The media are abuzz with anticipation about a new witness in the January 6 hearings: Matt Pottinger, a former deputy national security advisor who resigned on January 6. He is not a direct witness to anything, but is being called because the committee's primary goal is to cast aspersions on Donald Trump.
Not that Trump doesn't deserve them -- I thought the entire January 6 protest was a bad idea, and said so beforehand -- but this is not actually about Trump.
The January 6 committee is a Stalinist show trial. It is being conducted by one party to humiliate and destroy the other. It is unconstitutional and unlawful, and is destroying the civil liberties and reputations of innocent people.
If Pottinger wants to have his say about Trump, the country's op-ed pages are open to him; there are book publishers eager to provide contracts, etc. By going along with this charade, he is hurting everyone else's constitutional rights.
I won't condemn those who testify under threat of subpoena and jail time -- though I feel that the best moral course for them would be to defy the committee and accept the consequences. But volunteering? No excuse.
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!
...
