Liberals and Conservatives React in Wildly Different Ways to Repulsive Pictures

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2019/03/the-yuck-factor/580465/

 Why do we have the political opinions we have? Why do we embrace one outlook toward the world and not another? How and why do our stances change? The answers to questions such as these are of course complex. Most people aren’t reading policy memos to inform every decision. Differences of opinion are shaped by contrasting life experiences: where you live; how you were raised; whether you’re rich or poor, young or old. Emotion comes into the picture, and emotion has a biological basis, at least in part. All of this and more combines into a stew without a fixed recipe, even if many of the ingredients are known.

 

How the Right Wing Convinces Itself That Liberals Are Evil

https://washingtonmonthly.com/magazine/july-august-2018/how-the-right-wing-convinces-itself-that-liberals-are-evil/

 

IIf you spend any time consuming right-wing media in America, you quickly learn the following: Liberals are responsible for racism, slavery, and the Ku Klux Klan. They admire Mussolini and Hitler, and modern liberalism is little different from fascism or, even worse, communism. The mainstream media and academia cannot be trusted because of the pervasive, totalitarian nature of liberal culture.

Joe Orlow's theory that Evil came to the world solely because of liberals

The liberals have already hijacked democracy and imposed their mindset on the masses. Anything that rebalances society is for the better. If it takes an autocratic President, so be it. At least the autocratic President we have bends his will to that of the people who elected him. And isn't that what democracy is all about?

Donald Trump won the election! Get over it, already. In the past, a government from one party could rule over both parties. But now the country is too split. So the party out of favor feels like they have no say. Which is true, somewhat.

When Bernie gets elected, I'll feel like that, too. So let me enjoy the presidency I brought about while I can.

which situation do you prefer?

Living in USA with Trump as King and his family inherits the job or a democracy based on the present constitution and laws?

Preet Bharara sounds the alarm on Donald Trump's move

If William Barr Truly Believed in Rule of Law, He Would Resign

https://time.com/5784932/william-barr-resign-rule-of-law/

 Barr’s commitment at his most recent confirmation hearing, reaffirming that an Attorney General must prevent political influence from corrupting the course of justice in criminal cases, was important to legitimate his candidacy to lead the department, given the concerns that arose after his nomination. But he has proven himself unable or unwilling to live up to that commitment.

Since he joined the Administration just over a year ago, Barr has operated in a manner that has raised serious questions about whether he is working to benefit the President or the people. He misrepresented the conclusions of the Mueller report. On his watch, DOJ tried to protect the President from legitimate constitutional oversight by withholding the Ukraine whistleblower complaint from Congress. DOJ then summarily declined to open an investigation into the Ukraine complaint and defended Trump’s position that executive branch emails related to Ukraine did not have to be turned over to a media organization that sought unredacted versions, using the same privilege arguments Trump asserted to withhold them from Congress. Although the Department has responded to past questions about Barr’s personal involvement by saying he was aware but did not participate in decision-making, we know from his takeover of Roger Stone’s sentencing that he is fully capable of usurping a case when he does not like how it is being handled. He has also assigned a handpicked U.S. Attorney appointed by Trump to review matters the President has shown interest in.

 

She said a Bethlehem church was in Palestine. But ‘Jeopardy!’ accepted Israel as the right answer.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/01/13/jeopardy-bethlehem-church/

 The Church of the Nativity, which many believe is the birthplace of Jesus, sits by a white-stoned square in the heart of Bethlehem near the controversial concrete barrier that encircles the West Bank. UNESCO, which has selected the church as a World Heritage Site, lists it as one of three such locations in Palestine.

So for many of those who slammed “Jeopardy!” over the weekend, the trivia answer was, well, more than trivial. It was a commentary, implicit or not, on a hotly contested and deeply emotional question in Middle East geopolitics.

The Oslo accords of 1995 give the Palestinian Authority control over Bethlehem and the West Bank, though that is complicated by Israeli settlements and military checkpoints. Under a historic “Status Quo” agreement, the church and other holy sites near it area must be jointly shared and protected by various Christian denominations.

 

Trump's 'Deep State' conspiracy theory just took a big hit

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/02/14/politics/andrew-mccabe-donald-trump-department-of-justice/index.html

 President Donald Trump is deeply invested in the idea that there is a "Deep State" embedded within the government bureaucracy -- and centered in the Department of Justice -- which actively worked to defeat him in 2016 and then sought to undermine him once he won the presidency.That conspiracy theory, which has never had much merit, suffered a near-fatal blow Friday afternoon when the Department of Justice declined to pursue criminal charges against former FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe.

That decision ends a nearly-two-year investigation into whether McCabe, in his role as a senior official in the FBI, lied to investigators about conversations he had with reporters. McCabe had long insisted that if he had done so it had been purely accidental, and noted that, in his role, he was authorized to speak to the media.

Trump spent much of the investigation dumping on McCabe, a man who he insisted was, along with former FBI director James Comey, at the center of the "Deep State" conspiracy against him.

Conservatives see a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity in Trump

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/02/15/opinions/conservatives-once-in-a-lifetime-opportunity-in-trump-brown/index.html

  While it may be easy to dismiss a significant number of President Donald Trump's supporters as members of a worshipful cult of celebrity, underneath that storyline is a stark policy reality -- one that's inadequately understood and reported on. In Trump, politically conservative America has a once-in-a-generation opportunity to fundamentally alter the direction of the nation.

Chris Hayes: The Only Thing To Stop Trump Is Us | All In | MSNBC

Rule Of Law Already Broken Where It Involves Trump | Rachel Maddow | MSNBC

Judge slams Trump's remarks: Banana republic

Yisro taught us about judicial system to show Jews were not chosen because of superior knowledge

from Daas Torah - translation copyrighted

Ohr HaChaim (Shemos 18:21): Why did Yisro deserve being the source of the information about forming the judicial system? While it is true Yisro deserved being honored for honoring Moshe and thus he honored G-d, but there were other ways of honoring him not in this ways that  indicates - chas v'shalom - the lack of knowledge of G-d's people until Yisro came and enlightened them? It appears that the reason is that G-d wanted to teach the Jewish people a fundamental lesson not only for that generation but for all generations. The lesson being that there are among the nations of the world men of great intelligence and understanding such as Yisro and these nations have awareness of important and valuable information. G-d's intent was to show that the election of the Jews was not because their knowledge and insight was greater than other nations. They were not chosen because of their superior wisdom and knowledge. Their election was the result of G-d's supreme kindness and His love of the Avos. This explanation is more appropriate according to the view that Yisro came prior to the Revelation at Sinai. Accordingly G-d's message was that even though there are amongst the Nations greater wise men than amongst the Jews - the Jews were nevertheless chosen. We are thus to praise Him for choosing us because of his Kindness. However, even according to the view that Yisro came after the Revelation at Sinai - a similar lesson can be learned by the fact that Yisro is mentioned in the sequence of events of the Torah prior to the giving of the Torah.

Why were the Jews forced to accept the Torah? THEY had already accepted it willingly?

אמת ליעקב שמות פרק יט פסוק ג

(ג) כה תאמר לבית יעקב.

פירש"י וז"ל: בלשון הזה ובסדר הזה עכ"ל. וכן לקמן [פסוק ו']: אלה הדברים אשר תדבר אל בני ישראל, ופירש"י וז"ל: לא פחות ולא יותר עכ"ל. וצריך לבאר אמאי הקפיד הקדוש ברוך הוא לא פחות ולא יותר וכן בלשון הזה ובסדר הזה.

והנה אמרו רז"ל במסכת שבת [דף פ"ח ע"א]: ויתיצבו בתחתית ההר מלמד שכפה עליהם הר כגיגית. ועיין בתוס' שהקשו הא כבר הקדימו נעשה ונשמע ולמה לו לכפות ההר עליהם, ותירצו וז"ל: שמא יהיו חוזרים כשיראו האש הגדולה שיצתה נשמתן עכ"ל. והנראה בביאור הדברים על פי דברי התנא במסכת אבות [פרק א' מ"ג]: אל תהיו כעבדים המשמשין את הרב על מנת לקבל פרס כו' ויהיה מורא שמים עליכם, וביארתי בחידושי לפרקי אבות שם שבאמת צריכים לשני הענינים, היינו העבודה מאהבה והעבודה מיראה, כי לפעמים לא תספיק לו האהבה ולפעמים תחלש אצלו היראה, ועיי"ש, ולכן אף על פי שכבר קבלו על עצמן את התורה מאהבה, נעשה ונשמע, מכל מקום מיראה לא נסו, וע"ז רמזה האש הגדולה, וכמש"כ בפרשת ואתחנן [ד' פל"ו]: מן השמים השמיעך את קולו ליסרך גו' ואת אשו הגדולה כו', הרי שביאר הכתוב דהאש היתה ליראת העונש. ואלמלא באו לעשו וישמעאל בכפיית ההר ג"כ היו מקבלין את התורה, כדאמרינן ברפ"ק דע"ז [דף ב' ע"א]: כלום כפית עלינו הר כגיגית ולא קבלנוה, משמע דאז בודאי היו מקבלין אותה, אלא שאז היתה עבודה מיראה אבל לא מאהבה, משא"כ ישראל דמאהבה קבלוה מעצמם וכפיית ההר היתה רק כדי לקבלה גם מיראה, אבל אם לא היו מקבלים מצדם מאהבה לא היו נותנין להם את התורה לגמרי.