My wife and I took the kids to our old neighborhood in Santa Monica this weekend and stayed overnight on Friday evening. A year ago, Santa Monica was devastated by the Black Lives Matter riots. On that fateful May 31, while a "peaceful protest" was happening on a beautiful Sunday afternoon on Ocean Boulevard, rioters and looters fanned out across the downtown area -- just one block inland -- and destroyed stores and vandalized just about everything. The city looked like a war zone for months. Many shops are still empty or boarded up. But with the slow reopening of California and Los Angeles County, life has returned to downtown Santa Monica. Outdoor dining in particular has brought the place back to life. Those restaurants that managed to survive are doing very well, and well-dressed people are enjoying the beach and the whole scene. There are lots of homeless people, far more than before, but Santa Monica manages to prevent them from setting up tents (unlike the city of Los Angeles, which has allowed homeless encampments to line the streets).
As happy as I was to see life returning, something was bothering me the entire day, which only became clear to me as I returned home this evening. When I look back at the past year, so much of what happened was unnecessary. Not just the COVID restrictions, which were way over-the-top, and largely political, but all the protesting and rioting and canceling -- everything.
We didn't just live through a pandemic; we lived through a violent revolution that we're not allowed to identify as such. When Joe Biden emerged -- almost by default -- as the Democratic Party nominee, the left, which hated him and did not believe he could win, decided that it would take matters into its own hands, and they launched violence across the country. The message -- alter echoed by Biden -- was clear: the violence will continue if Trump wins. The Democratic Party apparatchiks did their part by changing the voting rules and using Zuckerberg's money to push turnout and censoring social media and all of that. But the bigger picture was that the left used violence and censorship to take power. The sooner we are honest about this, the sooner we can start to push back against the ongoing efforts to take our freedoms away from us.
This is the final edition of THE AGENDA -- finished a few days early!
This week's portion elucidates some of the first laws and principles of the Torah that follow the Ten Commandments, including -- a message particularly relevant to freed slaves -- the Jewish restrictions on indentured servitude.
God also provides the basic civil laws of Jewish society, governing almost every area of life -- in this one portion! -- as well as several basic principles of faith and religious observance. Moses then ascends Sinai for 40 days.
One of the laws God gives is the law against taunting a foreigner. This is different from allowing people to enter your land illegally; it is about showing respect, however, for people from other lands and other groups.
I am reminded of the importance of this principle because of the rhetoric lately attacking Elon Musk, a fellow South African-turned-American, for his foreign roots -- often by people who favor illegal immigration, ironically.
...
Since the Palisades Fire on January 7, my posts have been fairly sparse. I have just been so busy -- fighting the fire, covering the fire, helping neighbors, and launching a new podcast, "Three Homeless Guys," with two local friends.
Things are up and down. My family is still displaced, and we haven't resolved our living situation. We are awaiting answers from the insurance company (State Farm) on what they will cover, including alternative living expenses.
There are some incredible opportunities opening up -- more on that later -- and our kids are generally doing well, though this has been hard for them as well (especially the two middle kids, who miss their friends and their house).
The emotion of it all hit me yesterday. Today I feel wrung out. But I also feel that, in a way, going through the fire has been a process of refinement, of re-casting in a new mould, to face new challenges. And to win each new day.
So much to talk about, once again, as the Trump administration continues at breakneck pace. From DOGE chewing through the federal bureaucracy, to Marco Rubio heading out on his first missions for Trump, there's so much...
Special guests:
Assemblyman Carl DeMaio -- on the L.A. fires and reforming CA insurance
Matt Boyle -- Breitbart News political editor, on DOGE and confirmations
Jamie Paige -- founder of the Westside Current, on L.A. politics and the fires
Frances Martel -- Breitbart News foreign editor, on Rubio and Russia/Ukraine
Rob Hersov -- South African commentator, on SA's fight with the White House
Tune in: SiriusXM Patriot 125, 7-10 p.m. ET, 4-7 p.m. PT
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