Capitol riots: Who has the FBI arrested so far?

 https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-55626148

• Nicholas Rodean - The Maryland man was fired from his job after he was seen wearing his work ID badge to the riot
• Aaron Mostofsky - The 34-year-old son of a Brooklyn judge was freed after posting a $100,000 bail. Pictures from the riot showed him wearing furs and a police tactical vest that he is accused of stealing
• William Pepe - The New York City transit worker was suspended without pay after officials said he called out sick from work to travel to Washington and participate in the riot
• Andrew Williams - The Florida firefighter was arrested after a picture online showed him wearing a Trump hat and pointing to a placard bearing the name of Democrat Nancy Pelosi
• Josiah Colt - The Idaho man was pictured dangling from a Senate balcony after rioters stormed the chamber and is facing charges of disorderly conduct and trespassing
• Adam Johnson, 36 of Florida, was photographed holding up the House speaker's lectern and smiling during the Capitol siege. He has been charged with theft of government property and the lectern has since been returned
• Jenny Cudd, the owner of a flower shop once ran for mayor in Midland, Texas. According to officials, she posted a video where she said: "We did break down Nancy Pelosi's office door"
• Klete Keller, a two-time Olympic gold medallist swimmer, has been charged after online sleuths spotted that he wore his Olympic jacket to the Capitol
• Robert Sandford, a recently retired firefighter from a Philadelphia suburb, is accused of assaulting officers by throwing a fire extinguisher at them
• Jacob Fracker and Thomas Robertson, off-duty police officers from Rocky Mount, Virginia, are accused of trespassing and violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds

Donald Trump just pushed Rudy Giuliani under the bus

 https://edition.cnn.com/2021/01/14/politics/donald-trump-rudy-giuliani-impeachment/index.html

"Trump has been blaming his longtime personal attorney and many others for the predicament he now finds himself in, though he has not accepted any responsibility in public or in private, people familiar with his reaction told CNN. Giuliani is still expected to play a role in Trump's impeachment defense but has been left out of most conversations thus far."

 

Trump, you see, is incapable of self-reflection. Or of accepting blame. Therefore he is endlessly in search of scapegoats for any "wrong" that befalls him. Nothing is ever his fault. It is always the fault of those who have somehow betrayed him. And everyone -- with the notable exception of those to whom he is related by blood and marriage -- eventually betrays him.

The most surprising vote for impeachment came from this Republican

 https://edition.cnn.com/2021/01/14/politics/tom-rice-south-carolina-impeachment/index.html

"Once the violence began, when the Capitol was under siege, when the Capitol Police were being beaten and killed, and when the Vice President and the Congress were being locked down, the President was watching and tweeted about the Vice President's lack of courage.

"For hours while the riot continued, the President communicated only on Twitter and offered only weak requests for restraint ...

"... It has been a week since so many were injured, the United States Capitol was ransacked, and six people were killed, including two police officers. Yet, the President has not addressed the nation to ask for calm. He has not visited the injured and grieving. He has not offered condolences. Yesterday in a press briefing at the border, he said his comments were 'perfectly appropriate.'"

The Day That Shall Live in Infamy

 

BS"D

The Day That Shall Live in Infamy: 

By Binyomin Feinberg

Rosh Chodesh Shvat, 5781 °° January 14, '21 °°  Parshas Va'Eira

Unfortunately, we have bad news to report in NJ regarding recently debated legislation advancing LGBT exploitation in public schools and in healthcare facilities (see last week's post on Jersey Conservative, or the NJ Jewish Link (letters), or http://daattorah.blogspot.com/2021/01/saving-public-school-kids-matters.html).  On Monday January 11, NJ's infamous Public School indoctrination bill (A4454) passed the Assembly, 46 to 29, generally along party lines, with four not voting altogether, including Passaic Assemblyman Gary Schaer. The LGBT long-term healthcare facilities bill also passed - and with almost no opposition.  It's noteworthy that there was a surprise "No" vote on the education bill - by Jamal Holly of Elizabeth. In marked contrast to the opposition of that well-know leftwing Assemblyman, Assemblyman Gary Schaer - often caught actively voting on the wrong side of moral issues - opted for passivity this time. By not voting, NJs "only Orthodox Assemblyman" willingly enabled this antireligious LGBT indoctrination to pass without a multicultural show of opposition from within the Democratic Party.  Does Schaer - now exposed as a fraudulent "Jewish advocate" by Assemblyman Holly - ever lose an opportunity to lose an opportunity?

MOREOVER, THE FACT THAT SCHAER'S FELLOW PASSAIC ASSEMBLYMAN CALABRESE ACTIVELY VOTED FOR NOT JUST ONE BUT BOTH OF THOSE ABUSIVE BILLS EXPOSES WHAT SCHAER'S OWN INACTION DOESN'T SHOW: SCHAER DIDN'T EVEN HOLD BACK HIS OWN FELLOW ASSEMBLYMAN FROM ACTIVELY ADVANCING THESE INHERENTLY ANTIRELIGIOUS BILLS, EVEN BEHIND THE SCENES.

On the other hand, we must HEARTILY commend Assemblyman Parker Space for taking a heroic stand against the healthcare facilities perpetration legislation. FOR THOSE OF US WHO UNFORTUNATELY FAIL TO LEARN FROM AVROHOM AVINU, PINCHOS, AND MANY OTHER TORAH ROLE MODELS, LEHAVDIL ALFEI HAVDOLOS, his principled stand - against the transgenderization of healthcare facilities in NJ - reminds us of what we must demand of ourselves, and then of our wayward legislators. And if the desires of the legislators - and their enabling ethically challenged askonim - to swap fighting government sanctioned brutality for procurement of government largesse, then we must choose: grow a spine or forgoe the sho'chad (bribery). Once government benefits serve to enable our silence in the face of victimization of the innocent, they  cease to be benefits (IF they ever were), and must be identified as such.

Now, before rushing to praise the Republicans for their opposition to the "educational" indoctrination bill, realize the import of their failure to oppose the abusive healthcare facilities bill. Also consider that, prior to the onset of the Trump Era, it would have been almost unthinkable - EVEN for leftist Democrats - to openly vote for an LGBT propaganda bill for kindergarteners. Realize just how far we've fallen.

Additionally, even this showing by Republican comes only after vigorous campaigning by both Orthodox and non-Jewish activists. And, even after all of that, the GOP still split their gambit by caving on the Healthcare facilities bill, thereby ensuring an easy, "no-cost" victory for the opposition.

We somehow doubt that the Republicans' virtual foray into selective heroism would have played better if they wouldn't be facing an election season later this very year. 

What does this all tell us about ourselves? The blatant shortfalls of our defaulting representatives reflect our own. Do we not have enough communal will, acumen and resources to muster a serious campaign to save our own elderly from legislation that makes Sodom just a local trip? Even from a purely "pragmatic" perspective (as some askonim relish posturing), we'll wind up expending far, far more resources dealing with the fallout of this antireligious edict than we would have spent on an intelligent, broad-based campaign against the bill. 

Where are the self advertising askonim busy fundraising as if they're taking care of the tzibbur, and not just themselves?  Have we heard the Call of Corona to mend our ways? There's still time; but, given recently developing stories, perhaps not much. THE ONGOING CHILLUL HASHEM INVOLVED IN ABANDONING THE WAR FOR INNOCENT SOULS ENDANGERS OUR COMMUNITY.

 

The Orthodox public DESERVES more activists WHO TREAT THE ORTHODOX COMMUNITY WITH THE DIGNITY THAT THE COMMUNITY DESERVES. WE NEED TO BE ALERTED TO HELP SAVE OTHERS, EVEN IF THEY AREN'T WITHIN OUR OWN IMMEDIATE CIRCLES. THE TZIBBUR WILL RISE TO THE CHALLENGES OF OUR GENERATION. SELF SERVERS: MOVE ASIDE; LET MY PEOPLE GROW.

###

feinbergbinyomin@gmail.com

Trump Pride: Gay Republicans on why they're backing the president

 https://www.nbcnews.com/feature/nbc-out/trump-pride-gay-republicans-why-they-re-backing-president-n1243469

Trump made a halfhearted effort to court the LGBTQ community in the run-up to the 2016 presidential election. He called the massacre of 49 mostly LGBTQ people at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida, that year an "assault on the ability of free people to live their lives, love who they want and express their identity."

At the 2016 Republican National Convention in Cleveland, Trump swore "to protect our LGBTQ citizens from the violence and oppression of a hateful foreign ideology."

And two days before Election Day, he grabbed an upside-down Pride flag inscribed with "LGBT for Trump" at a rally in Colorado and waved it around.

Soldiers and rape

Ohr HaChaim(Devarim 21:11): Why did G‑d command this procedure of Yofas To’ar in which a man defiles himself by sexual relations with a non‑Jewish woman? This is especially problematic since it is done during the time that G‑d is doing miracles to produce victory in the battles and thus it would seem more appropriate to increase spiritual purity and closeness to G‑d. So why does G‑d permit a Jew to do such a debasing act which we know is despised by G‑d and causes greater weakening of our attachment to G‑d? It is understandable why G‑d permits eating unkosher food during battle because as the Rambam (Hilchos Melachim 8:1) correctly explains - it is allowed only if the person is hungry. However this act is not needed for his survival and is inherently disgusting. Our Sages (Kiddushin 21b) state that the only justification for this act is a tactic to deal with the Evil Inclination. This makes the question stronger since the Torah should be serving to help subdue and control the heart of the holy people during this time of battle since in fact it is G‑d doing the fighting. The answer to this question is based on an important principle that is stated in Zohar Chadash(Parshas Balak page 53). It says that with the sin of Adam many precious souls were captured by the Sitra Achara (forces of evil) and these are the souls of gerim. If you investigate you will find that a great number of great people came from the nations of the world as Ruth the Moabite illustrates. We also find (Sanhedrin 96b) that many great scholars came from the nations such as Shmaya and Avtalyon, Onkelos and many others. I will also reveal another principle that we find a pure soul attached to an impure soul and the pure soul does not have the power to positively influence the impure soul. The pure soul is thus trapped until the moment comes to be freed. An example of this is that the soul of Rabbi Chanina ben Tradyon was attached to the soul of Shechem the son of Chamor.  [Shechem was the rapist of Yaakov daughter Dinah.]. This reality is alluded to by the first letters of the words in Bereishis (34:21) as has been explained by the Kabbalists. We find that the soul of Rabbi Chanina ben Tradyon did not positively influence Shechem and departed Shechem when Shechem raped Dinah. In fact Rabbi Chanina ben Tradyon’s soul attached itself to the soul of Dinah instead of Shechem. This is alluded to in Bereishis (34:3), “His soul attached itself to her soul. [Which is usually understood to mean that Shechem loved Dinah.] It is important to keep this principle in mind… Kiddushin (21b) states that she is a married woman and of course the words of your Sages are true. However if the expression “eishes yofas to’ar” only meant that she was married it should have simply said that she was an “eishes ish.” Thus this phrased informs us that as a result of the soldier being involved in performing a mitzva (fighting for Israel) – G‑d opened his eyes  so that he could recognize that in this non‑Jewish woman that there was some inner beauty. In other words the soldier was able to recognize her holy soul which is called “yofas to’ar”. That is because holy souls radiate a powerful spiritual light. Thus the soldier is in a sensitive spiritual state because he is involved in doing a mitzva and is attached to the divine presence. He is therefore  able to recognize her holy soul and that is what he is attracted to and what he desires in her. This can also be deduced from the fact the verse says “he desires something in her” and doesn’t say “he desires her.” That is to draw attention to the fact that he does not desire the woman per se but something beautiful within her which is the aspect of good which is the pure soul. Thus even if she is physically ugly she is permitted to him because it is the beauty of her soul not her body which is determinant. In this situation there is no physical lust as I have already explained.

Donald Trump is going home a loser

 https://edition.cnn.com/2021/01/13/opinions/trump-impeachment-going-home-loser-axelrod/index.html

 Biographers tell us that, early on, a cutthroat New York real estate developer imparted a dark lesson to the son who would become president of the United States.

There are two kinds of people in the world, Fred Trump explained to his apprentice child. There are killers, and there are losers.

The message was clear: You play to win, whatever it takes. Rules? Norms? Those are for losers. And Fred Trump had no time for losers.

It's a lesson Donald Trump learned all too well.

 

The threat of legal action and disbarment from public office in the future still looms. But the President already has suffered the most painful penalty of all: Fred Trump's boy will go home a loser.

Paxton told Trump supporters to 'keep fighting' then claimed they weren't Capitol rioters

 https://cbsaustin.com/news/local/paxton-told-trump-supporters-to-keep-fighting-then-claimed-they-werent-capitol-rioters

In December, Paxton’s support for Trump took the form of a widely panned, and ultimately rejected, lawsuit before the U.S. Supreme Court seeking to toss the election results in four battleground states that had handed the White House to Joe Biden. The lawsuit leaned on discredited claims of election fraud in the battleground states.

Who is Rachel Rodriguez? Woman Arrested For Election Fraud 'Guided' Voters to Favor Democrats

 https://www.ibtimes.sg/who-rachel-rodriguez-woman-arrested-election-fraud-guided-voters-favor-democrats-54888

In a public statement, Paxton said that the claims that there is no voter fraud are false and misleading. "Many continue to claim that there's no such thing as election fraud. We've always known that such a claim is false and misleading, and today we have additional hard evidence. This is a victory for election integrity," he said.

Readers’ Election-Fraud Questions—Answered

 https://www.wsj.com/articles/readers-election-fraud-questions-answered-11610584849

For months, President Trump and his allies have made numerous claims about election fraud in various competitive states. The drumbeat of unsubstantiated allegations has left some Americans with the false impression that the presidential election was marred by widespread wrongdoing—and others confused about what actually happened.

Mr. Trump repeated some of those claims in his speech at a Jan. 6 rally before a mob stormed the Capitol. His alleged encouragement led to his impeachment Wednesday by the House.

Journal reporters have received many questions from readers about these claims, looking for answers beyond the findings in court rulings and by then-Attorney General William Barr that there was no evidence of widespread fraud that could overturn President-elect Joe Biden’s election victory.

How Ted Cruz wasted his intellect to back Donald Trump's fraud

 https://edition.cnn.com/2021/01/13/opinions/ted-cruz-wasted-intellect-donald-trump-moore/index.html

 He might have been the best of us. He is the worst of us.

The manifest tragedy of the life of Texas' junior US Sen. Ted Cruz is what he might have accomplished had he not wasted a fine intellect to serve his craven political ambitions instead of the country he professes to love. Nearly every clever phrase he has turned in public discourse appears to have been designed to disrupt, not repair, and to turn the focus to Cruz, instead of the issue at hand.

 

He has spent much of his time leveraging falsehoods for his political benefit. More specifically, the senator has used his Ivy League education to promote election fraud theories that inspired rioting insurrectionists and QAnon quackery when he could have been at work creating policies to improve American lives. 

 

The simplest explanation for the base behavior of Cruz is that he will say and do anything to achieve his goal of becoming president, and he has demonstrated that he is willing to put at risk the very democracy of the country that he dreams of leading. That ought to earn him a lifetime ban from getting anywhere near the White House.

Pleasure and chasidim

Noam Elimelech (1:10-11): And Adam know Eve his wife and she became pregnant and gave birth to Caine (Bereishis 4:1).  It would seem that the meaning of the word "know" isn't clear. The Torah could have simply said that Adam had intercourse?. This can be explained that the matter is similar to the verses regarding Avraham's description of his wife Sarah – "Now I know that you are a beautiful woman." I heard that there is  a sefer that says that because Avraham went to Egypt where there they are steeped in sexuality and because of their thoughts and fantasy about sexuality – that Avraham was  effected and he started to think about his wife. That is why he said, "Now I know." The path of the true tzadik is not to have any thoughts or fantasies or lusts – even about his wife. And even when he is having intercourse with his wife he should be thinking about the higher spiritual worlds and not be aware at all that he is with his wife. Therefore the meaning of "And Adam knew his wife Eve" is that he paid attention and knew that she was his wife during intercourse. Consequently she became pregnant and gave birth to Caine who is described in the Zohar (1: 54a) as "the nest of evil". The gemora (Sanhedrin 38b) says that two got into bed and seven came out of the bed. This is an allusion to his great level that he started with but that he went down 7 spiritual levels because of his awareness of the physical pleasure of being with his wife. A person who conducts himself  with proper holiness will regain the 7 spiritual levels that Adam lost.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene vows to file articles of impeachment against Biden

 https://www.foxnews.com/politics/georgia-rep-vows-to-file-articles-of-impeachment-against-biden

Her announcement seems to be at odds with many in her own party who say Trump’s second impeachment was unnecessarily divisive at a time when the country needs to start coming together.

Greene had defended her decision not to wear a mask when locked in a secure room with other House members during the Capitol riots and pushed back against Democrats who are now blaming her and other maskless GOP members for their recent coronavirus positive tests.

She said she tested negative for COVID-19 on Jan. 4 at the White House and doesn't believe that healthy Americans should be forced to muzzle themselves with a mask.

The GOP's carnival of hypocrisy

 https://edition.cnn.com/2021/01/13/opinions/impeachment-republican-hypocrisy-ghitis/index.html

If Republicans want healing and reconciliation, it may have something to do with the threats they are receiving In what is the closest to a fascist tactic we have seen in this godforsaken presidency. Republican Rep. Peter Meijer wrote in the Detroit News of how one of his "profoundly shaken" colleagues had acknowledged after last week's riot that voting to certify Biden's win was a constitutional duty -- but instead voted to overturn the election result for fear of endangering family members.

 

The right way to heal those divisions, the right way to unite the country, is to come together in repudiating the poisonous presidency of Donald Trump. What better way to do that than by impeaching and convicting him? Even if he completes the full four years of his term, Americans will have formally declared his presidency a grave national error, telling future generations -- and even current ones -- that Trump's values and tactics are abhorrent to this nation.

 

That's the way to achieve unity. The claims we're hearing that impeachment is bad for healing are lies. They are a way to avoid responsibility, to protect the President, to sweep the filth under the rug. At a time like this, when the country should stand together, what America needs from its leaders is courage, not hypocrisy.