Voters elected a new Congressional majority in November -- and a small faction of Republicans defeated Kevin McCarthy, who leads that majority, on the first ballot for Speaker. Democrat leader Hakeem Jeffries won a plurality of the vote.
This is not about debate or policy. The breakaway faction has no alternative candidate or policies. Aside from narcissism, their primary motivation is to express displeasure at the failure of the Republican "establishment."
Do you achieve that by starting the new Congress with a weakened leader? By possibly handing victory to the Democrats? By risking oversight and control of the committees? By usurping the will of the majority of Republican voters?
I spoke out against the January 6th rally in 2021 before it happened because I could see, in advance, that it would fail. I'm tired of being dictated to by those who only find their courage in the first week of January. Stand together or quit.
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:
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 ...