Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah -- it's the last pre-holiday show!
We've made it through an odd budget fight, and now we have to figure out what happens next. Will this be the end for Speaker Mike Johnson? Will it portend ill for the Trump agenda? Or is this the beginning of draining the swamp, for real?
We'll also talk about the exclusion of Trump voters (or even skeptical Democrats) from the LGBTQ+ world -- a practice of cancelation that continues even in the aftermath of the 2024 presidential election.
We'll discuss an organization that funds search and rescue equipment for a reserve unit in the IDF. We'll explore how California Democrats appear to have stolen (legally) a congressional seat using methods illegal in other states.
And we'll talk about one of the remaining anti-Trump cases -- the so-called "fake electors" case in Nevada, which still remains even after a Georgia appellate court kicked DA Fani Willis off a similar case this past week.
Special guests:
Yuval David -- LGBTQ+ activist, Jewish activist, and new Trump voter
Zoe Marks -- YUTAR representative in New York, in IDF search & rescue
Shawn Steel - CA GOP committeeman, on Democrats stealing CA seats
Sam Mirejovsky -- legal expert, on the Nevada "fake electors" case
Tune in: 7-10 p.m. ET, 4-7 p.m. PT
Call in: 866-957-2874
This week’s portion launches the great story of Abraham, who is told to leave everything of his life behind — except his immediate family — and to leave for “the Land that I shall show you.”
There’s something interesting in the fact that Abraham is told to leave his father’s house, as if breaking away from his father’s life — but his father, in fact, began the journey, moving from Ur to Haran (in last week’s portion). His father set a positive example — why should Abraham leave him?
Some obvious answers suggest themselves — adulthood, needing to make one’s own choices, his father not going far enough, etc.
But I think there is another answer. Abraham (known for the moment as Abram) needs to establish his own household. This is not just about making one’s own choice, but really about choosing one’s own starting point. It’s starting over.
Sometimes we start over in fundamental ways even if much that surrounds us remains the same. Sometimes the journey we have to ...
The story of Noah is familiar; the details, less so.
Noah is often seen as an ambivalent figure. He was righteous -- but only for his generation. What was his deficiency?
One answer suggests itself: knowing that the world was about to be flooded, he built an Ark for the animals and for his own family -- but did not try to save anyone else or to convince them to repent and change their ways (the prophet Jonah, later, would share that reluctance).
Abraham, later, would set himself apart by arguing with God -- with the Lord Himself! -- against the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, saying that they should be saved if there were enough righteous people to be found (there were not).
Still, Noah was good enough -- and sometimes, that really is sufficient to save the world. We don't need heroes every time -- just ordinary decency.
Hi all -- as I noted last month, I'm going to be closing down my Locals page, at least for tips and subscriptions -- I may keep the page up and the posts as well, but I'm no longer going to be accepting any kind of payment.
Look for cancelation in the very near future. Thank you for your support!
