Joel Pollak
Politics • Lifestyle • News • Travel • Writing
I will share my thoughts about American politics, as well as current events in Israel and elsewhere, based on my experiences in the U.S., South Africa, and the Middle East. I will also discuss books and popular culture from the perspective of a somewhat libertarian, religiously observant conservative living in California. I will also share art and ideas that I find useful and helpful, and link to my content at Breitbart News, Amazon, and elsewhere.
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Kamala Harris's radical policies

Vice President Kamala Harris won't release her official campaign policies. So we have to judge her on the basis of her past policies.

It is true that she adopted the most left-wing, radical ideas of any presidential candidate -- more radical than socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT). It is also true that, as a local and state prosecutor, she occasionally adopted absurdly hard-line policies on particular issues, like school truancy, that exceeded anything a conservative prosecutor would have done.

The reality is that she has no particular moral core. She does what she thinks will get attention and advance her career. Her instincts are left -- far, far left -- but she is essentially just a power-hungry political climber.

Regardless, here are the craziest policies Harris has embraced, mostly on the far left and some on the far right.

1. Medicare for All. Harris adopted a fully socialist health care policy when she ran for president in 2019, thanking Sanders for pushing the idea. She flip-flopped on the idea of whether her policy would require ending the private health insurance industry, which cost her significant credibility with the public. She later claimed that there would be some role for private companies -- although if California's treatment of insurance companies is any indication, in practice what that would mean is setting price caps and regulations that force private insurance companies to close.

2. Green New Deal. Harris was a co-sponsor of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's (D-NY) sweeping legislation, which not only sought to ban fossil fuels but also to socialize the entire U.S. economy, issuing payments for those who were "unwilling" to work. Harris also said she would ban fracking -- a pledge her campaign is now working feverishly to deny as she courts voters in swing-state Pennsylvania -- and that she would ban plastic straws and consider limiting meat. There was no environmental policy too crazy for Harris, whose state suffers high energy costs and power shortages.

3. Open borders. Harris championed "sanctuary" policies in San Francisco and California. The so-called "border czar" -- a title she now claims she never had -- was in favor of letting anyone into the country, shutting down detention centers, abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and giving free healthcare to illegal aliens. As Vice President, Harris was supposed to deal with the so-called "root causes" of migration, which were deemed to originate in Central America. She barely visited the border, and soon migrants were coming to America from all over the world.

4. Targeting truancy. As San Francisco District Attorney, and later as California Attorney General, Harris went after the parents of children who were missing school. She threatened parents, and some were even arrested (which, later, she falsely denied). The policy did little to stop truancy, but it had a massive, and negative, impact on black and Latino parents. This issue came up during Harris's presidential campaign in 2019, but has been memory-holed by Democrats.

5. Keeping non-violent offenders in prison. Then-Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI) derailed Harris's campaign in 2019 by pointing out that she had locked up thousands of people for marijuana possession. But Harris's record is far worse. For many years, she resisted a Supreme Court order to release thousands of non-violent convicts from California prisons. One of her arguments was that the state needed the labor they provided. Meanwhile, Harris cut soft plea deals with violent criminals and refused to seek the death penalty for a cop killer. Later, she backed ending cash bail in California.

In sum: Harris is not a leader capable of governing. Her trademark is adopting radical ideas past the point of absurdity.

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Time-lapse sunrise at Temescal Falls
00:00:17
This is what is left of my special place in the forest

Burned, then covered in mudslides and rockslides. The river still flows through it. But we have lost so much. I have to believe the spirit still lives on.

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The drive home 💔
00:00:46
Weekly Torah portion: Matot-Masei (Numbers 30:2 - 36:13)

This double portion is the last reading from the Book of Numbers, or Bamidbar. This particular week, it doubles as the holiday of Rosh Chodesh, the head of the month, inaugurating the sad-then-happy month of Av.

The portion begins with a review of the law of vows and their nullification. It then covers the final preparations for entering the Land of Israel. The first order of business: revenge against the Midianites. Then: a deal with three tribes who wished to claim well-watered territories east of the Jordan River.

Finally: the demarcation of tribal boundaries within Israel, and a review of the commandments regarding such geographic issues as cities of refuge.

Why is it important to begin with the laws of nullifying vows? It might seem counterintuitive, given that the Jewish people are about to renew their covenant with God by entering into, and conquering, and living in, the Land.

My answer: We sometimes begin with the terms for dissolving a relationship in order to discover the ...

Breitbart News Sunday: show rundown (July 20, 2025)

This week, we'll cover a wide variety of topics -- from the economy, to what's next on Capitol Hill after the "Big, Beautiful Bill," to the Middle East, and to the continuation of "lawfare." Is Tulsi Gabbard out for revenge against a "treasonous" former Obama administration? (That's a big word.)

Special guests:

Bradley Jaye -- Breitbart News congressional correspondent
Dylan Gwinn -- Breitbart News sports editor, on Trump and the Redskins
Alex Swoyer -- journalist and former Breitbart News colleague, on law fare.

Tune in: SiriusXM Patriot 125, 7-10 p.m. ET, 4-7 p.m. PT
Call: 866-957-2874

Weekly Torah portion: Pinchas (Numbers 25:10 - 30:1)

This week's portion is named for Pinchas, who was a priest who saved the Children of Israel by killing a prince and a Midianite woman while they were in the throes of passion (as part of a Midianite plot to undermine Israel).

Pinchas is seen as a hero, but this story has always bothered me, for obvious reasons. I'm going to go out on a limb here and opine that there are limits to religious zealotry. We Jews, too, need to practice the tolerance we expect.

I'm upset about recent incidents in which Jewish extremists -- who represent a really tiny minority of Israelis, but who have been unrestrained lately -- have confronted Palestinians, including Christians, and caused unnecessary harm.

I'm also very concerned about the fact that the religious community in Israel has been able to thwart the great public desire to integrate that community through military service. There is probably no greater moral threat to Israel.

...

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