August is here... and with it, the election-year blues. It always seems, around this time, that Republicans have lost their chance at winning, as the Democrats and their media cheerleaders gear up for the fall campaign (and early voting).
Early voting and vote-by-mail are the death of democracy. Never mind the potential for fraud and rigging. There also is just a sense that the debates and campaigns are futile because the Democrats are simply running a machine.
Here are a few words of consolation.
1. Republicans never win, except by surprise. Given the extent of rigging, legal and otherwise, in our elections, the only way Republicans win on a large scale is when Democrats overlook something, as in 2016 with the upper Midwest. So if it feels like they are losing, that's not necessarily a bad thing, within reason.
2. Democrats won't expand the map. Kamala Harris is successfully pulling most of the Biden coalition together. But she's not going to attract any conservatives or new independent votes. So she's basically going to have to play defense.
3. That means there are opportunities. And the most important one is Pennsylvania. Republicans can win there, for a variety of reasons. Then Trump needs to win at least one, and probably two, additional states. But he can.
Pennsylvania + Georgia = Trump 270
Pennsylvania + Michigan = Trump 269 (tie, goes to House on January 6)
Pennsylvania + 2 or 3 others = various winning combinations
So hang in there. Something always changes.
I was saying last month that the Democrats weren't simply going to lay down and let Trump win. Not because they are power-hungry or whatever, but just because they are Americans (despite themselves). They don't just quit.
So this is the close race I envisioned -- and which the voters deserve. They are going to make mistakes and there are going to be opportunities for Trump. I think the choice of Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz over Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro was a mistake made for antisemitic reasons.
Wouldn't it be fitting if that's what cost Kamala Harris the election in the end?
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:
- The state of the economy
- The fight against crime
- The midterm election fight
- The struggle for peace between Russia and Ukraine
- The airstrike on the Venezuelan drug cartel
- The attempt to sink Kennedy
- The war in Gaza
- The case against Harvard
- The Trump presidency
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 ...
