After watching the 7th public hearing of the January 6th Committee, I'm so disgusted by their manipulation of evidence, their abuse of witnesses, their denial of due process, and their outright lies that I've concluded the only honorable course of action left for a witness is to resist and accept jail time.
As you know, if you've followed me for long enough, I opposed the January 6 rally; I considered the election neither free nor fair, NOR fraudulent, and congratulated Joe Biden when he won the Electoral College; yet I consider this Inquisition a grotesque abuse of civil liberties that will do lasting damage.
There is precedent, in the noble tradition of the civil rights movement, to be prepared to accept imprisonment as the penalty for disobeying an unjust law. That, I believe, is what future witnesses hauled before the committee must be prepared to face. It is a hard choice, but it is also the only moral choice.
I'm not giving legal advice here, nor am I judging those who have testified already. Probably, they imagine that because no one takes these hearings seriously anyway, it does not matter. But it does. The rules of due process are the glue that holds our society together. It is worth self-sacrifice to save them.
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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