Democratic Party legislators in Texas have decided to leave the state to deny the Republican majority a quorum necessary to pass new bills on voting.
How ironic: denying a legislative vote, ostensibly to defend the right to vote.
This behavior is fundamentally anti-democratic, and we have seen it before -- in Texas in 2003, in Wisconsin in 2011, and elsewhere. The Madison "fleebaggers" -- a play on the pejorative term used by Democrats (and CNN) to describe the Tea Party movement -- upped the ante by bringing masses of demonstrators to the state capitol for weeks. Some of the left-wing protesters occupied the building, and damaged it. It was the first "insurrection" of the type that would later be repeated by left-wing activists in other state capitols -- and eventually by the January 6 rioters at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C.
If invading a legislative building to force (or prevent) a particular result is an insurrection, then leaving a legislative building for that same purpose is just as much an insurrection. Call it an "out-surrection." The movement is opposite, but the goal is the same: to use extra-legal means to exercise power.
I should have noted in my message about the weekly Torah portion that this week is Shabbat Chazon, the Sabbath of Vision. We are about to mourn -- but see through that pain to something better that lies beyond, on the other side.
Wishing you the best vision -- and an incredible reality to follow. It happens!
We begin the final speech of Moses to the people of Israel before they enter the Promised Land. He relates the ups and downs of the years of wandering in the desert, before, finally, the people have the merit to enter the land itself.
This Sabbath always precedes Tisha B'Av, the Ninth of Av, the saddest day on the Jewish calendar. It is the anniversary of the destruction of both of the Holy Temples, and a catch-all for many calamities that befell the Jewish people.
A word on Tisha B'Av. This year I am leaving for an overseas trip during the afternoon of the holiday -- in the middle of a fast day. Not idea, but there was no other choice. But my flight is in the afternoon, which is significant.
We relax some of the harsh, mournful customs of the day in the afternoon. We start to pray normally; we sit on regular chairs; we start to have hope again in the redemption that will, one day, lead us all back from exile to our home.
I'll be taking a trip to a land where an important part of ...
President Trump is in Scotland, playing golf and making big trade deals -- a major deal with the EU, in fact. Meanwhile, there is a global outcry about humanitarian aid to Palestinians (not about the Israeli hostages, mind you).
On top of that, Democrats are at their lowest polling numbers ever -- so they are trying to win control of the House by redistricting in the middle of a 10-year Census cycle. Oh, economic optimism is up, so they have a tough road.
And Tulsi Gabbard's revelations about the Russia collusion investigation make it clear that Obama's lieutenants lied to Congress. How deeply was he himself involved? The media continue to ignore the evidence, but we certainly won't.
Special guests:
Nick Gilbertson - Breitbart News White House correspondent, on EU deal
Frances Martel - Breitbart News foreign editor, on Trump abroad and Russia
John Spencer - urban warfare expert, on humanitarian aid and war in Gaza
Bradley Jaye - Breitbart News congressional correspondent, on the ...
