I'm not just defending my old boss here; I'm defending sanity. What could Bannon possibly know about the January 6 riot (a.k.a. "insurrection)? He left the administration more than three years before it happened. He's not mentioned in hundreds of federal court documents in trials of rioters. Nor is Kash Patel, the former Trump national security advisor who caught Democrats in their unmasking scandal. But he's also been subpoenaed about January 6.
The clue here is the involvement of Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA), the execrable House Intelligence Committee chair who lied to the public about his role in the engineering of the first Trump impeachment, broke his pledge to make the so-called "whistleblower" available, and spied on fellow committee members. Schiff has always wanted to get Bannon, and hates Patel for blowing the whistle on the Democrats for abusing their power in the Russia collusion hoax.
The public is being told that these subpoenas are so important that they warrant criminal referral when defied. In fact, what these subpoenas demonstrate is that the January 6 commission is nothing more than a totalitarian show trial, and anyone involved in them -- especially Republicans Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger -- should not only be ashamed but should be voted out of office and opposed vigorously if they ever seek public office again.
This week’s portion launches the great story of Abraham, who is told to leave everything of his life behind — except his immediate family — and to leave for “the Land that I shall show you.”
There’s something interesting in the fact that Abraham is told to leave his father’s house, as if breaking away from his father’s life — but his father, in fact, began the journey, moving from Ur to Haran (in last week’s portion). His father set a positive example — why should Abraham leave him?
Some obvious answers suggest themselves — adulthood, needing to make one’s own choices, his father not going far enough, etc.
But I think there is another answer. Abraham (known for the moment as Abram) needs to establish his own household. This is not just about making one’s own choice, but really about choosing one’s own starting point. It’s starting over.
Sometimes we start over in fundamental ways even if much that surrounds us remains the same. Sometimes the journey we have to ...
The story of Noah is familiar; the details, less so.
Noah is often seen as an ambivalent figure. He was righteous -- but only for his generation. What was his deficiency?
One answer suggests itself: knowing that the world was about to be flooded, he built an Ark for the animals and for his own family -- but did not try to save anyone else or to convince them to repent and change their ways (the prophet Jonah, later, would share that reluctance).
Abraham, later, would set himself apart by arguing with God -- with the Lord Himself! -- against the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, saying that they should be saved if there were enough righteous people to be found (there were not).
Still, Noah was good enough -- and sometimes, that really is sufficient to save the world. We don't need heroes every time -- just ordinary decency.
Hi all -- as I noted last month, I'm going to be closing down my Locals page, at least for tips and subscriptions -- I may keep the page up and the posts as well, but I'm no longer going to be accepting any kind of payment.
Look for cancelation in the very near future. Thank you for your support!
