What is Past is Prologue
by Rabbi Rose Lyn Jacob
Was it only three weeks ago that we optimistically anticipated the coming new year? Folks talked about putting the trials and tribulations of 2020 behind them and dreamed of a return to normal, even in the middle of a pandemic. A little naïve, perhaps, like “getting over” the Great Depression! The Covid vaccine was on its way, or so we thought and Americans behaved carelessly and in some situations, defiantly, as cases spread into every crevice of America and deaths grew to staggering numbers. But no amount of begging and pleading to take the virus seriously could overcome willful ignorance and selfishness, even as deaths zoomed way past a quarter of a million people.
In 2020 our nation faced countless challenges concurrent with Covid, such as destructive hurricanes so numerous that we blew through the entire alphabet naming them, and had to use Greek letters to identify them In the Western states, wildfires consumed whole communities, due in no small part to global warming. The polar ice cap continued to melt as the earth experienced its warmest year, and polar bears were seen slathering sun block on their fur and sipping Pina Coladas with tiny umbrellas while floating on the few remaining ice flows.
Wishing to see 2020 in your rearview mirror has its setbacks, like not paying attention to the impending wreck right in front of you! Shakespeare had it right, when he wrote in the Tempest: “What’s past is prologue.” The past is prologue to our present and the best predictor of the unfolding of our future. Perhaps that is why the Jewish optimist says, “Don’t worry, things couldn’t possibly get worse.” Welcome to 2021.
It is written in the Book of Proverbs that “Life and Death is in the power of the tongue.” How sadly and how powerfully this was illustrated last Wednesday when Mr. Trump spoke to thousands of his supporters at a “Save America” rally near the White House. Drawing like-minded participants from all over the country, its purpose was to challenge the election results. The words President Trump used as he addressed them for 70 minutes, laid the groundwork for his impeachment on the grounds of inciting violence. “We will never give up. We will never concede. It doesn't happen.” “You will have an illegitimate president. That is what you will have, and we can't let that happen." “If you don't fight like hell you're not going to have a country anymore.”
Encouraged by President Trump to walk the two miles to where the Electoral Votes were being counted and egged on by his inflammatory rhetoric, his supporters morphed into a lathered and frenzied mob of rioters who laid siege to the United States Capitol. Death, destruction, fear and mayhem ensued. Over fifty people were injured. Six lives were lost. And we learned, once again, that Death and Life are in the power of the tongue. And those who love it and indulge it will eat its fruit and bear the consequences of their words. Hate speech, and misinformation incite violence, whether Twittered or broadcast,
We can anticipate these next few days leading up the to the inauguration to be fraught with growing anxiety, trepidation, and angst, all elevated by a combination of on-the-ground reality, moment by moment news coverage, increased internet fear mongering as well as the sheer number of National Guard boots on the ground and drones overhead and FBI agents all in place to protect our leaders, our seat of government and our right to a peaceful transition of power during the inauguration.
Perhaps, between now and the swearing in of our next Commander-in-Chief, we can calm our hearts and minds with prayer.
Jewish communities throughout the world, and throughout history have prayed for their leaders. Be they kings, queens, princes, potentates, prime ministers or presidents, our prayers to God on their behalf include the following supplication; “Inspire all who lead and serve to conduct their affairs faithfully and with devotion and justice. May peace and security, happiness and prosperity, right and freedom abide among us.” In America, we also ask that God “Unite the inhabitants of our country, of all backgrounds, and all creeds to banish hatred and bigotry, to safeguard our noblest ideas, and to preserve the institutions which nurture liberty.”
As we forge ahead, into 2021 with its unknowable path may we contemplate these words from Isaiah, “And the work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance forever. And my people shall dwell in a peaceable habitation, and in sure dwellings, and in quiet resting places.”
Friday, January 22, 2021
Tuesday, January 19, 2021
I'm Not Going to Watch What Happens Tomorrow — I'll Read About it in the Papers
The hours are ticking down on the last day of America's first adolescent presidency. The odds that Donald Trump can pull off one last prank in an attempt to remain in office have dwindled to near zero. He did manage a final child-like moment with a first class tantrum, though. Instead of sending an Air Force plane to bring the President Elect to Washington for his inauguration, Mr. Trump sulked in the Whitehouse, leaving Mr. Biden to fly a commercial 727 from his home in Delaware to Andrews Air Force Base. Rather than inviting the Bidens to the presidential residence for a tour and a meet and greet with the presidential staff, the new president's family was left to cool its jets in Blair House while Child Donald enjoyed one last Quarter Pounder with Cheese in the presidential living quarters.
An important lesson most parents try to teach kids, is that there is nothing worse than a sore loser. Thanks to a father whose wealth enabled his cheating throughout life (up 'til now), Donald Trump has not had to cope with losing, so this lesson could and did remain untaught. According to niece Mary Trump's book, the worse thing to Donald is a loser. Perhaps that's why in the days after the 2020 election he set off in such a singleminded pursuit to overturn Joe Biden's legitimate election win, and in the process created an army of millions of followers who are certain that the election was stolen from him. In fact, he didn't begin by saying it was stolen; he began by simply saying: “I won,” in the face of clear evidence to the contrary. And his army of true believers remain welded to his created truth. They have never put it down.
We shouldn't make this all Trump's fault. Over half the country hated him from the beginning. The morning after his election, long before he had even been sworn in as president, the enlightened crowd, the Hillary lovers, was already asking whether they could impeach him. And they never stopped until they had. Jerrold Nadler, Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee was in charge of the hearings. That might seem obvious, but Nadler, aside from being a buffoon, had been at Trump's throat since he was on the New York City Council; he hated Trump, and the feeling was mutual. In any righteous setting, Nadler would have been forced to recuse himself. The main charge, Obstruction of Congress, was created as an artifice in order to have the President violate it, in a similar manner that was done with Andrew Johnson. All this was foolish, considering the vast evidence of Trump's violation of the Constitution's Commerce Clause. But those in the House who hated Trump acted like fools instead of surgeons. That gained sympathy for his fans. He probably gained little sympathy or respect with the general public simply because Trump was and is such a lout, with no respect for the Constitution or our mechanisms of government. He tore it and them apart. I doubt if he ever read the Constitution. Whether he can actually read has not been determined. Presumably he has lawyers for that.
For my money, I'll go back to Trump's 2016 campaign speeches where he promised that there would be so much success in the country under his administration that we would all become tired of winning.
Frankly, Donald, I am very tired of your winning. Good riddance doesn't even say it.
But let's not get our hopes up. The Celebrtory Media, as I've come to thnk if it in the last few weeks, is putting great store in Old Man Biden. I hate to spit in the soup, because he is going to be so much better than Donald Trump was that we will be amazed in some ways, but Joe has had to make many a promise to the manifold pressure groups that balkanize the Democratic Party. Some of those groups are worth paying, and some are not. The business of fixing the country is more critical than paying all those clowns off. I hope President Biden can begin to do it before the forces of darkness notice what's happening. Watch this space. Pray if you're a believer. Otherwise, just cross your fingers.
An important lesson most parents try to teach kids, is that there is nothing worse than a sore loser. Thanks to a father whose wealth enabled his cheating throughout life (up 'til now), Donald Trump has not had to cope with losing, so this lesson could and did remain untaught. According to niece Mary Trump's book, the worse thing to Donald is a loser. Perhaps that's why in the days after the 2020 election he set off in such a singleminded pursuit to overturn Joe Biden's legitimate election win, and in the process created an army of millions of followers who are certain that the election was stolen from him. In fact, he didn't begin by saying it was stolen; he began by simply saying: “I won,” in the face of clear evidence to the contrary. And his army of true believers remain welded to his created truth. They have never put it down.
We shouldn't make this all Trump's fault. Over half the country hated him from the beginning. The morning after his election, long before he had even been sworn in as president, the enlightened crowd, the Hillary lovers, was already asking whether they could impeach him. And they never stopped until they had. Jerrold Nadler, Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee was in charge of the hearings. That might seem obvious, but Nadler, aside from being a buffoon, had been at Trump's throat since he was on the New York City Council; he hated Trump, and the feeling was mutual. In any righteous setting, Nadler would have been forced to recuse himself. The main charge, Obstruction of Congress, was created as an artifice in order to have the President violate it, in a similar manner that was done with Andrew Johnson. All this was foolish, considering the vast evidence of Trump's violation of the Constitution's Commerce Clause. But those in the House who hated Trump acted like fools instead of surgeons. That gained sympathy for his fans. He probably gained little sympathy or respect with the general public simply because Trump was and is such a lout, with no respect for the Constitution or our mechanisms of government. He tore it and them apart. I doubt if he ever read the Constitution. Whether he can actually read has not been determined. Presumably he has lawyers for that.
For my money, I'll go back to Trump's 2016 campaign speeches where he promised that there would be so much success in the country under his administration that we would all become tired of winning.
Frankly, Donald, I am very tired of your winning. Good riddance doesn't even say it.
But let's not get our hopes up. The Celebrtory Media, as I've come to thnk if it in the last few weeks, is putting great store in Old Man Biden. I hate to spit in the soup, because he is going to be so much better than Donald Trump was that we will be amazed in some ways, but Joe has had to make many a promise to the manifold pressure groups that balkanize the Democratic Party. Some of those groups are worth paying, and some are not. The business of fixing the country is more critical than paying all those clowns off. I hope President Biden can begin to do it before the forces of darkness notice what's happening. Watch this space. Pray if you're a believer. Otherwise, just cross your fingers.
Sunday, January 17, 2021
Pages Flapping in the Wind
There are no accidents. When Mike Lindell, a passionate Trump supporter and national pillowmeister, left the Whitehouse, notes flapping in the breeze, with his suggestions for martial law clearly exposed, it was no accident. This was an old Donald Trump tactic going back to the first time he held court at Mar-a-Lago. John Bolton, one of his several National Security Advisors, even alluded to this exposed document gambit in his book In The Room Where it Happened. If you plumb the right depths, and proper Byzantine twists and turns of Trumpdom, though, you find that Mr. Mike told the President much more. He supposedly told The Donald that he had proof that Trump had won the popular vote 78 million to 67 million. He said he had solid proof of the fraud, “Right down to IP addresses.” This must have made the President's heart soar, but I expect he knows that there is little left for him to do.
If the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs is the soldier he should be, he has discretely told his Commander in Chief that while he commands, his troops only follow lawful orders. And the generals and admirals know what an unlawful order looks like. This would be important right now, because I have no doubt that Mr. Trump is, or at least was contemplating martial law. Right now he is labeled with that most onerous of Trumpian terms, loser, and if there were anything, anything at all that he could do to erase that, he would.
Let's hope he understands that his hands are tied.
If the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs is the soldier he should be, he has discretely told his Commander in Chief that while he commands, his troops only follow lawful orders. And the generals and admirals know what an unlawful order looks like. This would be important right now, because I have no doubt that Mr. Trump is, or at least was contemplating martial law. Right now he is labeled with that most onerous of Trumpian terms, loser, and if there were anything, anything at all that he could do to erase that, he would.
Let's hope he understands that his hands are tied.
Saturday, January 16, 2021
We Remain in a Strange Place
It's appropriate that the presidential administration of an adolescent will both begin and end with the bizarre. At the outset, Child Donald insisted that that his inaugural attendance was the highest ever in the face of photographic proof to the contrary that showed a sea of empty seats. When faced with this proof, the President simply had the National Park Service doctor the photo.
As Mr. Trump's power seeps away, he tried the first coup in US history, sending a mob to sack the Capitol, calling for the Vice President's head, in an attempt to overturn a legitimate election. As his swan song, he intends to fly out of town in Air Force One at sunrise, obviating the need to ask permission of the new president for the use of the presidential aircraft. The loyal remnant of his staff is reportedly trying to drum up a healthy crowd of supporters to bid farewell, along with a twenty-one gun salute.
Mr. Trump has long been known to think well of himself. After the first ceremony where he awarded the Medal of Honor, he was reported to have asked a staffer if he could award himself the Medal of Honor. It was a curious request, but perhaps it should not have been unexpected from a narcissist with no understanding of the world, and no thought that the sun, moon, and stars do not revolve around himself. At this late date it's hard to believe that Mr. Trump will not try one last caper in an attempt to hold on to power — perhaps marshal law. Leaving quietly just doesn't seem to be in him, but eventually, 20 January will arrive. Quo vadis, Donald?
As Mr. Trump's power seeps away, he tried the first coup in US history, sending a mob to sack the Capitol, calling for the Vice President's head, in an attempt to overturn a legitimate election. As his swan song, he intends to fly out of town in Air Force One at sunrise, obviating the need to ask permission of the new president for the use of the presidential aircraft. The loyal remnant of his staff is reportedly trying to drum up a healthy crowd of supporters to bid farewell, along with a twenty-one gun salute.
Mr. Trump has long been known to think well of himself. After the first ceremony where he awarded the Medal of Honor, he was reported to have asked a staffer if he could award himself the Medal of Honor. It was a curious request, but perhaps it should not have been unexpected from a narcissist with no understanding of the world, and no thought that the sun, moon, and stars do not revolve around himself. At this late date it's hard to believe that Mr. Trump will not try one last caper in an attempt to hold on to power — perhaps marshal law. Leaving quietly just doesn't seem to be in him, but eventually, 20 January will arrive. Quo vadis, Donald?
Thursday, January 14, 2021
2021 Will be Worse Than 2020
I am sorry to inform, but with Donald Trump gone (hopefully), 2021 will continue the downhill slide experienced by the United States during the last four years.
It's a fact that our country has become less united in purpose and point of view over the past forty years, but that trend toward disunity has accelerated over the past twenty. Donald Trump has rubbed the fine obscurant off the window into that disunity with his big mouth and adolescent communications approach that lacks even the slightest self control. He has brought the anger level of all too many of our factions out into the open. The visible discontent was there; he simply loosed it. We know for certain that President Joe Biden will be a different man in conviction, and he will, at a minimum, be adult supervision. But that won't be enough.
The long nightmare of Donald Trump has birthed an army of Trumpkins, some of whom invaded the United States Capitol on 6 January. That invasion shocked and astonished many Americans, but the shocking news is how many weren't shocked; they approved. The MSNBC network revealed a survey of constituents of various congressmen and senators who had supported the machinations of the invaders. Senator Ted Cruz was a case in point. Not only is his political career still viable, a plurality of his constituents supported the invasion and sacking of the capitol building. That shows the level of hold Donald Trump has on a broad base of the voting population. It may not be all seventy-seven million of the Americans who voted for him, but it's a large chunk. They'll follow his lies, his fanciful, magical thinking wherever he takes it. After Trump is gone from the Whitehouse they will remain as a poison in our electoral system, even if he vanishes.
Personally, I think Donald Trump will find it difficult to remain a king maker after he's out of the White House. We'll see. If he gets himself a good media gig he may endure. I may be wrong, but his pronouncements have gotten more and more weird of late. And I think Trump's successors in the Republican Party will find it difficult to ride the fanciful Trump wave. It may have been a lot easier to have supported the wave of lies than to keep it pumped up with new ones once the leader of the lying cabal is gone. But support for the nature of Donald Trump's presidency will sap the soul of the party. It's a soul that has been artificially pumped up these last four years. I don't see the Democrats, the party of free stuff and mass illegal immigration, as being much stronger. What we need is an industrial policy to strengthen the core of the country. Fat chance. The Democrats make their money by promising the disparate members of their coalition the stuff they want.
All this means the country is going nowhere successfully. (sigh)
It's a fact that our country has become less united in purpose and point of view over the past forty years, but that trend toward disunity has accelerated over the past twenty. Donald Trump has rubbed the fine obscurant off the window into that disunity with his big mouth and adolescent communications approach that lacks even the slightest self control. He has brought the anger level of all too many of our factions out into the open. The visible discontent was there; he simply loosed it. We know for certain that President Joe Biden will be a different man in conviction, and he will, at a minimum, be adult supervision. But that won't be enough.
The long nightmare of Donald Trump has birthed an army of Trumpkins, some of whom invaded the United States Capitol on 6 January. That invasion shocked and astonished many Americans, but the shocking news is how many weren't shocked; they approved. The MSNBC network revealed a survey of constituents of various congressmen and senators who had supported the machinations of the invaders. Senator Ted Cruz was a case in point. Not only is his political career still viable, a plurality of his constituents supported the invasion and sacking of the capitol building. That shows the level of hold Donald Trump has on a broad base of the voting population. It may not be all seventy-seven million of the Americans who voted for him, but it's a large chunk. They'll follow his lies, his fanciful, magical thinking wherever he takes it. After Trump is gone from the Whitehouse they will remain as a poison in our electoral system, even if he vanishes.
Personally, I think Donald Trump will find it difficult to remain a king maker after he's out of the White House. We'll see. If he gets himself a good media gig he may endure. I may be wrong, but his pronouncements have gotten more and more weird of late. And I think Trump's successors in the Republican Party will find it difficult to ride the fanciful Trump wave. It may have been a lot easier to have supported the wave of lies than to keep it pumped up with new ones once the leader of the lying cabal is gone. But support for the nature of Donald Trump's presidency will sap the soul of the party. It's a soul that has been artificially pumped up these last four years. I don't see the Democrats, the party of free stuff and mass illegal immigration, as being much stronger. What we need is an industrial policy to strengthen the core of the country. Fat chance. The Democrats make their money by promising the disparate members of their coalition the stuff they want.
All this means the country is going nowhere successfully. (sigh)
Thursday, January 7, 2021
The Firebreak is Gone
I haven't written for a few weeks out of depression. Immediately after the election, as the “Stop the Steal” movement gained momentum, it became clear that Donald Trump really wouldn't go quietly. Prior to the election there had been articles, and even a book or two by the Trump obsessed press asking “will he go?” It didn't take long to see that he might go, but not without a fight. The Republican Party, as a morally bankrupt entity, would do anything to remain in power. Their loudest acolyte was Mark Levin, a nightly radio voice who finally settled on Article 2 of the Constitution, that gives the State Legislatures the power to set the method by which their states conduct elections. This fellow decided that any change to election method wrought by a state elections board, rather than the legislature, was illegal, hence, if that state's citizens voted for Joe Biden after the election rules had been changed, their votes were illegal, and it was right and proper for Congress to change their electors to Trump. It hasn't occurred to Mr. Levin that a legislature's certification of its electors is approval of its balloting process. Apparently even a change in the glue on the ballot envelopes requires legislative approval. Arguing with Mark Levin is like wrestling with a pig. Finally, I'll leave aside the rest of the conspiracy theories about Venezuelan voting machines and fake ballots from China; it's just too much.
Here we are on 7 January. Yesterday the President incited a mob to ransack the Capitol Building in an apparent effort to stop the joint session of Congress from counting the ballots that would finally certify Joe Biden as President. It had never happened before. But once it has happened, we have passed a fire break, and it will happen again. Thugs, having seen it done, will think nothing of acting it out again when they are “upset”. That's the way of the United States these days. Once any firebreak is gone, an outrage is repeated again and again. Let a man be unhappy at work, he'll shoot up the place. If he doesn't have a gun, he'll start a fire. Women seem particularly fond of fire.
In the days leading up to 6 January the United States has looked as much like the U.S. of 1859 as anything, except we aren't divided geographically. The Trumpkins and normal folks are salted amongst each other. That makes things all the worse. For a taste of the similarity, read the opening segment of McPerson's book. At this point, the Civil War itself has been hashed and rehashed, but the era before the war, when the likes of Calhoun raged against the northerners is of interest. He sounds like those Trump clowns raging about draining the swamp. We live in a binary era; you are either a socialist who believes in abortion or you aren't.
While the police worked to regain control of the Capitol Building, most of those coo-koo Republicans talked about not objecting to the vote count after all. But when the counting started, the core group of nut jobs couldn't help themselves. They so covet the good will of the mob that had just finished sacking their work place.
FaceBook and Twitter have closed Mr. Trump's accounts (at least temporarily). It might be best to keep them open so that citizens can see what our president is made of — truly nutty stuff.
The irony of what goes around comes around:
After both elections of President George W. Bush, certain Democratic Congressmen and Senators put their colleagues through the same drill of objections about an illegitimate election. For some reason, the press, both liberal and conservative, showed no interest, and no one took it seriously.
At least one Democratic Representative has introduced articles of impeachment against every Republican president beginning with Ronald Reagan. Either our presidents have gotten worse over the years, or our habits have. This doesn't get much play in the press either.
Here we are on 7 January. Yesterday the President incited a mob to ransack the Capitol Building in an apparent effort to stop the joint session of Congress from counting the ballots that would finally certify Joe Biden as President. It had never happened before. But once it has happened, we have passed a fire break, and it will happen again. Thugs, having seen it done, will think nothing of acting it out again when they are “upset”. That's the way of the United States these days. Once any firebreak is gone, an outrage is repeated again and again. Let a man be unhappy at work, he'll shoot up the place. If he doesn't have a gun, he'll start a fire. Women seem particularly fond of fire.
In the days leading up to 6 January the United States has looked as much like the U.S. of 1859 as anything, except we aren't divided geographically. The Trumpkins and normal folks are salted amongst each other. That makes things all the worse. For a taste of the similarity, read the opening segment of McPerson's book. At this point, the Civil War itself has been hashed and rehashed, but the era before the war, when the likes of Calhoun raged against the northerners is of interest. He sounds like those Trump clowns raging about draining the swamp. We live in a binary era; you are either a socialist who believes in abortion or you aren't.
While the police worked to regain control of the Capitol Building, most of those coo-koo Republicans talked about not objecting to the vote count after all. But when the counting started, the core group of nut jobs couldn't help themselves. They so covet the good will of the mob that had just finished sacking their work place.
FaceBook and Twitter have closed Mr. Trump's accounts (at least temporarily). It might be best to keep them open so that citizens can see what our president is made of — truly nutty stuff.
The irony of what goes around comes around:
After both elections of President George W. Bush, certain Democratic Congressmen and Senators put their colleagues through the same drill of objections about an illegitimate election. For some reason, the press, both liberal and conservative, showed no interest, and no one took it seriously.
At least one Democratic Representative has introduced articles of impeachment against every Republican president beginning with Ronald Reagan. Either our presidents have gotten worse over the years, or our habits have. This doesn't get much play in the press either.
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