President Biden’s fragile bid for a second term is under new threat from the powerful combination of two conflicts he has little direct control over: Israel’s war with Hamas and the deepening rift in the U.S. over America’s role in it. 

You may have heard of Shai Davidai‚ the Israeli professor at Columbia University who has launched a crusade against the school’s pro-Palestinian protestors. He’s rocketed to fame by calling students terrorists‚ comparing himself to Jewish victims of Nazi Germany‚ and demanding the National Guard forcibly break up the student encampments. After the NYPD stormed Columbia’s campus on Tuesday night‚ arresting hundreds of students‚ he retweeted a message...

The unofficial theme song for Bowie. The post The David Bowie song he thought sounded arrogant: “Baiting an audience” first appeared on Far Out Magazine.

What societal institutions‚ other than mosques‚ show a greater receptivity to the pro-Hamas message than the campuses&;#63; Neither transgenders wearing keffiyehs nor the great number of students owning high-end glamping gear strikes as the strangest thing about the protests. Their location does. (READ MORE: American Universities Have Squandered the Public’s Esteem) Martin Luther King did not march on Cambridge Common or Telegraph Ave. He demonstrated in Montgomery‚ Selma‚ Birmingham‚ Atlanta‚ and points beyond where governments‚ businesses‚ and powerful people discriminated against African Americans. He risked hearing jeers rather than cheers because he wanted change‚ not an ego boost. He suffered not merely jeers but jail‚ hurled foodstuffs‚ a stabbing‚ the invasion of his privacy‚ and ultimately assassination so that others would not suffer. Demonstrations generally follow this pattern of addressing grievances directly at the source. PETA protests medical research facilities that perform experiments on animals‚ not vegan restaurants that serve sesame noodles. Strikers demonstrate outside of the factories that pay them less than they demand‚ not outside the union hall. Pro-lifers hold placards on the sidewalk next to Planned Parenthood clinics‚ not churches. (READ MORE: Squad Members‚ Defiant Amid Ouster Threats‚ Intensify Backing of Anti-Semitic Protests) If PETA did make its case in a vegan restaurant‚ then one imagines many a customer might shout “Hear‚ hear.” This would make the PETA protestors feel good. But it seems unlikely to advance the group’s principles. This hypothetical forces the question‚ for what purpose do the protestors make their voices heard in the very places where their voices dominate&;#63; Proximity seems the obvious and partly right answer. Other reasons pertain to the inability of many progressives to operate outside of their intellectual ghettos and the desire of many young people for affirmation. No explanation for why the campuses serve as the site of the protests involves the connection of the universities to the war‚ of which tangential seems too strong a word‚ or the grounds of elite schools serving as an effective platform to save Palestinian lives‚ which they are not. The protests that canceled classes at UCLA‚ forced Columbia to move to remote learning‚ and closed Cal Poly-Humboldt for the semester look like a performance. It all probably felt exhilarating and cathartic. But in terms of propelling the cause of the Palestinians‚ the demonstrations proved entirely ineffective. The situation evokes the peculiar thought process of an activist of an earlier age who did not solve the problem of poverty but did win the Nobel Peace Prize. “We have in America a fast-growing number of cultivated young people who have no recognized outlet for their active faculties‚” Jane Addams wrote in Twenty Years at Hull House. “They hear constantly of the great social maladjustment‚ but no way is provided for them to change it‚ and their uselessness hangs about them heavily.” (READ MORE: I’ll See Your Charlottesville and Raise You Columbia) The point of activism‚ at least in this telling‚ is to direct the energies of young people toward labors that provide them with a sense of usefulness and a boost in self-esteem. This seems‚ to borrow the terminology of Abraham Lincoln‚ bass-ackwards. Nevertheless‚ as the unproductive‚ non sequitur campus protests indicate‚ many still subscribe to the activism-for-the-activists mentality emphasized in those words from Addams. The protests on campus feel cowardly. On one level‚ it follows that the most coddled generation in human history exercises its activism in what amounts to ivy-walled safe spaces. On another level‚ cowardice begets cowardice. Student activists celebrate the murder of unarmed people their age who‚ like them‚ slept in tents at the Nova music festival. At the University of Wisconsin‚ UNC-Chapel Hill‚ and DePaul‚ they do not grasp the irony. The activism for activism’s sake on American campuses does not save a single Palestinian. It does salve the feelings of privileged American kids. The post Why Protest on Campuses With No Connection to the Israel-Hamas War&;#63; appeared first on The American Spectator | USA News and Politics.

Elon Musk made headlines today by pledging to reinstate the X account of Nick Fuentes‚ the controversial 25-year-old pundit who has long served as one of a handful of conspicuous exceptions to Musk’s stated free-speech absolutism. Since taking over X‚ Musk has — in bits and spurts — allowed a number of previously banned accounts to return to the platform. But Fuentes‚ along with a few other “far-right” voices‚ has remained in digital exile. (During Musk’s initial mass amnesty‚ Fuentes was briefly allowed back on the platform — only to be suspended a day later.) Musk wrote: Very well‚ he will be reinstated‚ provided he does not violate the law‚ and let him be crushed by the comments and Community Notes. It is better to have anti whatever out in the open to be rebutted than grow simmering in the darkness. — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 2‚ 2024 “I cannot claim to be a defender of free speech‚ but then permanently ban someone who hasn’t violated the law‚ no matter how much I disagree with what they say‚” Musk added. “This will probably cause us to lose a lot of advertisers and makes me sad‚ but a principle is a principle.” READ MORE from Nate Hochman: Utah’s Republican Governor Goes to War With His Own Base The move was significant for a number of reasons. Musk clearly pays attention to (and often participates in) discourse on the right-wing corners of X‚ where Fuentes has long played a prominent role: Even in his absence‚ his army of young followers — known as the “groypers” — are one of the most energetic and active cohorts on the platform. (Look at the comment section of any prominent conservative account‚ and there’s a good chance you’ll find video clips of Fuentes and other posts from his fans.) Some of the groypers have substantial followings and have been spearheading a prolonged pressure campaign against Musk and X to reinstate Fuentes since he was banned in January 2023. “Nick Fuentes” has been the top trending topic on X at numerous junctures over the past year — including last month‚ when the young right-wing firebrand participated in a highly discussed conversation on the platform with Daily Wire CEO Jeremy Boreing. It’s almost impossible to believe that Musk wasn’t aware of all this‚ or that he hadn’t seen the ubiquitous calls to replatform Fuentes‚ which would‚ like clockwork‚ appear en masse in Musk’s replies practically every time he touted X’s commitment to free speech. But until now‚ he neglected to address the issue publicly — and X routinely banned the various anonymous “burner” accounts that Fuentes made in the interim. To be sure‚ Musk has yet to actually make good on his pledge to lift the Fuentes ban — and he has a history of reneging on public promises in this context. “While he played a pivotal role in the anti-censorship campaign against the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) earlier this year‚” I wrote last November‚ “many of his ambitious promises—including his pledge to sue the ADL and release a ‘giant data dump’ exposing the group’s efforts to lobby for censorship—never materialized.” Furthermore: Despite Musk’s laudable pledge to govern X as a “free speech absolutist‚” a March 2023 study found that censorship on the platform actually increased in the first four months of his takeover. While Musk himself has criticized gender ideology‚ censorship of “anti-trans” ideas and speech on X—including temporary bans of high-profile conservative journalists and at least one sitting member of Congress—have persisted under his leadership. While Musk promised (and briefly delivered on) a general amnesty for accounts suspended under previous Twitter leadership‚ he has presided over a succession of ban waves‚ often with no public rationale. Earlier this month‚ two British right-wing activists‚ Katie Hopkins and Tommy Robinson‚ were abruptly reinstated on X without explanation‚ while their counterparts in the Twitter gulag remained banned. It’s difficult to escape the sense that X’s decisions on these matters are being driven by internal political maneuvering rather than any objective standard. But those who support Musk’s stated goal of a true “free speech platform” should urge him to make good on his promise and follow through. Even if some conservatives can’t emotionally bring themselves to support Fuentes’ speech rights for principled reasons‚ they can and should do so for entirely self-interested ones. As I wrote in these pages last month: By claiming to defend all free speech in principle but only defending some in practice‚ the Right concedes‚ by omission‚ that certain ideas fall outside the bounds of free expression — and that it’s perfectly appropriate (or‚ at least‚ not particularly objectionable) to bring the full force of regime power to bear against any individual so unwise as to express them…The irony‚ of course‚ is that the ideas and individuals in question — i.e.‚ those who stray too far to the right — are often the subject of the most vigorous‚ aggressive‚ and consistent censorship‚ both from major tech platforms and the apparatus of the American state. But the so-called far Right tends to be a canary in the coal mine. Invariably‚ censorship of the right-wing fringe is only ever a pretext for much broader censorship of ideas and figures well within the conservative mainstream. In 2016‚ the first few rounds of permanent Twitter bans came for figures such as Milo Yiannopoulos and Richard Spencer (as well as Spencer’s think tank and journal). In 2017‚ the censors graduated to Roger Stone and Andrew Tate; in 2018‚ Alex Jones. By 2020‚ the scope of censorship had expanded to include factual reporting from the New York Post‚ and‚ by 2022‚ comedy from the Babylon Bee. One need not agree with anything that Fuentes says to understand the critical significance of securing freedom of speech — true free speech‚ which includes the most controversial or otherwise objectionable ideas and voices — on one of the most powerful social media platforms in the world. Elon Musk should be commended for taking an important step toward realizing that goal. The post A Step in the Right Direction for Elon Musk’s Free Speech Agenda appeared first on The American Spectator | USA News and Politics.

I wasn’t going to get into all of this. I don’t think there’s any real way to get into it without fanning the flames of idiocy that are already engulfing our culture. On the other hand‚ the viral “I Choose The Bear” thing which has percolated into a cloud of online scuffling this week probably deserves some treatment here at The American Spectator‚ and maybe it falls to me to get into it. So I’ll do my duty‚ and bear all the slings and arrows that will undoubtedly come. Before we get into my explanation of this‚ which will take up a couple of today’s Five Quick Things‚ here’s the quick version of this dumb meme — there’s a viral video out there from a woman hiker who says that‚ if she were faced with a choice between encountering a bear in the woods or a man‚ she’d choose the bear because that’s less dangerous. Reactions to this have run a pretty impressive gamut. Here was one of my favorites: This was maybe not quite as smart a take: While this discourse was starting on tiktok I saw this “take” and I cried for hours after watching it. I then had a great session w/my therapist who for the first time in my life explained what I’m feeling is grief for my old self after being assaulted. Anyways I choose the bear&;#33; https://t.co/7limj3SHom pic.twitter.com/ZTlVsDYSRt — no name (@pradaice) May 1‚ 2024 And this was an even less smart take: You’re missing the entire point. A bear is a bear and we know exactly what to expect from a wild animal when we’re in their space. Men are unpredictable and attack unprovoked &; often after they’ve pretended to be someone they’re not to gain our trust. I choose the bear https://t.co/9R2RHv72fr — Catherine (@WildeMagnolias) April 28‚ 2024 It’s a dumb controversy‚ and the response from men on social platforms isn’t a whole lot better. There are‚ however‚ a couple of things to glean from this‚ and they’re worth discussing even if the underlying hypothetical is not. 1. The ‘I Choose The Bear’ Thing Is Just How Bad It Is Out There The reason this has exploded like it has is it’s a pretty decent mirror of just how terrible the dating scene‚ or even basic interpersonal relationships‚ have gotten between men and women. A short clip from Rich Cooper’s podcast is pretty standard in explaining the attitudes out there: Here’s the thing: there are a whole lot of toxic male reactions to the meme‚ reactions I’m going to leave aside because they’re too dumb to bring into the discussion. The point is not to castigate women for this meme‚ because both sides are behaving badly. As a man‚ there is no point in being outraged that so many women default to believing you’re a sexual predator waiting to expose yourself‚ though that is certainly insulting. The thing to do is rise above all that‚ as difficult as that might be. The problem is that you’ve now got people in relationships bringing this up to their significant others. One Reddit user reported: I shared the bear versus man dilemma with my boyfriend and didn’t get the response I expected. Now I’m sad His response was: “I think there are two questions there 1) the fear that women feel of men 2) the total lack of knowledge that women have about what it means to meet a bear” then I said that it wasn’t about the bear‚ but rather our perception of men… but he wanted to take another route: “How many people know how to judge the differential danger of all these animals‚ you know&;#63;” and even an audio about statistics on the number of bears you encounter versus the number of men and the rate of bad interactions then I said “I’m not going to talk to you about this‚ ok&;#63;&;#33;” because clearly we were having two separate conversations and at that moment I thought it was insensitive for him to go that route and I didn’t want to hear about it. I’m not dating anybody right now‚ so my gut reaction is a mixture of confusion and indifference. But if I was dating somebody and she brought this up‚ I think I’d suggest that she ban herself from hiking in the woods based on her questionable ability to evaluate threats. The point is‚ you’ve got a society that is so divorced from the real world that people don’t rationally consider a physical‚ existential threat with the same weight that they consider social commentary. Additionally‚ relations between men and women are possibly the worst they’ve ever been. If it weren’t for those two factors this “I Choose The Bear” thing would never have gotten any legs. 2. Remember Four Numbers. They Explain This Completely. How does this happen&;#63; Well‚ let’s remember our four most telling numbers in American politics and culture‚ shall we&;#63; In the 2022 elections‚ it turned out that there were some very telling results where voting by party among four substantial groups was concerned. Namely: Married men voted Republican by 20 points more than Democrat (R+20); Married women were R+14; Unmarried men were R+7; and Unmarried women were D+37. I come back to these numbers repeatedly because they explain so much about our politics and culture. It’s a little scary. Remember‚ the people who control pretty much all of the cultural institutions in America aren’t just Democrats but hard-core leftists of the Obama stripe. What we know about these guys is that they don’t respect any limits at all on their cultural revolutionary behavior — anything representing traditional America has to be cast as villainous. We’ve seen over and over again that straight men — particularly straight white men‚ although straight men of other ethnicities don’t come in for friendly treatment either — have been in the crosshairs of most of their cultural aggressions large and small. That’s evident in movies and TV‚ commercial spots‚ art‚ fashion — everything. We also know there are efforts by various nonprofits‚ NGOs‚ and PR firms paid by leftists to drive narratives and push memes. The #MeToo thing was hardly an organic expression‚ after all. It had been around since 2006 and all of a sudden it popped viral in 2017 after Harvey Weinstein’s long-standing casting-couch behavior was finally exposed‚ and suddenly a number of PR firms started using it on social media for various purposes other than “raising awareness” of sexual misconduct. If you couldn’t tell how agenda-driven the #MeToo thing was‚ then you probably need the cultural-warfare “this is a football” speech‚ which we don’t have time for in this column. There is an unmistakable‚ obvious effort afoot to drive a wedge between men and women to preserve and grow that D+37 contingent. It’s impossible not to recognize this “I Choose The Bear” dreck as a manifestation of those efforts. There are an awful lot of women who subscribe to this thinking‚ yes‚ and sure‚ there are more men than there should be who give rise to suspicions about bad behavior. But if somebody wasn’t ginning up this crap on social media it wouldn’t have come this far. And the D+37 number explains exactly why. Once you see that number‚ you can’t unsee it. It explains everything. These people don’t care what kind of damage they cause; all they care about is power‚ and D+37 is an avenue toward getting it. 3. Paging Uncle RICO A quick thought on those protests/riots we’re seeing on all those campuses: Seeing as though these demonstrations are clearly funded from outside sources and staffed with non-students‚ and seeing that they chronically violate campus policies and state laws‚ the question then becomes why haven’t district attorneys and state attorneys general begun investigating them with an eye toward charging the organizations responsible under the various state RICO statutes. We already know there’s one NGO responsible‚ Students for Justice in Palestine‚ which is a Soros operation. It’s time to arrest the “fellows” of this organization who are heading up these protests on campuses they don’t attend‚ haul them in for questioning about their funding and control‚ and start squeezing out a cascade of stool pigeons until you get to the top. I guess we’ll have to wait until next year for the feds to get involved because Merrick Garland and Christopher Wray are worse than useless on this (and practically every other) issue. However‚ at the state level‚ and particularly in red states‚ this can get started now. 4. Dirty Joe Wants to Ramp Up a Migrant Invasion of Palestinians Boy‚ this just gets more and more fun‚ doesn’t it&;#63; President Joe Biden is considering bringing Palestinian refugees into the U.S.‚ but news of that potential decision sparked a wave of criticism for Biden. A group of Republican lawmakers in the House and Senate sent a letter to the president condemning the alleged plan‚ which was reported by CBS News . “U.S. and allied officials have very little access to Gazans living in the area‚ making it nearly impossible to conduct thorough vetting before admitting them into our country‚” the letter said. “We must ensure Gazans with terrorist ties or sympathies are denied admission into the United States – no easy feat‚ given the fact that the Gazans were the ones who voted Hamas into power in 2006. Without thorough vetting‚ your administration may inadvertently accept terrorists posing as refugees into the interior. “This is especially the case as Hamas terrorists have a long track record of co-mingling with civilian populations in Gaza‚” the letter added. I’m going to hold off on most of my outrage on this because there has to be some point at which Biden’s handlers realize that their political/cultural/economic aggressions tip the scale and cost them power. This would have to be that point‚ no&;#63; A mass importation of Hamas-supporting Palestinian refugees‚ the people who passed out candy in the streets of Gaza when the World Trade Center towers came down on 9/11‚ would have to be a tipping of that scale. When even the Saudis and Egyptians don’t want those people it’s pretty obvious we don’t. Or maybe it’s not that obvious. The last column in this space talked about how Republicans need to stop complaining about the horrors of Team Biden and start reveling in the predatory opportunities those stupidities and abuses of power present. Accusing Joe Biden of seeking to bring in tens or hundreds of thousands of Palestinians from Gaza‚ people who are perfectly in sync with the morons on those college campuses chanting “From the river to the sea&;#33;” genocidal slogans‚ is fantastic politics. Pointing out that bringing in those people would make life infinitely less enjoyable for lots of members of the Democrats’ current coalition‚ like for example secular Jews‚ feminists‚ LGBTQ Alphabet people‚ and others owing to the less-enlightened cultural sensibilities of the dominant portion of Palestinians‚ makes for even more fun. There really ought to be a spate of TV spots pumping out there with the accusation that Biden’s next migrant flood will be a bunch of Oct. 7 alumni. Hell‚ why not&;#63; It’s probably true and nobody would be surprised if he did it. 5. I’m With The Critical Drinker On Fallout Who am I kidding&;#63; I’m pretty much always with The Critical Drinker. His reviews are more or less the best guide for quality (and otherwise) movies and TV‚ and I’ll disagree with him very‚ very infrequently. Having found myself with an unexpected hole in my schedule Wednesday afternoon and evening‚ I took his advice on Fallout and plowed through all eight episodes. Oh‚ yeah. This was his advice: I didn’t expect to get much out of the show‚ which is streaming at Amazon Prime at present. I never played the game it’s based on‚ though I’d heard Fallout was one of the most imaginative role-playing video games ever produced. I played video games as a kid. I fought off a double addiction to Sim City and the Civilization games as a younger adult. I’m too busy to ever return to gaming (which‚ while fun‚ is not living productively). A TV series based on one of these games is plenty enough for me now‚ though after suffering through Resident Evil‚ HALO‚ Mortal Kombat‚ and a couple of other adaptations that the Drinker notes were colossal misses‚ my expectations of Fallout were not all that high. Maybe they should have been. I didn’t make the connection until I saw the Drinker’s review‚ because he doesn’t look like himself in the show‚ but Walton Goggins is masterful in Fallout. It’s a performance that reminds the viewer of his portrayal of the delightfully glib villain Boyd Crowder in Justified‚ but of course‚ The Ghoul‚ Goggins’ character in Fallout‚ does not look the same. There are things in the show I’m guessing you’d need to have played the game to fully understand‚ but those don’t ruin the series. It’s a very entertaining romp through a post-nuclear holocaust wasteland of a world‚ where hard-bitten and highly uncivilized surface dwellers survive the best way they can while the denizens of the underground nuclear bomb shelters (or vaults‚ as they’re known in Fallout) enjoy a false corporate-sponsored utopia. That might sound woke‚ but it isn’t. Goggins’ portrayal of The Ghoul is matched by Ella Purnell’s Lucy‚ a naive vaulter forced to the surface to search for her kidnapped father. As the Drinker notes‚ Lucy is a strong female character without being the Strong Female Character we all hate in movies. She’s human‚ she survives on her wits rather than by beating the hell out of men twice her size‚ and she’s likable. The Drinker notes it’s not that hard to write characters like Lucy so long as you aren’t preaching woke pieties to the audience. You don’t get all that much of that from Fallout‚ though it’s a bit of a sendup of the military-industrial complex. Most of all‚ though‚ it’s just a fun show. As post-apocalyptic dystopian action romps go‚ this is as entertaining as it gets. The post Five Quick Things: The ‘I Choose The Bear’ Meme appeared first on The American Spectator | USA News and Politics.

The scene: the Democratic National Convention of 2012. The job at hand: renominate President Barack Obama. But first‚ as is standard procedure for both political parties‚ a party platform had to be adopted. As such‚ headlines like this one from the U.K. Guardian emerged: Democratic convention erupts over reinstatement of Jerusalem to policy Row over Israel mars second day of convention as party moves to add back ‘God’ and ‘Jerusalem’ language to platform It took the personal intervention of Obama to reverse the removal — because‚ according to reports‚ Jewish donors were livid. Move through the next few years to 2019‚ and there is Minnesota Democrat Ilhan Omar‚ as NPR reported at the time (emphasis added): In February‚ Omar responded to a tweet from journalist Glenn Greenwald‚ who posted about House GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy threatening to punish Omar and another congresswoman for being critical of Israel. Omar wrote back‚ “It’s all about the Benjamins baby.” …. In another tweet soon after‚ Omar named the American Israel Public Affairs Committee‚ or AIPAC‚ saying it was funding Republican support for Israel. And in 2021‚ the New York Post headlined of Omar’s colleagues in the so-called Squad convincing their fellow House Democrats to “zero out” funding of Israel’s “Iron Dome” defensive security system: The Squad’s anti-Semites carry the day among House Democrats yet again It’s no shock that the news articles on the current anti-Semitic Columbia protests report the enthusiastic presence of none other than Omar’s student daughter. All of this considered‚ it is no wonder that there has been an explosion of Jew-hatred coming from all these far-left-leaning colleges and universities. The plain‚ hard fact that must now be understood is that one of America’s two major political parties — the Democrat Party — has not only become the command central platform for today’s outbreak of anti-Semitism; for those who came in late‚ anti-Semitism has always had a home on the left and specifically in the Democratic Party. READ MORE from Jeffrey Lord: Columbia University Turmoil Recalls the Hitler Youth Recall that the party has always had race as a central component. Founded by slave owners‚ as I have noted in this space previously‚ it was early on record as a staunch supporter of everything from slavery to segregation to — yes‚ indeed — the Ku Klux Klan. As noted here previously‚ the party was a serious handmaiden to the “formation of the Ku Klux Klan‚ which‚ according to Columbia University historian Eric Foner[‚] became ‘a military force serving the interests of the Democratic Party.’” According to “University of North Carolina historian Allen Trelease’s description‚” the Klan was specifically the “terrorist arm of the Democratic Party.” And while the Klan obviously targeted black Americans‚ attention should be paid to the serious historical fact that the Klan also targeted Jews. To cite but one of numberless historical reckonings in this area‚ historian Linda Gordon‚ winner of two Bancroft prizes for her histories‚ authored The Second Coming of the KKK: The Ku Klux Klan of the 1920s and the American Political Tradition. In this book‚ Gordon writes this of Democrat President Woodrow Wilson and others — specifically citing Columbia University: Woodrow Wilson and many in his administration regularly voiced anti-Semitic opinions. American colleges and universities systematically applied quotas to Jewish applicants; as Jewish immigrants began to achieve academic success‚ Columbia’s medical school reduced its proportion of Jewish students from 47 percent in 1920 to 6 percent in 1940. Taken all together‚ anti-Semitism is a serious component of today’s Democrats — and always has been. And no better illustration exists of this hard fact at this very moment than the explosion of Jew-hating on one left-wing college campus after another. One suspects most of these kids probably turned up on campus as empty intellectual vessels with no knowledge of anti-Semitism and its horrendous history. But after spending serious time at institutions like Columbia and listening to left-wing supporters‚ they have clearly emerged with a serious case of anti-Semitism. Where is President Joe Biden‚ the leader of the anti-Semitic Democrat Party&;#63; A mere statement or two will not suffice when America needs a president who will seriously lead his party away from such an evil philosophy. Clearly‚ he appears afraid to lead because it will lose him votes from his own party. And as for former President Donald Trump&;#63; Well‚ aside from his demanding the protests stop‚ here is this reminder from NBC: In 2019‚ then-President Donald Trump signed an order instructing federal officials to expand the interpretation of Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act to include “discrimination rooted in anti-Semitism” as a form of discrimination based on race‚ color and national origin — prohibited behavior for programs that get federal funding. Trump signed the order amid a series of violent incidents against Jews‚ including the 2018 killing of 11 congregants in a Pittsburgh synagogue and a 2019 attack that killed three inside a Kosher supermarket in New Jersey. Exactly. As always‚ history counts. And the history of the Democrats on anti-Semitism is both vivid and decidedly not good. The question now is what to do about it. The post The Democratic Party: The Purveyor of Anti-Semitism appeared first on The American Spectator | USA News and Politics.

The glorious eight-day festival of Pesach (Passover) ended Tuesday night. It coincided with the end of a challenging four-week recovery period from a surgery that was followed by severe post-op complications. I am 80 percent recovered‚ and I finally now can write. The enforced separation from the outside world and everyday activity allowed me time to cogitate. I now am bursting with thoughts about the campus riots‚ and I have prepared a five-part series that offers specific and unique proposals to take back our universities and stop the rot. READ MORE: Squad Members‚ Defiant Amid Ouster Threats‚ Intensify Backing of Anti-Semitic Protests Why do I write and propose if I know that Biden and Kamala will not implement these proposals&;#63; Because‚ maybe‚ if G-d smiles on America and if America is worthy‚ there will be a change in government in only six more months. And even if not — G-d forbid — maybe brave and courageous governors like Ron DeSantis and Greg Abbott will consider creating state equivalents to these federal proposals I offer. I begin with a bit of background. I graduated from Columbia University in 1976 with a B.A. in political science. During my last two years‚ I had the extraordinary honor to be elected by the entire undergraduate body — thousands of freshmen‚ sophomores‚ juniors‚ and seniors — to represent all of them‚ the entire college student body‚ as their chosen representative in the University Senate‚ Columbia’s highest deliberative body. Why would a left-wing student body elect one of the most right-wing students in the college&;#63; Because I was known campus wide as a fighter who does not take “no.” My primary cause then was freedom from communism for Soviet Jewry‚ but the concern of the collegiates was rising tuition. I campaigned on a promise to fight tuition hikes as I fought for Soviet Jewry‚ and I won. And‚ wow‚ did I ever fight as one voice among more than 100 University Senators to stop or at least reduce tuition hikes. So I know Columbia University. I met my first wife‚ a Barnard student‚ on campus. I sent children to Columbia University. My first wife earned her doctorate at Columbia University. I also know UCLA. I attended for law school‚ and I have wonderful law school memories. I was selected by my peers to be the No. 2 on law review‚ chief articles editor. I later was told in confidence by two of those who had been in the inside circle that voted that I had lost by a single vote in the decision to name the editor-in-chief because three of those voting expressed doubt that an Orthodox Jew with four children could do the job effectively while taking off one day every week to observe the Sabbath. So‚ I came in second and became chief articles editor. I loved my role‚ and it has stood me well even these 30 years later. In four years at Columbia‚ I never once met a professor with conservative values. They all were leftist‚ many outright communist‚ or at best apolitical. I majored in political science and never heard of William F. Buckley Jr. or Ayn Rand. I took an introductory course in economics and never heard of Adam Smith or Milton Friedman. I took a course on the History of Judaism‚ and it was taught by an atheist who devoted the entire term to propounding his theories that the Torah is not the word of G-d but a compilation of texts written by nomads. I once challenged him in class respectfully with a compelling question. After class‚ he told me not to do that again‚ or he would reduce my grade. At UCLA School of Law‚ each and every professor was a leftist except for two blessed souls: Wesley Liebler‚ who taught mergers and acquisitions‚ and Grant Nelson‚ who taught real estate and property law. It was non-stop leftist indoctrination‚ like a Mao Zedong reeducation camp. Class after class‚ term after term‚ year after year. In the past 30 years in particular‚ these and all the other universities like them have become cesspools of intellectual toxicity and rot. Students are presented with only one distorted worldview. Each professor professes the same. They literally tell students how to vote: vote for McGovern over Nixon‚ vote for Carter over Ford‚ vote for Carter over Reagan‚ vote for Mondale over Reagan‚ vote for Dukakis over Bush I‚ vote for Clinton over Bush I‚ vote for Clinton over Dole‚ vote for Gore over Bush II‚ vote for Kerry over Bush II‚ vote for Obama over McCain‚ vote for Obama over Romney‚ vote for Hillary over Trump‚ vote for Biden over Trump. They indoctrinate and hammer the lesson in. To seal the deal‚ they create curricula‚ syllabi‚ and reading lists that seem scholarly enough. But they all are of one perspective. There is no balance. Students spend 15 or so weeks each semester reading Marx and Engels and Fanon‚ and they never read anything else. So‚ as na&;iuml;ve innocents out of high school‚ they think they now are gaining a broad-spectrum education‚ but they are not. They are being indoctrinated. They are being brainwashed. I am a rabbi of more than 40 years and am engaged in the broader society. Thus‚ I am close not only to Jews but also to Christians. I hear the same plaint over and over again: “Rabbi Fischer‚ we reared our child to be a good‚ honest‚ decent kid. She never opened a mouth‚ never uttered a curse word‚ and none were spoken around her at home. She attended church with us every Sunday and loved it. Sometimes‚ if we awoke lazily‚ she pressed us to hurry to get to church on time. We recited grace at the table before eating. Our home was wholesome. Her friends were wholesome. She attended a Catholic parochial school (or a Protestant church Sunday school‚ or a yeshiva)‚ loved G-d‚ loved America. We invested 12 years educating her at the finest schools through high school. And then we sent her to XYZ College because we wanted the best for her: to gain a broad worldly education to make her competitive in the modern world and to expand her horizons and make her even brighter and more interesting. “And she came back destroyed. We don’t recognize her. Rabbi‚ we literally don’t recognize her. Everything we did from the day she was born through age 18 was destroyed in a mere four years at college. Now she sleeps with boys. She mocks religion. Won’t go to church. Hates America. Criticizes us as vapid materialistic ogres. She went to a campus therapist who convinced her that her mother had been a monster and that her father had engaged in ‘emotional incest‚’ whatever that means. The therapist told her she must never again communicate with her father. She has tattoos all over her body. A small ring on her tongue. Rabbi‚ where did we go wrong&;#63;” I have been writing in these pages throughout the eight years I have had this column about the peril to our young people posed by most of America’s colleges and universities. (There are a few discrete exceptions.) People read my words and warnings‚ nod their heads in agreement‚ and shrug that there is nothing that can be done about it. That as long as ego-driven billionaires keep donating to see their names on buildings or endowed professorial chairs‚ the rot cannot be stopped. That is the hidden blessing in this month’s campus riots. Forget about the fiction of “Palestine.” There never was an “Arab Palestine‚” and there never — ever — will be. And don’t worry about Israel. There will not be a third Churban (“catastrophe‚” as with the Babylonian destruction of the First Holy Temple in 586 B.C.E. and the Roman destruction of the second in 70 C.E.). Long after Columbia and UCLA are torn and turned to ashes‚ Israel will stand strong with brides and grooms dancing and singing in the cities of Judea and the outskirts of Jerusalem. So forget about the cause du jour‚ the excuse of the day to riot. Here is the blessing. Finally — finally‚ finally — all of America is taking notice that the colleges and universities have gotten out of hand. It is no longer about the ideological brainwashing of kids but about insurrection. Thank G-d&;#33; Thank G-d people finally are talking about what must be done. I am not a prophet of G-d‚ and I very well may be wrong‚ but I expect the riots to end in one month‚ even if nothing is done to stop them. We now are in May‚ the last weeks of the spring term. Final exams are coming soon‚ and term paper deadlines are due. Either the schools will close down and cancel finals and term papers‚ or they won’t. But the campuses will empty in four weeks. I may be wrong‚ but remember you heard it here first. And‚ honestly‚ when was the last time I was wrong these past eight years on a prediction&;#63; As the spring term ends‚ the rich New York kids will return to their wealthy parents’ lavish estates in Long Island‚ Longer Island‚ Longest Island‚ and Great Neck‚ Greater Neck‚ and Greatest Neck‚ where they will denounce their parents’ materialism‚ even as they expect their African American maids to pick up their socks and launder their dirty underwear‚ while they await their Hispanic gardeners and pool cleaners to clean up after them. And the dreck on campus from Malaysia and Indonesia and Pakistan and Saudi Arabia will return to the dirt holes they come from to ride camels and mash garbanzo beans into hummus. And what of the others&;#63; The ones without rich estates and Arab Muslim dictatorships to go home to&;#63; They will regather on TikTok‚ on Facebook and X (Twitter)‚ and will reunite shortly in Chicago for the Democrat National Convention to fight with the Chicago police and chant‚ “The Whole World Is Watching&;#33; The Whole World Is Watching&;#33;” as they get clubbed in their heads. It will be 1968 all over again. That one made heroes of Abbie Hoffman‚ Jerry Rubin‚ and Tom Hayden — and elected Richard M. Nixon. So may it be again. All a blessing. To receive Rav Fischer’s Weekly Extensive Torah Commentaries or to attend any or all of Rav Fischer’s weekly 60-minute live Zoom classes on the Weekly Torah Portion‚ the biblical Prophets‚ the Mishnah‚ Rambam Mishneh Torah‚ or Advanced Judaic Texts‚ send an email to: shulstuff@yioc.org. His 10-part exciting and fact-based series of one-hour classes on the Jewish Underground liberation movement (Irgun‚ Lechi‚ and Haganah) and the rise of modern Israel can be found here. In it‚ he uses historic video clips of Irgun‚ Lechi‚ and Haganah actions‚ decades of past Arab terrorist atrocities‚ as well as stirring musical selections from the Underground and videoed interviews of participants‚ to augment data‚ statistics‚ maps‚ and additional historical records to create a fascinating‚ often gripping‚ and scholarly enriching educational experience about issues that remain deeply relevant today as Israel engages in an existential war in Gaza against Hamas terrorism. His latest deeply moving weekly series of informational and inspirational programs on the Hamas Gaza war may be found here. His 40-part Bible study series covering all of I Samuel (First Samuel) intensively with Talmudic and Midrashic commentaries‚ and now into II Samuel‚ is up here. 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Fried food is on the menu‚ and you need a larger serving. Why not double the recipe - right&;#63; Not so fast. You're about to make a classic fried-food faux pas.