I'm heading back to the U.S. after ten days in South Africa, where I launched the biography of Rhoda Kadalie. Everything went well and I had a great time. I also learned a lot about the current political debates there -- including the odd attempt to rewrite history, casting Thabo Mbeki's presidency as a Golden Age.
You can understand why that story might be persuasive to South Africans. In the Mbeki era, the economy was growing; construction was booming; there was only a little bit of "load shedding." The Zuma era, with its wholesale looting and "state capture," seems so much worse; there is almost a kind of Mbeki nostalgia.
The truth is that the seeds of South Africa's present crisis were planted in the Mbeki era. What Rhoda, Tony Leon, Helen Zille, and a few others understood was Mbeki's intolerance to opposition and his racial thinking -- both of which were demonstrated in the HIV/Aids and Zimbabwe crises -- were destructive.
Mbeki also presided over the era of BEE, when South Africa diverted scarce capital away from productive investment and toward racial redistribution to members of the ruling party. The model for corruption was set: when Zuma led a group of disgruntled outsiders to power, they simply exploited the pattern.
I think the revisionism is partly being engineered by Mbeki and his loyalists, but is also embraced by those who are desperate to see a way out of the country's present troubles. The opposition does not look likely to take over in 2024, even though the ruling party's fortunes are falling. Hence the wishful thinking.
But Mbeki's presidency remains the moment when the rot set in. Rhoda knew that, and wrote about it. She was often a lone voice of opposition, but she was right. That's another reason the book is relevant, and timely: South Africans need to have an honest conversation about how they got to where they are.
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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