Trump's Town Hall Fail, Woodward's Book and Mattis' Devastating Assessment, "Trump Dangerous/Unfit"

Bill Barr Sinks to New Low, Uses Justice Department to Try to Kill Trump’s Rape Defamation Suit

Barr says calls for coronavirus lockdown are the 'greatest intrusion on civil liberties' other than slavery in US history

 https://edition.cnn.com/2020/09/16/politics/barr-justice-department-speech/index.html

 Attorney General William Barr suggested on Wednesday that the calls for a nationwide lockdown to prevent the spread of the coronavirus were the "greatest intrusion on civil liberties" in history "other than slavery."

The comments came minutes after he slammed the hundreds of Justice Department prosecutors working beneath him, equating them to preschoolers, in a defense of his own politically tuned decision making in the Trump administration.

Donald Trump has done 1 thing *really* well as President

 https://edition.cnn.com/2020/09/16/politics/donald-trump-international-standing-pew-poll/index.html

 Donald Trump once pledged that, if elected president, he would put America first and spend no time at all worried about what the rest of the world thought about us. Mission accomplished!

A new Pew poll of 13 foreign countries reveals that perceptions of America have dropped drastically in recent years.

A few examples:

* In the United Kingdom, 83% had a favorable view of the US in 2000. Now just 41% feel the same way, the lowest number ever in Pew data.

 

Trump and his backers will cite the Pew data as evidence that other countries just don't like it when the US stops letting itself be taken advantage of and stands up for itself.

White House staffers test COVID-19 positive after peace deal

 http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/287442

 Multiple members of White House staff test positive for coronavirus one day after signing of Abraham Accords.

 

 

A Key to Salvation

 BS"D

Our Key to Salvation: Standing With Righteous Individuals Who Stand With HaShem - Against His Enemies

27 Ellul, 5780 °° Sept. 16, 20 °° Parshas Ha'azinu

By Binyomin Feinberg

As we approach the Days of Awe, it's appropriate to reflect on the plight of those righteous women languishing in Israeli military prison to avoid conscription into the immoral, exploitative Army. Furthermore, we must also consider the ongoing travails of all the many, many other girls and women who regularly endure intimidation and threats from Israeli military draft office, from the court system, and also suffer from the systemic corruption enabling the wholesale abandonment of innocent girls - in their stand against the military draft - for their Faith, morality, and personal purity.  But first, a general background review is in order. 

A.  A Refresher:

1.  Ever since the early days of the State of Israel, the Israeli Army has been - almost unbelievably - 

 

2.  Leading Rabbis from across the spectrum held and hold that it's prohibited for any girl to enlist in the Army.  How much more so it it prohibited to FORCE girls (of any faith) to enlist, even if they're totally non-religious.

3.  Moreover, the Brisker Rov ZT"L was quoted by Rav Aharon Soloveichik ZT"L (in sefer "Yeled Sha'ashuim") to be  opposed to the drafting of non-religious girls even more strongly than he was opposed to drafting religious ones, due of the escalated spiritual threats to the former over the latter. Such spiritual dangers are endemic to the military milieu, and have manifested in the Israeli Army in the form of ongoing immorality, exploitation, and downright abuse.

4.  This is the same Brisker Rov who held that if, G-d forbid, we would need to choose, it would be preferable to close down all the Yeshivos rather than allow even one girl to be drafted at all.*

[* This insight from the Brisker Rov may inspire introspection among some more reflective individuals, especially now, in the midst of the second Coronavirus shutdown in Israel. (Perhaps community activists and fiefdoms prioritizing government funding for their institutions - to the exclusion of leveraging increased Orthodox political power to abolish the female draft - isn't countenanced well in Heaven -- especially while dozens of girls are languishing in "Jewish" military prisons - often in acutely oppressive conditions.)]

5.  In the wake of international outcries by religious Jews across the spectrum - in decades past - religious girls, the dominant antireligious elements allowed concession provisions. This compromise mandated providing automatic military service exemptions to religious girls. Thus, until recent years, religious girls had been routinely exempt.

6.  Tragically, the drafting of other girls had continued, in the state describing itself as somehow associated with Judaism - to which drafting girls or women is absolute anathema.  It must be emphasized that the drafting of girls - even only non-religious girls - was always seen as an ongoing travesty. By no stretch of the imagination was it EVER anything with which any Jew could possibly make peace.

7.  Many religious and traditional Israeli girls have, in recent years, been subjected to increasing attempts to draft them into the Army.

8.  In some cases, the Army even drafts such girls into mixed units and combat units. 

9. Tragically, many traditional and even religious girls have fallen into the Army, recently.

10.  Generally, that's the result of the lack of effective outreach to such girls, particularly sefardic girls, especially those coming from a religiously weak background.

11.  Many girls have fallen into the Army because of illegal maneuvers and manipulation by the Draft Offices, operating under "Meitav."

12.  Chomosaich is an organization providing assistance to any girl who seeks to save herself from the draft, regardless of her religiosity or background.

13.  They provide information and help coordinate legal assistance with Israeli attorneys competent in saving these girls from the draft.

14.  Chomosaich also provides girls in the exemption process with vital chizuk.

15.  Often, another vital need is public awareness. Why? Because intelligent PR is often necessary, to exert pressure often instrumental in rescuing these girls from  government intimidation and threats, and even incarceration in military prison.

16.  We in the Diaspora have an distinctly pivotal capacity to impede such Israeli policies, by simply speaking out, in an intelligent manner.  The Israeli government frequently tends to ignore domestic public opinion on such matters, but remains sensitive to its much-cultivated image in the outside world.  Thus, properly raising public awareness in the Diaspora is one of the most effective, and probably by far the most efficient, practical means of saving these innocent girls and women from indescribable travails.

B.  Ofek Y. - an example of just one of the many girls currently being assisted:

1.  Ofek Y., a Ba'alas Teshuva, not yet 18, has been recently returning to her religious roots, even studying in religious "Midrashiyah." She had applied for her religious exemption.

2.  The Army ordered her to appear at a Religiosity Interview (or interrogation), a Rayon Dat ("R.D.") on July 26, '20.

3.  In compliance with with the directive of Torah authorities, and those familiar with draft hazards, to refuse any such appearances, she declined.   The monumental practical dangers, and the consequent Halachic objections involved with the R.D. have been covered online (search First Amendment Activist and Daat Torah blogs, for example).

4.  Now, one needs to question: by what right did the Draft Office have to summon Miss Y. to a R.D.? Her religiosity has been established via the standard legal procedures.  Once she submitted her religiosity certification, legally speaking, she's entitled to an automatic religious exemption, unless the Army has bona fide basis to suspect her religiosity. Apparently, they have none.

5.  As newly rediscovering her religious roots, her having studied in a nonreligious school should not even register as a blip on the Army radar. Thus, the only legal pretext for a R.D. is some indication of fakery. If so, what is it? Letters from her original attorney have not yet yielded either insight or cooperation from the Army Draft Office.

6.  This type of Army treatment pattern - apparently flaunting their own laws or rules - fits a pattern to which we've been increasingly privy, especially in recent months. In fact, this treatment profile actually comports neatly with the Army human-trafficking profile.

7.  Alarmingly, ALL girls who have studied in non-religious schools, among those we've been in contact with recently - have been summoned to a Rayon Dat. 

8.  This policy shift requires girls to hire attorneys many of them can't afford. 

9.  This creates pressure on the girls to fight the government, risking arrest and often emotionally brutal treatment in Israeli military jail, or else succumb to the draft. 

10.  According to the Torah, there is no choice.  Torah Sages, from the Chazon Ish and Rav Pesach Frank, to the Steipler Gaon, and MANY others, all concur that the female draft is Yai'horaig ve'Al Ya'avor, period.

11.  Miss Y. turns 18 in December, and her draft date R"L is scheduled for Jan. 4, '21.  After that point, without a formal legal exemption, she would be deemed to be a draft-dodger, and R"L subject to arrest, incarceration in Military Prison, and mistreatment by prison staff frequently filled with animosity towards girls avoiding the draft.

12. Imagine the merit each person reading this could gain by assuming an obligation to assist such heroic individuals, as we approach the Yomim Noraim.  And imagine the Midah Keneged Midah recompense in store for those who answer the call. 

13.  On the other hand, consider the alternative, as articulated in The Jewish Press (in an Op Ed against the Army drafting of girls), Jan. 11, '19, p. 9, end),

"We must ensure that we are not recorded in Heaven amongst those who fail to stand up for people who cannot defend themselves and cry out to us for help.  Hashem hears their cries and will, chas v’shalom, exact an extremely heavy price if we abandon them."

14. What a merit such mitzvah would provide us, to live to witness the arrival of the Redemption, for helping save "noshim tzidkoniyos" (righteous women), in whose merit the Final Redemption will come (Kav HaYashar, 82, see also Gemara Sotah 11, Rus Rabbah 4:11).

There's still time. 

A Kesiva ve'v'Chasima Tova,

BF

~~~~~
"... And if someone, like Pinchos, is one among a multitude, and every man is against him when he dares to speak out for truth and to fight for the Law -- the more lonely his stand, the greater the number of his adversaries, the more powerful is his word, the mightier his deed."

--  Rav Shamshon Raphael Hirsch OB"M (1808-1888), (in "Judaism Eternal," vol. 2, p. 293)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ey5iw7jZJlcK1LtV5I8ODRVJTr2-FGw7th4s8C74v34/edit?usp=sharing (Ellul 5780  link)

 

 

 

regularly drafting girls - Jewish girls, and even some non-Jewish ones.

Trump has always refused to see the difference between truth and lies

 https://edition.cnn.com/2020/09/16/politics/borger-analysis-trump-truth-and-lies/index.html

 In the world according to Donald Trump, the years bring little change.

Back in 1990, when he was an aspiring monarch in the Atlantic City gambling hierarchy, his Taj Mahal casino was a mess -- plagued by slot machines that didn't work. The casino control commission shut one-third of them down -- on opening night, no less. A complete disaster.

But Trump, ever the con man, had a tale in mind. When asked about it by Larry King, he just lied. "The slots were so hot," he said "They blew apart...they were virtually on fire."

 At a certain point, as Woodward implies, Trump believes his own lies. And he lives his own lies. He wanted to talk with Woodward to impress him because he believes in his own ability to schmooze and succeed. So he spoke with him 18 times. And he did not succeed.

HHS says spokesman will take a two-month 'leave of absence' following apology for conspiracy-laden rant

 https://edition.cnn.com/2020/09/16/politics/michael-caputo-hhs-cdc/index.html

 Michael Caputo, the top spokesman at the Department of Health and Human Services, is taking a two-month leave of absence from his post, the department announced Wednesday, a day after he apologized for a conspiracy theory-laden rant he made against career government scientists in which he accused them of "sedition" and working to undermine President Donald Trump.

Does Cuomo Share Blame for 6,200 Virus Deaths in N.Y. Nursing Homes?

 https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/08/nyregion/nursing-homes-deaths-coronavirus.html?action=click&module=RelatedLinks&pgtype=Article

 Using self-reported data from nursing homes, the report cited data that showed that the deaths in nursing homes peaked on April 8 — a week before nursing homes admitted most of their infected patients from hospitals.

The patients transferred to nursing homes following their hospital stay, the report said, were likely no longer contagious because health experts believe infected individuals likely stop being contagious nine days after showing symptoms.

 

 

New York Times accused of going soft on Cuomo over NY nursing home controversy

 https://www.foxnews.com/media/new-york-times-accused-of-going-soft-on-cuomo-over-ny-nursing-home-controversy

 A report published on Wednesday in the Times posed the question "Does Cuomo Share Blame for 6,200 Virus Deaths in N.Y. Nursing Homes?" in its headline. However, just two paragraphs deep, the report suggests that any uproar towards Cuomo's weeks-long order for nursing homes to accept COVID-19 patients is partisan.

 Conservative commentator Stephen Miller mocked the Times for using the "Republicans pounce" trope and called the paragraph "incredible."

"Thousands dead and The NY Times is still hedging for their dude," Miller tweeted.

 

Fox News' Bret Baier Slams Trump Surrogate Claiming He Didn’t Lie Abt Covid as Trump Blames Woodward

How The President Donald Trump WH Uses Lying As A Strategy | Morning Joe | MSNBC

Erdoğan’s Schoolboy Response to the Israel-UAE Deal

 https://besacenter.org/perspectives-papers/erdogan-israel-uae-turkey/?dicbo=v1-a1bb18a23552cd875453d198803871c9-0089f9b1d6697bc3ef352ad40f2d5213f8-gu4tqnjuhfswkljwhbqtcljumuztqljyha4gellbgq2dqnbyhe3wkntggm

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: Turkey is protesting the UAE for establishing diplomatic relations with Israel—even though Ankara has had diplomatic relations with Israel for the past 71 years. If the UAE, as Ankara argues, has betrayed the “Palestinian cause” just by having diplomatic relations with Israel, then Turkey has been betraying the “Palestinian cause” since 1949.

 

Donald Trump's answer on how the Covid-19 pandemic will end is, um, not comforting

 https://edition.cnn.com/2020/09/16/politics/donald-trump-covid-19-coronavirus-abc-townhall/index.html

 During a town hall on ABC Tuesday night, moderator George Stephanopoulos asked President Donald Trump why he said that he liked to "downplay" the threat posed by Covid-19 to the American public.

Here's the exchange that followed:

Trump: I'm not looking to be dishonest. I don't want people to panic. And we are going to be OK. We're going to be OK, and it is going away. And it's probably going to go away now a lot faster because of the vaccines.

It would go away without the vaccine, George, but it's going to go away a lot faster with it.

Stephanopoulos: It would go away without the vaccine?

 If Trump was referring to herd immunity when it comes to the number of people getting the virus, well, then he was talking about a massive loss of human life -- well in excess of the 400,000+ American deaths that one oft-cited model is projecting by January 1, 2021.

Almost 6 million deaths. And 60% of the population getting Covid is the low end of what experts estimate is necessary for her immunity to be achieved. The Mayo Clinic, for example, estimated that 70% of Americans would have to contract and then recover from Covid-19 in order for herd immunity to be achieved. That would mean 229 million cases and, with the death rate at 2.96%, about 6.8 million Americans dead from Covid-19 before herd immunity was achieved. That's more than 10 times the number of Americans killed in the Civil War.

 

 

Fact check: Trump made at least 20 false or misleading claims at ABC town hall

 https://edition.cnn.com/2020/09/16/politics/fact-check-trump-abc-town-hall/index.html

 President Donald Trump got a rare grilling at an ABC News town hall in Philadelphia on Tuesday.

He responded to a series of tough questions from Pennsylvania voters, and some more from moderator George Stephanopoulos, much like he responds to easy questions from his favorite conservative television hosts -- with a barrage of dishonesty.

Trump made at least 20 false or misleading claims over the hour-and-a-half event, according to our preliminary count.

U.S. Officials Buried Intel, Could Face War Crimes Charges Over Obama-Trump Support for Yemen War

 https://lawandcrime.com/high-profile/u-s-officials-buried-intel-could-face-war-crimes-charges-over-obama-trump-support-for-yemen-war/

 The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) has waged an unrelenting and brutal war against the civilian population of Yemen since the spring of 2015 with full-throated diplomatic and material support from the United States. Spanning the administrations of both Barack Obama and President Donald Trump, the U.S. role in that war is increasingly fraught with legal liability due to American knowledge of the extreme casualties that have resulted from airstrikes.

 “The United Nations estimates that from March 2015 to November 2018 there were 17,640 combat-related civilian casualties in Yemen, including 10,852 caused by Coalition airstrikes,” a recent report by the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) for the U.S. Department of State notes. “High-profile incidents include a March 2016 strike on a market that killed 97 civilians, an October 2016 attack on a funeral hall that killed 140, and an August 2018 strike on a school bus that killed 51, including 40 children.”

 That same report implicated “U.S. defense firms” as the likely source of the weapons used “in each of these airstrikes” and noted that such arms sales would have legally been subject to an “arms transfer review process” that was effectively short-circuited by an executive branch emergency certification in May of last year.

The emergency certification was previously described as “phony” by House Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.) in a statement regarding the surprise ouster of former State Department inspector general Steve Linick earlier this year.

Yemen war: Trump vetoes bill to end US support for Saudi-led coalition

 https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-47958014

 US President Donald Trump has vetoed a bill passed by Congress to end support for the Saudi-led war in Yemen.

Mr Trump described the resolution as an "unnecessary" and "dangerous" attempt to weaken his constitutional powers.

It is only the second time Mr Trump has used his presidential veto since he took office in 2017.

Opposition in Congress to his policy on Yemen grew last year after Saudi agents killed the journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.

The resolution passed the House of Representatives in April and the Senate in March, the first time both chambers had supported a War Powers resolution, which limits the president's ability to send troops into action.

 

UN: US, allies may be complicit in Yemen war crimes

 https://thehill.com/policy/defense/459679-un-us-allies-may-be-complicit-in-yemen-war-crimes

 The U.S., the U.K. and France are among the nations accused of being complicit in possible war crimes in Yemen over their supplying of arms to the region, based on a report released by the United Nations Tuesday. 

The report, based on interviews with more than 600 victims and witnesses, accuses the coalition led by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates of killing civilians in airstrikes and denying them food, Reuters reports.

America is likely complicit in war crimes in Yemen. It's time to hold the US to account

 https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/oct/03/yemen-airstrikes-saudi-arabia-mbs-us

 Saudi-led forces have deliberately targeted civilians since the war’s early days – and US officials have done little to stop it

 Since Saudi Arabia and its allies intervened in Yemen’s civil war in March 2015, the United States gave its full support to a relentless air campaign where Saudi warplanes and bombs hit thousands of targets, including civilian sites and infrastructure, with impunity. From the beginning, US officials insisted that American weapons, training and intelligence assistance would help the Saudis avoid causing even more civilian casualties.

 But this was a lie meant to obscure one of the least understood aspects of US support for Saudi Arabia and its allies in Yemen: it’s not that Saudi-led forces don’t know how to use American-made weapons or need help in choosing targets. They have deliberately targeted civilians and Yemen’s infrastructure since the war’s early days – and US officials have recognized this since at least 2016 and done little to stop it.

 A team of United Nations investigators, commissioned by the UN Human Rights Council, presented a devastating report in Geneva in early September detailing how the US, along with Britain and France, are likely complicit in war crimes in Yemen because of continued weapons sales and intelligence support to the Saudis and their allies, especially the United Arab Emirates.

Families Of COVID-19 Victims Who Died In Nursing Homes Call For Investigation Into NYS Department Of Health’s Directive

 https://newyork.cbslocal.com/2020/08/25/long-island-victims-families-calling-investigation-nursing-home-covid-19/

 CBS2 reached out to the state Department of Health on Tuesday evening and received the following response:

“We’ve said from the start that protecting our most vulnerable populations, including nursing home residents, is our top priority. The Department of Health has conducted more than 1,300 COVID-19 focus inspections — at least one onsite visit to every single nursing home and adult care facility in the state — since March 1. As the Department’s in-depth analysis of nursing home data found, COVID-19 fatalities in nursing homes were related to asymptomatic nursing home staff. We continue to support and protect those frontline nursing home workers with more than 14 million pieces of PPE.”

 As the CDC itself has said, this virus had likely already reached community spread in NYS by the time the feds banned travel from Europe.

As Dr. Zucker said previously, if you want to blame someone, blame the virus.

The following are releases and video pertaining to Dr. Zucker’s July 6 briefing. Please click here and here.

The Department’s report was validated by independent reviewers as indicated here.

 

ICYMI: Independent Nursing Home, Hospital & Medical Representatives Support and Validate DOH Report Findings on Covid-19 Infections and Fatalities In Nursing Homes

 https://www.health.ny.gov/press/releases/2020/2020-07-07_icymi_report_findings.htm

 Reisman: The March 25th order that allowed, that required nursing homes to take in COVID positive patients from hospitals – partially reversed in May – there was something of a criticism that was leveled against the Governor, against the Department of Health, for having this regulation in place. The Governor has called this kind of politically motivated criticism. But I am curious, has that played a factor at all in the fatalities in nursing homes?

Clyne: You know, we never thought that was the driving, or most of my members did not think that was the driving force up for COVID infections in nursing homes. As the report shows, over 80 percent of the nursing homes had already had infections, or that downstate nursing homes already had infections prior to that order. I don't think you can say that not a single person who was taken from a hospital contributed to the infection rate, but the driving force was asymptomatic and pre-symptomatic staff who are working in the facilities not knowing that they were infectious. The other thing that obviously contributed to it was the lack of protective equipment. No one could foresee that there was going to be this shortage of goggles, facemasks, gowns, gloves. That was just not something that we understood was going to happen.

Alan Dershowitz Files $300 Million Lawsuit Against CNN for Portraying Him as an ‘Intellectual Who Had Lost His Mind’

 https://lawandcrime.com/lawsuit/alan-dershowitz-files-300-million-lawsuit-against-cnn-for-portraying-him-as-an-intellectual-who-had-lost-his-mind/

 The defamation lawsuit against CNN comes at a time when Dershowitz is locked in a defamation lawsuit with Virginia Roberts Giuffre, who claims Dershowitz’s former client Jeffrey Epstein forced her to have sex with Dershowitz when she was a minor. Dershowitz has denied the allegations, saying Giuffre is a liar and that they have never even met.

Alan Dershowitz files defamation suit against CNN Fox News Video

Saudi Arabia and Israel: Who Needs Whom?

 https://besacenter.org/perspectives-papers/saudi-arabia-israel-overtures/?dicbo=v1-640dd94ff8ea00392ca6f76b839a1da3-0089f9b1d6697bc3ef352ad40f2d5213f8-gu4tqnjuhfswkljwhbqtcljumuztqljyha4gellbgq2dqnbyhe3wkntggm

 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: Extreme instability and mistrust are heightening tensions in the Persian Gulf, especially between Shiite Iran and Sunni Saudi Arabia. America’s appetite for military engagement has waned after nearly two decades of war and the region lacks any form of collective security framework, leaving a considerable security vacuum. The Gulf states’ overtures to Israel are part of an effort to salvage America’s security commitment to the area while shoring up a relationship that can mitigate Tehran’s rising influence.

“The Occupation” – How the EU Discriminates Against Israel

 https://besacenter.org/perspectives-papers/eu-discrimination-israel/

 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: Why does the EU single out Israeli “occupation” over other “occupations”? Because anti-Israeli, pro-Palestinian positions are one of the few rallying cries that unite Europe.

Trump FALLS ON HIS FACE at town hall with bungled response

Trump Again Says Virus Will Disappear, Discusses 'Herd Mentality' | Morning Joe | MSNBC

New York yeshiva closes after 13 students test positive for coronavirus

 http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/287384

At least 13 students at a yeshiva in Queens, New York, tested positive for COVID-19 just weeks into the new school year and days before Rosh Hashanah.

Yeshiva Darchei Torah will transition to distance learning temporarily while the Health Department conducts an investigation, according to Politico.

The cases come on the heels of school closures and quarantines of entire classes in several Jewish day schools in the New York area and rising anxiety over an uptick in COVID cases in Orthodox communities. One Orthodox high school in Manhattan shut down for at least two days after four students tested positive.