Roy Moore ran for Senate in Alabama in 2017 and lost. He had many weaknesses as a candidate, but the most important one was the accusation that he had made sexual advances to an underage girl four decades before. The Washington Post, which reported that allegations could not prove it, but bolstered it by adding claims that Moore had legal relationships with young women in their late teens when he was in his late twenties.
I was asked, on the spot, to comment on the Moore story when it came out. I said that the underage allegations, if true, were very bad, but I also pointed out that the Post had deliberately conflated legal relationships with an illegal one. I didn't say this at the time, but one of the reasons I was sensitive to the issue was that I myself met my wife when she was 17 and I was 27. We began dating at 18 and we have been happily married for nearly 14 years, with three children.
Long story short -- I was accused of defending a pedophile, and pedophilia. A writer for the Bulwark -- the Trump-hating, so-called "conservative" outfit -- repeated the false accusation today. I responded on Twitter. But it's worth noting the depths to which some people will descend in an attempt to smear their opponents in a political argument.
One more point: Moore recently won a defamation suit against a Democratic super PAC for the kind of conflation I am describing.
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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