Monday, July 13, 2020
An Indefensible Commutation
https://www.nationalreview.com/2020/07/an-indefensible-commutation/
Trump has commuted the sentence of
Roger Stone. The timing, late on Friday, suggests internal embarrassment
over the move, and we wish there were more.
The commutation is a move fully within the president’s powers and in
keeping with the long-established pattern of presidents’ pardoning or
commuting the sentences of associates caught up in special-counsel
probes, although usually the associates aren’t as sleazy as Stone. We’re
a long way from George H. W. Bush’s pardoning Cap Weinberger, the great
Reagan-era defense official, who had been indicted for perjury and
obstruction of justice in the Lawrence Walsh investigation.
No one would think of letting Roger Stone anywhere near any serious
responsibility, and even the Trump campaign in 2016 had the sense to
keep him at arm’s length.
There is no doubt, though, that Stone was guilty of perjury and a
laughably ham-handed attempt at witness tampering. He was justly
convicted of these charges and deserved to go to jail; in our system of
justice, self-parody is no defense.
Attorney General Bill Barr reportedly opposed the commutation and was
right to do so. The act of clemency is made worse by the fact that
Stone repeatedly argued that he was owed it for his loyalty to the
president.
Terms of Michael Cohen's return to prison under scrutiny
https://edition.cnn.com/2020/07/10/politics/michael-cohen-prison-paperwork-dispute/index.html
After spending the past several weeks on New York's tony Upper East Side,
Michael Cohen has found himself back in federal prison after a dispute
with the government over what his lawyers say were restrictions in
paperwork designed to prevent him from finishing a book about the
president.
The form
in question, a two-page document titled "Federal Location Monitoring
Program Participant Agreement," had called for Cohen to abstain from
communicating with members of the media — a provision that he had balked
at given the pending release of his tell-all book, and one which his
legal team has claimed is unusual.
Defense
attorneys and legal experts that CNN spoke with Friday said that the
form appeared to be tailored to Cohen, the flamboyant former fixer to
President Donald Trump, whose affinity for the press is well known. Some
called it unfair.
A spokesman for the Administrative
Office of the US Courts, the judiciary agency that oversees the federal
probation system, declined to comment on the specifics of Cohen's case,
but added that no standard probation forms include language related to
media contacts.
Shlach: Repairing the Sin of the Spies
http://www.ravkooktorah.org/SHLACH_65.htm
Rav Kook wrote that even today we still suffer
the consequences of this catastrophic error. The root
cause for the exiles and humiliations of the
Jewish people, throughout the generations, is due to
our failure to correct the sin of the
spies.
To repair this national failure, a teshuvat hamishkal is needed,
a penance commensurate with the sin which
will “balance the scales.” The spies defamed the
Land of Israel, as it says, “They despised
the desirable land” (Psalms 106:24). We must do
the opposite and show our unwavering love for
the Land.
The Sin of the "Spies"
https://www.etzion.org.il/en/sin-spies
According to the
Ramban (13:1 and 13:27) and the Akeidat Yitzchak (77) it appears that
the sin of the spies lay in overstepping the bounds of their authority,
in their transition from being faithful reporters – which was the
mandate given to them - to becoming advisors with their own independent
views and evaluations – which lay outside the bounds of their mission.
Indeed, such a distinction exists in modern intelligence bodies, where
the function of the information gatherers is to report on what they have
seen or heard, and that of the intelligence evaluators is to evaluate
the situation or even to provide advice, on the basis of that
information. In the transition from one function to the other they did
indeed overstep their authority, but ultimately this was no more than a
formal sin. Is this really what constituted the true sin of the spies?
Is Aliyah a Mitzvah?
https://www.ou.org/blog/is-aliyah-a-mitzvah/
Rav Moshe Feinstein zt”l (Igros Moshe E.H. 102) discusses whether
there is a mitzvah to make aliyah and why many rabbanim have lived in
the Diaspora. He writes that even according to the opinion of the
Ramban, that there exists a biblical obligation, the nature of this
obligation is different than many other mitzvos. He feels that this
mitzvah is “kiyumis” not “chiyuvis”.
To fully appreciate this distinction, it is necessary to offer an
introduction regarding different types of mitzvos. There exist two types
of mitzvos: 1) “kiyumis”- A mitzvah that is not obligatory, rather if
one fulfills this mitzvah one receives reward (ex. Eating in the Succah
following the first night. For the following meals one does not need to
eat in the Succah, if one were to choose, one can refrain from eating
bread and the like and would not be in violation of any prohibition.
However, if one chooses to eat bread then one must eat it in the succah.
Thus this mitzvah is “optional”.) 2) “Chiyuvis”- A mitzvah that one
must fulfill and is obligatory in nature. (ex. Wearing Tefillin. One
must wear tefillin every day and if one neglects this mitzvah and does
not wear tefillin has done something wrong. Thus this mitzvah is
“obligatory”.)
Now we can understand the ruling of Rav Moshe. He explains that
although there is a mitzvah to live in Israel, however, this mitzvah is
“optional”. Meaning that one is not obligated to move to Israel, rather,
if one lives in Israel he fulfills a mitzvah. Rav Moshe continues, that
because there is no prohibition of living outside of Israel it might be
preferable to do so for the reasons given by Rav Chaim Kohen (namely
that there are many mitzvos and prohibitions that apply specifically to
the Land of Israel and it is difficult to fulfill all of those
obligations.)
Rav Yosef Dov Soloveitchik zt”l agreed with the premise of Rav Moshe
Feinstein. He also felt that the mitzvah to live in Israel is a mitzvah
“kiyumis” and not “chiyuvis” (oral ruling cited by Rav Hershel Schachter
shlit”a sefer Peninei Harav).
Trump says Fauci 'made a lot of mistakes'
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/trump-says-fauci-made-lot-mistakes-n1233402
President Donald Trump on Thursday publicly criticized Dr. Anthony Fauci, saying that one of the nation’s top infectious disease experts "has made a lot of mistakes."
In an interview with Fox News' Sean Hannity, Trump was asked what he makes of hotspots like Texas and Florida and of some of Fauci’s latest comments, though Hannity didn't specify which remarks he was referring to.
White House takes aim at Fauci as he disagrees with Trump on virus
https://edition.cnn.com/2020/07/12/politics/fauci-trump-coronavirus/index.html
As coronavirus cases surge in the United States, the White House is taking aim at the nation's top infectious disease expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci.
In
a statement Saturday, a White House official told CNN that "several
White House officials are concerned about the number of times Dr. Fauci
has been wrong on things." The official went on to provide a lengthy
list of examples, citing Fauci's comments early in the pandemic and
linking to past interviews.
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