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.
This is my first broadcast from the new office and studio in Washington, DC, where I'll be for a couple of years my neighborhood back in L.A. cleans up -- and as we follow the Trump administration from a little closer up than usual.
Topics:
- The anniversary of the attempted assassination of President Donald Trump
- The escalating tariff battle with various different trading partners
- The future of the Middle East peace talks, and ongoing antisemitism
- The Jeffrey Epstein files and whether they mean anything at all
- The continued crisis of the Texas floods, and stories of heroism and survival
And more!
Special guests:
- James Rosen - Newsmax chief Washington correspondent
- Bob Price - Breitbart News Texas reporter, on the ongoing floods
- Robert Cahill - Trafalgar Polling, on a new alliance of reliable pollsters
- Rabbi Yaakov Menken - Coalition for Jewish Values - on Israel & antisemitism
Tune in: 7-10 p.m. ET, 4-7 p.m. PT
Call: 866-957-2874
This week’s portion tells the grand story of the prophet who tried to curse people of Israel and instead ended up blessing them.
I am reminded that these portions continue to be relevant anew, as this particular reading lent the title for Israel’s recent 12 Day War against Iran, “Operation Rising Lion.”
This week's portion includes the commandment of the red heifer -- one of the classic "irrational" commandments whose fulfillment is an expression of faith. It also includes the regrettable episode in which Moses strikes the rock.
I referred to this story in a wedding speech last night. Why was Moses punished for striking the rock in Numbers, when he struck the rock without incident in Exodus -- both for the purpose of providing water to the people?
The answer is that in the interim, the Jewish people had received the Torah, which is like the marriage contract between the people of Israel and God. In a marriage, you do not resolve things by breaking boundaries, but through love.
The additional reading, from Judges Chapter 11, is the story of Jephthah (Yiftach), a man whom the leaders spurn, but to whom they must turn to save the nation. The parallels to our present political circumstances are striking.
Shabbat Shalom and Happy Fourth of July!
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