Friday, January 31, 2020

Trump's Impeachment Trial Could Be in Its Final Hours After Key Republican Falls in Line to Block Witnesses - a Pyrrhic victory!

https://time.com/5775031/trumps-impeachment-trial-could-be-in-its-final-hours-after-key-republican-falls-in-line-to-block-witnesses/


President Donald Trump could be headed for a speedy acquittal in his Senate impeachment trial after Republicans secured assurances from a key lawmaker late Thursday night that he would not break with the party to request additional evidence and testimony.




A Pyrrhic victory (/ˈpɪrɪk/ (About this soundlisten) PIRR-ik) is a victory that inflicts such a devastating toll on the victor that it is tantamount to defeat. Someone who wins a Pyrrhic victory has also taken a heavy toll that negates any true sense of achievement or damages long-term progress.

How Trump has destroyed the Republican party


Just under four years after he began his takeover of a party to which he had little connection, Mr. Trump enters 2020 burdened with the ignominy of being the first sitting president to seek re-election after being impeached.
But he does so wearing a political coat of armor built on total loyalty from G.O.P. activists and their representatives in Congress. If he does not enjoy the broad admiration Republicans afforded Ronald Reagan, he is more feared by his party’s lawmakers than any occupant of the Oval Office since at least Lyndon Johnson.
“Trump is emotionally, intellectually and psychologically unfit for office, and I’m sure a lot of Republicans feel the same way,” Mr. Trott said. “But if they say that, the social media barrage will be overwhelming.” He added that he would be open to the presidential candidacy of former Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg of New York.

Thursday, January 30, 2020

If the Senate Doesn't Hold Trump Accountable, the Damage Will Go Far Beyond This Presidency

https://time.com/5773796/donald-trump-impeachment-accountability/

 From the beginning, candidate Trump got away with behavior that was unimaginable for others. He got a pass for making fun of a reporter with a disability. He got away with calling Mexicans rapists and criminals. He was excused for attacking a Gold Star family because they were Muslim. His supporters even found a way to defend him when a videotape where he boasted about sexual assaults became public. But this conduct happened within the realm of politics­—it was up to voters to decide whether to countenance Trump’s behavior. They chose, at that point, to accept it.

Should the President emerge from impeachment, secure in the belief he has unlimited Article II powers of the presidency, we are headed for an unfortunate lesson about the absence of executive-branch accountability. What will Trump feel emboldened to do after an impeachment acquittal? What won’t he do to win the next election? Without accountability there is no reason to believe this President or future ones will conform their behavior to the restraints imposed by the Constitution. And this moment, where the Senate has the chance the Founding Fathers provides them with in the Constitution to restore the balance of power, will be lost.

Erekat: The plan of the Netanyahu and the settlers

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/275330

 Senior Palestinian Authority (PA) official Saeb Erekat on Wednesday blasted US President Donald Trump's “Deal of the Century”, calling it "a plan of Netanyahu and the council of the settlers."
Speaking in an interview with Oded Ben Ami on Channel 12 News, Erekat claimed, "What you heard last night from Trump is what I heard from Netanyahu and his negotiating team in 2011-2012.”
 

Will He or Won't He? John Bolton's Potential Testimony Hangs Over First Day of Questions in Trump's Impeachment Trial

https://time.com/5774160/bolton-testimony-trump-impeachment-trial/

Democrats drove at that point in their very first question, putting the focus squarely on Trump’s former National Security Advisor. “John R. Bolton’s forthcoming book states that the President wanted to continue withholding $391 million in military aid to Ukraine until Ukraine announced investigations into his top political rival and the debunked conspiracy theory about the 2016 election,” read the question by Chuck Schumer, a Democrat from New York, and posed to the House managers. “Is there any way for the Senate to render a fully informed verdict in this case without hearing the testimony of Bolton, Mulvaney and the other key eyewitnesses or without seeing the relevant documentary evidence?”

 

'GAME OVER,' Trump declares, as old Bolton, Schiff videos surface amid Senate impeachment trial

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/schiff-bolton-lack-credibility-senate-impeachment-trial

A string of newly resurfaced video clips of former national security adviser John Bolton spurred President Trump and his supporters Wednesday to highlight what they described as serious credibility questions -- raised by both Democrats and Republicans -- amid the Senate impeachment trial, as the president tweeted, "GAME OVER!"

 

Trump Reignites Claim Mexico Will Be Paying For His Border Wall: 'Soon You Will Find Out

https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-reignites-claims-mexico-will-pay-border-wall-1484585

Speaking to supporters at a campaign rally at the Wildwoods Convention Center Oceanfront in Wildwood, New Jersey, on Tuesday, the president celebrated a recent court victory allowing him to push forward with plans to use $3.6 billion in military construction funds for the development of his border wall.
"The money is won," Trump said. "And we are now building that beautiful wall."
The wall, the president said, "is going up at record speed," with the project having just surpassed 100 miles.
 
While Trump fell short of reiterating his 450-mile goal, he did reignite another promise from the past: to make Mexico pay for his wall.

From Behind The Israeli Iron Curtain

BS"D

Breaking News from Behind the Israeli Iron Curtain


4 Shvat, 5780 °° Jan. 30, '20 (v.2)


By Binyomin Feinberg,

FeinbergBinyomin@gmail.com

~~~~~~~~~~~

To check for updates, on first view of this article, as well as throughout the week,  please visit https://saveHischildren.blogspot.com -


or/and see updates for month of Teves '80:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1LDLjvECWQExYoGjqIrbZtWALp6MpkHq22ihNz2BLuYM/edit?usp=sharing

~~~~~

### Breaking News:  ###

1.  Lital bas Miriam (https://daattorah.blogspot.com/2020/01/when-criminal-justice-is-truly-crimina.html), now languishing in Israeli Military Prison Four for about 17 days (since her arrest on Jan.13), had her hearing scheduled for yesterday (Wed., Jan. 29) delayed yet again, until next Tuesday, Feb. 4. That is essentially one more way a keeping an innocent religious young lady in military jail, under often brutal conditions (see above link) - without Due Process.

2.  Moreover, the government is reportedly seeking to hit her with an outrageous 81 day prison sentence.

3.  One would think the government would want to dispatch with this courageous Refusenik quickly. However, that will apparently only occur if concerned people continue to pressure the Israeli government, by exposing their ongoing abuse of this and other Refusenik girls (like Tal-Yah bas Rus and Yehudis Noah, see below).

4.  To remind the readers, Lital's abuse by the Army was triggered by her agreement to submit to a Religiosity Interview (apparently in absence of any warning about the prohibition and dangers involved) -  NINE years ago.

5.  In the wake of that meeting, the Army refused to honor her legal entitlement to an automatic religious exemption, on the pretext that she didn't answer a particular question pertaining to "Kriyas HaTorah," the ritual reading of the Torah (in the synagogue, with a quorum of ten adult males).

6. "Kriyas HaTorah" is an obligation incumbent on men, from which women are exempt, under Jewish Law (perhaps Maitav is more stringent that our Sages on this matter).

7.  Thus, a girl seeking to secure her religious exemption should not be asked questions on that topic, period. Moreover, failure to answer such questions means precisely nothing, especially when it comes to questioning her religiosity.

8.  The rank absurdity of this charade is somewhat ironic - in light of the fact that the primary exception to the exemption of women from the ritual reading of the Torah is the obligation to hear "Parshas Zachor" (D'varim 25:17-19, at the end of Kee-Saitzai). That brief section exhorts us about the obligation incumbent on all Jews to safeguard our timeless emnity towards Amalek, the embodiment of Evil for the sake of Evil, the ageless paradigm of Rebellion against G-d Himself. To be fair, the Draft Office (Maitav) should mandate asking questions about one of the most foundational texts on the subject of Amalek, being Rav Elchonon Wasserman, in his "Kovetz He'Oros" on Yevamos, Aggadah section, ch. 10, #1-6.  A perusal of that essay will clarify precisely why Maitav would opt to recuse themselves from that "uncomfortable" topic, out of conflict of interest.

9.  Recently, information on other  incarcerated girls has trickled out, out of what has assumed the contours of the Iron Curtain, i.e. the Israeli military prison system, from which information is often very difficult to extract.

Yehudis Noah, a religious immigrant from France, has just recently been discovered to have been languishing in Prison Six, in the North -- for over TWO MONTHS! There, prisoners often suffer exposure to the cold over the winter months. Our current information is that, for some reason, her religious exemption was denied, and she was compelled to enlist. Within days, she was struck with the realization  that it's impossible to remain faithful to Judaism in the Army, and therefore fled. Subsequently, she was apparently imprisoned for abandoning the very environment that compelled her to flee for her [spiritual] life.

10.  Additionally, Tal-Yah bas Rus continues to be held in Prison Four, apparently for fleeing the Army. Reportedly, she's already been held for over a month and a half, and about 15 days ago she was sentenced to 35 days in military prison.

11. Outrages like this may, G-d forbid, continue - unless even more concerned Jews increase the pressure against the government (e.g., http://firstamendmentactivist.blogspot.com/2020/01/righteous-outrage-goes-international.html). Specifically, female demonstrations against the Israeli government drafting, harassment, incarceration, and persecution of female Refuseniks must be held at Israeli offices and events internationally, emphasizing the immoral nature of the female military draft.  Their anti-exploitation message would resonate globally.

Please stay tuned for updates.

Wednesday, January 29, 2020

"Spiritual Auschwitz"


3 Shvat, 5780 °° Jan. 29, '20


By Binyomin Feinberg,

FeinbergBinyomin@gmail.com

~~~~~~~~~~~

To check for updates, on first view of this article, as well as throughout the week,  please visit https://saveHischildren.blogspot.com -

or/and see updates for month of Teves '80:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1LDLjvECWQExYoGjqIrbZtWALp6MpkHq22ihNz2BLuYM/edit?usp=sharing

~~~~~

1.  Last week, we reported on the demonstration against the Israeli military drafting of girls, that took place Thursday Jan. 23, near Yad VaShem, just  as world leaders were leaving the World Holocaust Forum (reportedly initiated by Israeli President Rivlin) on the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz; see:

"Righteous Outrage Goes International"*

https://daattorah.blogspot.com/2020/01/righteous-outrage-goes-international.html

http://firstamendmentactivist.blogspot.com/2020/01/righteous-outrage-goes-international.html

It's important to study the photos of the signs, which were composed with a good deal of thought:

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1nTJT9255QwfrfYLMJ3_NaE8woQPF70MC

[The photos are also available in the "Teves Update" google-drive .]

[*General observations on the World Holocaust Forum appear here:

"Never Again??"
http://firstamendmentactivist.blogspot.com/2020/01/never-again.html ]


2.  One could perhaps compose an essay elaborating on each one of the signs held at that demonstration, each one laden with meaning.

3.  While Israeli politicians continuously manipulate the memories of the Kedoshim murdered Al-Kiddush HaShem by the satanic Nazis, and their multitudinous collaborators (including some "Jews"), the Israeli government is escalating its own programs advancing Jew-hatred. This domestic Jew-hatred is hatred of Jews who insist on remaining authentically faithful to Judaism - to G-d and His Torah (e.g. https://daattorah.blogspot.com/2019/10/racial-profiling-or-pure-antireligious.htmlhttps://daattorah.blogspot.com/2019/08/alh-report-2-28-augviolating-vineyard.htmlhttps://daattorah.blogspot.com/2019/09/violating-vineyard-update.html ).

4.  What defines us as Jews is the Torah, nothing else.

5.   The current Israeli government war against the Torah is a war against G-d and against His People. 

6.  The participants of said crusade against G-d being of Jewish descent does precious nothing to alleviate the essence of their efforts being a rebellion against G-d Himself. (In fact, in certain ways, Jewish heretics are worse than non-Jewish ones.)

7.  In addition, Our Sages exhort us, for all generations to know, that "Gadol haMachti'yoh yosair min ha'Horg'oh;" those who endanger our souls by attempting to cause us to sin are EVEN worse that evildoers who seek to kill our physical bodies.

8. Interestingly, conversations with candid former-IDF servicemen from the Yom Kippur War era  clearly establish that the socialist Israeli Establishment of the time  generously provided BOTH: spiritual and physical endangerment of the Jewish People.

9.  Their antireligious credentials were notoriously impeccable. Their prewar criminal negligence -  sacrificing about two and a half thousand Jewish soldiers out of an arrogant refusal to call up reservists during the military buildup preceding the Yom Kippur war - clearly exhibited their callous attitude towards Jewish blood (i.e., as long as is wasn't their own blood). Israeli society lost thousands of its prized young men then, in a series of preventable miscalculations about enemy military intentions. Many of those soldiers, on the various fronts, were caught by surprise, totally unprepared, and massively - perhaps astronomically - outnumbered. They fought heroically to delay the onslaught of attacking armies, to save the masses of Jews, but they themselves were massacred.. 

10.  All that occurs is through Divine Providence. However, with regards to who bears human responsibility, from a military perspective, the arrogance of the elitist leftist Israeli leadership killed thousands of their best servicemen.

11. Israeli PM Netanyahu, on the other hand, works hard to project himself as rightwing on security, as a disciple of secular Zionist leader Jabotinsky (who, incidentally, if alive still, would probably find a number of current Netanyahu government policies somewhat idiotic).

12.  That predominant hawkish impression is aided primarily by Netanyahu's acumen to communicate, PR in short.

13.  Building on this projected persona, at the aforementioned Holocaust World Forum-op, Netanyahu identified a premier goal of his: 

"And therefore, at the foundation of the revival of the State of Israel is one main imperative: There will never be a second Holocaust. As the Prime Minister of Israel, this is my supreme obligation."
(https://www.timesofisrael.com/the-world-turned-it-back-on-us-full-text-of-netanyahus-holocaust-forum-speech/)


14.  As believing Jews, of course, we know that that itself is kefirah, heresy. Man cannot dictate what G-d does. IF, G-d forbid, our communal rebellion against G-d again results in G-d decreeing another such event, then all the nuclear weapons and advanced technology in the world won't stop it. And Rabbi Meir Kahane HY"D (to whom the slogan "Never Again" is attributed) himself acknowledged that obvious fact, i.e. that only G-d can protect us from another Holocaust, R"L.

15.  What most endangers Jews in Israel today - not only spiritually - but physically too - is communally rebelling against G-d - especially as manifested by the ongoing persecution of sincerely faithful Jews, Jews who clinging to His Torah, despite religious persecution perpetrated by Jews themselves, under the veneer of Jewish government.

16. It is precisely such a rebellion against G-d, and persecution of his sincere adherents, that makes the unthinkable "Again" a very real possibility, G-d forbid.  The threat of a second Holocaust, against which Netanyahu grandstands, is posed by policies of Netanyahu's own government. This includes policies such as the relentless, systemic government persecution of innocent teenagers and young women Refuseniks, resisting the anti-Torah military draft.


17.  Remember, these Refuseniks are simply noshim tzidkaniyos (righteous women), who simply wish nothing more than to protect their modesty and purity - and fidelity to the moral values that the Torah itself declares "yai'horaig ve'al ya'avor" (mandating sacrificing one's life if need be to preserve); see Shulchan Aruch Yoreh Daiyah 157.


18.  It is these girls and women who brave human rights abuses by the Israeli Army, Draft Office, Justice System, Civil and Military Prisons, Civil and Military Police, with collaboration of the leftist think tanks, foundations, Knesset factions and Media. The antireligious persecution is systemic. The crusade against righteous Jewish teenagers and women and their many advocates  could not possibly go on for so long if the persecution was anything other than a deeply rooted, systemic cancer embedded in the Israeli government and societal elite. 

19.  As one former IDF veteran of the Yom Kippur War era observed, one would think that the Israeli Establishment would have learned from the consequences of their deadly arrogance in 1973 -- but they did not. The current "right-wing" leftist Establishment in power projects a different image, sports various ideological and political divergences, but still clings to the original elitist, leftist arrogance, and their basic agenda of the holistic separation of the Jewish People from G-d and His Torah - body, mind, and spirit.

20.  Over the top? The evidence for the aforementioned observation is in the very deeds and policies of the Netanyahu government itself.  Again, this anti-G-d agenda is perhaps most manifest to the World in the brutally callous manner in which the government abuses Israeli girls for simply refusing to enlist in the Army, as has been reported on online and in print for about a year, in the Jewish Press, on DaatTorah.blogspot.com, and elsewhere. (The large majority of the world considers forcibly drafting girls into the military anathema. Israel is one of the few countries on the planet that does that.)

21.  This observation provides some insight into the meaning of the sign held at the aforementioned protest proclaiming "Spiritual Auschwitz."  It's not only that the government draft of girls, along with the attendant religious persecution of Refusenik girls will, if not stopped, lead R"L to horrific physical consequences. More than that, right now it is a spiritual catastrophe. Drafting girls is not only an indescribable cruelty to individual girls and their families (both their current and their future families), it also threatens to destroy the future of the Jewish People, especially spiritually, in ways many of our external enemies failed.

Only 10% think plan will bring peace

https://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Poll-finds-only-10-percent-think-Trump-plan-will-bring-peace-615867

 Only 10% of Israelis are optimistic that US President Donald Trump’s new “Deal of the Century” diplomatic plan will bring about peace between Israelis and Palestinians, a Kantar poll taken for KAN found on Wednesday.
The poll found that 61% of the 553 respondents, representing a statistical sample of the Israeli population, did not believe the plan would lead to peace, and 29% said they did not know.
 

How the Middle East Is Reacting to Donald Trump's Israeli-Palestinian Peace Plan

https://www.newsweek.com/middle-east-react-trump-peace-plan-1484491

Both Netanyahu and his upcoming elections rival Benny Gantz endorsed the proposal, but it was received less warmly in the Middle East.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas roundly rejected the Trump administration's strategy even before it was released. Following Trump's reveal on Tuesday, Abbas held a press conference at which he responded to the plan "with a thousand no's," especially to the U.S. proposal for an "undivided" Israeli capital in Jerusalem and a separate Palestinian capital somewhere on the eastern outskirts of the holy city.

Abbas: 1,000 ‘no’s to the Trump plan

https://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Peace-group-Joint-List-slam-Deal-of-the-Century-615711

 Referring to the plan as “the slap of the century,” Abbas said he did not find anything new in Trump’s announcement.
 

Birth of another terrorist nation

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/Articles/Article.aspx/25099

 
Yes, a two-state solution.
What does Israel get? Not much. Nothing really, except that Arafat will grudgingly stop murdering Israelis, at least not as often. 
Actually, to keep Clinton and the Arabs happy, Israel had to release 500 Arab terrorists from its prisons.
But quite a ceremony it was back then, and it was, yes it was a deal of the century in lowercase. Now it’s in uppercase, and so what’s new? Nothing.

Trump praises Pompeo for berating NPR reporter