I picked up my son from his elementary school just after I learned about the mass shooting at a similar school in Texas, and I realized how lucky I was to be doing that. I thought of the parents at Uvalde, who were waiting ...
No one can hear that news and not be moved. And pretty much everyone reacts by wondering if we can "do something." Unfortunately, there's not much "something" that we can do that will have any effect at all in the near term.
Gun control doesn't work, and won't be possible in a crime wave. Democrats can't have it both ways: you can't spend a whole year demonizing police and cutting their funds and then make it harder for citizens to protect themselves.
Mental health is a real issue, though it's not a quick fix. I tend to believe we have something wrong in our popular culture, when young men (they are almost all young men) seek fulfillment in these dramatic, murderous shooting episodes.
If I were to do anything -- and I wouldn't actually do this, because it's not constitutional -- I would ban first-person shooter games. I think that while most people don't enact their fantasies, there are always a few who will.
Meanwhile... much of the shrieking from celebrities and politicians is just that: shrieking. It's narcissism at best, and exploitation of tragedy for political purposes, at worst. Democrats need an issue, and they are desperate.
This is my first broadcast from the new office and studio in Washington, DC, where I'll be for a couple of years my neighborhood back in L.A. cleans up -- and as we follow the Trump administration from a little closer up than usual.
Topics:
- The anniversary of the attempted assassination of President Donald Trump
- The escalating tariff battle with various different trading partners
- The future of the Middle East peace talks, and ongoing antisemitism
- The Jeffrey Epstein files and whether they mean anything at all
- The continued crisis of the Texas floods, and stories of heroism and survival
And more!
Special guests:
- James Rosen - Newsmax chief Washington correspondent
- Bob Price - Breitbart News Texas reporter, on the ongoing floods
- Robert Cahill - Trafalgar Polling, on a new alliance of reliable pollsters
- Rabbi Yaakov Menken - Coalition for Jewish Values - on Israel & antisemitism
Tune in: 7-10 p.m. ET, 4-7 p.m. PT
Call: 866-957-2874
This week’s portion tells the grand story of the prophet who tried to curse people of Israel and instead ended up blessing them.
I am reminded that these portions continue to be relevant anew, as this particular reading lent the title for Israel’s recent 12 Day War against Iran, “Operation Rising Lion.”
This week's portion includes the commandment of the red heifer -- one of the classic "irrational" commandments whose fulfillment is an expression of faith. It also includes the regrettable episode in which Moses strikes the rock.
I referred to this story in a wedding speech last night. Why was Moses punished for striking the rock in Numbers, when he struck the rock without incident in Exodus -- both for the purpose of providing water to the people?
The answer is that in the interim, the Jewish people had received the Torah, which is like the marriage contract between the people of Israel and God. In a marriage, you do not resolve things by breaking boundaries, but through love.
The additional reading, from Judges Chapter 11, is the story of Jephthah (Yiftach), a man whom the leaders spurn, but to whom they must turn to save the nation. The parallels to our present political circumstances are striking.
Shabbat Shalom and Happy Fourth of July!
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