Twitter has long been a toxic social medium. People don't generally know each other on the platform -- and some use fake or troll accounts -- so they say anything, often the most outrageous things, to attack one another.
That said, it has also felt necessary, at least in my line of work. It's "mainstream," unlike self-consciously conservative competitors which become echo chambers. It's got a liberal bias, both in structure and membership, but I like the challenge.
My strategy has been to ignore bad behavior through a judicious use of the "mute" button -- which denies those whom you are "muting" the perverse satisfaction of being "blocked." But things are much, much worse lately.
I'm not talking about garden-variety abuse. I'm talking about really toxic ideas. Example: CNN hosts a former congressman to claim Republicans are "authoritarian," and this is treated as truth, not as inflammatory propaganda.
One has to push back, but it is exhausting. And you become aware that so much of what is online is driven by some deep psychological wounds that some of these people can't find another way to address. They're driving us crazy.
This week's show will be slightly different from the norm: we'll focus on clips and topics, rather than guests -- and that, hopefully, will mean more input from the callers (unless you are all watching football on opening weekend).
Topics:
- The state of the economy
- The fight against crime
- The midterm election fight
- The struggle for peace between Russia and Ukraine
- The airstrike on the Venezuelan drug cartel
- The attempt to sink Kennedy
- The war in Gaza
- The case against Harvard
- The Trump presidency
Tune in: SiriusXM Patriot 125, 7-10 p.m. ET / 4-7 p.m. PT
Call: 866-957-2874
This week's Torah portion includes several laws about conduct in civic and personal life, the common theme of which is boundaries -- setting bounds to what one may do at home, at work, and even in the battlefield.
One noteworthy passage concerns Amalek, the evil nation that attacked the Children of Israel as they made their Exodus from slavery to freedom. Deuteronomy 25:17-19 commands Jews to obliterate Amalek's memory.
The South African government accused Israel of genocide on the basis of a story about Amalek in the Book of Samuel, in which King Saul was commanded to wipe out the entire evil Amalekite nation.
Because Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu quoted this week's portion -- "Remember what Amalek did to you" (25:17), the South African government claimed he was commanding soldiers to commit genocide.
It was an absurd and malevolent misreading of the Bible and of Jewish tradition. The commandment, as observed by Jews today, is to remember the evil of Amalek and fight ...
