I shared a thought on Twitter yesterday that led to a rather unusual backlash, one led by a former college friend who has been a troll for years already.
Reacting to a story about CNN blaming Tucker Carlson and "replacement theory" for the horrific mass shooting by a racist gunman in Buffalo, I pointed out that to the extent "replacement theory" is a problem, at least in its non-racial sense, it derives its power from the fact that it provides the best explanation for Democrats' complete refusal to guard the U.S. border.
Boy, did that set the cat amongst the proverbial pigeons. I was called a racist, a white supremacist, you name it. I endured all kinds of abuse, some of which I won't bore you with. But through it all, I had a thought: I bet this isn't an article.
You see, when I screw up, or post something stupid, it almost invariably ends up as an article somewhere -- at Media Matters, or at some other left-wing website. It might still happen, but thus far, nothing: pure crickets.
I had a feeling it wouldn't be an article, you see, because I felt that my critics would not want the whole tweet to get out. Because not only to I allow for the fact that "replacement theory" might be a problem, but I point out that Democrats lack an alternative explanation for their failures. And the fact is that there really are political motives for Democrats' inaction on the southern border.
Sure enough, today: silence. At least so far.
https://twitter.com/joelpollak/status/1525869457435807744?s=20&t=ymm42t69LYc42_TrWr46-A
This is the portion that all journalists should love: the Torah tells the story of the 12 spies, only two of whom tell the truth when the other ten shade it in a negative away (perhaps to suit a political agenda that is opposed to Moses).
It's not that the ten "lying" spies misconstrue the facts about the Land of Israel; rather, they interject their opinions that the land is impossible to conquer, which strikes unnecessary terror into the hearts of the people.
We have many examples of such fake news today -- from the Iranian propaganda outlets spreading false claims that they are winning the war, to California politicians spreading false horror stories about ICE raids in L.A.
The people realize, too late, that they have been fooled, and once they are condemned to die in the desert, they try to rush into Israel -- only to be defeated by the inhabitants, as the spies predicted that they would be.
But as consolation, God gives the people new commandments -- focused on things they must ...
This week's portion discusses the procedure for lighting the menorah, the holy seven-branched lamp, in the Tabernacle (and later the Temple). It also describes an episode where the people crave meat, and God punishes them by giving it to them in excess. We also read the story of Miriam, Moses's sister, who is punished with the spiritual skin blemish of tzara'at for speaking about her brother, thus violating the prohibition against lashon hara (evil tongue).
I heard a fantastic sermon this week about the lighting of the menorah: that while only the priests were qualified to clean and purify the menorah, anyone could light it. A reminder that each of us can inspire others along the way.
This week we study the vow of the Nazirite; a reminder that sometimes trying to be too holy is excessive, and the best we can do is to be the best that we are.
https://www.chabad.org/parshah/torahreading_cdo/aid/2495720/p/complete/jewish/Naso-Torah-Reading.htm
