Remember Khizr Khan? He was the scourge of Donald Trump in 2016, the bereaved Muslim father of a fallen U.S. soldier who died in Iraq. He excoriated Trump at the Democratic National Convention over the issue of Trump's views on Islam, and he became a national hero.
Remember Trump's supposed comments about dead troops being "suckers" and "losers"? That story in the Atlantic that no one seemed to be able to confirm, and which anyone in a position to know -- even disloyal officials -- denied, yet became a cable news staple?
That's how Democrats and the media use veterans, and fallen heroes -- to attack Republican candidates. And it usually works, because shellshocked Republicans like veterans so much that they fear pushing back, even when the attacks are based on total distortions.
Then there are the Gold Star families of the Afghanistan 13 -- those men and women who were killed by a terrorist bombing in the chaotic U.S. evacuation from Kabul. (Many were wounded as well.) They have been treated like dirt by President Biden for two years.
As Logan Dobson pointed out on Twitter, the cable news networks -- other than Fox -- ignored the Gold Star families' memorial ceremony yesterday. Yet they couldn't get enough of the "suckers" story. Maybe next time, we should recognize their' abuse of veterans for what it is.
This week’s portion launches the great story of Abraham, who is told to leave everything of his life behind — except his immediate family — and to leave for “the Land that I shall show you.”
There’s something interesting in the fact that Abraham is told to leave his father’s house, as if breaking away from his father’s life — but his father, in fact, began the journey, moving from Ur to Haran (in last week’s portion). His father set a positive example — why should Abraham leave him?
Some obvious answers suggest themselves — adulthood, needing to make one’s own choices, his father not going far enough, etc.
But I think there is another answer. Abraham (known for the moment as Abram) needs to establish his own household. This is not just about making one’s own choice, but really about choosing one’s own starting point. It’s starting over.
Sometimes we start over in fundamental ways even if much that surrounds us remains the same. Sometimes the journey we have to ...
The story of Noah is familiar; the details, less so.
Noah is often seen as an ambivalent figure. He was righteous -- but only for his generation. What was his deficiency?
One answer suggests itself: knowing that the world was about to be flooded, he built an Ark for the animals and for his own family -- but did not try to save anyone else or to convince them to repent and change their ways (the prophet Jonah, later, would share that reluctance).
Abraham, later, would set himself apart by arguing with God -- with the Lord Himself! -- against the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, saying that they should be saved if there were enough righteous people to be found (there were not).
Still, Noah was good enough -- and sometimes, that really is sufficient to save the world. We don't need heroes every time -- just ordinary decency.
Hi all -- as I noted last month, I'm going to be closing down my Locals page, at least for tips and subscriptions -- I may keep the page up and the posts as well, but I'm no longer going to be accepting any kind of payment.
Look for cancelation in the very near future. Thank you for your support!
