President Joe Biden and his administration were largely silent about Sunday's anti-communist protests in Cuba, the most extraordinary outpouring of pro-democracy sentiment in more than 60 years. The only response from the Biden administration came from a rather junior official who tweeted that the protests were about COVID deaths, and who urged Cubans to donate to each other.
Really.
The protests are political in nature, to the point where people have been marching openly with the American flag -- a banner that much of the Democratic Party today detests. Several conservatives have pointed out on Twitter that when truly oppressed people around the world march for freedom, they wave the American flag that our "woke" elites over here insult and disdain.
Even assuming, for argument's sake, that the Biden administration were right -- that the protest is about COVID -- it is a stunning failure for the left, which has praised Cuba for decades for its supposed medical advances. Cuba and Canada are both held up as examples to shame the U.S. over health policy and yet have both failed miserably during the pandemic, while American firms created the life-saving vaccines that are enabling us to return to normal.
I imagine there will be some damage control today from the Biden White House. I don't expect it to repeat the Obama administration's mistake with the Green Revolution in Iran, though it might. Remember that the uprising is evidence that the Obama-Biden policy of "normalization" with the regime was an utter failure, so a shift will require a bit of creative amnesia. Then again, Biden can't remember much anyway, so there's a chance to get this right.
UPDATE: Here's Biden's statement, a dramatic improvement from the day before:
We stand with the Cuban people and their clarion call for freedom and relief from the tragic grip of the pandemic and from the decades of repression and economic suffering to which they have been subjected by Cuba’s authoritarian regime. The Cuban people are bravely asserting fundamental and universal rights. Those rights, including the right of peaceful protest and the right to freely determine their own future, must be respected. The United States calls on the Cuban regime to hear their people and serve their needs at this vital moment rather than enriching themselves.
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
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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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