמת ליעקב ויקרא פרק כא פסוק ב

ונראה בביאור דבריהם, ע"פ מה שביארתי באריכות בחידושי לעיל בפרשת בראשית [א' פכ"ו] דהתורה מסרה לנו את המדות שהתורה נדרשת על ידיהן, ועל ידי אותן המדות אנו פוסקין כל ספק שנולד לנו באיזו הלכה - ואין לו לדיין מה שעיניו רואות, וכשהללו מזכין - אף שהאמת לאמתו שהוא חייב, מ"מ אם הרוב מזכין הרי הוא זכאי על פי דין תוה"ק דאחרי רבים להטות, ואף שאפשר שהמיעוט כיון לאמיתת האמת מ"מ התורה מסרה לנו את הדין איך שנדרוש עפ"י השכל האנושי, ועיי"ש5. ועיין בים של שלמה [בהקדמתו למסכתות ב"ק וחולין] איך שביאר הא דאמרו בגמ' אלו ואלו דברי אלקים חיים.

והנה בעירובין [דף י"ג ע"ב] איתא: ג' שנים נחלקו ב"ש וב"ה הללו אומרים הלכה כמותנו והללו אומרים הלכה כמותנו יצאה ב"ק ואמרה אלו ואלו דברי אלקים חיים הן והלכה כב"ה, ועיי"ש. ולכאורה מאי שנא מכל פלוגתא דתנאי או אמוראי שודאי כל אחד אומר שהלכה כמותו, ומאי שנא מחלוקת ב"ש וב"ה דמשמע דכאן היתה מלבד כל מחלוקתם גם מחלוקת אחרת שהללו אומרים הלכה כמותנו והללו אומרים הלכה כמותנו. והנראה לבאר הגמ', דבאמת היתה כאן מחלוקת חדשה - והיא כללית - מלבד כל פרטי דינין שנחלקו בכל התורה כולה, שב"ש אומרים הלכה כמותנו וב"ה אומרים הלכה כמותנו, כלומר שנחלקו היכא דישנו רוב ומיעוט אלא שהמיעוט הוא חריף טפי - דב"ש אזלי בתר החריפי ומשום דהחריף יכול לכוון יותר אל האמת לאמיתו, וב"ה סברי דאזלינן בתר השכל האנושי - ואף שזה אינו אמיתת האמת, אבל מכיון שלפי השכל האנושי נראה שכן הוא האמת הרי הדין כאותו הרוב. ולפ"ז נמצא דלב"ש לעולם יש להשגיח בב"ק, שהרי הב"ק בודאי הנהו האמת האמיתי, וכיון שבפלוגתא זו נפסקה ההלכה דאזלינן בתר השכל האנושי גם לדעת ב"ש, א"כ ע"כ אית לן למיפסק כדברי ב"ה בממה נפשך - דלדידהו הא לעולם הילכתא כוותייהו, ולב"ש הא לדידהו משגחינן בב"ק, ודו"ק.

ואפשר6 דלפי מושגם באמת נחלקו ג"כ בפרק האשה שנתארמלה [כתובות דף י"ז ע"א] בענין כיצד מרקדין לפני הכלה, דב"ה סברי דיאמר כלה נאה וחסודה, וב"ש ס"ל דיש בזה חשש שקר, והיינו דב"ש סברי שבשום אופן אסור לשנות מהאמת לאמיתה, ולכן אפילו אם אחד קנה מקח רע מן השוק אסור לשבחו - שהרי לפי האמת האמיתית הרי זה מקח רע, וב"ה סברי דכיון דלעולם בעינן שתהיה דעתו של אדם מעורבת עם הבריות א"כ אין זה נחשב לשקר, והיינו שצריך להתחשב עם האמת של רגשי האדם, ודו"ק היטב.
ונבין לפ"ז מה דאיתא בספרי קבלה דלעתיד לבוא תיפסק ההלכה כבית שמאי, והיינו משום דרק בעולמנו צריכים אנו להתחשב עם האמת הנראית לרוב בני אדם, אבל לעתיד לבוא שאז תתגלה האמת האמיתית בודאי תהיה ההלכה כב"ש, ודו"ק.

A man's wife is subordinate to him to the degree he is subordinate to G-d

Netziv  (Bereishis 2:24): And therefore man leaves…and cleaves to his wife . from this point on there is no advice to be his ezer knegdo as was intended by her creation and as Adam felt that he was missing except from the aspect that he is leaving his father and his mother cleaving to his wife and then becoming one flesh as he loves her as if they were one person as it states in Yevamos (62b).”one who loves his wife as himself….”And even then she is not entirely subordinate to him as was the first woman who was literally considered as part of him. Rather they are considered one flesh. That means that what he thinks is good for him and desirable and she completely fulfills his wants. She  should have the same attitude concerning what she wants for herself and that he comply with her wishes. Nevertheless since the reason that the first woman was made  to have the inherent nature to be supportive, even though women are not exactly the same as the first woman was originally but rather as she became after eating from the fruit from the Tree of knowledge as we will discuss later in Bereishis (3:20) while he is amongst those created during the first 6 days of creation. And only one who merited that achieves the love of his wife with total abnegation as Eve was before the sin. It was because of this that there are two types of cleaving of Adam and Eve  in order that for all time there should be two types of helping of a wife to her husband. Therefore  they were on the sixth day of creation two modes of love of Eve to Adam  in order that there should always be two modes of love of a woman to her husband. And just as we spoke about two modes that man has to serving G-d. All this was made on the first day that he was created as we explained before Bereishis (2:4). And thus the nature of love of a man’s  wife and life with her husband  This is similar to what R Shimon Ben Eliezer stated in Kiddushin (82b). “I was created to serve my Maker and they were created to serve me.”To the degree he serves G-d will be the degree That his wife serves him or according to mazel as all other aspects of man’s life. Either things happen as the result of Divine providence  based on his deeds or by good or bad mazel and this is the nature of the world.