The ADL Does Not Speak for the Jews
Their lack of interest in their historic mission to defend Jews goes back a long way. Under Abe Foxman (1987 to 2015) they focused heavily on criticizing Christians
Elon Musk has threatened to sue the Anti-Defamation League for some $22 billion over its slandering of him as an antisemite, which he alleges has tanked X's advertising revenue. "Based on what we've heard from advertisers, ADL seems to be responsible for most of our revenue loss," Musk says.
Judging from my own feed, there are plenty of real-life antisemites who have taken to X, formerly Twitter, to participate in the #BanTheADL movement over this kerfuffle. It's unsurprising that more open discourse brings out more bigots. That's an unfortunate price of free speech. Clearly, those who campaign to "ban" accounts don't care about an open platform. Nothing stops us from calling them out.
That said, though, Musk's criticism of the ADL isn't antisemitic. First off, the ADL isn't a "Jewish" organization in any genuine ethnic or theological sense. Its primary mission is no longer to stop the defamation of Jews. The ADL's CEO, Jonathan Greenblatt, a former Barack Obama appointee who often appears on MSNBC to chat it up with bigots such as Al Sharpton, has created a partisan leftist social justice outfit. And its primary goal these days is cynically using the organization's historical position to advance often illiberal, completely irreligious, leftist ideas.
One of the ways it does this is by dishonestly framing an endorsement of free expression as an endorsement of the things people say using free expression, including antisemitism. That's what it has done with Musk. So it would be no surprise if the ADL were leading a politically motivated boycott effort.
Musk, for example, contends that the ADL wants him to ban the Libs of TikTok, a popular account run by an orthodox Jew, Chaya Raichik, who gained fame by reposting real leftists saying real things. It's certainly plausible, considering the ADL already has an entry for Raichik in its "glossary of terms." Now, I'm not a big fan of nitpicking, but I haven't seen anything in her feed that could be rationally construed as antisemitic. And that speaks to the problem of who gets to decide what "hate speech" entails.
For Greenblatt, who worked to get Tucker Carlson fired but can barely muster a word of disapproval for Jew-baiters such as Rashida Tlaib or any other elected progressive, hate speech is a finely tuned political weapon. The ADL has spent years exaggerating the threat of antisemitism on the right, finding offense not only in demonstrably ugly speech, but also in an endless number of dog whistles (including criticisms of leftist megadonor George Soros). At the same time, it gives perfunctory attention (but mostly ignores) the threat and normalization of anti-Jewish sentiment among leftists on college campuses, within activist movements, and in the government.
Don't think of it as a double standard. Think of the ADL as a run-of-the-mill activist shop -- something akin to the Southern Poverty Law Centery -- and it all makes complete sense.
You only need to look at the organization's educational recommendations to understand that its worldview is detached from any traditional understanding of Judaism. One strongly doubts the founders of the ADL could have foreseen their organization endorsing the idea that Jews were among the racial oppressors of American society.
Yet the ADL's school curricula and readings on race and racism are littered with identarian tracts such as "How to Be An Antiracist" by Ibram X. Kendi, a fan of a number of brazen antisemites, and "White Fragility" by Robin DiAngelo. How can the ADL claim to fight against the defamation of the Jewish people and recommend authors who insinuate, or worse, that Jews represent a disproportionate amount of power in the United States -- one of the most enduring tropes of antisemitism? The ADL also recommends the pseudohistorical 1619 Project and the podcast "The Urgency of Intersectionality" by Kimberle Crenshaw, a leading "scholar of critical race theory," the teachings of which are also inherently anti-Jewish.
I'm not saying that many, maybe most, American Jews don't agree with the ideological outlook of the ADL. But many do not. Nothing in Judaism teaches that our immutable appearances predetermine our societal role, actions or worth. Why is a group claiming to fight Jewish defamation spreading trendy ideological puffery? Because it is not what it says it is.
Now, the ADL, self-anointed arbiter of antisemitism, is certainly useful in providing lazy journalists with quotes confirming preexisting notions about antisemitism being largely a right-wing phenomenon. And risk-averse corporations might use them for guidance. But it has no moral standing to dictate appropriate speech. Certainly not in the name of Jews.
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Utah’s Economic Prosperity Illustrates the Importance of Marriage, Family, and Religion
A recently released report says that Utah’s economy ranks No. 1 among all 50 states and attributes this top ranking to the influence of the state’s dominant culture of heterosexual marriage and the strength and stability of its families.
Authors Brad Wilcox, Jenet Erickson, and Patrick T. Brown conclude in the Sutherland Institute report that marriage and families have proven to function as effective anti-poverty programs. Higher levels of marriage —and in particular, higher levels of married-parent families—are strongly associated with greater economic growth, more economic mobility, less child poverty, and higher median family income.
“The percentage of parents who are married in a given state is typically a stronger predictor of the state’s economic mobility, child poverty, and median family income than are the education level, racial makeup, and age composition of its population,” the authors state.
Intact heterosexual married families outperform other living arrangements (including cohabitation) when comparing the outcomes of basic economic measures such as employment, income, net worth, poverty, receipt of welfare, and the economic well-being of children. These are relevant economic indicia that define the economic prosperity of individual states.
A different study that examined the relationship between religion and economic prosperity concluded that “religion is good for the economy.”
An important ingredient of these findings is that individuals with a religious affiliation are more likely to be married than those who are not. Because the Mormon Church dominates Utah’s culture and because marriage represents a core teaching of that church, Utah leads other states in its number of marriages.
Wilcox et al. point out that “no state in the Union has as many men, women and children in married households” as does Utah. They stated, “In 2021, 55% of adults in Utah (age 18-55) were married and 82% of its children were living in married couple families. This compares to 45% of adults married and 75% of kids living in married families nationally.”
However, we are informed that Utah is not immune to “a broader national tendency to delay marriage and postpone or defer childbearing.” In 1950, almost 90% of newborn children until age 14 lived with married parents in America. The proportion has now dramatically fallen to less than two-thirds of such children. Since the late 1970s, every state has witnessed a substantial drop in the percentage of adults who are married.
In spite of the fact that a historically low marriage rate exists in society today and a record number of people in today’s culture are projected to forgo marriage altogether, studies show that family breakdown is three times more common among unmarried/cohabiting couples. Parents who cohabit but never marry are the most likely to separate by the time their child turns 14. Some 60% of cohabiting parents separated by the time their child turned 14, compared with just 21% of couples who married before the birth of their first child and 32% who married after.
The onslaught of what we today call “woke” culture has adversely affected the entire country’s view of marriage and, in turn, the economic gains a culture based on matrimonial monogamy can produce. In addition, the recent influx of new residents into Utah from more liberal states with less traditional values suggest that “as the state has grown, its status as a family outlier may be starting to converge with national norms.”
Nevertheless, conservative states with high degrees of religiosity like Utah experienced less of a retreat from marriage than more secular states. Recognizing this fact leads to a conclusion that our country as a whole needs to rebuild the culture of marriage and family. How? By strengthening traditional values incorporated within the Judeo-Christian ethic that exhort marital fidelity and the raising of children. (Parenthetically, it is also helpful to reduce government intervention that adversely affects marriage rates, such as the marriage penalty for welfare beneficiaries.)
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The Weaponized Left Is Completely Out of Control
In 2009 and 2010, conservatives and small-government Americans from across the country came together in protest of President Barack Obama's big spending projects and plan to upend the U.S. healthcare system through Obamacare. They were opposed to this fundamental transformation of the country and decided to exercise their First Amendment rights by peacefully organizing against it. The Tea Party was born.
The Obama administration didn't like the opposition, especially ahead of the 2010 midterm elections, and used the IRS to silence everyday Americans with phone calls, harassment and threats of imprisonment.
"The fact that officials at the IRS wielded their power to target certain Americans for their political views is both outrageous and contrary to our nation's values. Our government is supposed to work for all Americans, not for a particular partisan agenda. As a result of the IRS' targeting, conservative groups were singled out across the nation, resulting in lengthy paperwork requirements, overly burdensome information requests, and lengthy, unwarranted delays in their applications," House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte said in a 2013 statement when Republicans were investigating the matter.
That was just the beginning.
Fast forward to the aftermath of the 2020 presidential election, and the left has supercharged their efforts by criminalizing the contesting of elections. Not for Democrats but for Republicans, with the Department of Justice and local prosecutors leading the charge.
In August, President Donald Trump and 18 of his associates, including his attorneys, were indicted by Fulton County Georgia District Attorney Fani Willis — a partisan Democrat — after a grand jury recommendation. Willis claims there is evidence of racketeering and that questioning results is a crime. Additionally, the indictment states tweeting about election hearings, an exercise of the First Amendment, was "furtherance" of a conspiracy.
"On or about the 3rd day of December 2020, DONALD JOHN TRUMP caused to be tweeted from the Twitter account @RealDonaldTrump, 'Georgia hearings now on @OANN. Amazing!' This was an overt act in furtherance of the conspiracy," the indictment states.
Keep in mind that the grand jury didn't need to be unanimous and only required 12 people in deep blue Fulton County to return an indictment. Foreperson Emily Kohrs expressed her own bias when she told CNN she would be "sad" if Trump wasn't indicted.
"I will be sad if nothing happens. That's about my only request there is for something to happen," Kohrs said in February, saying it was "too much of her time" for nothing to happen. "I will be frustrated if nothing happens…I will be happy as long as something happens."
Now, we're learning just how out of control the grand jury really was.
"According to the now-released grand jury report originally dated December 15, 2022, there were additional individuals the panel recommended indictments against. In all, the report shows that indictments were suggested against 21 other individuals against whom charges were not ultimately pursued by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis," Townhall reports. "Among the individuals the grand jury wanted to add to its laundry list of indictment individuals are U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC), attorneys Cleta Mitchell and Boris Epshteyn, former U.S. Senators for Georgia David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler, former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn, and the full slate of 'alternate electors.'"
An indictment for Senator Lindsey Graham? Who at the time served as the Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman? Dangerous nonsense.
"I'm very worried about the country right now. I was the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. This election was contested in courts in multiple states. I had to explain to the people of South Carolina my vote. I had to decide whether or not to have a hearing about the allegations in Georgia and other places. I called around different states, including Georgia, as a sitting United States senator, Chairman of the Judiciary Committee. I eventually certified the election in all states, including Georgia. I didn't find any evidence of mass voter fraud, but I did have concerns about the mail-in ballot systems in Georgia and other places," Graham said in response to the news. "This is troubling for the country. We can't criminalize senators doing their job when they have a constitutional requirement to fulfill. It would have been irresponsible, for me, in my opinion, as chairman of the Committee, not to try to find out what happened."
"We're opening up Pandora's box here," he continued. "We have to be careful not to use the legal system as a political tool."
The left claims Trump is somehow uniquely dangerous, and therefore, actions taken to stop him are justified. That assertion isn't true and never has been, but their latest indictment spree proves they want everyone who even remotely challenges their political power and narratives to be finished.
The weaponized left is completely out of control, and it seems they have no plans to reel in their efforts. As usual, for them, the ends justify the means.
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Biden Is Killing the American Dream of Homeownership
In boasting about “Bidenomics” two weeks ago in Milwaukee, President Joe Biden declared that his policies are “restoring the American dream.” Then he went into his creepy whispering mode and assured us “it’s working.”
Huh?
Isn’t a big aspiration of the American dream owning a home? Biden keeps making first-time homeownership harder for young families for two reasons. One is that the overall jump in inflation and the slower increase in wages and salaries means that homes are more expensive. High home prices benefit those who already own their homes, but much of the increased value is due to general inflation, which reached a high of 9% last year and hurts everyone.
A bigger killer for first-time homebuyers has been the steady rise in mortgage rates under Biden. When he came into office, the mortgage rate was 2.9% nationally. Now it is 7.1%, thanks in no small part to the Federal Reserve’s 11 interest rate increases prompted by the $6 trillion Biden spending and borrowing spree in 2021 and 2022.
So now, according to the mortgage company Redfin, just the increase in interest rates on a 30-year mortgage from 5% to 7% means that a middle-income family that could once afford a median-value home of $500,000 can only afford a home worth $429,000.
Great, spend more and you get less house. Or instead of a single-family home, you can only afford a three-room condo or a townhouse. If we compare the rates today versus when Donald Trump was president, the typical homebuyer can only afford a house with a price tag more than $100,000 less than three years ago.
What a deal? Maybe this is one reason the size of a new home is smaller than in the past.
Here’s another way to think about the damage done by Biden policies: If you want to buy a $500,000 home today, which is close to the median price in many desirable locations, your total interest payments will be at least $800 more per month. That means over three decades of payments totaling at least $250,000.
Of course, rents are up nearly 20% as well, so for many 20-somethings, this means sleeping in the parents’ basement.
Biden talks a lot about bridging gaps between rich and poor and blacks and whites. But the group that is most handicapped by these interest rate shocks is minorities. Black homeownership is still less than 50% for black households. The Washington Post calls this “heartbreaking,” but they blame racism, not bad government policies.
There’s one other impediment to homeownership for Generation X and millennials. Many 30- and 40-somethings are hamstrung by their existing and expanding debt. Credit card debt is now $1.03 trillion. Half of all families are expected to have problems paying off this debt each month. Delinquencies are rising, which can mean penalty rates of 20% to 25%.
So, if families can’t afford their existing debt, how will they get a bank to approve a $400,000 or more mortgage loan?
An even bigger question is how in the world can Biden call his economic policies a success?
Perhaps Biden has a secret plan to “forgive” trillions of dollars of mortgage debt, as he has already attempted to do with student loans. But that just shifts the debt burden to taxpayers—hardly a solution.
The Biden administration’s assault on homeownership isn’t just harmful to the families that are being priced out of the market. It’s bad for communities and cities around the country. When families become homeowners and set roots in a town, they are much more prone to care about not just improving their own house and maintaining the upkeep and mowing the lawn and trimming the hedges, but it gives them a stake in the schools and children in the neighborhood and the quality of the public services. In other words, homeownership gives Americans a sense of Tocquevillian civic pride.
Crime is lower, neighbors are friendlier, and everyone’s property values rise when they live in a community of owners, not renters.
There is one reason to feel today’s downward spiral can be reversed. Back in 1980, when Jimmy Carter was president, mortgage rates weren’t 7%; they reached above 17%. Voters rebelled against the economic mayhem and chased Carter out of office. Ronald Reagan came into the White House, and with wiser economic fiscal policies, mortgage rates quickly fell in half and then lower still. It can happen again.
https://www.dailysignal.com/2023/09/05/how-bidenomics-is-destroying-homeownership
****************************************My other blogs. Main ones below:
http://dissectleft.blogspot.com (DISSECTING LEFTISM)
http://edwatch.blogspot.com (EDUCATION WATCH)
http://antigreen.blogspot.com (GREENIE WATCH)
http://australian-politics.blogspot.com (AUSTRALIAN POLITICS)
http://snorphty.blogspot.com/ (TONGUE-TIED)
http://jonjayray.com/blogall.html More blogs
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Kristina Pimenova, once said to be the most beautiful girl in the world. Note blue eyes and blonde hair
Bliss: What every woman wants: to feel safe and secure in the arms of her man. Robert Irwin and Rorie Buckey. See
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