Joel Pollak
Politics • Lifestyle • News • Travel • Writing
I will share my thoughts about American politics, as well as current events in Israel and elsewhere, based on my experiences in the U.S., South Africa, and the Middle East. I will also discuss books and popular culture from the perspective of a somewhat libertarian, religiously observant conservative living in California. I will also share art and ideas that I find useful and helpful, and link to my content at Breitbart News, Amazon, and elsewhere.
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Robby Mook's revelation about Hillary Clinton justifies Durham's entire investigation

The big revelation in the Sussmann trial -- John Durham's second, and most high-profile, prosecution -- is that Hillary Clinton herself authorized the leak of the campaign's Alfa Bank conspiracy theory to the media. The theory claimed Trump was colluding with Russia via the bank. It was based on data that the campaign had mined via Sussmann -- though they had no reason to know it was credible. They hoped the FBI, or the media, would be able to authenticate it.

The leak, which apparently resulted in stories at Slate and the New York Times, was aimed at creating an "October surprise" against Trump, who was trailing badly in the polls at the time Sussmann, Marc Elias, Jake Sullivan, and others came up with the scheme -- though by the time the story hit the media, Hillary had suffered an "October surprise" of her own, with James Comey announcing that he was reopening the investigation into her email server.

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/cover_story/2016/10/was_a_server_registered_to_the_trump_organization_communicating_with_russia.html

https://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/01/us/politics/fbi-russia-election-donald-trump.html

The question is: why did Special Counsel Robert Mueller, who led a two-year investigation into the broader "Russia collusion" conspiracy theory, fail to find evidence of Hillary Clinton's role? Why didn't Department of Justice Inspector General Michael Horowitz find it, and why did he conclude that while political bias may have played a role later, the start of the inquiry was basically fine?

The revelation of this fact alone justifies the establishment of the Special Counsel. Clearly the DOJ -- not Mueller, with a team of partisan prosecutors; not the IG, appointed by Barack Obama; and not the rank-and-file agents, who included people like anti-Trump crusader Peter Strzok -- was incapable of handling this entire issue. Without Durham, we would not know that Hillary Clinton was personally responsible for one of the most pernicious lies in American history -- one the American media eagerly peddled to the public.

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Time-lapse sunrise at Temescal Falls
00:00:17
This is what is left of my special place in the forest

Burned, then covered in mudslides and rockslides. The river still flows through it. But we have lost so much. I have to believe the spirit still lives on.

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The drive home 💔
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Weekly Torah reading: Shlach (Numbers 13:1 - 15:41)

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 ...

Weekly Torah portion: Beha'alotecha (Numbers 8:1 - 12:16)

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.

https://www.chabad.org/parshah/torahreading.asp?aid=2495737&jewish=Behaalotecha-Torah-Reading.htm&p=complete

Weekly Torah reading: Naso Numbers 4:21 - 7:89

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

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