Donald Trump thinks you're dumb

https://thehill.com/opinion/white-house/464407-donald-trump-thinks-youre-dumb

The president is his own worst enemy — and I, for one, am thankful for it. He strikes a hole in the heart of any decent defense of his behavior on a regular basis. There have been no breaches in whistleblower protocol, no matter what accusations the president hurls at House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) or the whistleblower himself.

According to guidance on “protected disclosures” from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI), communication of urgent concern can go to congressional intelligence committees. There is bipartisan consensus on this, with spokespeople for Sens. Richard Burr (R-N.C.) and Mark Warner (D-Va.) saying that it would be standard practice for the “intelligence committee to tell a potential whistleblower to hire counsel and file a complaint with an agency IG or the IC IG.”

There goes that argument. And with news trickling out about congressional testimony by Kurt Volker, the former special envoy to Ukraine — which included a text message from Bill Taylor, the former top U.S. diplomat in Ukraine, that read, “I think it’s crazy to withhold security assistance to help with a political campaign” — the president’s story will continue to look more and more ridiculous. (The text message exchange reveals pushback on that assertion and then a suggestion to take the conversation offline.) 

Americans are taking note. 

For those following public opinion on the impeachment issue, a new poll from USA Today and Ipsos finds that 45 percent of Americans support impeaching Trump, compared to 38 percent who oppose it. Critically, 44 percent support the Senate removing Trump from office, and 35 percent oppose it. The rise in support for removing Trump from office represents a shift in attitude toward impeachment from independent voters. Nearly a third feel there is reliable evidence to impeach, compared to 34 percent who say no, but those independents support impeaching Trump by a 37-33 percent margin. Overall support for removing Trump is now up to 37 percent in favor and 31 percent opposed.

This is before any formal inquiry has even begun. 

In the same poll, 52 percent say they believe Trump asking Ukraine to investigate Biden is an abuse of power, compared to just 21 percent who don’t. The gap among independents is noteworthy: 45 percent see it as an abuse of power, versus 16 percent who don’t. It’s even close among Republicans, with 30 percent reporting that it’s an abuse of power and 40 percent saying that it isn’t. And 44 percent believe the whistleblower is a patriot, versus 21 percent who think he’s a traitor.

Unfit for Office

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/10/george-conway-trump-unfit-office/599128/

And so it is, or ought to be, with Donald Trump. You don’t need to be a weatherman to know which way the wind blows, and you don’t need to be a mental-health professional to see that something’s very seriously off with Trump—particularly after nearly three years of watching his erratic and abnormal behavior in the White House. Questions about Trump’s psychological stability have mounted throughout his presidency. But those questions have been coming even more frequently amid a recent escalation in Trump’s bizarre behavior, as the pressures of his upcoming reelection campaign, a possibly deteriorating economy, and now a full-blown impeachment inquiry have mounted. And the questioners have included those who have worked most closely with him.

'The Reboot of US-UKRAINE Relationship.' Here's What To Know About Newly-Released Texts Between Trump Diplomats and Ukrainian Presidential Aide

https://time.com/5693172/ukraine-impeachment-volker-text-messages-explained/https://time.com/5693172/ukraine-impeachment-volker-text-messages-explained/

In the exchange widely seen as the most damaging, Volker seemed to imply a quid-pro-quo arrangement ahead of Trump’s now-infamous July 25 call with Zelensky, in which Trump asked him to work with Giuliani and Attorney General William Barr to look into the origins of the Russian election probe, and the work Joe Biden undertook in Ukraine as Vice President while his son Hunter was on the board of Burisma, a Ukrainian energy company.

“Heard from White House — assuming President Z convinces trump he will investigate / ‘get to the bottom of what happened’ in 2016, we will nail down date for visit to Washington,” Volker wrote to Yermak.

While Trump has freely admitted that he wanted Zelensky to investigate the Bidens, and released the transcript of the call with his Ukrainian counterpart because he thought it would lay bare that he did not link aid money to an investigations, an explicit quid-pro-quo discussion made on his behalf is likely to make the burgeoning impeachment crisis that much harder to fight.

It is not illegal for one country to solicit help from another; however, as Federal Election Commission Chair Ellen Weintraub first noted in June, seeking foreign intervention in a U.S. election is against the law. “Let me make something 100% clear to the American public and anyone running for public office. It is illegal for any person to solicit, accept, or receive anything of value from a foreign national in connection with a U.S. election,” she said. In this vein, Trump’s focus on a potential 2020 rival, Biden, could potentially be viewed as attempting to affect the election.

In another chain of messages on Aug. 9, Sondland and Volker discuss the timing of what was a then-prospective White House visit, set to be scheduled “as soon as Yermak confirms.” Texts that follow seem to refer to a “deliverable” allegedly requested by President Trump — a written statement in which Zelensky would announce that Ukraine was investigating 2016 election interference and whether malfeasance was involved in an investigation into Burisma.

“Once we have a date, will call for a press briefing announcing upcoming visit and outlining vision for the reboot of US-UKRAINE relationship, including among other things Burisma and election meddling in investigations,” Yermak wrote to Volker on Aug. 10.

Volder and Sondland proceeded to discuss the specifics of what the press statement should include on both Aug. 13 and 17, sharing passages they expected it to include.

“Special attention should be paid to the problem of interference in the political processes of the United States especially with the alleged involvement of some Ukrainian politicians. I want to declare that this is unacceptable. We intend to initiate and complete a transparent and unbiased investigation of all available facts and episodes, including those involving Burisma and the 2016 U.S. elections, which in turn will prevent the recurrence of this problem in the future,” Sondland said in the first conversation which Engel, Schiff, and Cummings say occurred after Volker had reached out to Giuliani for guidance.

In the follow-up exchange on Aug. 17th, Sondland tells Volker he wants Ukraine to send them a “clean draft” of the statement.

derech eretz - what is it?

Rav Dessler

מכתב מאליהו:

(עמוד ריג)

עוד אמרו עליו על רבן יוחנן בן זכאי שלא הקדימו אדם שלום מעולם ואפילו נכרי בשוק. (ברכות י"ז). נתאר לעצמנו רבן יוחנן בן זכאי, "שלא הניח מקרא ומשנה גמרא הלכות ואגדות דקדוקי תורה ודקדוקי סופרים תקופות וגימטראות... שיחת מלאכי השרת... ומעשה מרכבה" (סוכה כ"ח), שהיה נשיא ישראל בתקופת חורבן הבית וכל צרכי ישראל עליו היו מוטלים... ומעולם לא קרה שיהיה כל כך טרוד במחשבותיו שישכח להקדים שלום אפילו לנכרי בשוק! איזו הרגשת חיוב היתה ממלאת את לבו שתבטיח מסירות נאמנה כזו לכבודו של זולתו!

ואל נחשוב שמדה זו היא ממדת חסידות, הרי לא הלל היה אלא שמאי שאמר "והוי מקבל את כל האדם בסבר פנים יפות" (אבות א' ט"ו), והנמנע מזה הריהו גוזל את חברו. כן אמרו ז"ל (ברכות ו') כל שיודע בחברו שהוא רגיל ליתן לו שלום יקדים לו שלום, שנאמר "בקש שלום ורדפהו", ואם נתן לו ולא החזיר נקרא גזלן... ואם זה אתה נוטל ממנו על ידי זלזול ברגשותיו, אין לך גזלה גדולה מזו.

שורש ענין עבדות הוא היות אדם קטן במדרגת "כלי" לאדם גדול במה שעוזר לו להגיע אל תכליתו הרוחנית... אבל במשך הדורות החליפו האומות את הכוונה הראשונה ונעשו הגבורים למושלים והחלשים לעבדים. מכל מקום ברצותם להראות כאילו הם ראויים למשול הנהיגו בעצמם כת המושלים קצת מנהגי עדינות ודרך ארץ, כי בזה רצו להראות הצטיינותם על עבדיהם. כאלה היה עפרון החתי שעליו נאמר "רשעים אומרים הרבה ואפילו מעט אינם עושים"... אך דבורו היה בנימוס גדול ובדרך ארץ רבה כמנהג האצילים. ועם צבועים כאלה נהג אברהם אבינו ע"ה כפי נימוסיהם בדייקנות רבה, אבל בכבוד ובדרך ארץ אמתיים. מכאן אפשר ללמוד את גודל חובת דרך ארץ.

בתקופות מאוחרות יותר נשתלשלו הדברים עד שהעבדים פרקו מעליהם את עול אדוניהם, אז ביזו לגמרי את יסודות דרך ארץ, וכל החצוף יותר מצליח יותר, ואדרבה החוצפה נעשית לכבוד והזלזול ליוקרה. מזה באה לדאבוננו החוצפה גם לרחובות ישראל, ונתקיים בנו "כמקולקלים שבהם" וכו' (סנהדרין ל"ט) רחמנא ליצלן.

ואמר ז"ל שביאור אז"ל שדרך ארץ קדמה לתורה כ"ו דורות (ויק"ר ט' ג') היינו הדורות קודם מתן תורה שבני אדם הוצרכו לסמוך על שכלם לבד להגיע אל האמת...

...ולפי מה שלמדנו במאמר הנפלא הנ"ל, שדרך ארץ היינו עבודת השכל, יצא לנו פשט חדש במה שאז"ל "אם אין תורה אין דרך ארץ, אם אין דרך ארץ אין תורה" (אבות ג' י"ז). כי אינם מדברים כלל בענין פרנסה גשמית אלא רק שצריך להגביר השכל להגיע אל האמת יחד עם התורה שהיא תורת אמת, ואם שניהם לא יבואו יחד גם האחד לא יתקיים. ובדרך זו אפשר לבאר גם משאז"ל "יפה תלמוד תורה עם דרך ארץ שיגיעת שניהם משכחת עון" (אבות ב' ב'). ומה שאמר אחר כך "וכל תורה שאין עמה מלאכה וכו' הוא דבר בפני עצמו. (

Top Diplomat Rips Trump Ukraine 'Scam' As Damning Texts Emerge | The Beat With Ari Melber | MSNBC

Republican defends President Trump: There is no crime

Why Republicans Aren't Turning on Trump

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/09/trumps-ukranian-favor-what-impeachment/598849/

What the Framers may not have contemplated, however, is the extent to which a demagogue is capable of convincing his supporters that the president and the people are one and the same, and therefore, the president is incapable of betraying the people, because he is their purest expression made flesh. Trump is but a crass distillation of this anti-democratic idea, but if it were not deeply rooted in the Republican Party, he could never have ascended to its leadership.

Republicans Don’t Want to Talk About It

https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2019/10/how-republicans-learned-tolerate-foreign-election-interference/599413/

What’s more, Trump has cast the solicitation of political assistance from whichever foreign power is forthcoming as a routine “duty” and “absolute right” of his office. “As President I have an obligation to end CORRUPTION, even if that means requesting the help of a foreign country or countries. It is done all the time,” he wrote on Twitter today. Trump’s concern about corruption, however, happens to focus solely on a case affecting his personal political interests and one he claims to have already cracked despite a lack of evidence.

UKRAINE ENVOY TESTIMONY 'DEVASTATING' FOR TRUMP, GIULIANI CASE, FOX NEWS' CHRIS WALLACE SAYS

< https://www.newsweek.com/ukraine-envoy-testimony-devastating-trump-guiliani-fox-news-1463360

Fox News host Chris Wallace has warned that testimony from former U.S. special representative to Ukraine Kurt Volker is highly damaging to President Donald Trump and his attorney Rudy Giuliani.

Volker—who resigned from his role abruptly last week—testified to Congress this week about his involvement in Trump's efforts to solicit Ukrainian interference in the 2020 election

https://www.breitbart.com/clips/2019/10/04/fncs-chris-wallace-kurt-volkers-testimony-is-quite-devastating-to-the-president/

On Friday’s broadcast of Fox News Channel’s “Shepard Smith Reporting,” network anchor Chris Wallace said former U.S. Special Envoy to Ukraine Kurt Volker’s opening statement to Congress “is quite devastating to the president and Rudy Giuliani’s case.”

Wallace said, “The breaking news to me, today, is— Fox has gotten ahold of the 11-page statement, opening statement by Kurt Volker yesterday in a closed session. He, of course, was the special envoy from the administration to Ukraine. He was very involved in all of this. This 11-page opening statement is quite devastating to the president and Rudy Giuliani’s case.”

He continued, “It basically says that Volker, who all sides agree was an honest broker in this whole thing, was very disturbed by the information — he thought disinformation — that various Ukrainian officials were sending to Rudy Giuliani, the president’s private lawyer, and that Rudy Giuliani was then spreading that information in Washington. And that might be a reason why the president was so reluctant to meet with [Ukrainian president] Zelensky and also to, of course, push Zelensky to investigate in that July 25th phone call both potential involvement in the 2016 election by the Ukrainians and also Joe Biden and his role.”

Opinion: What impeachment? Trump reiterates call for foreign governments to investigate his foes

https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2019-10-03/trump-ukraine-china-investigate-bidens

You’ve got to hand it to President Trump — when he says he doesn’t see anything wrong with asking a foreign leader to go after his political rivals, he really means it.

Preparing to fly to Florida to give a speech contrasting his work on healthcare for seniors to the Medicare for All proposals advanced by some Democratic presidential candidates, Trump told reporters that Ukraine should investigate former Vice President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter. In fact, Trump said, China should too.

Jewish Press Dispatch column on Public School decadence and NYS Educational (sic) Equivalency Regulations (to be voted on next Tues Oct. 8) (p.84), Parshas Vayeilech, 5 Tishrei 5780 /4 Oct.,'19

BS"D

4 Tishrei, 5780

A good year to all.

Attached is this week's* Jewish Press Dispatch column, p.84, addressing Public School decadence and NYS "Educational" (sic) Equivalency Regulations. Those much opposed Regulations are reportedly to be voted on next Tues Oct. 8). This Education Crisis in NYS impacts the entire country. If G-d forbid NY State falls, the entire country may eventually follow suit, unless properly opposed.

* {Parshas Vayeilech, 5 Tishrei 5780 /4 Oct.,'19}

The emphatically understated tone of this article hopefully will help convey the seriousness of the matter to some of those who remain unconvinced, and specifically those turned off by what appears to them as rhetoric or extreme.

Additionally, as clarified in previous columns, the understated remarks here about the "Dignity for All Students Act" (DASA, passed in NYS in 2010) are specifically referring to it's application of the LGBTQ regime to private and religious schools. [That is CLEARLY the ultimate goal of the NYS Democratic Establishment.]  It's application to public schools was never in question, and, on that basis alone, DASA qualified for the status of an antireligious edict - and demands our irreconcilable opposition (as similarly clarified in previous columns).

Please also see previous columns (attached).

The only practical way to stop this antireligious edict is to coalesce a critical mass of genuine resistance who refuse to cooperate with the LGBTQ takeover of religious schools. They have to see that enough people are willing to brave the consequences of statutory "truancy," including incarceration and the specter of state-removal of their children - in order to rescue our children from their antireligious, LGBT-led transformation of religious education.

We have the clear majority on our side. What we need is a vibrant minority - even relatively very small - who have enough conviction to sacrifice for all children, and to educate by actions.

In the merit of mesiras nefesh, may we have a G'mar Chasima Tova,

Perilous times for Trump: By 45%-38%, Americans support impeaching him over Ukraine allegations, poll finds

https://eu.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2019/10/03/poll-trump-impeachment-support-grows-removal-over-ukraine/3846565002/

Americans by a 45%-38% plurality now support a vote by the House of Representatives to impeach President Donald Trump, a USA TODAY/Ipsos Poll finds, as allegations continue to swirl around an embattled White House.

By a similar margin, 44%-35%, those surveyed say the Senate, which would then be charged with holding a trial of the president, should convict Trump and remove him from office.

The survey of 1,006 adults, taken Tuesday and Wednesday, underscores the perilous situation the president finds himself in as House committees subpoena documents and prepare to hear testimony into accusations that he pressured the leader of Ukraine to investigate a political rival, then tried to hide the account of their phone conversation.

Please explain view of R Akiva

תלמוד בבלי מסכת ברכות דף מו עמוד ב
כדתניא: מה הם אומרים בבית האבל? ברוך הטוב והמטיב; רבי עקיבא אומר: ברוך דיין האמת. הטוב והמטיב אין, דיין אמת לא? - אלא אימא: אף הטוב והמטיב. מר זוטרא איקלע לבי רב אשי איתרע ביה מלתא, פתח ובריך: הטוב והמטיב, אל אמת דיין אמת, שופט בצדק לוקח במשפט, ושליט בעולמו לעשות בו כרצונו כי כל דרכיו משפט, שהכל שלו ואנחנו עמו ועבדיו, ובכל אנחנו חייבים להודות לו ולברכו, גודר פרצות בישראל הוא יגדור את הפרצה הזאת בישראל לחיים.


שיטה מקובצת מסכת ברכות דף מו עמוד ב
שהרי עוקרין אותה בבית האבל דתניא מה הן אומרים בבית האבל וכו'. ומדר' עקיבא מייתי ראיה דאין אומרים הטוב והמטיב כלל. ולא קיימא לן כותיה אלא כמר זוטרא דאיקלע לבי רב אשי ופתח בהטוב והמטיב. ואיפשר נמי למימר דרב נחמן כתנא קמא סבירא ליה אלא דקא מייתי ראיה דכיון דחזינן דר' עקיבא עקר לה לגמרי מבית האבל שמע מינה דלאו דאורייתא היא:

חידושי הרשב"א מסכת ברכות דף מו עמוד ב
אמר ר"נ בר יצחק תדע דהטוב והמטיב לאו דאורייתא שהרי עוקרין אותה בבית האבל דת"ר וכו', ומדר"ע קא מייתי ראיה דס"ל דאין אומר הטוב והמטיב כלל, ואפשר דס"ל לר"נ דהלכתא כר"ע, ואנן לא קיי"ל כותיה אלא כמר זוטרא דאיקלע בבי ריש גלותא ופתח בהטוב והמטיב, וא"נ אפשר דאף ר"נ כת"ק ס"ל אלא דקא מייתי ראיה דמדר"ע עקר ליה לגמרי מבית האבל, ש"מ לאו דאורייתא, דר"ע ורבנן לאו בהא מילתא פליגי אי הטוב והמטיב דאורייתא או דרבנן, כנ"ל.

(3) רמב"ם פירוש המשניות - מסכת ברכות פרק ט משנה ה

(ה) חייב אדם לברך על הרעה כשם שמברך על הטובה כו' - מה שאמר כשם שהוא מברך על הטובה, רוצה לומר לקבל אותו בשמחה ולב טוב ולכבוש כעסו, וייטיב נפשו כשיברך דיין האמת כמו שיעשה בשעה שיברך הטוב והמטיב, וכמו שהיו אומרים החכמים ברוב דבריהם כל מה דעביד מן שמיא לטב, וזה דבר שכלי אצל בעלי השכל ואפי' לא הורה הכתוב עליו, לפי שיש דברים רבים נראים בתחילתן טובים ויהיה אחריתם רעה רבה, ועל כן אין ראוי למשכיל להשתומם כשתבא עליו צרה גדולה מפני שאינו יודע סופה, וכמו כן אסרו ע"ה להרבות בשמחה ובשחוק, אבל תהיה השמחה במעשים עליונים, רוצה לומר לעשות הצדק ולרדוף אותו, ואולם אזהרת הכתוב על היגון והדאגה, כל כך הוא גלוי ומפורסם בספרים בדברי הנבואה שאין צריך לדבר עליו, וזה שלא היה הכבוד ההוא שהוא מצטער עליו לטובתו בעולם מתחלתו ועד סופו, ויחשוב החושב שכבר הצליח ושהיא ההצלחה האמיתית, והיה הכבוד ההוא סיבה לטרדו מחיי העוה"ב, ועל כן נאמר (משלי יד) יש דרך ישר לפני איש ואחריתה דרכי מות. ולפיכך יכוין אדם מחשבתו ויתפלל לאל, להיות כל מה שיבואהו בעולם הזה מרע ומטוב, סיבה להשיג אליו ההצלחה האמיתית. ומה שאמר ביצר טוב וביצר רע, רוצה לומר להשיב אל לבו אהבת האל ולהאמין בו, ואפי' בשעת העברה והכעס והאף שכל זה הוא יצר רע, כמו שאמר בכל דרכיך דעהו אפי' בדבר עברה. ופירוש מדה ענין רוצה לומר בכל ענין שיבואך שבחהו והודהו:

Trump says both Ukraine and China should investigate Biden

Maddow: President Donald Trump Openly Admits To Collusion, No Impeachment Probe Needed

Professor who predicted last 9 presidential elections on how impeachment will impact 2020

COUNTRY’S LONGEST DIVORCE REFUSER WALKS FREE FROM PRISON

https://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Countrys-longest-divorce-refuser-walks-free-from-prison-603486

 Israel’s longest divorce-refuser, Meir Gorodestsky, walked free from Ella Prison in Beersheba on Wednesday after close to two decades of incarceration because he refused to grant his estranged wife, Tzviya, a bill of divorce.

Tzviya obtained a ruling from an independent rabbinical court in 2018 that annulled her marriage, and she subsequently closed the case against her husband in the state rabbinical courts, leading to his release on Wednesday.

“It’s not a solution to leave a man in jail like this, that hasn’t given me my freedom,” she said. “I don’t understand why rabbis think that persisting with his incarceration is helpful. Is the goal that someone dies in jail? That shouldn’t be the goal. The rabbinate wants a monopoly over these issues so they do not recognize the ruling. They don’t care that they don’t provide a solution. They sleep well [at night]. That’s what bothers me. A situation in which a woman cannot be freed from being an agunah is not commensurate with Jewish law, it was not meant to be like this.”

LEIFER TO REMAIN IN PRISON UNTIL SUPREME COURT RULING ON HOUSE ARREST APPEAL

https://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Leifer-to-remain-in-prison-until-Supreme-Court-ruling-on-appeal-603613

The Supreme Court temporarily overruled the District Court on Thursday, ordering Leifer to remain in prison until it rules on an appeal against her release to house arrest at her sister’s residence in Bnei Brak.

Inside the Beltway - SNL

Trump: Schiff Helped Write Whistleblower Report; Schiff: No I Didn’t, But I Should’ve Been ‘More Clear

https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-schiff-helped-write-whistleblower-report-schiff-no-i-didnt-but-i-shouldve-been-more-clear

A report by The New York Times Wednesday on House Intelligence Committee Chair Adam Schiff’s (D-CA) role in the submission of the whistleblower complaint that sparked the impeachment inquiry has resulted in President Trump accusing Schiff of having “helped write” the report and Schiff apologizing for not being “much more clear.”

A spokesman for Schiff told the Times, “Like other whistle-blowers have done before and since under Republican and Democratic-controlled committees, the whistle-blower contacted the committee for guidance on how to report possible wrongdoing within the jurisdiction of the intelligence community.”

Judge Andrew Napolitano: Trump’s call with Ukraine president manifests criminal and impeachable behavior

https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/judge-andrew-napolitano-trump-attacks-presidency

For heaven's sake, Trump was just investigated by Mueller for two-and-a-half tumultuous years for allegedly bringing the Russian government into the 2016 election and now he has attempted in one phone call to bring the Ukrainian government into the 2020 election! Does he understand the laws he has sworn to uphold?

It was to remedy just such reckless, constitutionally destructive behavior that impeachment was intended.

Here's The Real Truth About That Confusing Red Meat Study

https://www.sciencealert.com/here-s-the-real-truth-about-that-confusing-red-meat-study

The simple take-home message from this research is that there is no simple take-home message. There are certainly signals of risk that suggest that red meat probably contributes to things like cardiovascular disease and cancer, but these risks are likely to be quite small and, in the scheme of things, not very meaningful to your life.

And while there is some experimental evidence on the topic, it's basically impossible to run the kind of trial that would definitively prove that red meat was good or bad. Realistically, this would involve randomizing then feeding meat/no meat to thousands of people for decades which is a) unethical and b) impractical in the extreme.

Short of an interested billionaire with a passion for controlled science who isn't afraid to spend most of their money, we probably aren't going to get an answer any time soon.

The real message from this study seems to be that a variety of eating patterns are probably fine for your health. If you want to eat red meat, that is probably not that harmful. If you want to cut it out entirely, you're probably totally justified also.

If you're worried about your health, speak to a registered professional about it: ideally, a dietitian or doctor. They do fancy degrees and years of training to give you the best personalized advice around.

The Trump-Ukraine “transcript,” explained

https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2019/9/25/20883420/full-transcript-trump-ukraine-zelensky-white-house

The biggest takeaway from the summary: it sure looks like a quid pro quo

It’s important to note, at the outset, that this call summary is not quite a verbatim transcript of what Trump and Zelensky said. It’s written like a transcript, with direct quotations assigned to each leader, but it is not an authoritative transcription of an audio recording — as a note on the first page makes clear.

סרבן הגט הנודע הגיע מהכלא היישר למאה שערים

https://www.bhol.co.il/news/1035857

מאיר גורודצקי, סרבן הגט הראשון שהורשע בהליך פלילי ונשפט שוחרר היום מבית הכלא בבאר שבע לאחר למעלה מ-19 שנה - מבלי שנתן גט והגיע היישר מבית הכלא לשכונת מאה שערים בירושלים • גורודצקי הגיע לבית הכנסת אותו עזב לפני עשרים שנה בית הכנסת הוותיק של חב"ד במאה שערים.

These GOP defenses of Trump called 'disastrous'

How Trump's Obsession With a Conspiracy Theory Led to the Impeachment Crisis

https://time.com/5691641/trump-conspiracy-fears/

The warning signs were there. In a tweet or offhand remark, President Donald Trump would touch on what he said Ukraine had done to him during the 2016 election. Top Administration officials got an earful. Foreign leaders were treated to the stories. Occasionally his rants would unspool on live TV. “And Ukraine!” Trump shouted down the line to a Fox News host on June 19, the night after he formally announced his re-election bid. “Take a look at Ukraine!” he went on, as the host tried to move to other subjects.

Few people, even those closest to him in the White House, grasped exactly what the President of the United States seemed to believe: that Ukraine, a nation consumed over the past five years by a crippling armed conflict with Russia, had found a way to conspire against him during the 2016 election, and to collude with his rival, Hillary Clinton, by hiding the Democratic National Committee’s email server and feeding her allies dirt about Trump. It was an idea Tom Bossert, his first homeland-security adviser, described as a “completely debunked” conspiracy theory. Few saw in his Ukraine outbursts anything more than the effusions of a cable-news showman.

It took a complaint from an intelligence-community whistle-blower, released late last month, to reveal the weight of Trump’s Ukraine conspiracy theory and just how far the President has gone to support the notion that a vast network of enemies inside and outside his own government has been working against him. Trump has tried to mobilize the vast resources of his presidency–from Attorney General William Barr and the U.S. Justice Department to America’s national-security apparatus–and a team of investigative irregulars, led by his personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani. This band of conspiracy cops has traveled the globe in a disorderly hunt for proof of the conspiracy Trump says is arrayed against him.

Intelligence Inspector General to GOP: - refutes Trump supporters' nonsense

http://nymag.com/intelligencer/2019/10/whistleblower-inspector-general-trump-ukraine-impeachment-conspiracy.html

Last Thursday, Sean Davis of the conservative news site The Federalist broke an explosive revelation. The Intelligence Community had secretly changed a requirement in its whistle-blower statute to allow whistle-blowers to report secondhand allegations, whereas firsthand knowledge had been required before. This suspicious rule change allegedly allowed the whistle-blower to accuse President Trump of misconduct despite lacking firsthand knowledge of said conduct. The shocking exposure of yet another Deep State plot quickly became the foundation for Trump’s defenders as they fanned out across the media.

“The hearsay rule was changed just a short period of time before the complaint was filed,” claimed Senator Lindsey Graham. The whistle-blower “has no firsthand knowledge,” charged Congressman Jim Jordan on CNN, and when host Jake Tapper noted that firsthand knowledge is not required to file a complaint, Jordan shot back that this was only “because they changed the form. You used to.” Meanwhile, Trump demanded, in all caps, “WHO CHANGED THE LONG STANDING WHISTLEBLOWER RULES JUST BEFORE SUBMITTAL OF THE FAKE WHISTLEBLOWER REPORT?”

House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy claimed, “Just days before the Ukraine whistleblower came forward, the IC secretly removed that requirement from the complaint form,” and promised that Republicans would “not rest until we have answers.”

They had answers. They just didn’t like them. Actual experts in intelligence law immediately pointed out that Davis’s reporting was false and was based on a simple misreading of a change in the wording of a form.

Then yesterday, the Intelligence Community’s inspector general, Trump appointee Michael Atkinson, posted a short statement online correcting Davis. Using heavily bureaucratized language and the patient and polite tone city officials use to assure the local gadfly that the water department is not sending alien nodes through his plumbing, the I.G. made a few basic points. First, the rules governing whistle-blowers have not changed. At all.

The latest on Trump's impeachment inquiry

Justice Department's inspector general: "Whistleblowers need to be able to report what they see"

Grassley, a top Republican from Iowa, broke with Trump yesterday when he said that the whistleblower who raised concerns about Trump’s dealings with the Ukrainian government “ought to be heard out and protected.”

The latest: Secretary of State Mike Pompeo admitted today that he was on the July 25 phone call between President Trump and the Ukrainian leader.

Alleged serial pedophile Malka Leifer ordered released to house arrest

https://www.timesofisrael.com/alleged-serial-pedophile-malka-leifer-ordered-released-to-house-arrest/

A court on Wednesday ordered that an Israeli woman wanted in Australia for alleged serial crimes of pedophilia be released to house arrest.

The ruling by Jerusalem District Court Judge Ram Vinograd came a week after a judge at the same court cast doubt on the evidence against Malka Leifer and ordered the convening of a psychiatric panel to determine whether she is feigning mental illness to avoid extradition.

At the request of prosecutors, Vinograd agreed to put off Leifer’s release to her sister’s home in Bnei Brak until Friday.

Leifer, 52, faces 74 counts of child sex abuse from her time as the principal of the Adass Israel girls’ school in Melbourne. Australia filed for extradition in 2014, but the process has stalled several times, with a district psychiatrist changing his legal opinions regarding Leifer’s mental fitness, allegedly due to pressure from Deputy Health Minister Yaakov Litzman.

Kol V’oz, an organization that combats child abuse in Jewish communities around the globe, condemned the ruling as “an absolute travesty” and said it brought “shame” on Israel.

“Malka Leifer will now be released to the care of her sister at an address within around 500 meters of two schools and six synagogues,” it said in a statement.

“If Leifer is genuinely unwell, she should be held in a medical facility or jail where she can be appropriately cared for until her extradition to Australia is approved.”

Dassi Erlich, one of Leifer’s accusers, said she was left “reeling” by the ruling, which she described as a “massive betrayal of justice.”

Leifer was recruited from Israel to work at the Adass Israel ultra-Orthodox girls school in Melbourne In 2000. When allegations of sexual abuse against her surfaced eight years later, members of the school board purchased the mother of eight a plane ticket back to Israel, allowing her to avoid being charged.

After authorities in Melbourne filed charges against her, Australia officially filed an extradition request in 2012. Two years later, Leifer was arrested in Israel but released to house arrest shortly thereafter.

Judges deemed her mentally unfit to stand trial and eventually removed all restrictions against her, concluding that she was too ill to even leave her bed.

She was rearrested in February 2018 following a police undercover operation that cast doubts on her claims regarding her mental state, and has remained in custody since. The operation was launched after the Jewish Community Watch organization hired private investigators who placed hidden cameras in Emmanuel, a Haredi settlement in the northern West Bank where Leifer had been living, that showed the alleged sex abuser roaming around the town without any apparent difficulty.

Three Jerusalem district psychiatrists determined in legal opinions submitted to the court that Leifer has been feigning mental illness, but the chief district psychiatrist, Dr. Jacob Charnes, has changed his determination three times and most recently recommended that a new psychiatric panel be convened to make an updated determination.

Column: Trump’s Ukraine scandal may have just thrown Joe Biden a lifeline

https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2019-10-01/donald-trump-impeachment-ukraine-scandal-biden

One of the defining dynamics of politics today is negative partisanship. As Emory University’s Alan Abramowitz and Steven Webster wrote in 2017, “Negative partisanship explains nearly everything in American politics today.” The idea is simple: Republicans vote less for Republicans than they do against Democrats — and vice versa. Hillary Clinton lost because more people in several key states voted against her than voted against Trump.

Hence the possibility that an attempt to destroy Biden could one day be remembered as his lifeline.

TRUMP'S 'CIVIL WAR' QUOTE TWEET IS ACTUALLY GROUNDS FOR IMPEACHMENT, SAYS HARVARD LAW PROFESSOR

https://www.newsweek.com/trump-civil-war-tweet-grounds-impeachment-1462044

IMPEACHMEN

President Donald Trump's recent tweet quoting a longtime evangelical pastor who warned of a "Civil War" if Democrats seriously pursue removing him from office could actually be grounds for impeachment, one Harvard Law professor said.

"If the Democrats are successful in removing the President from office (which they will never be), it will cause a Civil War like fracture in this Nation from which our Country will never heal," Trump tweeted on Sunday night.

The tweet was a quote from Robert Jeffress, a Southern Baptist pastor who gave the comment during an appearance on Fox & Friends Weekend. Trump added his own parenthetical aside to Jeffress' quote, in which the president asserted that Congress won't be successful in their impeachment efforts.

The president's tweet was immediately met with backlash, and Harvard Law professor John Coates argued that the social media post itself is an "independent basis" for lawmakers to remove him from the White House.

"This tweet is itself an independent basis for impeachment - a sitting president threatening civil war if Congress exercises its constitutionally authorized power," Coates wrote on Twitter on

HISTORIAN WARNS TODAY'S AMERICA LOOKS 'EERILY SIMILAR' TO PERIOD BEFORE THE CIVIL WAR, COMPARES MOVEMENT CONSERVATIVES TO SLAVEHOLDER ELITE

https://www.newsweek.com/historian-trump-civil-war-impeachment-movement-conservatives-slaveholders-1462240

Trump, facing impeachment by the House over the Ukraine-Biden affair, tweeted comments made on Fox News by the evangelical pastor Robert Jeffress that the president's removal "will cause a Civil War like fracture in this Nation from which our Country will never heal."

Heather Cox Richardson, a history professor at Boston College who is an expert in 19th century America, laid out on Twitter what she described as the "eerily similar" parallels after Trump's controversial civil war tweets.

"The parallels between the consolidation of elite slaveowners' power from 1830-1860 and the rise of Movement Conservatives from 1954-2019 are eerily similar," Richardson said, remarking that they both took power by "denigrating black Americans."

"Their racial dogwhistles won voters and they began to pass laws that moved wealth upward. The more those laws hurt regular people, the more they doubled down on racism against all POC, and then turned on 'Feminazis,' all of whom they said threatened white men's liberty.

"As they got richer and lost popular support, they came to believe they were the nation's natural leaders who should rule even as people turned against their policies. They stayed in power by gaming the system: gerrymandering, voter suppression, and a compliant SCOTUS.

"But that is now crumbling. When Trump threatens civil war, he is not just talking about saving his own hide; he is calling for his supporters to rally around race and gender so they protect the oligarchy that has been gathering power for a generation or more."

How Donald Trump Triggered an Unprecedented Impeachment Fight

https://time.com/5686822/trump-biden-ukraine-call-favor/

The accusation Trump faces is grave. The President allegedly pressured Zelensky to reopen investigations into previously dismissed and widely debunked accusations involving Joe Biden, the former Vice President. Before making the call, Trump took extraordinary steps to withhold aid approved for Ukraine by majorities of both parties in Congress. These and other actions by Trump so alarmed an intelligence-community official detailed to the White House that the official filed a whistle-blower complaint. By law, the complaint would be forwarded to Congress. The Administration blocked it.

The implications go beyond the fate of a presidency to the heart of our democracy. Trump stands accused of using America’s vast wealth and the presidency’s unmatched sway to hold onto power for himself. In this era of hyperpartisan politics, the impeachment process will test the mechanisms of accountability built into our system of government by the Founders, who anticipated many things–but could not have envisioned Trump.

The President, for his part, responded to the House’s action with characteristic fury, denying wrongdoing and accusing his critics of “presidential harassment.” Trump was in New York City for the meeting of the U.N. General Assembly when the dam broke. Speaking to reporters on his way to a meeting with the President of Iraq, he said, “Listen, it’s just a continuation of the witch hunt.” In shifting statements as the Ukraine story unfolded, Trump has offered different rationales for the withheld aid but insisted there was no quid pro quo. His allies have sought to reframe the scandal as a “deep state” plot by hysterical Trump antagonists, and to deflect attention from the allegations of corruption by the Bidens, which numerous independent observers have determined to be unfounded, the Ukrainian government has denied and Biden decries as a smear.

The Whistleblower's Complaint on Trump and Ukraine Has Been Released. These Sections Will Receive the Most Scrutiny

https://time.com/5687055/whistleblower-complaint-allegations/

The whistleblower complaint detailing concerns over President Donald Trump’s July phone call with the Ukrainian president alleges that the President “is using the power of his office to solicit interference from a foreign country in the 2020 U.S. election.”

In addition to the July phone call, the complaint, which was released by the House Intelligence Committee on Thursday morning, details an alleged effort by White House officials to keep records of the call secret and efforts to follow up with Ukrainian officials about the call. The whistleblower described the President’s personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, as a “central figure” in the effort to pressure Ukraine to interfere in the 2020 election, and that Attorney General William Barr “appears to be involved.” (Giuliani has defended his work and denied wrongdoing while the Department of Justice has denied that Barr has communicated with Ukraine).

Drain the swamp? Trump has named more lobbyists to Cabinet than Bush or Obama did in 8 years

https://www.salon.com/2019/09/19/drain-the-swamp-trump-has-named-more-lobbyists-to-cabinet-than-bush-or-obama-did-in-8-years/

President Trump has named more former lobbyists to Cabinet positions in his first three years in office than Barack Obama or George W. Bush did over eight years, The Associated Press reports.

“Trump’s actions upon taking office also demonstrate — despite the tough campaign rhetoric attacking Washington, D.C.’s ‘revolving door’ — not only an unwillingness to take on special interests, but a continued expansion of the influence of lobbyists on his administration,” the group said in a statement. “Trump has abjectly failed to ‘drain the swamp.’ To the contrary, he has repeatedly turned to industry insiders and lobbyists to advise him.”

Republicans are hanging their defense of Donald Trump on the thinnest of threads

https://edition.cnn.com/2019/09/26/politics/lindsey-graham-donald-trump-ukraine/index.html

Know who got this all exactly right? Lindsey Graham. In 1999 -- when he said this: "A president doesn't even have to be convicted of a crime to be impeached. Impeachment is about restoring honor and integrity to the office."

“IT’S MANAGEMENT BEDLAM”: MADNESS AT FOX NEWS AS TRUMP FACES IMPEACHMENT

https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2019/09/madness-at-fox-news-as-trump-faces-impeachment-lachlan-murdoch

In public, Donald Trump’s allies are putting on a brave face, repeating talking points, mostly staying on message. But in private, there are few who believe that the allegations leveled by an intelligence agency whistle-blower that Trump abused American foreign policy to leverage Ukraine into investigating Joe Biden won’t result in considerable damage—if not the complete unraveling of his presidency. “I don’t see how they don’t impeach,” a former West Wing official told me today. “This could unwind very fast, and I mean in days,” a prominent Republican said.

RABBI REFUSES TO WED LIBERMAN'S SON: ENEMY OF THE HAREDI COMMUNITY

https://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Rabbi-refuses-to-wed-Libermans-son-Enemy-of-the-Haredi-community-602786

Rabbi Baruch Dov Diskin refused to wed Yisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor Liberman's son Amos, because he didn't want to meet Liberman at the event, according to Mako.

Liberman has said multiple times that he refuses to sit with Haredim in the government and supports a draft law that would require Haredim to draft into the IDF. His son is Haredi and learnt with Diskin and became very close with him in recent years. Nevertheless, the rabbi refused to officiate the wedding since Liberman would be present at the event.

Rabbi: I never refused to officiate Liberman's son's wedding

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/269497

Bnei Brak rabbi writes to Amos Liberman, expressing sorrow on the pain caused to him by 'fake news.' 'I don't even officiate at weddings.'

Joe: Attorney General Barr Took This To A New Level | Morning Joe | MSNBC

An alleged cover-up, a secret server and more bombshells in Trump whistleblower complaint

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/09/26/biggest-bombshells-in-trump-whistleblower-complaint-cover-up.html

Here are the biggest bombshell claims in the complaint:

• Trump used the power of the presidency to pressure Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky to interfere in the 2020 election by launching an investigation of Democratic presidential contender Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden, who had served on the board of a Ukraine company.

• Trump’s personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, was a “central figure” in that effort, who reached out to and met with key Zelensky advisers.
• Officials told the whistleblower that Ukrainian leaders were led to believe that a meeting or call between Zelensky and Trump would depend on whether Ukraine’s president “showed willingness to ‘play ball’ on the issues” that Giuliani was raising.

• Attorney General William Barr appeared to be involved in the effort to get Ukraine to cooperate with Trump’s desire for a probe of Biden.
• White House officials were “deeply disturbed” by a July 25 phone call Trump had with Zelensky. There were discussions “with White House lawyers because of the likelihood,” in the minds of officials, “that they had witnessed the President abuse his office for personal gain.”

• Senior White House officials intervened to “lock down” records of the call with Zelensky, which “underscored to me that White House officials understood the gravity of what had transpired in the call.”

• White House lawyers directed White House officials to remove the electronic transcript of the Zelensky call from the computer system where such transcripts normally are stored. That transcript then was loaded into a “separate electronic system” that is otherwise used to store and handle classified information of an especially sensitive nature. “One White House official described this act as an abuse of this electronic system because the call did not contain anything remotely sensitive from a national security perspective.”

Trump's Top Intelligence Official Defends Handling of 'Unprecedented' Whistleblower Complaint

https://time.com/5686687/joseph-maguire-house-intelligence-testimony/

That whistleblower’s complaint, which was declassified overnight, became public just minutes before Maguire’s testimony.

“I have received information…that the President of the United States is using the power of his office to solicit interference from a foreign country in the 2020 U.S. election,” the whistleblower, whose identity is being protected, wrote in the report. He alleged that not only did Trump improperly ask Zelensky to investigate his political rival, but White House officials were engaged in a cover-up in which they removed the transcript of the call into a more secure system only meant for sensitive classified information.

The whistleblower said White House officials “told me that they were ‘directed’ by White House lawyers to remove the electronic transcript from the computer system” in which they are usually stored, and put into a different system for highly classified information. The whistleblower said an official called it “an abuse of this electronic system because the call did not contain anything remotely sensitive from a national security perspective.”

New Haven Rabbi Found Guilty In Abuse Case

https://www.wnpr.org/post/new-haven-rabbi-found-guilty-abuse-case

Prominent New Haven Rabbi Daniel Greer was found guilty Wednesday in the criminal trial that had centered around sexual abuse of a former student.

After a week of testimony the jury found 79-year-old Daniel Greer guilty on four counts of risk of injury to a minor.

According to prosecutors, Greer could potentially now face a maximum sentence of 80 years. He will be sentenced November 20th.

After the verdict was read, Senior Assistant State’s Attorney Maxine Wilensky asked for an increase in bond. Judge Alander, noting that the situation was now dramatically different, increased bond from $100,00 to $750,000.

Dow told reporters outside the courtroom they were disappointed in the verdict.

"We wish the jury had seen things our way," he said. "We felt we put on a compelling case. The credibility of the complainant, we felt, was extremely questionable and a shaky foundation upon which to return a guilty verdict."

Dow said they'll review the trial notes and file an appeal.

Judge Andrew Napolitano: In Ukraine call, Trump apparently personally and directly committed a crime

President Donald Trump Shifts Explanation For Withholding Ukraine Aid | Morning Joe | MSNBC

Trump-Ukraine Call Log Clearly Demonstrates Quid Pro Quo Demand

Santorum's portrayal of Ukraine transcript stuns Cooper

New: Site offers free access to ancient Jewish texts

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/269430

The British Library, the largest national library in the world by number of items cataloged, has for the first time ever put some of its rarest and most ancient religious texts online for the general public to be able to access them from around the world.

The unparalleled online collection titled ‘Discovering Sacred Texts’ includes some which subsequently became the authoritative texts for Jews around the world. They include one of the only copies of the Talmud that somehow escaped the public burnings suffered by most of the other Jewish law books during the Middle Ages and was left unmutilated or uncensored, the first complete printed text of the Mishnah, and the Gaster Bible, one of the earliest surviving Hebrew biblical codices, thought to have been created in Egypt around the 10th century CE.

Some of these over 250 texts, many available to the public for the first time, include Johann Gutenberg’s Bible, probably the most famous Bible in the world and the earliest full-scale work printed in Europe using movable type, the earliest surviving copy of the complete New Testament, Codex Sinaiticus, which dates from the 4th century, and the Ma'il Qur'an, one of the very earliest Qur'ans in the world, dating back to the 8th century.

Discovering Sacred Texts provides access to the richness and diversity of the texts from the world’s great faiths. Designed for Religious Education students, teachers, lifelong learners, and the general public, it features nine faiths: Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Buddhism, Hinduism, Sikhism, Jainism, the Baha’i Faith and Zoroastrianism.

The project has been generously supported by Dangoor Education since its inception and by Allchurches Trust, alongside other funders.