Shabbat shalom!
And a tip of the kipah this week to Jack Smith, who authored one of the more stunning bits of story telling that will likely take its place along side the Declaration of Independence and the Gettysburgh Address as important historical documents. The story he laid out everyone knows by now, and would be the envy of any Hollywood writer as you literally cannot make this shit up: the orange turd created a huge lie about the 2020 election in order to appease his bruised loser ego, and together with a cadre of nincompoops, conspired to subvert the democratic transition of power by bullying his Vice President and ignoring the advice of his counselors who insisted it was a really shitty idea. After failing and ignoring all advice, he then incited an attack on the Capital and ignored pleas from friends and family to put a halt to it. As one wag put it, “That a malefactor could do all that (and that’s just one set of charges!) and stand a good chance of being elected again should concern anybody with a frontal lobe.”
My frontal lobe is about to explode. I’m not sure it, or the country for that matter, will be able to withstand another onslaught of debauchery perpetrated by a narcissistic a-hole who, barring dropping dead from choking on a Big Mac, is likely to clinch the Republican nomination, and according to the latest polls, is neck and neck with Joe Biden. Last night over family dinner we were trying to think of word beyond “narcissism” that would better describe the soul of the orange turd. We couldn’t think of one, but I think Andrew Sullivan summarized it well in his latest Weekly Dish:
“My own view has long been that Trump is beyond truth and lies: his ego is everything; there is nothing outside it; it is the only reality he knows. If he were to acknowledge any facet of a reality that does not flatter his ego, he would have a psychic break. So he doesn’t. He is beyond accountability because he only lives in the moment, and reinvents the past at will. He is a truly postmodern man: no truth exists apart from his; and any alternative reality has to be attacked mercilessly. Because his whims oscillate, so do the non-facts he invents to satisfy them. He is a spluttering, glowering fusillade of fantasies. He is, in Wolff’s words, “a man whose behavior defies and undermines the structures and logic of civic life.”
By now we have all figured out why the Republican Party cannot quit him, and why his primary rivals can’t seem to move the needle. We know that in the coming months, the turd’s congressional sycophants will be trying to distract the mainstream media and the Fox bubble-heads with an equivalency between the orange turd’s profound corruption and pathetic Hunter Biden. Our only hope, I believe, is that moderate R’s and people with half a brain might actually get sick and tired of the turd’s trashy show. But I wouldn’t bet on it.
Meanwhile, the news for the Jews marches on. If you thought things might slow down a bit during the dog days of summer, think again: Israeli protests continued into their 30th week, the jury in the Tree of Life massacre trial voted unanimously for the death penalty, Nut-and-yahoo lies to American audiences, Musk gives Ye back his anti-semitic platform, a Saudi-Israeli peace deal is rumored to be close, and Trader Joe’s had to recall it’s falafel because they found rocks in it. Some of these items I will get to later, but I have to drill down now on Nut-and-yahoos interview with Wolf Blitzer. A bit of context: Israel’s Supreme Court will be hearing the case on September 12th of whether the recently passed judicial reforms are constitutional. With a straight face, and with his normal authoritative manor and American accent, he claimed in his interview with CNN’s Wolf Blitzer that if the Supreme Court finds the reform unconstitutional, it would be the same as the US Supreme Court voting down a constitutional amendment because it was unconstitutional! But anyone with even a rudimentary understanding of civics knows that for that scenario to unfold here in the US, not only would the House, the Senate and the President all have to agree, but 38 of 50 states would also have to pass the amendment as well. In Israel, under the new reforms, it would only require a majority vote of the legislature. Bibi is a bold faced liar.
Now, for the stuff you are waiting for, here is this week’s generous selection of Jewie journalistic gems, culled and carefully curated, and copied and pasted from the likes of The Forward, JTA, The Times of Israel, Kveller, Jewish Boston, and other Jewish journals:
- Opinion: The arrogance of leadership that is Bibi Nut-and-yahoo – To this day, despite hugely controversial legislation and over 30 weeks of major protests, Bibi has not granted a single interview to an Israeli journalist. Instead, he is trying to sell his judicial reform by selling himself. What a schmuck. “A traditional public relations response might see the leader focus attention on the merits of the judicial overhaul effort, highlighting what is to be gained by the change, or lost by taking no action at all. A traditional public relations plan would prioritize the domestic Israeli audience over outsiders. A traditional public relations approach might assume that earned media — media coverage that is not paid for, as it’s precipitated by breaking news — is the most credible messenger. But that’s not Netanyahu’s approach to leadership, to PR or to marketing his policy decisions. Seeking to sell his position on judicial overhaul, Netanyahu has doubled down on his favorite strategy: selling himself as an unassailable world leader. Love me, love my position. Oppose my position, oppose me. Many Israelis know the subtext: Oppose me at your political peril. Click here for more on this opinion piece in The Forward.
- The Pittsburgh shooter got the death penalty. Pennsylvania’s Jewish governor does not believe the state should execute people – Gov. Josh Shapiro, who was sworn in on a Bible that was rescued from the synagogue attack, has remained mum on the punishment. His stance makes little practical difference; a governor cannot commute a federal sentence. That being said, Pennsylvania has not carried out any executions since 1999, and U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland in 2021 placed a moratorium on federal executions. Read the story ➤
- Opinion | Should Jews leave Twitter after Elon Musk reinstated Kanye West? It depends – “For many, it feels like a morally compromising choice to stay somewhere that is essentially a hate site,” writes Elad Nehorai, a digital marketer whose work relies on social media. “For others, it has become a common refrain that they ‘shouldn’t cede ground’ to the bigots.” Read the essay ➤
- On this day in history (1901): Louis Armstrong was born in New Orleans. Armstrong grew up in poverty but was taken in by the Karnofskys, a family of Lithuanian Jews who gave him odd jobs and bought him his first instrument, a cornet. The jazz singer and trumpeter later wrote a memoir about his time with the Karnofskys and wore a Star of David for much of his life in their honor. Click here for more
- 🇮🇱 A Palestinian gunman shot and wounded five people at a hamburger restaurant in the Israeli settlement of Maaleh Adumim in the occupied West Bank on Tuesday before an off-duty policeman getting a haircut at a nearby barbershop shot him dead. (JTA)
- Biden pursing a big mid-east deal? Read the latest from Tom Friedman – “For the hundreds of thousands of Israeli democracy defenders who tried to block Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s judicial coup on Monday, the stripping of the Israeli Supreme Court’s key powers to curb the executive branch surely feels like a stinging defeat. I get it, but don’t totally despair. Help may be on the way from talks between the United States and Saudi Arabia.” This could provide leverage to roll back and drop the judicial reform, but also bring back a two state solution that would require concessions around the west bank and other issues important to the Palestinians. Click here for more.
- Israeli circus troupe brings laughs — but no clothes — to NBC’s ‘America’s Got Talent’ – (JTA) — Anyone who has visited an Israeli beach is likely familiar with the popular beach paddle game known as matkot. For millions of TV viewers and a live audience of 1,400 at NBC’s “America’s Got Talent,” a trio of Israeli performers who go by Bomba, or bomb in Hebrew, offered an intimate introduction to the sport on Tuesday’s episode. The circus trio emerged with only six wooden matkot paddles, one ball and … no clothing. Keeping the necessary parts covered, the three performers juggled, hit the ball to one another and cautiously walked back and forth across the stage. They performed to Quincy Jones’ famous jingle “Soul Bossa Nova.”
I hope you all have a great weekend! And remember, let’s continue to be careful out there, and don’t forget to bring your paddles!
Brad out.
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