https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/02/donald-ayer-bill-barr-must-resign/606670/
The attorney general is working to destroy the integrity and independence of the Justice Department, in order to make Donald Trump a president who can operate above the law.
TOPLINE
Almost 2,000 former FBI agents and Department of Justice officials wrote an open letter Monday calling for Attorney General William Barr to resign over his handling of the Michael Flynn case, after the Justice Department abruptly dropped criminal charges against President Trump’s former national security advisor last week, despite Flynn’s earlier guilty pleas.
https://rabbisacks.org/keeping-word-matot-5776/
Social institutions in a free society depend on trust, and trust means that we keep our word. We do what we say we are going to do. If we make a vow, an oath, a promise, a verbal undertaking, then we hold ourselves bound by it. This means that we will actually fulfil our commitment unless we can establish that, due to circumstances unforeseeable at the time, we are simply unable to do so.
If trust breaks down, social relationships break down, and then society depends on law enforcement agencies or some other use of force. When force is widely used, society is no longer free. The only way free human beings can form collaborative and cooperative relationships without recourse to force is by the use of verbal undertakings honoured by those who make them.
https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/malka-leifer-saga-far-from-over-analysis-643078
At most, Monday’s decision by the Jerusalem District Court to extradite alleged sex offender Malka Leifer to Australia can be viewed as the beginning of the end of the saga, but not the end itself.
It is precisely the fact that Moses did not need to do what he did, that gives the passage its force. There must be transparency and accountability when it comes to public funds even if the people involved have impeccable reputations. People in positions of trust must be, and be seen to be, individuals of moral integrity. Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law had already said this when he told Moses to appoint subordinates to help him in the task of leading the people. They should be, he said, “Men who fear God, trustworthy men who hate dishonest gain” (Ex. 18: 21).
https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/ruth-bader-ginsburg-seat-republicans-justin-haskins
I sympathize with those senators who have made promises in the past and wish to honor them. Honesty is, of course, important, and honoring promises under difficult political circumstances is a rare trait in Washington, to say the least.
However, the Republican senators who made promises not to fulfill Supreme Court seats close to an election have a more important duty than upholding political promises made in days, months or years past: ensuring that the rights of all Americans are protected. They can do that by filling Justice Ginsburg’s vacant seat with a constitutionalist who will promise to faithfully interpret the Constitution in line with the intentions of those who passed it into law.
The senators who pledged not to fill a vacant Supreme Court seat under the present circumstances should never have made those promises and if they are forced to pay the price in November for making foolish, irresponsible commitments, then so be it.
