There is so much happening at the moment in U.S. news... and yet my trip to South Africa is just three days away. I think I'm going to have to shift into South Africa mode in fairly short order.
Today I'm returning from a very interesting speaking journey to the Bay Area, where I addressed Republicans in Pleasanton. Speaking to Republican audiences in the midst of the pandemic is always interesting. People don't like masks or social distancing; handshakes are the norm. I don't think I've shaken more than half a dozen hands in two years; I've gone full fist-bump. There is a cultural rejection of the pandemic conventions among conservative audiences. Just interesting.
People are fired-up. I haven't seen Republicans this energized about an election since the 2010 Tea Party -- and people are savvier now than they were then. The "resistance," as such, feels more focused. I will also say this: the anti-tax movement is much stronger among Republicans than even the establishment media understands. You don't have to pander to it, but people are not interested in being lectured to about the vaccine. The safe ground is to oppose mandates -- though, when asked, I talk freely about my own choice to be vaccinated.
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 ...
