Five years ago -- before Trump -- California began slapping travel bans on conservative states that passed conservative social legislation.
The Sacramento Bee noted Monday that with a new travel ban on Ohio, in response to a law allowing doctors to refuse to participate in treatments that violate their moral or religious conscience (think: abortion or gender reassignment surgery), California has now banned state-funded travel to one-third of the U.S. by population, and 72% of the states that voted for Trump.
There are all kinds of loopholes, but this really is a bizarre form of protest, one that severs official ties with much of America: just look at the Bee's map of the banned states. It is now impossible to drive cross-country from California without passing through a a banned state.
Notably, the bans have had little effect. One state, North Carolina, remains banned even though it repealed a controversial 2016 transgender bathroom law. Evidently, it is on the list simply for being North Carolina.
Not only is California showing -- again -- the intolerance of the left, but it is also contributing to the crackup of the American body politic. Being a citizen, being an adult, means learning to live with people even if you disagree with them. You don't have to accept everything they do, but the set of things that should prompt a severing of relations is really rather small.
https://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article254625357.html
I should have noted in my message about the weekly Torah portion that this week is Shabbat Chazon, the Sabbath of Vision. We are about to mourn -- but see through that pain to something better that lies beyond, on the other side.
Wishing you the best vision -- and an incredible reality to follow. It happens!
We begin the final speech of Moses to the people of Israel before they enter the Promised Land. He relates the ups and downs of the years of wandering in the desert, before, finally, the people have the merit to enter the land itself.
This Sabbath always precedes Tisha B'Av, the Ninth of Av, the saddest day on the Jewish calendar. It is the anniversary of the destruction of both of the Holy Temples, and a catch-all for many calamities that befell the Jewish people.
A word on Tisha B'Av. This year I am leaving for an overseas trip during the afternoon of the holiday -- in the middle of a fast day. Not idea, but there was no other choice. But my flight is in the afternoon, which is significant.
We relax some of the harsh, mournful customs of the day in the afternoon. We start to pray normally; we sit on regular chairs; we start to have hope again in the redemption that will, one day, lead us all back from exile to our home.
I'll be taking a trip to a land where an important part of ...
President Trump is in Scotland, playing golf and making big trade deals -- a major deal with the EU, in fact. Meanwhile, there is a global outcry about humanitarian aid to Palestinians (not about the Israeli hostages, mind you).
On top of that, Democrats are at their lowest polling numbers ever -- so they are trying to win control of the House by redistricting in the middle of a 10-year Census cycle. Oh, economic optimism is up, so they have a tough road.
And Tulsi Gabbard's revelations about the Russia collusion investigation make it clear that Obama's lieutenants lied to Congress. How deeply was he himself involved? The media continue to ignore the evidence, but we certainly won't.
Special guests:
Nick Gilbertson - Breitbart News White House correspondent, on EU deal
Frances Martel - Breitbart News foreign editor, on Trump abroad and Russia
John Spencer - urban warfare expert, on humanitarian aid and war in Gaza
Bradley Jaye - Breitbart News congressional correspondent, on the ...
