Just taking a few notes here as I watch this thing.
Newsom gets points for appearing on Fox, kudos.
Nothing Newsom will say about his record in California will be true.
Nothing DeSantis says will change his fate in the 2024 primary.
Hannity begins by asking about people leaving blue states for red.
DeSantis begins sharply, blaming Newsom personally. This is a bogus move because the question is about policy, not personalities. He went political and I think it made him look small, left an opening for Newsom.
Newsom says he's there to compare Biden-Harris's record to DeSantis's record (which is smart, because his own record is poor). He ignores the question about people leaving blue states for red states by going straight for the cultural questions, accusing DeSantis of "banning" blah blah.
Hannity and DeSantis point out he didn't answer the question.
Newsom talks about how great California is. "California simply has no peers." He's right! But the question is about momentum, not resting on past achievements. California is heading in the wrong direction.
DeSantis gets a good shot in by noting that Newsom's in-laws moved to Florida. Newsom says more Floridians are moving to California in the last two years.
The next question is about taxes ... Newsom talks about high taxes in Florida, and DeSantis rightly points out that nobody moves from Florida to California to pay lower taxes. Newsom starts talking about "Bidenomics" and gets petty, hitting DeSantis for "smiling and smirking."
The debate meandered into regulation, COVID... I've lost track. Newsom is hitting DeSantis ... from the right? I can't follow.
The next question is about immigration. Newsom accuses DeSantis of favoring amnesty in Congress, and then "using people as pawns" in sending migrants to Martha's Vineyard (which was brilliant, IMO).
The debate's half over, and I've learned nothing, except maybe that political leaders at the top of the American pile have no idea how to talk to each other, or to the people.
Second half... we're on to questions about crime.
Hannity asks Newsom about California's high crime rate. Newsom says "we're near 50-year lows."
Next comes mass shootings.
Then book bans.
DeSantis just did something really important: he brought one of the supposedly "banned" books, "Genderqueer," to the debate. I happen to think this book is OK for older teenagers, but DeSantis is right that it's not age-appropriate for young children. That's not banning books.
Newsom accuses DeSantis of demeaning LGBTQ people. No examples. Hannity nails Newsom by asking him whether pornographic books should be in schools; he dodges.
The next question is a shouting match on abortion. Newsom tries desperately to avoid answering the question about whether he favors abortion until birth. Clearly he does.
Then we're on to a question about Biden, and whether he should step aside.
Next: gas prices, and whether there's an alternative on fossil fuels
DeSantis nails Newsom on his phony claim about gas prices being caused "price gouging" by oil companies by asking an obvious question: is California the only state where they are "gouging"? He points out California's insane EV mandates as an example of bad energy policy driving higher prices.
I actually think DeSantis is getting stronger. He's better against Democrats than against Republicans.
The last segment of the debate is about homelessness, a major problem in California (and going down in Florida). DeSantis hits the piñata. Newsom: goes for social issues, avoids the question.
DeSantis brings up the San Francisco poop reporting app!
Last question, on foreign policy: how can Israel win the way Biden is restricting it?
OK, actual last question, on China.
DeSantis says it's the #1 threat.
Newsom talks about Nikki Haley.
Hannity asks what each loves about the other's state.
"I do believe California has more natural advantages than any state in the country." - DeSantis, regretting that Californians are leaving.
Newsom doesn't say anything about Florida. Praises DeSantis's family and military service.
DeSantis wins. But I'm biased against Newsom.
I started out thinking that this was a bad idea for DeSantis. Now I think DeSantis made the case that he can debate Democrats (after struggling against Republicans). He took down the supposed "better" alternative to Biden. I'm not going to predict a DeSantis comeback, but he did very well for himself.
This week'd portion begins the book of Numbers. Interestingly, the Hebrew name for the book is "In the Desert," not "Numbers." The portion, which happens to be my bar mitzvah portion, focuses almost as much on the names of the princes of each tribe as the number of soldiers it fielded. It also focuses on the configuration of the tribal camps around the central Tabernacle and the Levites.
So why "Numbers" instead of "Names" or "Places"? The numbers are, to be sure, a unique feature of the opening of this Biblical book -- but they are not the focus of the rest of the narrative. The Hebrew focuses on the place where the events in the book take place, because essentially this is the narrative of the Israelites' wanderings from Egypt to Israel, across 40 years. We move from the giving of the Torah and the construction of the Tabernacle in Exodus and Leviticus, to the final valediction of Moses in Deuteronomy -- Bamidbar is the story of wandering that happened in between.
The question of ...
This week's portion begins with the laws of the Sabbath and the Sabbatical year, and the Jubilee year that restores all land to its original (tribal) owners. It also explores laws of property and labor that will apply in the Land of Israel, and the laws of vows and inheritance.
The Israelites are presented -- not for the last time -- with the essential moral choice that they must face, and the rewards for choosing well, along with the consequences for choosing poorly.
We learn that doing good things will earn God's protection from enemies. That does not mean that victims of terror, God forbid, were sinful. But it does mean that we can respond to evil by committing ourselves to a higher path.
This week's portion describes the major sacrifices that are to be offered by the Jewish people, including those that are offered only by the priestly Kohen class, and physical requirements of the people (men) who serve in that role.
Inter alia, there are interesting commandments -- such as an injection to treat animals with respect and care, first, by letting a mother animal nurse her offspring for a week before being offered in any sacrifice; and second, by refraining from slaughtering an animal and its offspring on the same day.
The commandments regarding animals remind us of the purpose of those regarding human beings: to uphold a divine connection, through ritual.
https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/111878/jewish/Rabbi-Isaac-Luria-The-Ari-Hakodosh.htm
