Sunday, July 12, 2020

New records released in Flynn case as appeals court issues stay of dismissal


Lawrence And Rachel On Trump's Commutation Of Roger Stone | The Last Word | MSNBC


Trump corruptly commutes Roger Stone sentence.


Criteria for imposing lockdowns on cities to be published in advance

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/283404


PM agrees to demand by Aryeh Deri to publish guidelines for declaring restricted areas amid reports of discrimination against haredim.
Interior Minister Aryeh Deri demanded at the weekly Cabinet meeting Sunday that the criteria for the declaration of a neighborhood as a restricted area be published before areas are closed off so that the haredi community will not feel that it is being targeted by the government.
Prime Minister Netanyahu accepted Deri's request and ordered that the criteria for the closure imposed on each locality be published on the prime minister's website.

Historians will likely rank Trump as one of the worst presidents

Historians will likely rank Trump as one of the worst presidents
A new Gallup poll puts President Donald Trump's approval rating at 38%. His disapproval rating stands at 57%.
The average poll similarly shows Trump's approval rating hovering around 40%, while his disapproval rating is above 55%.
What's the point: Trump's approval rating isn't getting any better. In the polls, he is continuing to lose to former Vice President Joe Biden by double-digits. Trump could win a second term, but there is no clear path to doing so.

 

If gedolim dont follow halacha better to have them become idolators

       Berachos 63a-b)
R. Safra said: R. Abbahu used to relate that when Hananiah the son of R. Joshua's brother went down to the Diaspora,38 he began to intercalate the years and fix new moons outside Palestine. So they [the Beth din] sent after him two scholars, R. Jose b. Kippar and the grandson of R. Zechariah b. Kebutal. When he saw them, he said to them: Why have you come? — They replied: We have come to learn Torah [from you]. He thereupon proclaimed: These men are among the most eminent of the generation. They and their ancestors have ministered in the Sanctuary (as we have learnt: Zechariah b. Kebutal said: Several times I read to him39 out of the book of Daniel). Soon they began to declare clean what he declared unclean and to permit what he forbade. Thereupon he proclaimed: These men are worthless, they are good for nothing. They said to him: You have already built and you cannot overthrow, you have made a fence and you cannot break it down.40 He said to them: Why do you declare clean when I declare unclean, why do you permit when I forbid? — They replied: Because you intercalate years and fix new moons outside of Palestine. He said to them: Did not Akiba son of Joseph intercalate years and fix new moons outside of Palestine?41 — They replied: Don't cite R. Akiba, who left not his equal in the Land of Israel. He said to them: I also left not my equal in the Land of Israel. They said to him: The kids which you left behind have become goats with horns, and they have sent us to you, bidding us, ‘Go and tell him in our name. If he listens, well and good; if not, he will be excommunicated.       R. Safra said: R. Abbahu used to relate that when Hananiah the son of R. Joshua's brother went down to the Diaspora,38 he began to intercalate the years and fix new moons outside Palestine. So they [the Beth din] sent after him two scholars, R. Jose b. Kippar and the grandson of R. Zechariah b. Kebutal. When he saw them, he said to them: Why have you come? — They replied: We have come to learn Torah [from you]. He thereupon proclaimed: These men are among the most eminent of the generation. They and their ancestors have ministered in the Sanctuary (as we have learnt: Zechariah b. Kebutal said: Several times I read to him39 out of the book of Daniel). Soon they began to declare clean what he declared unclean and to permit what he forbade. Thereupon he proclaimed: These men are worthless, they are good for nothing. They said to him: You have already built and you cannot overthrow, you have made a fence and you cannot break it down.40 He said to them: Why do you declare clean when I declare unclean, why do you permit when I forbid? — They replied: Because you intercalate years and fix new moons outside of Palestine. He said to them: Did not Akiba son of Joseph intercalate years and fix new moons outside of Palestine?41 — They replied: Don't cite R. Akiba, who left not his equal in the Land of Israel. He said to them: I also left not my equal in the Land of Israel. They said to him: The kids which you left behind have become goats with horns, and they have sent us to you, bidding us, ‘Go and tell him in our name. If he listens, well and good; if not, he will be excommunicated.
Berachos (63b)Tell also our brethren in the Diaspora [not to listen to him]. If they listen to you, well and good; if not, let them go up to the mountain, let Ahia1 build an altar and let Hananiah play the harp,2 and let them all become renegades and say that they have no portion in the God of Israel’. Straightway all the people broke out into weeping and cried, Heaven forbid, we have a portion in the God of Israel. Why all this to-do? — Because it says, For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.3 We can understand that if he declared clean they should declare unclean, because this would be more stringent. But how was it possible that they should declare clean what he declared unclean, seeing that it has been taught: If a Sage has declared unclean, his colleague is not permitted to declare clean? — They thought proper to act thus so that the people should not be drawn after him.

Hershel Schachter The Coercion Director(V11)


WHCA president accuses McEnany of 'denying reality' during press briefings


 White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany may have resumed regularly scheduled press briefings, but ABC News correspondent Jon Karl argued Saturday that she's not conducting them the right way.
Karl, who leads the White House Correspondents Association (WHCA), penned an op-ed in which he accused McEnany of giving partisan monologues and "denying reality" during press briefings.
"The job is to inform the public: to be an intermediary between the president and a press corps the public relies on for information ... Denying reality and using the White House podium for purely political purposes is a violation of public trust," he wrote in The Washington Post.
He added: "Briefings under the current press secretary rarely last 30 minutes -- which is short by traditional standards -- but routinely include opening and closing messages that more closely resemble the monologues of a partisan political talk show than a public official’s briefing."

Trump’s refusal to appeal to centrists could make Biden president and give Dems Senate majority

https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/biden-trump-race-arnon-mishkin

 
Former Vice President Joe Biden is getting help in his presidential campaign from a surprising source — President Trump.
Rather than trying to appeal to centrist voters — moderate Republicans, independents and moderate Democrats — to widen his base of support, Trump is doubling down on his most extreme positions in an effort to boost turnout by his most fervent supporters in November.
In addition to posing grave risks to the president’s reelection chances, this unconventional strategy increases the chances Democrats will capture majority control of the Senate and expand their majority in the House of Representatives.

President Donald Trump defends decision to commute Roger Stone's sentence


Roger Stone: Critics blast Trump for commuting ex-adviser's jail term

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-53373128

 
Mr Biden's spokesman Bill Russo said Mr Trump could not be shamed and could only be stopped at the ballot box.
"President Trump has once again abused his power, releasing this commutation on a Friday night, hoping to yet again avoid scrutiny as he lays waste to the norms and the values that make our country a shining beacon to the rest of the world," he said.
House of Representatives Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff condemned Mr Trump's clemency.
"With this commutation," said the top Democratic lawmaker, "Trump makes clear that there are two systems of justice in America: one for his criminal friends, and one for everyone else."
Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren said it showed Donald Trump was the most corrupt president in history.

Sen. Mitt Romney Calls Trump's Decision to Commute Roger Stone's Sentence 'Historic Corruption'

https://time.com/5865809/mitt-romney-trump-roger-stone/

On Saturday morning, Utah Sen. Mitt Romney became the first Congressional Republican so far to speak out against President Donald Trump’s Friday night decision to commute the sentence of his longtime associate Roger Stone. Stone had been sentenced to 40 months in prison for multiple felonies including lying to Congress and attempting to obstruct the Congressional investigation into Russia’s interference in the 2016 election.

Law and Order


Jeff Mason on Trump commuting Stone's sentence: 'Bringing this up again may in some ways be positive' for POTUS

https://www.foxnews.com/media/jeff-mason-donald-trump-commuting-roger-stone-sentence

Reuters White House correspondent Jeff Mason reacted Saturday to President Trump commuting Roger Stone's sentence, saying there will more more "fireworks" regarding the president's actions.
"This is his Broadway, really, right now of responding to what he thinks was unfair the entire time related to Robert Mueller's investigation of the Russia probe and specifically to his friend and confident Roger Stone," Mason said on "America's News HQ."
"I think it is important to remember that Stone was convicted by a jury, and so in terms of the political risk for the president, this does come at a time when the president himself has been focusing on a law and order response to the protests around the country, emphasizing himself as a law and order president."