Tapper rebukes Jim Jordan: You owe CNN reporters an apology

Trump abruptly ends briefing after being pressed over retweeting misinformation

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/07/28/politics/donald-trump-coronavirus-briefing/index.html

 Even amid an attempt by President Donald Trump's aides to shift his focus back to coronavirus, he continues to hear from a wide range of associates -- including the CEO of a far-right television network -- who are undermining the administration's health experts and questioning their approach to the pandemic, people familiar with the conversations say.

Trump resumed his daily news briefings on Tuesday afternoon, where he again touted advancements on vaccines and treatments for the virus. After largely ignoring the pandemic for weeks and denying its severity, the White House revived the briefings last week to demonstrate presidential leadership.

But the approach has hit early stumbling blocks.

When Trump was pressed by CNN's Kaitlan Collins about his words of support for a doctor who downplayed masks and suggested alien DNA was used in medical treatments, he cut the briefing short and stormed out.

 

Rav Gestetner regarding Aharon Friedman

Barr clashes with Democrats over policing and Roger Stone sentencing: 'I'm telling my story — that's what I'm here to do'

 https://edition.cnn.com/2020/07/28/politics/william-barr-house-hearing/index.html

 

 Democrats launched into several impassioned attacks on Barr, and in multiple exchanges he and the lawmakers raised their voices and interrupted one another. When Democrats cut off Barr during their time to question him, he often used the next round of Republican questioning as a chance to respond.

House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler, a Democrat from New York, pressed Barr on whether federal troops deployed to cities were being used as "props" for Trump's reelection. Democratic Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee of Texas pushed him on whether the Trump administration was fighting systemic racism in policing, and Democratic Rep. Hank Johnson of Georgia accused Barr of aiding Trump's longtime friend Roger Stone and first national security adviser Michael Flynn.

Barr dismissed the Democratic charges, saying that he acted independently to protect the rule of law in the Stone and Flynn cases, that he disagreed there was systemic racism in police departments and that federal officers had been sent to protect federal buildings "under attack" and combat violence crime.

'Shame on you': Democrats attack Barr for carrying out Trump agenda

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/jul/28/william-barr-hearing-democrats-federal-agents-trump

Democrats clashed angrily with Donald Trump’s attorney general on Tuesday, over the aggressive deployment of federal agents to US cities three months before a presidential election.

The attorney general denied the interventions were motivated by Trump’s re-election.

 

Don Lemon, Chuck Todd make cameos at Barr hearing when Jim Jordan plays video of 'peaceful' protesters

A variety of MSNBC and CNN hosts made cameos during Attorney General William Barr's testimony before the House Judiciary Committee on Tuesday when Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, used his opening statement to put an emphasis on mainstream media’s efforts to paint sometimes violent protesters as “peaceful.”

“I want to thank you for defending law enforcement, for pointing out what a crazy idea this defund the police policy ... whatever you want to call it, is, and standing up for the rule of law,” Jordan said. “We have a video we want to show that gets right to this point.”

 Jordan then played a powerful video montage featuring a variety of mainstream media members referring to recent protests as “peaceful,” which included everyone from CNN’s Don Lemon to NBC News’ Chuck Todd dismissing violence amid images of burning buildings and attacks on law enforcement.

Twitter restricts Donald Trump Jr. for sharing coronavirus misinformation video

Trump Spreads False Information About Coronavirus “Cure” | Morning Joe | MSNBC

Bill Barr to Testify Before Congress. Here’s How I’d Cross-Examine Him.

Chris Hayes Puts The Scale Of Coronavirus Deaths In Perspective | All In | MSNBC

Trump Pushes Fake COVID Cure From Fringe Doctors, Banned by Facebook

https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-pushes-fake-covid-cure-from-fringe-doctors-banned-by-facebook

At least one of the accounts the president retweeted on Monday night was from a follower of QAnon, the conspiracy theory that alleges a “deep state” cabal of pedophiles is plotting against Trump.

Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube scrub platforms of viral video making false coronavirus claims

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/07/28/tech/facebook-youtube-coronavirus/index.html

 A video featuring a group of doctors making false and dubious claims related to the coronavirus was removed by Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube after going viral online Monday.

The video, published by the right-wing media outlet Breitbart News, featured a group of people wearing white lab coats calling themselves "America's Frontline Doctors" staging a press conference in front of the US Supreme Court in Washington, DC.

President Trump shared multiple versions of the video with his 84 million Twitter followers Monday night despite the dubious claims running counter to his administration's own public health experts. Spokespersons for the White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Donald Trump says Dr. Fauci misled the public on hydroxychloroquine and shares a video of a doctor saying the drug can prevent the virus in Twitter spree

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8566907/Donald-Trump-goes-Twitter-binge-retweets-posts-praising-hydroxychloroquine.html

• President Donald Trump retweeted a slew of posts praising controversial drug hydroxychloroquine for treating COVID-19 on Monday night
• He shared a retweeted that slammed Dr. Anthony Fauci for 'misleading' the country by dismissing hydroxychloroquine, and supporting drug Remdesivir
• He shared video of Dr. Stella Immanuel's speech outside Capitol Hill on Friday where she claimed the anti-malaria drug is a 'cure' for the virus
• She slammed 'fake doctors' who doubt the efficacy of the drug and said to the public 'you don’t need a mask'
• Trump shared videos of her speech twice, and both were removed

Seattle Mayor: Looks Like Trump Is Rehearsing For Martial Law | Rachel Maddow | MSNBC

Trump Ditches 'New Tone' On COVID-19, Pushes States To Reopen | The 11th Hour | MSNBC

Georgia Republican senator removes ad that made Jewish opponent’s nose bigger

https://www.timesofisrael.com/georgia-republican-senator-removes-ad-that-made-jewish-opponents-nose-bigger/

Republican Sen. David Perdue of Georgia has taken down a digital campaign ad featuring a manipulated picture of his Democratic opponent Jon Ossoff, who is Jewish, with an enlarged nose. Before being removed, the Facebook ad showed grainy pictures of Ossoff and Sen. Charles Schumer of New York, who is also Jewish, above a banner reading “DEMOCRATS ARE TRYING TO BUY GEORGIA! HELP DAVID PERDUE FIGHT BACK.”  

A spokeswoman for Perdue said in a statement Monday that the image has been removed from Facebook, calling it an “unintentional error” by an outside vendor, without naming the vendor.

“Anybody who implies that this was anything other than an inadvertent error is intentionally misrepresenting Senator Perdue’s strong and consistent record of standing firmly against anti-Semitism and all forms of hate,” the spokeswoman said.

 

 

How Tom Cotton accidentally told an appalling truth

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/07/27/opinions/tom-cotton-slavery-comments-1619-project-bailey/index.html

It's a belief likely held by millions of White Americans and also by a number of white historians. It's just that Cotton said it more plainly and directly than most. It's that ability -- White Americans' penchant for compartmentalizing and rationalizing when it comes to issues of race -- that has made it possible for a president as inept and racist as Donald Trump to have any chance of being re-elected.

How the 1619 Project slandered America

 https://nypost.com/2020/05/08/how-the-1619-project-slandered-america/

No one challenges the proposition that US history is bound up in a history of repression and exploitation of minorities, from the slaughter and dispossession of Native Americans to slavery and Jim Crow laws. But to assert, on the basis of zero historical evidence, that its very foundational motivation was the persecution of those minorities is a conscious effort not to provoke academic debate but to inculcate the entire country, its people and its institutions in a continuing crime against humanity.

I Helped Fact-Check the 1619 Project. The Times Ignored Me.

https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2020/03/06/1619-project-new-york-times-mistake-122248

But the debates playing out now on social media and in op-eds between supporters and detractors of the 1619 Project misrepresent both the historical record and the historical profession. The United States was not, in fact, founded to protect slavery—but the Times is right that slavery was central to its story. And the argument among historians, while real, is hardly black and white. Over the past half-century, important foundational work on the history and legacy of slavery has been done by a multiracial group of scholars who are committed to a broad understanding of U.S. history—one that centers on race without denying the roles of other influences or erasing the contributions of white elites. An accurate understanding of our history must present a comprehensive picture, and it’s by paying attention to these scholars that we’ll get there.

Here is the complicated picture of the Revolutionary era that the New York Times missed: White Southerners might have wanted to preserve slavery in their territory, but white Northerners were much more conflicted, with many opposing the ownership of enslaved people in the North even as they continued to benefit from investments in the slave trade and slave colonies. More importantly for Hannah-Jones’ argument, slavery in the Colonies faced no immediate threat from Great Britain, so colonists wouldn’t have needed to secede to protect it. It’s true that in 1772, the famous Somerset case ended slavery in England and Wales, but it had no impact on Britain’s Caribbean colonies, where the vast majority of black people enslaved by the British labored and died, or in the North American Colonies. It took 60 more years for the British government to finally end slavery in its Caribbean colonies, and when it happened, it was in part because a series of slave rebellions in the British Caribbean in the early 19th century made protecting slavery there an increasingly expensive proposition.

 

Tom Cotton describes slavery as a 'necessary evil' in bid to keep schools from teaching 1619 Project

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/07/27/politics/tom-cotton-slavery-necessary-evil-1619-project/index.html

Though the founding fathers were divided on the issue of slavery, with some of them having owned slaves and others being opposed to it, there doesn't appear to be a record of any of them arguing slavery in the US was a "necessary evil."

 

Republicans Are FURIOUS With Jared Kushner For Hiding RNC Money

Texas law gives no simple answer in Garrett Foster killing at Austin protest

https://www.statesman.com/news/20200727/texas-law-gives-no-simple-answer-in-garrett-foster-killing-at-austin-protest

“It strikes me that in a state where there’s legal conceal carry and open carry, it’s an interesting question how a jury — if it comes before a jury — thinks about the question of when it’s reasonable to think someone walking up to you with a gun in their hand is threatening you,” she said.

She said she would be skeptical about drawing any conclusions about the lack of charges in the case thus far.

“The police haven’t forfeited any option,” she said.

 

Ben Shapiro on 'How to Destroy America', rewriting history & Trump's biggest problem - #BQ 26

Trump Failed America: Don the Dumb

Rep. Val Demings: ‘Trump Is Doing Everything He Can To Instill Fear’ | MSNBC

National security analyst: This is one of the scariest things I've said on TV

Conservative

Mazel and Jews - Ramchal

 והנה נשתעבדו לזה הסדר כל בני אדם גם כן, להתחדש בהם כפי מה שימשך להם מן המערכה, אמנם, כבר אפשר שתבוטל תולדת הכוכבים מכח חזק עליון מהם, ועל יסוד זה אמרו, "אין מזל לישראל", (שבת קנ"ו), כי כח גזירתו ית"ש והשפעתו גוברת על הכח הטובע בהשפעת המערכה, ותהיה התולדה לפי ההשפעה העליונה, ולא לפי השפעת המערכת.

ואמנם משפטי ההשפעה הזאת של הכוכבים גם הם מוגבלים, כפי מה שגזרה החכמה העליונה היותו נאות, וקצת מדרכיה נודעים לפי סדרי המבטים, והוא מה שמשיגים הוברי השמים, אכן לא כל אמיתת סדריה מתגלית בזה, על כן לא ישיגו החוזים הכוכבים אלא קצת מהענינים העתידים, ולא בשלמות, וכל שכן שכבר יש בטול לתולדותם, כמו שאמרנו, ועל זה אמרו חז"ל "מאשר" ולא כל אשר, (רבה בראשית ה' ב'). (דרך ה' חלק ב פרק ז א וב)

Mitzva can overcome mazel - Maharal

ואין מזל לישראל, פירוש שאפשר להכריע את המזל על ידי מצות, אף שאינו מתפלל כלל, רק מעצמו נהפך על ידי מצות, דעל ידי תפילה דבר פשוט דמועיל שהוא יתברך יעשה מה שירצה בשמים ובארץ, אבל כך אמר שאין מזל לישראל, דהיינו לכלל ישראל אין מזל שישלוט המזל עליהם, ואף ליחיד אם עושה מצוה דבר זה שקול... כאשר עושה מצוה אלקית נבדלת, דבר זה הוא על המזל. ואין הפירוש שלא ישלוט המזל עליהם כלל, כי הכל לפי מה שהוא, כי אם המזל כנגד ישראל מאד, צריכים ישראל זכות גדול להכריע את המזל, כמו במצרים, שהיה מורה המזל רעה, כמו שאמר "ראו כי רעה נגד פניכם", והשי"ת הפך אותו לטוב בשביל זכות אבות. מכל מקום אין מזל לישראל שיהיה שולט לגמרי עליהם, דבר זה אינו, וזה משמעות אין מזל לישראל, שיהיו לגמרי תחת המזל כמו שהם שאר האומות... (שם שם קנה ב, וראה עוד ישראל-מזל)

...כי ראוי האדם בפרט שיהיה הנהגתו לא כמו בהמה, שאין מזל לבהמה, רק הנהגת הבהמה היא טבעית, והנהגת האדם היא רוחנית, כי יש לו מזל. וכיון שיש לו מזל, המזל נראה על ידי סימן, וכן מועיל סימן שעושה למטה שיהיה האדם בטוב למעלה, שאין הנהגת האדם כמו הבהמה, שאין לה כח ומזל למעלה... לכך יסתם פיהם של דוברי שקר המדברים על צדיקים עתק, שחושבים דבר זה כמו ניחוש, ואין הדבר כן, רק שהוא סימן טוב בשעה שראוי אל זה, וכמו שאמרו ז"ל סימנא מילתא היא... (שם הוריות יב א)

Mazel doesnt control in Israel - Ramban

 Ramban(Bamidbar 11:16)

ותקיא הארץ - ...אבל סוף הדבר בכתוב שאמר "בהנחל עליון גוים בהפרידו בני אדם, יצב גבולות עמים וגו', כי חלק ה' עמו וגו'", והענין כי השם הנכבד ברא הכל ושם כח התחתונים בעליונים, ונתן על כל עם ועם בארצותם לגויהם כוכב ומזל ידוע כאשר נדע באצטגנינות, וזהו שאמר אשר חלק ה' אלקיך אותם לכל העמים, כי חלק לכולם מזלות בשמים וגבוהים עליהם מלאכי עליון, נתנם להיותם שרים עליהם, כענין שכתוב ושר מלכות פרס עומד לנגדי... והנה ה' הנכבד הוא אלקי האלקים ואדוני האדונים לכל העולם, 

אבל ארץ ישראל אמצעות הישוב, היא נחלת ה' מיוחדת לשמו, לא נתן עליה מן המלאכים קצין שוטר ומושל בהנחילו אותה לעמו המיחד שמו זרע אוהביו...

והנה בחוצה לארץ אף על פי שהכל לשם הנכבד, אין טהרה בה שלמה בעבור המשרתים המושלים עליה, והעמים תועים אחרי שריהם לעבוד גם אותם, ולכך יאמר הכתוב "אלקי כל הארץ יקרא", הוא אלקי האלקים המושל על הכל, והוא יפקוד בסוף על צבא המרום במרום להסיר ממשלת העליונים ולהרוס מערכת המשרתים, ואחרי כן יפקוד על כל מלכי האדמה באדמה, וזהו ענין הכתוב שאמר בגזרת עירין פתגמא ומאמר קדישין שאלתא, יאמר כי הדבר ההוא הנגזר על נבובכדנצר היא גזרת עירין פתגמא ומאמר קדישין שאלתא, שגזרו על הכוחות הנאצלין מהן לעשות כך, ויקראו עירין, כי מאצילות יתעוררו הכחות בכל הפעולות... (ויקרא יח כה)

שבעים איש מזקני ישראל - כבר הזכירו רבותינו כי שבעים אומות הן בשבעים לשון, ויש לכל אחת מזל ברקיע ושר למעלה, כענין שנאמר בדניאל "ושר מלכות פרס", וכתב אצל מלכי יון והוא שנאמר "יפקוד ה' על צבא המרום במרום", ואמרו כי פרי החג ירמזו בהם... (במדבר יא טז)

Astrology Encyclopedia Judaica

The majority of the talmudic sages believed in the decisive role played by celestial bodies in determining human affairs in the sublunar world. On the one hand the patriarch Abraham and his descendants are spoken of as having been elevated beyond subjection to the stars (Gen. R. 44:12; Yal., Jer. 285), but on the other hand, the blessing bestowed on him in Genesis 24:1 is interpreted as the gift of astrology (Tosef., Kid. 5:17). Astrological consultation is one of the methods suggested by Jethro to Moses for governing the Children of Israel (Mekh., Amalek 2). Several instances are cited of astrologers whose predictions of future events came true (e.g., Shab. 119a). Gentile rulers were considered to have been especially well versed in astrology or to have consulted astrological experts; but knowledge of astrology was also attributed to King Solomon (Eccl. R. 7:23 no. 1). Nevertheless, the rabbis of the Talmud were skeptical of the astrologers' ability to interpret the stars correctly; they conceded the possibility that the astrologers might be able to predict the future by consulting the stars, but claimed that they err in understanding the contents of their forecasts. On the basis of the phrase in Isaiah 8:19, 

 Among the Jewish philosophers of the Middle Ages *Maimonides alone rejected astrology completely, referring to the astrologers' beliefs as vain superstitions unworthy to be called a science. Upon being asked by the rabbis of southern France whether it was possible to combine the theories of astrology with the principles of Judaism, Maimonides replied: "… This science, which is called the decree of the stars … is no science at all, but mere foolery 

 Despite Maimonides' great prestige, his criticism of astrology had practically no influence on subsequent Jewish writers. With the exception of Joseph b. Judah ibn *Aknin and his enthusiastic admirer R. *Jedaiah ha-Penini (Bedersi), none of the Jewish philosophers of the succeeding generations opposed or deprecated astrology. Even the rationalistic *Levi b. Gershom maintained that the activities and events of a man's life were predestined by the positions and movements of celestial bodies. The astrologers fail, he asserted, first of all because of insufficient knowledge about the movements of the stars and the effects of their changed positions on sublunar beings, and secondly, because of the intervention of intellect and free will, "for the intellect and the will are empowered to carry us beyond the limitations imposed by the celestial bodies" (Milḥamot Adonai 2:2). Shem-Tov ibn *Falaquera also considered astrology a true science and made use of it. Many of the great rabbis, commentators, preachers, and ethical teachers dealt with astrology and were favorably disposed toward it; *Abraham b. David of Posquières, in his Hassagot, a commentary on Maimonides' Mishneh Torah; *Naḥmanides (Commentary on Gen. 1:16; Lev. 23:24, and passim) and his pupil Solomon b. Abraham *Adret (Responsa, no. 652); *Baḥya b. Asher (Commentary on Ex. 11:4; and passim); Isaac *Aboab (Menorat ha-Ma'or, 143; passim); Simeon b. Ẓemaḥ *Duran (Magen Avot, 72bff., and Tashbeẓ, no. 513); Isaac *Abrabanel , who cited many proofs "from the science of astronomy in regard to the celestial conjunctions" for his opinion that the redemption of Israel would begin in 1503 and come to completion in 1531 (Ma'yenei ha-Yeshu'ah, 12:2); Isaac *Arama (Akedat Yiẓḥak, 34, 56), though he disapproved of eschatological reckonings based on astrology; Moses b. Ḥayyim *Alshekh ; *Judah Loew b. Bezalel (Maharal) of Prague, who is reputed to have practiced astrology in the company of his friend Tycho Brahe; David *Gans ; Leone of *Modena ; Joseph Solomon *Delmedigo of Candia, Jonathan *Eybeschuetz ; and *Elijah , Gaon of Vilna (Commentary on Sefer Yeẓirah). A definitely negative attitude toward astrology was assumed by Azariah dei *Rossi (Me'or Einayim, 42, 43).

 The Zohar takes astrology for granted and in several places employs imagery and terminology that are clearly astrological (e.g., 3, Ki Teẓe, 281b. Raya Meheimna). It is stated explicitly: "All the stars and constellations in the heavens werePage 620  |  Top of Article appointed to be rulers and commandants over the world… there is not a single blade of grass in the entire world over which a star or a planet does not preside, and over that star one [angel] is appointed who serves in the presence of the Holy One Blessed Be He, each according to his merit" (2:171d; see Mishnat ha-Zohar , Tishbi-Lachower trans. vol. 1, 1957, 486). Astrological reasons for the commandments (mitzvot) are occasionally also given 3:251a–b, Raya Meheimna). On the whole, however, the Zohar's kabbalistic system deprives astrology and astrological beliefs of most of their relevance and importance. In Part 3 (Pinḥas, 216b, Raya Meheimna) it is stated that prior to the giving of the Torah all earthly creatures were dependent on the stars; after the revelation at Sinai, however, God exempted those children of Israel who studied and observed His Law from the rule of the stars, whereas the ignorant and the skeptical "were not absolved from the stars' jurisdictions." In the Tikkunei Zohar and other kabbalistic works the seven planets were

Tanis (29b)R. Papa said: Therefore a Jew who has any litigation with Gentiles should avoid him in Ab because his luck is bad and should make himself available in Adar when his luck is good

Tom Cotton defends slavery comments

https://www.axios.com/tom-cotton-defends-slavery-comments-black-people-5de7ae99-29d2-4884-9bf9-eb98140587bd.html

 

What they're saying: Nikole Hannah-Jones, who won a 2020 Pulitzer Prize for commentary for her introductory essay to the NYT project, was among those to address Cotton's comments, saying: "Imagine thinking a non-divisive curriculum is one that tells Black children the buying and selling of their ancestors, the rape, torture, and forced labor of their ancestors for PROFIT, was just a 'necessary evil' for the creation of the 'noblest/ country the world has ever seen."

• After Cotton defended his remarks, she replied: "Were the Founders right or wrong ... when they called slavery a 'necessary evil upon which the Union was built”? Because either you agree with their assessment of slavery as necessary or you admit they were lying and it was just an evil and dishonorable choice. Which?" He has yet to respond to that tweet.

Sen. Tom Cotton tries to clarify slavery comment, calls out ‘fake news’

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/sen-tom-cotton-tries-to-clarify-slavery-comment-calls-out-fake-news

Cotton was interviewed in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette and spoke about a bill that he sponsored that seeks to deny federal funds to schools that incorporate the New York Times’ controversial ‘1619 Project’ into its teaching curriculum.

Cotton told the paper, “We have to study the history of slavery and its role and impact on the development of our country because otherwise we can’t understand our country. As the Founding Fathers said, it was the necessary evil upon which the union was built, but the union was built in a way, as Lincoln said, to put slavery on the course to its ultimate extinction.”

 

Trump is calling protesters who disagree with him terrorists. That puts him in the company of the world's autocrats

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/07/25/politics/us-protests-trump-terrorists-intl/index.html

Trump has promised to ratchet up his Portland approach, saying in an interview with Fox News on Thursday that he could send as many as 75,000 federal agents to other US cities, in what he calls "Operation Legend."

He argues that these cities -- all with mayors who are Democrats -- have been overrun by criminals, particularly as anti-race protests continue. He has criticized local leaders and police for failing to take a tough line on crime.

 

But his critics say Operation Legend is an unabashed re-election pitch by Trump to project himself as the country's law-and-order president ahead of the November vote, one that seeks to paint his Democratic rival, Joe Biden, as anti-police. 

What could easily happen is that these protests transform from an anti-racism movement to a wider anti-government movement, according to Luis Schiumerini, an assistant professor of political science at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana.

The single most damning quote about Donald Trump and coronavirus yet

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/07/20/politics/donald-trump-coronavirus-texas-testing/index.html

 In The New York Times' Sunday opus on how cracks are emerging between President Donald Trump and the broader Republican Party in how to handle the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, a single quote stands out.

"The President got bored with it," Dave Carney, a longtime Republican strategist who advises Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, told the Times.

That is a stunning admission from anyone. But most especially from someone like Carney, who isn't part of the "Never Trump" movement and isn't the sort to just pop off to impress media types or his fellow consultants.

And a look back at Trump's response to the virus absolutely validates Carney's view. In the early months of 2020, Trump downplayed the virus -- repeatedly.

Israeli woman assaults cop over mask dispute at mall

https://www.ynetnews.com/article/By8NiVseD

The woman, along with her 14-year-old son verbally and physically assaults officers at Malha Mall in Jerusalem for not wearing face masks; the woman also ripped masks off of officers' faces

Why Didn't Bob Mueller Find a Conspiracy Between the Trump Campaign and Russia? Here's the Answer.

Lonna,Luna and The Lunatic Rabbis of the RCC (V12)

Feds Assault Navy Vet Protester in Portland. Federal Overreach Violates 1st, 4th, 10th Amendments.

Effort is worthless against mazel !

      Berachos (64a) R. Abin the Levite said: Whoever tries to force his [good] fortune will be dogged by [ill] fortune,4 and whoever forgoes his [good] fortune will postpone his [ill] fortune.5 This we can illustrate from the case of Rabbah and R. Joseph. For R. Joseph was ‘Sinai’6 and Rabbah was ‘an uprooter of mountains’.7 The time came when they were required [to be head of the Academy].8 They [the collegiates] sent there [to Palestine] to ask, As between ‘Sinai’ and an ‘uprooter of mountains’, which should have the preference? They sent answer: Sinai, because all require the owner of wheat.9 Nevertheless, R. Joseph would not accept the post, because the astrologers had told him that he would be head for only two years. Rabbah thereupon remained head for twenty-two years, and R. Joseph after him for two years and a half.10 During all the time that Rabbah was head, R. Joseph did not so much as summon a cupper to come to his house.11
 מהרש"א חידושי אגדות מסכת ברכות דף סד עמוד א
כל הדוחק את השעה כו'. היינו דמזל שעה גורם וא"א לאדם לדחוק את המזל בכחו בחזקה אי לאו בסייעתא דשמיא וכל הנדחה מפני השעה כמו שעשה רב יוסף הרי השעה נדחית מפניו וכפירש"י ויתר כל סוגיא זו מפורש בספ"ב דהוריות ע"ש:

Person, Woman, Man, Camera, TV: The Movie

‘Person. Woman. Man. Camera. TV.’ | Morning Joe | MSNBC

Ric Wilson warns Trump his PoliticalPranks are backfiring

Trump Accidentally ADMITS He Failed America

See why Fox News cut away from White House briefing

Fed up Fox host REBUKES Trump spokesman ON AIR for calling Fox polls fake

US Pollster: Here's why the 2020 polling is wrong - and is even worse than in 2016

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/284136

While most polls suggest Donald Trump’s reelection bid is in serious trouble, with Joe Biden leading in virtually all battleground states, and even in some Republican strongholds, a few pollsters are bucking the trend, suggesting that the 2020 presidential election is far more competitive than it appears at first blush.

Trumps massive new headache Ric Wilson on the huge walk away from GOP that Trump may not survive

Making Discrimination Vs. BT's Great Again

BS"D

Israeli Army Draft Office: Making Discrimination Against Newly-Observant Jewish Girls Great Again

by Binyomin Feinberg

5 Menachem Av, 5780 °°  July 26, '20  (Parshas VaEschanon)

In our most recent update on Refusenik girls being persecuted over their compliance with the  Torah prohibitions against submitting to Military Draft directives ( https://daattorah.blogspot.com/2020/07/making-bt-baiting-great-again.html ), we reported on the plight of Kasanya Z..  Miss Z. is a recent Ba'alas Teshuva [the Hebrew term for a Jewish girl who rediscovered her Jewish roots], who immigrated to Israel about five years ago.  Even though she has been studying at a religious school, she is being subjected to threats of arrest by the Army for her fidelity to her faith. It make strike some as ironic that her faith is the same one claimed - as a basis for global recognition - by the very government seeking to force her into the notoriously promiscuous, abusive military environment. All leading Torah authorities from across the spectrum prohibit girls from serving in the Israeli military.

The Army insistence on drafting Miss Z. - today, Sunday July 26 - in blatant disregard of her demonstrable religiosity - constitutes persecutory treatment. It's also consistent with the Army Draft Office focus on "easy" female targets, including recent immigrants, especially from Eastern Europe, and Ba'alos Teshuva - in this case, both combined.

One legalistic subterfuge - regularly employed by Army draft officers to disguise persecutory tactics against such girls - is to generously offer "opportunities" for the girls to "explain" their positions - at the Draft Office itself, often on their draft date, or at a "Religiosity Interview" ("Rayon Dat", the acute hazards of which we've previously addressed).

Both options are, understandably, generally futile, and risky in the extreme.  These Army "offers" are akin to the fox formally inviting the fish onto the shore, to deliver a presentation of academic arguments as to why the fish deserves not to be eaten - in front of a fox forum - and then self-righteously imputing stubbornness to any fish who refuses such a reasonable, balanced proposal for open dialogue.

Girls who wisely refuse such "offers" to enable their own spiritual demise are then painted as suffering from predicaments of their own creation. Additionally, those selfless volunteers assisting them, available day and night, are sometimes tarred as sacrificing the prospects of saving the girl on the altar of their "extreme" position against the girls accepting these  "offers." 

The real question is: why does anyone ever fall for these entrapment tactics? That is not a simple question to answer. One answer is: due to an irrational phobia that by not enabling their own drafting, they might... get drafted.  Another is that many, many girls are routinely being maladvised by the wrong people - some of whom may be well intentioned, but are misguided - or themselves malinformed. This type of faulty advice is found among even a few frum activists who tend to look at Ba'alos Teshuva, Sefardi girls, etc. as less resolute in withstanding ongoing Army harassment - and what some describe as "terror tactics."

In reality, these (unwittingly condescending) perceptions are often erroneous, and presumptuous. The qualities of mesiras nefesh (self sacrifice), strength of character, persistence, and acumen are found in all types of girls, from all backgrounds. The key to actualize those qualities - often dormant - is to provide any girl who wants help everything she needs to help herself. That includes emotional support, religious chizuk, accurate information, proper guidance, and warm relationships with sincere women more than willing to sacrifice their own needs to help save Jewish girls from the exploitive immorality of the military environment. To make all of this - along with any necessary legal assistance - available to all girls in need, financial supporters play a crucial role as well.  Additionally, properly publicizing the plight of such heroic souls is vital in containing and deterring the military persecution of these girls.

Unfortunately, only a small fraction of such cases come to attention of the public. This is because the Israeli government knows that this war for the souls of Jewish Daughters is being fought not with bullets but with bulletins, with information rather than with ammunition.  As such, the government and Army unrelenting pursue every avenue, trying to ensure that those Refusenik-advocates who fight best also fight least-informed. Thank G-d, those efforts often fail.

The multifaceted approach the government employs in embargoing information about girls being pursued by Maitav would require a book to detail and document. Suffice it for now to observe that whatever cases do come our way are the tip of the iceberg, and reflect a crisis far broader than we can convey here.

***

Killing Aliyah, One Girl at a Time:

Furthermore, the Israeli Army is putting this recent Olah (immigrant girl) through a purgatory she never would have experienced in her country of origin, or in practically any country other than the one claiming to be Jewish. This is reminiscent of the well-known critique about the historical Israeli government callousness towards immigrants: "The Israeli government wants Aliyah, not Olim."  For cases like this, one could tweak that: "The government wants Mit'gaysot, not Olot" (they want female recruits, not female immigrants).  Draft Office Persecution of immigrant Ba'alos Teshuva is not only deeply wrong, it presents a formidable Kitrug against Aliyah.

This all raises many questions, a modest sampling of which we humbly submit for consideration by our esteemed readership:

1.  If we want G-d to restore the Jewish People to His Holy Land, what are we waiting for?  Where is the outrage, especially by - or at -  the ostensibly religious political parties and media?

2.  Why is it that the same people who made a ongoing campaign to free one particular incarcerated target of US prosecutorial bias are now enabling the drafting of hundreds, even thousands of girls into the Israeli Army - by their  cover-up of the Israeli draft crisis?  Even if they didn't care about Jewish girls being sexually abused in the Army, and persecuted in their efforts to avoid the Draft, they should have a simple practical interest in reporting real news (as opposed to all the trivia that passes for contemporary journalism) - news that actually makes a difference in saving lives and souls.

3.  Why is it that some people manage to find time to raise tens of thousands of dollars to free dangerous child-molesters from prison (where they belong), by illicitly soliciting funds under the  pretext of "Pidyon Shvuyim" -- but are nowhere to be seen in helping save girls from the abusive military and/or Israeli military prison? In stark contrast, efforts to save these innocent girls are impeccably legitimate, of unquestionably top priority, and also generally cost far less money.

4.  Do we imagine that we can discharge our obligations of mourning over the Churban by partaking of some feel-good inspirational lectures, delicately designed to sidestep any "controversial" observations, even those vital for spiritual lifesaving causes staring us in the face?  How much value do inspirational trips have from the perspective of Heaven, when they serve more as a "potair" than a "mechayev" to do simple, practical things, including - among many other things - saving Jewish teenage girls from being forced into the exploitive, immoral Israeli military - by "our own"?

In truth, it only takes a few good people to save these precious neshomos. But the vast majority of the Torah observant world is intentionally being kept uninformed or malinformed about these Refusenik girls.

We see from the recent outpouring of Divine Wrath around the world that G-d is very angry.  Unfortunately, there are many things that we find in our own communities that would account for the current Charon Af HaShem. Do we imagine that in Heaven our excuses for our overall passivity are tolerated?

I was recently informed that a Monsey Rabbi made the following observation about one lesson which we can imbibe from the Plague of Corona.  We paraphrase  here, humbly presenting it to the esteemed Tzibbur as food for thought:

We know that G-d is the Ultimate Good, and all that He does is pure good. Thus, whenever he gives us a punishment, it's to save us from something even worse.

Several months ago, G-d closed down almost all of our Torah institutions - our Kollelim, Yeshivos, Bais Yaakov schools, Synagogues, etc. If this terrible Decree was to save the Jewish People from something worse, we must ask:

Q:  "What could possibly be worse than closing down all of our institutions?

A:  Leaving them open --

 the way they were...."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"... 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)

....

Update link for the month of Tammuz to check in case we post during the week between our regular Wednesday/ Thursday posts:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/19P6537IM3H-v_UlYsRzeiukw9uBWq3M0GjaoYJhIQUk/edit?usp=sharing

Kevin McCarthy: Dems failing on China, virus, riots -- 'That's why we need Trump'

https://www.foxnews.com/media/kevin-mccarthy-dems-failing-on-china-virus-riots-thats-why-we-need-trump

"The Democrats have a China problem," according to House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., who appeared on "Watters' World" on Saturday.

"I don't know what China, the Communist Party, has on the Democrats, but it's being very effective that they're holding back any accountability to China and the ability for us to go in, not only to punish them for the virus," McCarthy said. "But they're actually slowing the process down for a vaccine, that they won't punish individuals when they want to hack into it."