Everybody Wants To Rule The World.

I love a good fantasy story. I loved Harry Potter from beginning to end. I adore a well-written shape-shifter yarn. And I am dragging my feet through Rebecca Yarros dragon rider series, The Empyrean because I don't want it to end!  I will also admit I really liked the first couple of Diana Gabaldon's Outlander series, but eventually lost interest because it was like reading manufactured prose; the passion was gone even if the sex remained. 

What I don't like is fantasy masquerading as policy and politics. President Felon's absurd expectation that he could, indeed, be pope, may have been called a joke by some, but that idea was tempered when he posted AI pictures of himself in papal garb. The image on the right was taken from Truth Social, his favorite fantasy platform. He may be his own first choice for the job, but the guy isn't even Catholic. A minor detail, I suppose.

On Meet the Press on Sunday, he also said he didn't know if he was required to uphold and defend the Constitution.

Oath of Office as prescribed in the Constitution - Article II, Section 1, Clause 8- states and repeated by President Elect Felon: I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.

 Since this is the second time he's taken the oath, one might think he actually read it. Or not. Still, his answers are rather bizarre. Even if you saw the interview, I would strongly recommend reading the transcript.It's enlightening. And while there are tons of things I could cite, I only want to concentrate on upholding the Constitution. This is the exchange between President Felon and the interviewer, Kristen Welker

WELKER: And this is the point, sir, about due process. The Constitution says every person, citizens and non-citizens, deserve due process. Why not push to have him come back, present all of that evidence in court, let a judge decide?                                               

PRESIDENT: Well, I’ll leave that to the lawyers, and I’ll leave that to the attorney general of the United States, because —                                                

WELKER: But do you agree —                                               

PRESIDENT:– they’re in it. You have to understand. I’m dealing with Russia and Ukraine. I’m dealing with China —                                             

WELKER: And we’re going to talk about that.                              

PRESIDENT : I’m dealing with Iran. I’m dealing with Rwanda and the Congo who are fighting and we’re trying to get that one straightened out. And I think we have done that, did a great job. Nobody even talks about it, but I think we’re close to doing that. They’re looking like they’re going to maybe make a peace deal, which was — would be good. But I’m dealing with a lot of different things. I don’t know much about this gentleman other than I hear he’s an absolute not good person. And I have very capable legal people, John Sauer, as you know, and all top people. And I have to rely on that to interpret whatever is said by the Supreme Court. Now with that being said, I have tremendous respect for the Supreme Court. Look, three of the people are people I appointed.                            

WELKER: Right.                                  

PRESIDENT: And I have great respect for the Supreme Court. And I would expect that the attorney general will be doing the right thing.  

WELKER: Your secretary of state says everyone who’s here, citizens and non-citizens, deserve due process. Do you agree, Mr. President?                      

PRESIDENT: I don’t know. I’m not, I’m not a lawyer. I don’t know.                                               

WELKER: Well, the Fifth Amendment says as much.     

PRESIDENT: I don’t know. It seems — it might say that, but if you’re talking about that, then we’d have to have a million or 2 million or 3 million trials. We have thousands of people that are some murderers and some drug dealers and some of the worst people on Earth.  

What the 5th Amendment says is:

No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.

Wanna talk about due process? Sure. Why not? The Fourteenth Amendment is often considered to be the most controversial of the amendments added during Reconstruction. The wording of the amendment is often debated as it is right now. It literally says:

Section 1

All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

On the government website, Constitution Annotated, they address this issue thoroughly:

The Fourteenth Amendment prohibits states from depriving any person of life, liberty, or property without due process of law. The Supreme Court has held that this protection extends to all natural persons (i.e., human beings), regardless of race, color, or citizenship. The Court has also considered multiple cases about whether the word person includes artificial persons, meaning entities such as corporations. As early as the 1870s, the Court appeared to accept that the Clause protects corporations, at least in some circumstances. In the 1877 Granger Cases, the Court upheld various state laws without questioning whether a corporation could raise due process claims. In a roughly contemporaneous case arising under the Fifth Amendment, the Court explicitly declared that the United States equally with the States . . . are prohibited from depriving persons or corporations of property without due process of law. Subsequent decisions of the Court have held that a corporation may not be deprived of its property without due process of law. By contrast, in multiple cases involving the liberty interest, the Court has held that the Fourteenth Amendment protects the liberty of natural, not artificial, persons. Nevertheless, the Court has at times allowed corporations to raise claims not based on the property interest. For instance, in a 1936 case, a newspaper corporation successfully argued that a state law deprived it of liberty of the press. 

A separate question concerns the ability of government officials to invoke the Due Process Clause to protect the interests of their office. Ordinarily, the mere official interest of a public officer, such as the interest in enforcing a law, does not enable him to challenge the constitutionality of a law under the Fourteenth Amendment. Moreover, municipal corporations lack standing to invoke the provisions of the Fourteenth Amendment in opposition to the will of their creator, the state. However, the Court has acknowledged that state officers have an interest in resisting an endeavor to prevent the enforcement of statutes in relation to which they have official duties, even if the officials have not sustained any private damage. State officials may therefore ask federal courts to review decisions of state courts declaring state statutes, which [they] seek to enforce, to be repugnant to the Fourteenth Amendment.

This is not some guy's opinion; this is the Constitution of the United States as interpreted as law by the Supreme Court. Nowhere does it mention a backlog of cases is reasonable cause for suspending said Constitutional protections under the law. There is an underlying expectation that the accused will have an opportunity to present evidence and defend their rights in a court of law. Unless SCOTUS, the DoJ, or the White House has suspended the constitution while no one was looking, President Felon is breaking the law. Again. 

This country, founded on a set of laws basically enshrined in the Constitution along with the idea that no law is perfect, and laws sometimes require interpretation and/or change through proper process. Hell, Roe v. Wade falls under the Fourteenth Amendment and despite rigorous and contentious debate, was reversed by the Supreme Court. No, I didn't like the outcome, but it happened within the structure of Constitutional law....and with luck, it will change again. That's what process does. What's happening to due process is not the same thing even though it, too, is part of the Fourteenth. But in listening to President Felon talk about immigration and deportation, there is no doubt that he lacks a basic understanding of how the law in this country works, and he's being led down a path by lawyers who will tell him whatever he wants regardless of the legality. 

His rambling commentary that routinely runs of the rails should reinforce that notion that the guy has no idea what he's talking about. Ever. 

Just like today's dalliance in Fantasy Land where he went off on his idea that movies made outside the US should have tariffs. 

Now, for a brief and shining moment, that might sound like a good plan...but not when you're dictating how art and artists should be practicing their craft. Creatives embrace and express the fundamental elements of a people. Anyone who has studied the history of conquest knows that one of the best ways to demoralize and absorb an entire people is to rid those people of their culture and their calendar. Take away that which makes a community unique and it will founder in its identity...and ultimately disappear.

Setting up the Kennedy Center board so that it only permits "approved" shows, or wiping out the boards of national museums only to replace them with sycophants does nothing to promote arts. Slashing PBS, Voice of America, and NPR does not encourage the development of writers, musicians, journalists, artists, or any other creative endeavor. Does anyone remember Socialist

A. Girasimov/ Stalin & Voroshilov in the Kremlin -

Realism from Stalinist Soviet Union? This is exactly what Stalin did and it would seem President Felon is basically unaware. 

Yet at the same time, he wants another Soviet era demonstration of this "prowess" On Flag day that happens to be his birthday. He wants a military parade. We've been down this road before, in this last attempt at governing this country. 

While he's insinuating that girls get only 3 dolls instead of 30 is a slap in the face to anyone who has donated to a toy drive. While incomes decline, and tariffs kick in, toys will be in short supply for Christmas thanks to those tariffs. As prices will increase and basic needs become unattainable for many, he wants to spend millions for a penis parade to glorify himself. That'll boost kiddie morale, right? His birthday happens to fall on Flag Day, so he's thinking that's when it's gonna happen. 

When asked about it, the Defense Department estimated a cost of $45 million with the military coving of the costs at a time when their training budgets are being cut. Kristin Wenker asked him about it, and that answer is mind blowing:

WELKER: What’s the price tag? Do you know? 

PRESIDENT: Peanuts compared to the value of doing it. We have the greatest missiles in the world. We have the greatest submarines in the world. We have the greatest army tanks in the world. We have the greatest weapons in the world. And we’re going to celebrate it. 

Programs to feed the hungry are being cut. Relief for storm-ravaged southern states like Arkansas is being denied. Veterans health care availability is being slashed....and he this spending millions on a penis parade has value. But that's because he thinks he runs the world. As he told The Atlantic in an interview with Ashley Parker and Michael Scherer, published April 28th:

The first time, I had two things to do ‒ run the country and survive; I had all these crooked guys. And the second time, I run the country and the world.”

Sure. I'm also sure Tears For Fears is thrilled. 

Meanwhile back at the ranch...

There was a children's story about the Fisherman and his Wife. When her husband caught a magic fish, she asked for a nice cottage, then a mansion, then a castle, then a kingdom, and then...she asked to be Pope. She ended up back in her hovel by the sea. 

Maybe there's hope for these here United States. 

The Wifely Person's Tip o'the Week

The past week, we lost a woman whose voice was heard by thousands.

Judith Altmann, 100,  was a Holocaust survivor. 

Her refusal to be silent about her experiences changed lives. 

Please listen to her testimony
Witness: Judith Altmann

May her memory forever be for a blessing. 

All Hail The Imperial Presidency. Not.

Back in 1973, Arthur M. Schlesinger wrote The Imperial Presidency, a sort of history of the executive powers of an American president, culminating with Richard Nixon's terms in office. His focus was on how war is waged. Wikipedia's opening paragraph of synopsis of the book is succinct and rather clear:

[The book] discusses how the applications of the Constitutional authority to declare war given to Congress and the Constitutional authority to conduct foreign policy and act as commander-in-chief given to the president have evolved since the government's inception, creating a dangerous imbalance in the separation of powers.

I'm pretty certain Schlesinger didn't envision a president with a crown...or maybe he did...but he does point out, through historical example, how the ambiguity of the war powers as delineated in the Constitution allows for a sitting president to act in a monarchical manner, including but not limited to Lincoln's suspension of habeas corpus during the Civil War. Ultimately, Schlesinger acknowledges that while he had initially been an advocate for an activist executive branch, that expansions of presidential power had led to dangerous abuse of the office. American presidents have an unbroken line of sabre rattling through the years. Sometimes it's effective, other times...meh. Increasingly, it seems the presidency moves from one event to the next confronting a state of perpetual crisis, with the powers of the executive branch continuing to grow beyond the bounds of the Constitution. 

A revised version of the book came out in 2004 and points to George W. Bush as an Imperial President who led us into an astoundingly unnecessary war with Iraq. I'm sorry Shlesinger died in 2007; I would love to read what he had to say about this president.

I love the phrase Imperial Presidency. It conjures up all sorts of things for me. Having had most of my education in theater, I firmly believe.....and you should, too, that appearances count and perception is everything. We are wired to believe what we see, and these days, a fair amount of what we see is not real. But it's the visuals that are really getting to me these days. Of course, there was the story about Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan's 18 carat solid gold toilet (offered to Feckless Felon by the artist and declined) but he really did have a golden apartment in his not-so-ivory towers. The flat was famous for its tasteless ostentation, but that didn't stop him from showing it off in glossy magazines. 

During his first term, he gussied up the Oval Office with gold drapes and a new gold rug. This time, however, he had grandiose plans, He told the Ohio State football team

I've done some ‘Trump touches’ to the Oval Office. It's a little nicer than it used to be, I think.

Honestly, it looks like a cross between a New Orleans old time bordello and Versailles. And not in a good way. 

Above picture was hand tinted

I think Teddy Roosevelt is spinning over by Sagamore Hill . See, he's the guy who decided the White House needed an upgrade. He had a big family, they needed the room, so the West Wing was assigned to office space. It was supposed to be a temporary fix. The Oval Office was constructed under President Taft. Of course, he used the Resolute Desk (now there's a good story) in this quasi-circular room with a green carpet and walls covered in green burlap. It was a functional meeting space. Serious business happened. While Washington, D.C. was designed to impress, the West Wing was an office space, a place where the staff could work in close proximity to the president. Made sense. Sure, each president added a little something to the office. Some totally redecorated, but there was a sense that this is America's house and it should reflect American sensibilities. Town and Country Magazine did a nice piece on the Oval Office a few years ago. Take a look. You'll get my drift. 

Why am I even writing about this?

Because appearances count and perception is everything. In a 1961 interview with Hugh Sidey of LIFE MAGAZINE, First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy (Onasis) said,

All these people come to see the White House and they see practically nothing that dates back before 1948. Everything in the White House must have a reason for being there. It would be sacrilege merely to "redecorate" it -- a word I hate. It must be restored -- and that has nothing to do with decoration. That is a question of scholarship.

She would go on to establish a White House Fine Arts Commission to aid with restoration and decorative arts. She instinctively knew that place had to be uniquely American...from the pictures on the walls to the food on the plates at a state dinner. Most occupants of the White House have followed her example. 

But not this one. The Ormolu Office is as tawdry, cheap, and cheesy as President Felon is. No world dignitary will say,  Oh my, how elegant! They will force a smile and truly understand this guy has no taste, no class, and, to be honest, no brains. They will titter behind their hands and fans. And they will not take him seriously at all. That which is fake will be inescapably hideous.

Photo: Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post

You can see President Macron's reflection in the table. This is a guy who I'd guess knows Versailles pretty well. I don't think the gold paperweights or inlay on the table is gonna do it for him. He knows the difference between the cheap imitation and the real thing. And it's pretty clear Macron knows exactly who President Felon really is. At least I hope so. 

President Felon is an unreasonable facsimile, a sucky cosplay character who likes getting his ass kissed while his henchmen humiliate our nation on the world stage. He thinks no one has noticed he's snuggled up in bed with Putin. He thinks jerking around Ukraine is gonna get him a Nobel Peace Prize. He thinks his bloviation is gonna get him the Rapture and the Second Coming. And he thinks rattling his toy lightsaber is gonna get him Greenland and Canada as states. Not bloody likely.

World leaders are watching him like a hawk. Not because they think he's leading them....but because they know he is unstable and untrustworthy. They watched him play tariff roulette as he played chicken with the Chinese. Most of the other leaders aren't blithering idiots. America is the only country who seems to have actually elected one. They may have wanted MAGA. but what they got was MAFA: Make American Fake Again.

Every week as I sit down to write this, I wonder why I'm still doing the blog after almost 15 years. I'm an old lady not just in my kitchen, but on the blog-o-sphere as well. I'm okay with that. 

And if you have something to say about it...lemme know. Except for the death threats, I always write back.

The Wifely Person's Tip o'the Week

Over the next 6 + months, I'll be traveling more than usual.

I will come to you from exotic places like Brooklyn ...

And Eretz Yisroel. 

But here's the thing...if you ask,

I will tell you I am fantastic....because I am. 

I'm excited to be heading off on adventures.

This is because I choose to be happy.

the alternative is kinda depressing, dontcha think?

What If.....?

In my last episode, I wrote:

Now the government wants to screen social media for what they consider anti-semitic rhetoric should scare the shit outta everyone. Oh, you think this is a good thing? Disabuse yourself of that notion. Neither President Felon nor Vice President Bedbug gives a tinker's damn about the Jews. We are a convenience for them. We're necessary for the second coming, but beyond that, we're fodder for under the bus. The tariffs are failing? He can blame the Jew Lutnick. Social media is being manipulated to search out anti-semitism? Or is it really consolidating identifiable pockets of support? 

Now I'm seeing all sorts of pundits saying that President Felon's war on antisemitism is not making Jews safe; in fact, quite the opposite. In an article on NPR, Michel Martin and Obed  Manuel wrote:

A coalition of Jewish groups warns that the Trump administration is making Jews less safe by targeting international students who protested Israel's war in Gaza and the universities where they study. 

In a statement released Tuesday, the coalition of 10 groups brought together by the nonpartisan Jewish Council for Public Affairs states that antisemitism is on the rise in the "public discourse, politics, and institution," but that it opposes the Trump administration's push to strip pro-Palestinian student activists of their visas and deny them due process. 

"Our safety as Jews has always been tied to the rule of law, to the safety of others, to the strength of civil society, and to the protection of rights and liberties for all," reads the statement. The coalition includes reform, conservative and reconstructionist organizations, as well as HIAS, as a non-profit immigrant aid group founded by Jewish Americans....

Amy Spitalnick, CEO of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, told Morning Edition that she and her group are concerned that fear of antisemitism is being exploited to "undermine our democracy."  

She added: "What's clear as these actions continue and grow is that the overwhelming majority of American Jews are feeling many of those same concerns and speaking out." 

A couple of things crossed my screen this week and are tangentially related to being in the crosshairs. Both had to do with music and Jews, and neither was about Jews writing Christmas songs. 

Over in Boston, The Berklee College of Music was seeking out a new chair of the brass department. They appointed Nicholas Payton, an incredible trumpet player. Musically, he was more than qualified for the job. However....

Payton is a very public antisemite. He posts his hateful rants on X and Instagram. According to an article in the Algemeiner, 

In a 2020 Twitter thread, Payton defended a social media post of his of a video describing Jews as a “synagogue of Satan” and describing Jews as obsessed with blood. “I hate no one. And I posted nothing but fact,” Payton wrote then. “None of you can say where I’m wrong. Only that you don’t like it. The ‘lots of people had slaves, including Africans’ trope doesn’t absolve Jews for their participation in the enslavement of my people.”

Peter Himmelman, in his April 18th edition of Morning Musings: Hate In The Horn Section: A Response to Berklee’s Hiring of Nicholas Payton writes about this in depth. While it might seem a conundrum, it isn't. Payton gets a free pass to say whatever he wants because to object to it would be kowtowing to President Felon and his social media henchman. Instead of rooting out antisemitism, it allows it to grow wild and free. Would a professor saying the same thing about Blacks or Latinos be hired after a screed of conspiracy theories? Not bloody likely. Himmelman explains it this way:

This is how antisemitism mutates — not only through the rants of individuals, but through the institutions that reward them. It gains traction not just because people hate Jews, but because others are too apathetic — or too afraid — to say that such hatred is intolerable.

Add to that the added attraction of defying the present regime, and antisemitism twists again into a new life of its own...one that masquerades as outrage but, in truth, allows it to grow exponentially.

Not convinced? Take a quick gander at this year's Coachella Music Festival. 

, 

An Irish band whose name is not worth repeating here, performed at Coachella over the weekend took the stage chanting "FREE, FREE...." to which the crowd dutifully responded "PALESTINE" before putting up the message to the left. The Hollywood Reporter has published a pretty complete article about the event. 

And I am left wondering...what if Coachella was attacked by Hamas? What if hundreds of attendees were slaughtered, and hundreds more dragged into Mexico? What if it had been the smaller communities that surround Coachella that were infiltrated, their residents murdered in their bed and kitchens while women of ALL ages were raped and mutilated before being murdered? Would they have blamed Israel for that, too, because it was Hamas? 

Probably.

Joshua Hoffman wrote a wonderful piece illustrating how antisemitism made us who we are.  If you haven't read it, you should, but here's a bit to get you started.

He begins with the baseline kernel of truth:

You say we run the banks. You say we run Hollywood. You say we control the media. You say we have too much influence, too much power, too much pride.

But you never ask why.

So let me tell you.

We were banned from owning land, so we learned to make a living with our minds. While others built legacies on soil and serfdom, we built ours in scholarship and study. We became merchants, financiers, physicians, and philosophers — not because we craved gold, but because the ground was never ours to till.

We were denied entry into universities, so we opened our own schools and studied twice as hard. Our emphasis on education didn’t arise from privilege; it arose from exclusion......

He goes on.... 

October 7th wasn’t just a massacre; it was a revelation. It reminded us that no amount of assimilation, no level of success, no Nobel Prizes, no peace treaties, and no hashtags will protect us if we cannot protect ourselves. 

 

We now live in a post- October 7th world. A world where Jews are done apologizing. Done seeking your approval. Done believing that if we just explain ourselves better, you’ll stop hating us. 

 

We now know, without a doubt, that the world’s memory is short, but ours is long.

We are a people who carry both trauma and tenacity. We are the children of refugees who became warriors. The descendants of Holocaust survivors who became state-builders. The grandchildren of exiles who came home.

You tried to destroy us on October 7th. Instead, you reminded us who we are. 

Here’s the irony you refuse to see: It was your hatred that made us this way. You forced us out of your professions, so we mastered the ones you didn’t want. You shut us out of your elite institutions, so we built better ones. You isolated us, so we built our own networks. You called us weak, so we became strong. You wanted us poor and powerless — and in trying to keep us there, you gave us every reason to rise.

Antisemitism didn’t stop Jewish success. It caused it. You wanted us out of your world. We built a new one. And now you complain it’s thriving.

So yes, we are proud. Yes, we are successful. Yes, we are influential. But none of it came easy. Every Jewish triumph stands atop centuries of exile, scapegoating, genocide, and resilience. We became strong because you gave us no other choice.

You made us into the people you now resent.

 And we’re not sorry. 

 No, we are not sorry in the least, and we won't apologize for surviving or thriving.  

Meanwhile, back at the UN....

It's worth noting that in recent weeks, a number of Arab nationals have spoken at the UN Human Rights Council demanding to know why their councils are silent about the humanitarian crises all over the Arab world. Luai Ahmed is a Yemani Swedish journalist who delivered a powerful speech last month at the UN Human Rights Council about their recent report on Israel on behalf of the @unitednationswatch:

I ask the UN, the Arab League, and everyone who had [sic] waving the Palestinian flag since October 7: Where is the flag of Yemen? In my country, half a million people have died in the last 10 years. The biggest famine and humanitarian crisis in modern history. Why does no one care when half a million Yemenis die?

 What about Sudan? In less than two years, more than 150,000 people have been killed. Where is the Sudanese flag?

What about Syria? Half a million people were killed. Where is the Syrian flag?
 
High Commissioner, why is it that when Arabs kill millions of Arabs, no one bats an eye? Where is the outrage? Where are the protests?

High Commissioner, may I ask why your report mentions Israel 188 times — yet fails to mention the Islamic Republic in Iran even once? How can you speak about the conflict while ignoring the party who armed, trained, and funded the terror proxies — Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis — who have been bombing Israel thousands of times? Why don’t you mention that the Houthis in Yemen have spent millions of dollars firing missiles at Israel, instead of feeding my starving people?  

And why is Qatar sitting here as a member of the Human Rights Council when they host the Hamas terror leaders in luxury hotels?

Their response?  Silence. Why doesn't this surprise me....or anyone, for that matter?

The Wifely Person's Tip o'the Week

There is a strange sense of euphoria

when you reconstruct your kitchen to chametz

and the cabinets are all tidy...

for about 2 days. 

Passover Is Passing Over And Not A Moment Too Soon

Clearly, FIL had cheese.

Every year, there is one blog episode for Passover. Every year I decide about five days before publication what I'm going to write about. And every year, when  I actually sit down to write, I toss whatever thoughts I had. This year is no different. But before I write about anything at all, I must tell you, gentle readers, I lost my best assistant editor last week, right before the holiday began. Bialy was 15 1/2 years young which is seriously old in German Short-Haired Pointer years. I am forever thankful that the week before, while the kiddos were in Chicago, I had her all to myself. I stayed with Miss B at her house and wrote about Charles Ponzi with her head in my lap. She was the best snuggler you could ever wish for. Beloved by FIL and Peri, my very timid Canaani, Bialy had a great puppyhood running amok with them in my old kitchen. These last few years, however, as age and kidney disease caught up with her, she never really slowed down until right at the very end. She may have officially belonged to the Junior Son's family, but she was my buddy, too. I'll never be able to look at a baby carrot again without thinking of my favorite carrot addict.

Being that it's still Passover and all, let's talk about the holiday that's all about freedom. The story of Passover is the story of the departure from slavery in Egypt on our way to freedom in our own land. In every exile, we have continued to pray facing Jerusalem. Psalm 137, the one with "If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand wither...." was written during the 6th Century BCE. That's a whole lotta years before Christianity and add another 600 years before Islam. The existence of spiritual ties to Jerusalem is not open to debate, yet, there is a whole lotta world that claims we are colonizers.

Now the government wants to screen social media for what they consider anti-semitic rhetoric should scare the shit outta everyone. Oh, you think this is a good thing? Disabuse yourself of that notion. Neither President Felon nor Vice President Bedbug gives a tinker's damn about the Jews. We are a convenience for them. We're necessary for the second coming, but beyond that, we're fodder for under the bus. The tariffs are failing? He can blame the Jew Lutnick. Social media is being manipulated to search out anti-semitism? Or is it really consolidating identifiable pockets of support? 

At the same time, President Felon's loyal podcasters are upping the ante on Jewish conspiracy theories. In March, Zachary Basu wrote a piece for AXIOS on influencers, detailing some of this:

Driving the news: Conspiracy theories about Israel, Jeffrey Epstein and Jewish elites dominated four MAGA-friendly podcasts last week that had previously hosted Trump. All came out within the same 48-hour period.

• Candace Owens, a pro-Trump lightning rod who left The Daily Wire last year over her embrace of antisemitic rhetoric, was a guest on "This Past Weekend with Theo Von."
• Andrew Tate, the misogynist influencer accused of sex trafficking and rape in Romania, appeared on the Nelk Boys' "Full Send" podcast and Patrick Bet David's "PBD Podcast." He also attended UFC 313 in Las Vegas, where he was welcomed by UFC president and Trump ally Dana White.
• Ian Carroll, an independent researcher who has suggested Israel was involved in 9/11, spent nearly three hours on the biggest platform of all — "The Joe Rogan Experience."

The divide is concerning. When the only news you're getting is from within your own particular bubble, this stuff doesn't come across as theories... it sounds like fact. Listeners are manipulated into believing these are real threats coming from a specific group that should not simply be heard, but action needs to be taken. What action remains to be seen, but do not believe for one New York minute that there isn't a plan already in the works. 

Jewish hate has not abated recently. In fact, it has intensified. The firebombing of Governor Josh Shapiro's home on the first night of Passover, and the assailant's admission that he wanted to beat the governor with his hammer is a pretty big clue that this isn't going away. The Shapiro family and another family who was staying overnight after the seder could have been burned to death. Between Hamas and the local crazies, burning Jews seems to be back in vogue. 

Funny thing about that: there's not been much of an outcry. Some people are insisting it was because of state politics. Nonsense. As the author Dara Horn has compiled in her collection of essays: People Love Dead Jews. 

Meanwhile, back at the ranch: President Felon was on tape bragging how his tariffs were making his friends billions. It's only 15 seconds you will never unsee. 

But that was not enough; he went so far as to post on social media encouraging people to buy stock when the market was depressed, only to lift the tariffs long enough for his pocket heavy donors to benefit. According to the Washington Post:

Less than four hours before President Donald Trump’s announcement that he was pausing his tariffs on most countries sent markets soaring, he told his 9.4 million followers on his social media platform that it was a good time to buy. 

“THIS IS A GREAT TIME TO BUY!!! DJT” he posted on Truth Social at 9:37 a.m. Eastern time Wednesday. Shortly after 1 p.m., he announced on the same site that he would pause most of his new tariffs, causing the cratering stock markets to sharply rise.

This isn't exactly the first time he's pulled this.  And yes, inquiries have been made and lawsuits are being prepped. Not that a congress of clowns has the balls between them to do anything about it. I mean...it would probably interfere with their own profiteering. 

The Wifely Person's Tip o'the Week

Snuggling with your dog is a good thing. Remember to do it often

I Was Gonna Write About Tariffs, But This Was Weirder

I was planning to spend this week's episode explaining in very simplistic terms why tariffs are gonna cost you, the consumer, alot. So I started researching economic policy as well as the people who are designing President Felon's tariff program. I kept running into the name Peter Navarro. Do yourself a favor and follow that link. Read the whole article. 

So, sure, Navarro has some pretty impressive degrees on the wall, including a PhD from Harvard in economics. But degrees from Harvard are not guarantees of common sense. Navarro has a long history of sinophobia, and has written a number of  books on the subject, one of which, Death By China (2011)  caught the attention of Jared Kushner back in 2016, ultimately leading to his becoming a White House trade advisor during President Felon's first term. 

Even though he wrote a memo in January of 2020 warning that the novel coronavirus should not be overlooked, and in February went on to warn it could conceivably become a pandemic, killing millions, his fabrications cannot be ignored. In March, he was appointed to coordinate the federal government's Defense Production Act. His advisor, Steven Hatfill, was heavily promoting Hydroxychloroquine for treatment of COVID, and by April, President Felon was all on board, even though there was insufficient data to support that claim. This should have raised dozens of red flags with this guy. 

It didn't. 

Navarro wrote books about how trade with China was destructive for the US economy. While that last line is a gross simplification, the reality is even worse. In those books, he extensively quotes a PhD candidate at Harvard named Ron Vara. In October, 2019 in The Chronicle of Higher Education, Peter Bartlett wrote an article entitled: Trump's 'China Muse' Has an Imaginary Friend Who is Ron Vara? He seems to exist only in the books of Peter Navarro

Ron Vara has strong opinions. He thinks you’ve “got to be nuts to eat Chinese food.” He doles out little scraps of wisdom, like “Don’t play checkers in a chess world.” Vara is a military veteran and Harvard-trained economist who made seven figures in the stock market by investing in companies that do well during international crises. His contrarian savvy earned him an ominous-sounding nickname: Dark Prince of Disaster.

Vara makes frequent cameos in the books of Peter Navarro, a White House adviser who is often referred to as Trump’s “China muse.” Before joining the White House, Navarro was a professor of economics and public policy at the University of California at Irvine and the author of books like Death by China: Confronting the Dragon — A Global Call to Action and The Coming China Wars: Where They Will Be Fought and How They Can Be Won (FT Press). He’s since become one of Trump’s most dogged defenders, telling CNN recently that “I am never disappointed in my president.”

The only problem is that Ron Vara does not exist. He is a figment of Peter Navarro's imagination. In fact, his name is an anagram of NAVARRO. He appears as an expert in 6 of Navarro's books, dating back to 2001. Following the Bartlett article, Navarro defended the use of Ron Vara in an NPR interview on October 18, 2019:

Navarro, who directs the White House Office of Trade and Manufacturing Policy, defended the fabrication as a "whimsical device."

"At no time was the character used improperly as a fact source," he wrote in an email. "It's just a fun device."

Really? Just a fun device?????

Here's where I get into trouble with that thinking. Despite his degrees, he doesn't attribute what he says to himself....for whatever reasons...but rather to a fictional character who he presents as an expert source. But that lapse in honesty did not prevent him from getting a role in the first administration. Nor did his contempt of Congress conviction. 

After his first go'round with President Felon, Navarro was sentenced to four months in prison for refusing to comply with a subpoena from the House Select Committee investigating the attack on the US Capitol on January 6, 2021. He began his prison term on March 19, 2024. 

Did that stop him from taking a role in this administration? Apparently not. Now, he's arguing with the Muskrat who is currently opposed to tariffs. I guess the hit on Tesla is working because now he's singing a different tune that lacks the usual pocket ka-ching sound as the money drops in. But rumor has it the Muskrat is on his way outta the Big Show. Navarro, on the other hand, with this highly discredited tariff program, seems to be hanging on. Gotta wonder what the motivation is for that.

AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar

And as long as I'm ranting about motivation, looks like Snake Oil man is back in favor. Mehmet "I-never-met-a-scam-I-didn't-like Oz is back on President Felon's good side. Last week, he was appointed Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator. I'm not sure what this means for health care, but one thing that he seems to be on board with is telemedicine which has recently been disallowed by Medicare just last week. The truth of that position remains to be seen. According to the AP:

Oz has formed a close relationship with his new boss, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. He’s hosted the health secretary and his inner circle regularly at his home in Florida. He’s leaned into Kennedy’s campaign to “Make America Healthy Again,” an effort to redesign the nation’s food supply, reject vaccine mandates and cast doubt on some long-established scientific research.  

While he has faced some criticism for promoting unproven vitamin supplements and holistic treatments — staples of the “MAHA movement” — he’s regularly encouraged Americans to get vaccinated.

Something is better than nothing, I suppose, but this jury is out on whether or not this is the ultimate demise of public health. Once a snake-oil salesman, always a snake-oil salesman because it ain't about the snake-oil. Follow the money.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch.....

hostage tunnel

The rest of this week will be spent getting ready for Pesach. A bitter taste remains in our mouths since there are still 59 hostages in Gaza. It's hard to rejoice in our freedom when our people are chained in dark tunnels without food, water, or even air.  On the right is an IDF released photo of the tunnel where six hostages, Carmel Gat, Eden Yerushalmi, Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Alex Lobanov, Almog Sarusi and MSG Ori Danino were held captive and murdered. There is no Next Year In Jerusalem for those children of Israel. 

For thousands of years, longer than Christianity or Islam has been around, we have faced Jerusalem to pray. Our history is on that tiny strip of land in the middle of people who hate us because we have survived as a people. We still speak the same language, we pray the same liturgy, we eat the same foods, and hold fast to our identity as Jews. We are indigenous to the land we never left, but have managed to bring back so many who were exiled. We turned a whole lotta sand and rocky land into a thriving national economy....that people simply want to destroy. Do they think by killing us they will reap the benefits of our industries and our farms? 

As I get ready for Pesach, my heart will be in the land where it all began. And even if I won't be there I believe with all my heart and soul that we belong to that land. 

By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion.

Upon the willows in the midst thereof we hung up our harps.

For there they that led us captive asked of us words of song, and our tormentors asked of us mirth: 'Sing us one of the songs of Zion.'

How shall we sing the LORD'S song in a foreign land?

If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning.

Let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth, if I remember thee not; if I set not Jerusalem above my chiefest joy.

The Wifely Person's Tip o'the Week 

If you're getting ready for Pesach ...

remember to breathe once in a while.

Chag Sam'each!