I spent much of the day at Hillsdale College in rural Michigan, an institution that has become crucial to the conservative movement. I am involved in some projects there, together with my wife.
We spent an hour in a lecture on political economy. The professor was going over an exam -- a multiple-choice test. Sound boring? It wasn't. The test was about Hayek and Bastiat, two great thinkers.
I attended Harvard College for four years and studied political theory. I never once encountered Hayek or Bastiat, though they are crucial to the classical liberal tradition. I was assigned Marx about five times.
The first time I heard of Hayek was in South Africa, when working for the political opposition. I only read his writing at Harvard Law School, when it was suggested by a friend. I never encountered Bastiat.
I relate this to you at the risk of exposing the deficiencies in my own education to show you just how benighted our elite institutions are. Harvard trains the brightest students to hate liberty, and themselves.
Hillsdale is countering that by offering its students -- who are also among the best -- a true grounding in the thinkers and values that make our society the freest and most successful in the world.
The purpose of education is not to flatter the status quo (Hillsdale teaches about Marx, too). But it ought to transmit society's values while providing the tools to succeed. Hillsdale is in a class of its own.
I should have noted in my message about the weekly Torah portion that this week is Shabbat Chazon, the Sabbath of Vision. We are about to mourn -- but see through that pain to something better that lies beyond, on the other side.
Wishing you the best vision -- and an incredible reality to follow. It happens!
We begin the final speech of Moses to the people of Israel before they enter the Promised Land. He relates the ups and downs of the years of wandering in the desert, before, finally, the people have the merit to enter the land itself.
This Sabbath always precedes Tisha B'Av, the Ninth of Av, the saddest day on the Jewish calendar. It is the anniversary of the destruction of both of the Holy Temples, and a catch-all for many calamities that befell the Jewish people.
A word on Tisha B'Av. This year I am leaving for an overseas trip during the afternoon of the holiday -- in the middle of a fast day. Not idea, but there was no other choice. But my flight is in the afternoon, which is significant.
We relax some of the harsh, mournful customs of the day in the afternoon. We start to pray normally; we sit on regular chairs; we start to have hope again in the redemption that will, one day, lead us all back from exile to our home.
I'll be taking a trip to a land where an important part of ...
President Trump is in Scotland, playing golf and making big trade deals -- a major deal with the EU, in fact. Meanwhile, there is a global outcry about humanitarian aid to Palestinians (not about the Israeli hostages, mind you).
On top of that, Democrats are at their lowest polling numbers ever -- so they are trying to win control of the House by redistricting in the middle of a 10-year Census cycle. Oh, economic optimism is up, so they have a tough road.
And Tulsi Gabbard's revelations about the Russia collusion investigation make it clear that Obama's lieutenants lied to Congress. How deeply was he himself involved? The media continue to ignore the evidence, but we certainly won't.
Special guests:
Nick Gilbertson - Breitbart News White House correspondent, on EU deal
Frances Martel - Breitbart News foreign editor, on Trump abroad and Russia
John Spencer - urban warfare expert, on humanitarian aid and war in Gaza
Bradley Jaye - Breitbart News congressional correspondent, on the ...
