Today's exchange between President Joe Biden and the increasingly impressive Peter Doocy of Fox News was alarming because Biden appeared not to recall his own nearly disastrous gaffes in Europe -- about the U.S. potentially using chemical weapons in response to Russia's potential use of the same, about U.S. troops going to Ukraine, and about a supposed goal of regime change in Russia. Each of these could launch a World War III-type conflict, and yet Biden said they never happened. Well, that's not all he said: he also said he never walked back the regime change comment (in fact, he did), then he reiterated it, but said it was only a statement of "moral outrage" and not meant as a new policy.
Get that?
Anti-Trump pundits like Bill Kristol were at pains to compare Biden's Warsaw speech, at which the regime change comments were made, to Ronald Reagan's "tear down this wall" speech in Berlin. But Reagan did not ad lib the comments, nor did he walk them back. A better parallel would have been Reagan's 1984 joke, when he was warming up for a radio interview and said: "My fellow Americans, I'm pleased to tell you today that I've signed legislation that will outlaw Russia forever. We begin bombing in five minutes."
He had to walk that one back once it leaked, for obvious reasons. But at least Reagan knew he was joking, even if the Russians couldn't or didn't.
So the question is: can we afford to have a president in office who can't recall what he said, and contradicts himself even as he's trying to correct the record, when the consequences of those public words could have major consequences?
Let's play that old game: what if Trump did it? You already know the answer.
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 ...
