“I don’t think there’s many Americans who don’t believe that Donald Trump had an affair with Stormy Daniels, and that don’t believe that he paid her money at the end of the campaign to keep it quiet. So I don’t think that the American people probably see this as a huge crime,” Christie said.
Monday, March 20, 2023
Trump’s Claim of Tuesday ‘Arrest’ Is Highly Unlikely
https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/trumps-claim-of-tuesday-arrest-is-highly-unlikely/
Trump being Trump, his social-media post calling for “PROTEST” is irresponsible. To be sure, it is completely legal — calling for protest is classic political speech protected by the First Amendment. As a matter of law, he did not call for violence and could not be deemed legally liable if his most rabid supporters interpret “PROTEST” as encouragement to riot. As a matter of common sense, though, it is shameful for Trump to speak this way after his fiery Ellipse speech was followed by a riot at the Capitol.
Maria Bartiromo breaks down the justice system double-standard with Rep James Comer, Sen Tom Cotton, and more
JOHN RATCLIFFE: Well, it's clearly a political prosecution, and that's underscored by the fact, Maria, that you have in Melvyn Bragg, the D.A. involved here, someone who on his very first day in office said we will not prosecute armed robberies in this office. And now he's saying we will prosecute a misdemeanor offense against the opposition political party who happens to be a presidential candidate, former President of the United States, despite the fact that the statute of limitations has clearly run on that misdemeanor and the fact that other state and federal prosecutors have passed on that. So. But my take on it, Maria, is this is just the latest in sort of the evolution of of what the Democrats, as they have shifted from a party, from Democrats to progressives, which is really kind of a mix of socialists and communists who don't like the American justice system. It's a continuation of an assault on that justice system and tearing down all of the pillars that make that system work so well. So just to remind your viewers, when the Mueller investigation was going, the first of the pillars to go was the bedrock principle of a presumption of innocence. Remember, Donald Trump didn't have that presumption. He had to conclusively prove his innocence. Then quickly, it shifted in the Ukraine impeachment to the suspension of the principle of due process of law. And Donald Trump became the first president never to be allowed to have legal representation throughout the House proceedings. More recently, with Mar a Lago, the next principle to go was equal protection under the law. And we saw that when the same statute was applied between Trump and Biden. Regarding classified documents, Trump's home was raided. Biden's lawyers were allowed to just casually turn over documents whenever they want. So this latest sort of tortured prosecution that is in the offing this week by by the day in New York is just sort of the latest assault on the American justice system by the Democratic Party.
Fox Host Desperately Tries to Connect the Dots Between Biden and Trump Investigations
Rep. James Comer (R-KY) seems eager to believe a potential decision by the Manhattan District Attorney to indict Donald Trump has something to do with his quest to unearth documents tangentially related to Joe Biden’s family.
Comer appeared on Maria Baritromo’s Sunday Morning Futures, where Bartiromo led her one-person crusade on tying a House GOP memo detailing a payment made to Beau Biden’s widow Hallie to a potential indictment of Trump next week. She initially tried to play it straight, asking if Comer had a comment on a Trump indictment, before Comer helped launch right into it.
Sunday, March 19, 2023
In hush money probe, Trump’s lawyer is anything but quiet
But Andrew Weissmann, a former prosecutor who served as one of the lead attorneys on the Mueller investigation, said the claim is itself problematic.
“That is an admission he paid $ (which he had been denying) and the $ was not for legal fees (the cover story). Because the NY criminal case reportedly focuses on the crime of making false business records — his ‘defense’ is an confession,” Weissmann wrote on Twitter.
Turmoil in Israel, trepidation in Palestine
Soon after the fascists and fanatics took the reins of power in Israel and began transforming the Jewish state into an autocratic state bordering on a theocracy, secular and liberal forces took to the streets. It was a desperate attempt to stop the new government from fast-tracking legislation that curtails the powers of the judiciary and subordinates the country’s Supreme Court to the whims of the ruling coalition’s slim majority in parliament.
Putin says Russia is in a fight for the existence of the state
https://www.jpost.com/breaking-news/article-734294
Putin has framed Moscow's year-long invasion as a defensive pushback against what he sees as a hostile West bent on expanding into territories historically ruled by Russia.
"So for us this is not a geopolitical task, but a task of the survival of Russian statehood, creating conditions for the future development of the country and our children," he said during a visit to an aviation factory in Buryatia, some 4,400 km (2,750 miles) east of Moscow.
Leaving religion 8 reasons -Rav Saadiya Gaon
Emuna ve’Deos (Introduction 7) I should add to this a list of what are, in my view, the causes of disbelief, falling into lies and a spirit of resistance to the truths of the miracles and speculation concerning religious belief. I see eight of these often. These eight are: 1) the natural burdensomeness of effort for humans 2) The stupidity of many of them. 3) Man’s instinct to fulfill his desires in terms of, food, feasting, sex and property. 4) An aversion to inquiry and an inability to listen attentively or engage in sustained thought. 5) People’s brazenness and pride which causes them to not concede there is any wisdom hidden from them nor any science that stands before him that he has yet to master. 6) Something someone heard in the name of one of the dissenters which touched his heart and worried him and he is thus stuck in worry his entire life. 7) A weak proof he heard from one of the monotheists and he thinks, therefore, that all of them are like this. 8) Someone for whom hatred exists between him and certain monotheists and this causes him to, hating their God.
Chief Rabbi: 'We need dialogue, I'm worried about civil war'
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/368899
"I'm not getting involved in the details of the reform, but we have to explain to them, to convince them, to meet with them, that at least in matters of religion, there is no place for the court's involvement," he added.
The Chief Rabbi brought the example of the 2018 ruling that the ban on bringing chametz (leavened products that are forbidden on Passover) into hospitals over Passover was illegal. "For instance, when it comes to chametz. People will be afraid to be hospitalized because there is chametz in the hospital. We have to explain it to them. Love your brother as you love yourself. I don't understand other issues, and I don't talk about matters that I don't understand," Rabbi Yosef explained.
Are We Headed for Another Civil War?
https://www.bu.edu/articles/2019/are-we-headed-for-another-civil-war/
But it would have to be something else to call this a “civil war.” That would indicate a willingness on the part of masses of people to engage in violence against their political enemies. That happened in the 1860s, in part because people had come to see their political opponents in extreme, even demonic, ways and found it impossible to find any middle ground. Maybe our politics and culture are moving in that direction, but I don’t see it yet.
Trump derangement syndrome - Lawyer Compares Trump to Jesus Christ Ahead of Expected Indictment
https://www.newsweek.com/lawyer-compares-trump-jesus-christ-ahead-expected-indictment-1788728
"President Trump will be arrested during Lent—a time of suffering and purification for the followers of Jesus Christ," McBride wrote on Twitter. "As Christ was crucified, and then rose again on the 3rd day, so too will [Donald Trump]. Violence is never the answer. Winning the election is. Vote for Trump!"
He added in a further tweet: "JESUS LOVES DONALD TRUMP. JESUS DIED FOR DONALD TRUMP. JESUS LIVES INSIDE DONALD TRUMP. DEAL WITH IT."
What is an indictment?
https://thehill.com/homenews/3906654-what-is-an-indictment/
The way it works for felony charges in the U.S. is that a grand jury will examine all potential evidence to determine if a crime was committed. If the jury, generally made up of 16-23 people, decides there’s enough evidence that a crime occurred, an indictment will come.
Despite Trump’s claim that he will be arrested Tuesday, it’s unlikely the former president would be arrested, since Trump officials themselves told Associated Press they would “ follow the normal procedures” if an indictment does come down. An arrest would only happen in the event an indicted person doesn’t surrender, according to AP.
Saturday, March 18, 2023
Baldness and heresy
Netziv (Vayikra 13:41): The verse states karachas which is the baldness on the back of the head prior to gebachas which is the baldness on the front of the head. Why did the verse distinguish between them? ...We can explain this according to the view that the baldness is a sign of the sin of errors in theology. There are in fact two types of error. The first type is errors that result from philosophical analysis. The second type results from lack of belief that does not result from philosophy. It is known that the back of the brain deals with decisions that a person makes Intellectual analysis occurs in the front of the brain. The fact is that errors in emuna are much more common and worse than mistakes that result from the intellectual analysis. That is why there are two types of baldness and why the one associated with errors without philosophy is stated first in the verse.
Good and bad tzadikim
Netziv (Introduction to Bereishis): Bereishis was called Sefer HaYoshor (the Book of the Upright) by the prophets. The praise of Uprightness is to reinforce G‑d’s judgment in destroying the Second Temple which as a generation of tzadikim and chassidim and those devoted to learning Torah - however they were not Upright in the mundane world. Therefore, because of the baseless hatred in their hearts to each other, they suspected that whomever they saw who did not conduct himself according to their opinion in Yiras Shamayim - must be a heretic. Consequently, this led to much killing and all the evils in the world until the Temple was destroyed. Thus, there was an acknowledgement of the Uprightness of G‑d’s judgment in that He would not tolerate tzadikim like these. Rather He wanted tzadikim who were upright in the world. Because even if the non‑upright tzadikim were motivated by religious consideration - such conduct destroys the world.