It was painful, as a Bears fan, to watch Chicago fight back against the Washington Commanders on Sunday, only to lose on a last-second touchdown via a "Hail Mary" pass. Likewise, I know Yankees fans were as disappointed in Friday's walkout grand slam by Dodgers' veteran Freddie Freeman as L.A. fans were elated.
It's always tough to be on the losing ends of these things, but you have to be glad they happen. For one thing, they might happen for your team one day. For another, they are reminders that you can never give up, right to the end.
And most of all, they are good for the game.
People will be talking about that grand slam for decades, and kids will be reenacting that Hail Mary on playgrounds at recess for a long time to come.
But not every last-ditch effort is so positive.
Kamala Harris's closing pitch to voters is that Trump is Hitler. The false Atlantic story; the hoax that Trump's Madison Square Garden rally was a Nazi reenactment; the media talking points that Trump is a "fascist" -- it's all just desperate, and a sign she believes she is losing.
It's also a terrible way to go out. Even if she wins, she will -- much like Biden with the "very fine people" hoax -- have destroyed her own mandate by calling half the country Nazis.
It's also bad for the game.
Hillary Clinton did the same thing in 2016, and poisoned the minds of her own followers, to the point where they lost their sanity when Trump won, and began tearing the country apart -- Russia collusion, 2020 riots, etc. -- for years.
If you throw a "Hail Mary" pass and you fail -- well, then, good try. But if you trash half the country in an effort to win an election, it's worst than bad sportsmanship and you really ought to be disqualified from holding public office.
I should have noted in my message about the weekly Torah portion that this week is Shabbat Chazon, the Sabbath of Vision. We are about to mourn -- but see through that pain to something better that lies beyond, on the other side.
Wishing you the best vision -- and an incredible reality to follow. It happens!
We begin the final speech of Moses to the people of Israel before they enter the Promised Land. He relates the ups and downs of the years of wandering in the desert, before, finally, the people have the merit to enter the land itself.
This Sabbath always precedes Tisha B'Av, the Ninth of Av, the saddest day on the Jewish calendar. It is the anniversary of the destruction of both of the Holy Temples, and a catch-all for many calamities that befell the Jewish people.
A word on Tisha B'Av. This year I am leaving for an overseas trip during the afternoon of the holiday -- in the middle of a fast day. Not idea, but there was no other choice. But my flight is in the afternoon, which is significant.
We relax some of the harsh, mournful customs of the day in the afternoon. We start to pray normally; we sit on regular chairs; we start to have hope again in the redemption that will, one day, lead us all back from exile to our home.
I'll be taking a trip to a land where an important part of ...
President Trump is in Scotland, playing golf and making big trade deals -- a major deal with the EU, in fact. Meanwhile, there is a global outcry about humanitarian aid to Palestinians (not about the Israeli hostages, mind you).
On top of that, Democrats are at their lowest polling numbers ever -- so they are trying to win control of the House by redistricting in the middle of a 10-year Census cycle. Oh, economic optimism is up, so they have a tough road.
And Tulsi Gabbard's revelations about the Russia collusion investigation make it clear that Obama's lieutenants lied to Congress. How deeply was he himself involved? The media continue to ignore the evidence, but we certainly won't.
Special guests:
Nick Gilbertson - Breitbart News White House correspondent, on EU deal
Frances Martel - Breitbart News foreign editor, on Trump abroad and Russia
John Spencer - urban warfare expert, on humanitarian aid and war in Gaza
Bradley Jaye - Breitbart News congressional correspondent, on the ...
