The Biden administration, the Democrats, and the media continue to treat Trump as if he were an "anomaly," in the words of PBS's Yamiche Alcindor. They will not acknowledge that there was public dissatisfaction with the status quo under Obama/Biden/Clinton and the center-left establishment; nor will they acknowledge Trump's successes, because to do so would mean to legitimize his presidency, and hence the public dissatisfaction, etc. In fact, the operating principle in the Biden Administration seems to be that if Trump did it, it was wrong. Hence Secretary of State Tony Blinken's refusal to confirm that the U.S. still recognized Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights, as Trump did (https://www.breitbart.com/middle-east/2021/06/07/watch-tony-blinken-declines-to-confirm-israeli-sovereignty-over-golan-heights/). This insistence on treating Trump's four years as an "anomaly" means that Biden will struggle to embrace successful policies that could help him be a more effective leader. But I do give some of the blame here to Trump -- let's say 5% -- because he could have used the post-election period defending his legacy (especially in the Georgia Senate runoffs) instead of contesting the past election, once the Electoral College had voted in mid-December. The events of January 6 are being exploited in an effort to erase the previous four years. They can't quite negate Trump's successes. But they are doing their best to ignore them. They are due for another reckoning -- and meanwhile, we suffer the consequences of their inability to see past their own prejudices, pride, and political interests.
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!
An interesting weekend -- one of the last of Daylight Savings Time -- in which there is much to celebrate, much to contemplate, and a bit to worry about.
The Gaza peace deal is shaky, but holding, after the living hostages returned; the shutdown is still going on, with no end in sight; the China trade war is heating up; and the confrontation with Venezuela continues to escalate.
The "No Kings" protest was a dud, despite the media's attempt to inflate it. What I find fascinating is that the Democrats have basically stolen the rhetoric and the imagery of the Tea Party protests, circa 2009. They claim they are defending the Constitution -- just like the Tea Party did.
On the one hand, this is good. How wonderful to have a political system in which both sides, bitterly opposed though they are, articulate differences through the Constitution -- and not, as in so many other countries, outside it.
On the other, this is sheer hypocrisy for the Democrats. Not only did they malign the Tea Party as ...
