Fuming over Uman ban, Bratslav sect vows to never back Netanyahu again

 https://www.timesofisrael.com/fuming-over-uman-ban-bratslav-sect-vows-to-never-back-netanyahu-again/

 Outraged by the Israeli government’s efforts to prevent the annual pilgrimage to Uman, Ukraine, the Bratslav Hasidic sect said Thursday that it would never again support Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The development came as dozens of worshipers were held for up to 17 hours at a Ukrainian airport before being allowed in, even though a decision by Kyiv Wednesday to not allow foreign nationals in the country only takes effect Friday at midnight.

Fed up Chris Wallace mocks Trump’s convention speech

Maddow Corrects Litany Of Falsehoods In Trump's Marathon RNC Speech | MSNBC

Donald J. Trump: The Greatest President In History of All Time | The Daily Social Distancing Show

Mary Trump 'Repulsed And Heartbroken' After Uncle's RNC Speech | The 11th Hour | MSNBC

Fact checker on Trump's RNC speech: He is a serial liar

F-35s to UAE? Why it's an amazingly bad idea

 http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/286119

 Is it safe to put sophisticated American weapons—such as F-35 fighter-bombers—in the hands of an Arab dictatorship—such as the United Arab Emirates? The historical record points to three dangers that raise questions about the wisdom of the current proposal to provide these jets to the UAE.

‘We’re here. They’re not’: Trump claims a MAGA victory in an ongoing crisis

 https://www.politico.com/news/2020/08/28/trump-rnc-acceptance-speech-403980

 President Donald Trump on Thursday presented a picture of America recognized mostly by his fiercest supporters.

He boasted that a coronavirus vaccine would be ready by year’s end “or maybe even sooner,” even though scientists are uncertain about that pledge. He pushed businesses and schools to open, even though many still cannot do so safely. He promoted yet another “powerful” treatment — convalescent plasma — even though doctors caution the evidence is still developing. He boasted about low fatality rates, even though roughly 1,000 people are still dying of Covid-19 each day.

 Trump’s 71-minute speech delivered a version of reality that he wanted America to see, one that diverged from what many Americans are experiencing in a turbulent year but fit a version of MAGA success he’s sold to his base. He and dozens of speakers heralded an outdated record on jobs, congratulated themselves for ending wars that remain ongoing and proclaimed victory against the coronavirus — often referring to it only as the “China virus” or the “invisible enemy.”

Trump's garden party: The most notable and quotable moments from the GOP convention finale

 https://www.politico.com/news/2020/08/28/trump-rnc-thursday-superlatives-404184

 President Donald Trump got the convention party he always wanted for his 2020 acceptance speech — he just had to put it on in his government-owned backyard. 

 A key part of Trump’s reelection message is presenting himself as a bulwark against chaos in the country, whether it’s violence in some American cities or the “cancel culture” he decried Thursday night.

But one of Trump’s biggest challenges is that he’s the president now. Biden on Thursday sought to deflect the claims by Trump and Vice President Mike Pence that Americans “won’t be safe in Joe Biden’s America” by pointing out that people are living now in Trump’s America.

As Republicans Wrap Up Their Convention, One Thing Defines the Party More Than Any Ideology or Policy: Donald Trump

 https://time.com/5884030/republican-party-of-donald-trump/

 If you were tuning into American politics for the first time to watch this week’s GOP convention, you’d be excused for your confusion over how the Republican Party proposes to run the country. There is no official platform. The planks seem constructed out of personality and feelings, not policy or details. During his three-plus years in office, its leader, President Donald Trump, has erased any lingering doubts that the Republican Party is functioning as more than an appendage of the Trump identity, and that it might be beholden to his brand of gut-driven politics for years.

 In accepting this reality, Republicans may have made a deal that could give them another four years in the White House, but will set them back decades. After all, Trump won’t be around forever to marshal his supporters’ votes with the flair of a reality show star, and a second-term Trump will have nothing to lose in thrashing norms and institutions the GOP has backed for generations. The party that lionized Ronald Reagan’s demand that Moscow “tear down this wall” in Berlin is now silent when Vladimir Putin’s chief rival is poisoned.

Richard Grenell claims he watched Trump ‘charm’ Germany’s Angela Merkel

 https://www.politico.eu/article/richard-grenell-claims-he-watched-trump-charm-germanys-angela-merkel/

 Richard Grenell, America's former acting director of national intelligence and ambassador to Germany, claimed he watched U.S. President Donald Trump “charm” German Chancellor Angela Merkel, despite the commander-in-chief’s famously chilly relationship with his counterpart in Berlin.

 “But that’s the Democrats. Between surveillance, classifications, leaks, and puppet candidates, they never want the American people to know who’s actually calling the shots,” Grenell said. “But with Donald Trump, you always know exactly who is in charge. Because the answer … is you.”

Pentagon slams Russia for 'provocative and aggressive behavior' that injured US troops in Syria

 https://edition.cnn.com/2020/08/27/politics/pentagon-russia-syria/index.html

 The Pentagon slammed Russia's military on Thursday for what it called "deliberately provocative and aggressive behavior" that injured multiple US military personnel following a collision between American and Russian armored vehicles in eastern Syria.

"Russian forces breached our deconfliction arrangement in Syria and injured U.S. service members with their deliberately provocative and aggressive behavior," Chief Pentagon Spokesman Jonathan Hoffman said in a statement, the Defense Department's first public comments about Tuesday's incident.

"We have advised the Russians that their behavior was dangerous and unacceptable. We expect a return to routine and professional deconfliction in Syria and reserve the right to defend our forces vigorously whenever their safety is put at risk," he added.

Rabbi Sacks: US Jews making a 'big, big mistake' in politics

 http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/286127

 American Jewish rabbis are erring by endorsing — and opposing — President Donald Trump, according to Jonathan Sacks, the former chief rabbi of Great Britain who said he has always studiously avoided showing an affinity for any particular candidate.

 The consequence of blurring the line between politics and Judaism can be significant, Sacks said.
“You mix religion and politics, you get terrible politics and even worse religion,” he said, adding later, “I’m afraid I have absolutely not the slightest shred of sympathy for anyone who, as a rabbi, tells people how to vote.”

RNC 2020: Key takeaways from Trump speech and Republican convention

 https://www.bbc.com/news/election-us-2020-53942272

 While law enforcement was building a physical protective bubble around the White House, the Republican Party has spent the past four days constructing a psychological bubble around the president - a more comforting reality sheltered from the tumult of the past six months.

The goal for the party this week has been to welcome a winning coalition of voters into this bubble - not just Trump's loyal base, but also disaffected suburbanites who may be uncomfortable with the president's policies, women put off by his confrontational tone and ethnic minorities concerned about the nation's growing racial tensions

Recent polls have indicated a sizable majority of Americans believe the nation is heading in the wrong direction. That's poison for an incumbent president seeking re-election. 

 Grievance has always been part of the fuel that has powered Trump's rise - a sense, among his supporters, that something valuable is slipping from their grasp and the unlikeliest of politicians, Donald Trump, is the one who will help them preserve it.

"Always remember," Trump said in a reprise of a line he has said before, "they are coming after me, because I am fighting for you."

It's the recipe for a bare-knuckle autumn campaign, as Trump and his supporters dig in for what will be a long, brutal battle to retain the presidency.