My city council member, Mike Bonin, has escaped a recall election in dubious circumstances: the city clerk disqualified enough signatures to make sure he survived until his re-election. He is delighted, calling his escape a win for his "progressive" values, and blaming right-wing forces for the whole effort.
Bonin symbolizes the arrogance of left-wing politicians who know they almost never lose in Democrat-run cities. He wanted to put homeless shelters on the beach; he has presided over a shocking rise in crime, much of it perpetrated by those same homeless people, including the murder of a constituent this week.
He is blaming right-wing donors and right-wing media, but many of the people who want him gone are left-wing. The neighborhood council in Venice -- not exactly a right-wing haven -- declared it had "no confidence" in him after he screwed up homeless policy there. He is a symbol of a nationwide plague.
This week's show will be slightly different from the norm: we'll focus on clips and topics, rather than guests -- and that, hopefully, will mean more input from the callers (unless you are all watching football on opening weekend).
Topics:
- The state of the economy
- The fight against crime
- The midterm election fight
- The struggle for peace between Russia and Ukraine
- The airstrike on the Venezuelan drug cartel
- The attempt to sink Kennedy
- The war in Gaza
- The case against Harvard
- The Trump presidency
Tune in: SiriusXM Patriot 125, 7-10 p.m. ET / 4-7 p.m. PT
Call: 866-957-2874
This week's Torah portion includes several laws about conduct in civic and personal life, the common theme of which is boundaries -- setting bounds to what one may do at home, at work, and even in the battlefield.
One noteworthy passage concerns Amalek, the evil nation that attacked the Children of Israel as they made their Exodus from slavery to freedom. Deuteronomy 25:17-19 commands Jews to obliterate Amalek's memory.
The South African government accused Israel of genocide on the basis of a story about Amalek in the Book of Samuel, in which King Saul was commanded to wipe out the entire evil Amalekite nation.
Because Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu quoted this week's portion -- "Remember what Amalek did to you" (25:17), the South African government claimed he was commanding soldiers to commit genocide.
It was an absurd and malevolent misreading of the Bible and of Jewish tradition. The commandment, as observed by Jews today, is to remember the evil of Amalek and fight ...
