MEDIA-OCRITIES OF THE WEEK
Why Did Trump Take Classified Documents in the First Place?: Timothy L. O’Brien, Bloomberg, Aug. 15, 2022“… there are three likely reasons Trump wanted to keep all that top-secret paperwork and classified paraphernalia to himself — even if we still don’t know exactly what he had stashed in his safe, closets, and socks at Mar-a-Lago.
“Reason One … Trump is a seven-year-old grown old, and he liked some of the cool doodads you get your hands on as president. …
“Reason Two: Money. Unfettered greed has motivated Trump his entire life…. When Trump left the White House, his operations were saddled with about $1 billion in debt, $900 million of which comes due relatively soon. …. That’s a lot of financial pressure, especially for someone already prone to be a money-grubber. It should also raise alarms for any rational observer concerned that Trump might have been inspired to use the powers and access to records that his presidency provided to rake in lucre by peddling classified information after he left the White House. …
“Reason Three: Reputational damage. Trump reportedly held on to letters he exchanged with North Korea’s dictator, Kim Jong Un. Perhaps vanity inspired that move … Soft-peddling an examination of whether a former president stole state secrets and what he wanted to do with them — especially if it involved espionage — because of violence or threats of violence only plays into Trump’s hands.” — [Nobody knows what the FBI removed from Mar-a-Lago – or why – because the FBI filed a motion not to unseal the affidavit concerning the warrant that permitted the raid to take place. Despite their “national security” concerns, the FBI waited months to move on this raid and Att. Gen. Merrick Garland deliberated for weeks on whether to approve it. Rather slow moving for a matter of such dire concern that it required them to search a former president’s estate. – Ed.]
Trump’s Shifting Explanations Follow a Familiar Playbook: Zolan Kanno-Youngs and Maggie Haberman, NY Times, Aug. 14, 2022
“…. The often contradictory and unsupported defenses perpetuated by Mr. Trump and his team since the F.B.I. search follow a familiar playbook of the former president’s. He has used it over decades but most visibly when he was faced with the investigation into whether his campaign in 2016 conspired with Russians and during his first impeachment trial. … he claimed victimization and mixed some facts with a blizzard of misleading statements or falsehoods.”– [The onus is on the FBI and DOJ to explain the crime, not on Mr. Trump to explain why the documents are at his house; as president, he had the plenary power to take them to his house and declassify them. Moreover, the DOJ has yet to charge him with anything. Regarding the latter point, Robert Mueller, who spent $32 million investigating the matter over 22 months, found no proof of collusion between Trump and Russia confirming Mr. Trump’s “claims of victimization.”— Ed.]
“My friends know my opinions, but not all share them. That is OK. However, as a result of rabbis visiting Saudi Arabia, the population is beginning to learn more about politics and the relationship with Jews worldwide. … slowly, the country is becoming more open to different viewpoints, and people are starting to accept the fact that Jews are not our enemies.” — Saudi social-media influencer Mohammed Saud. He recently made waves and friends by playing Israel’s national anthem “Hatikvah” on the oud, (United With Israel, Aug. 11, 2022)
“ … Mr. Raisi is unlike any Iranian president to seek to visit Manhattan since Ali Khamenei became supreme leader in 1989. Mohammad Khatami and Hassan Rouhani were smiling frontmen for a brutal regime trying to deceive the international community. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was a propagandist for the regime. But Mr. Raisi is a hangman who oversaw the star-chamber trials and executions of several thousand political opponents of the regime.” — former Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) and Mark Wallace, respectively the 2000 Democratic vice presidential candidate and a former U.S. ambassador. They argue that Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi should not be issued a visa to attend the U.N. General Assembly in New York next month. The State Dept disagreed; Mr. Raisi will be issued a visa. (WSJ, Aug. 10, 2022; WIN, Aug. 16, 2022)“Multiple U.S. administrations have attempted to coerce or persuade Iran to reconsider its revolutionary ethos, but have failed. The reason is simple: U.S.- Iran normalization could prove deeply destabilizing to a theocratic government whose organizing principle has been premised on fighting American imperialism. Herein lies the conundrum. By and large, the US has sought to engage a regime that clearly doesn’t want to be engaged, and isolate a ruling regime that thrives in isolation. Yet over time, the Iranian regime has shown it’s too influential to ignore, too dogmatic to reform, too brutal to overthrow, and too large to fully contain.” — Karim Sadjadpour, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, suggests that efforts to bring Iran out of isolation are futile and discount the theory that Iran has no interest in aligning with Western nations. “(NY Times, Aug. 12, 2022)
“ … When the Republicans retake The House, they will investigate the FBI and probably the DOJ using their newfound subpoena power. That will publicize the problems but nothing more. Congressional investigations are notoriously inept, and the Biden Department of Justice will refuse to act on any criminal referrals. If the Republicans retake the White House in 2024, they will try to clean house at the FBI, and inevitably face Democrats’ accusations that they are politicizing the agency. Cleaning the Augean Stables will be nearly impossible. … big bureaucracies like the FBI and DOJ have enormous powers of self-protection — and the capacity to strike back. Just look what they’ve already gotten away with.” – columnist Charles Lipson. (Spectator World, Aug. 12, 2022)
“… [the FBI’s] closet agenda (making a Jan. 6 case on Trump for conspiracy to defraud the U.S. and to obstruct Congress) is a higher priority for them than the ostensible purposes of the search (to reclaim classified information and, apparently, for amending the Presidential Records Act by executive creativity, so that it is now a criminal statute — unlike the statute that Congress actually enacted).” – columnist and former prosecutor Andrew McCarthy. (Powerline, Aug. 13, 2022)
“It’s not a good day when Andrew Cuomo is speaking forcefully against the Mar-a-Lago raid on an elected president and Mitch McConnell is as silent as Attorney General Merrick Garland and FBI Director Christopher Wray.” – columnist Daniel Henninger. (WSJ, Aug. 10, 2022)
“The new Canada taking shape does not resemble anything I want for my grandchildren. We hardly recognize our beloved country anymore.” — Freedom Convoy organizer Tamara Lich at the Freedom Award Ceremony from the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms (JCCF). The JCCF, a legal advocacy organization, awarded her the George Jonas Freedom Award. (Epoch Times, Aug. 13, 2022)
TRUMP LETTER GAVE GO-AHEAD TO ANNEX JUDEA AND SAMARIA (Washington) — In a three-page letter from then-US President Donald Trump, former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu received a green light to annex parts of Judea and Samaria. The letter was dated January 26, 2020, two days before Trump presented his Vision for Peace in the White House. In the letter, the president summed up some of the plan’s details, among which Israel would be able to extend sovereignty to parts of Judea and Samaria if Netanyahu agreed to a Palestinian state in the remaining territory on that map. (Israel National News, Aug. 15, 2022)
TERRORIST IN JERUSALEM SHOOTING TURNS HIMSELF IN (Jerusalem) — Police arrested the terrorist who wounded seven people, including two seriously, in a shooting attack outside Jerusalem’s Old City. Following an hours-long manhunt, the assailant turned himself in along with the gun apparently used in the shooting. The gunman, Amir Sidawi, 26, lives in East Jerusalem. (Times of Israel, Aug. 14, 2022)
NY TIMES CUTS TIES WITH GAZA FREELANCER WHO CALLED TO KILL JEWS ‘LIKE HITLER DID’ (NYC) — The New York Times terminated its relationship with a Palestinian freelancer and fixer in the Gaza Strip after Honest Reporting noted his repeated antisemitism and calls for violence against Jews on social media. The pro-Israel media watchdog had published a list of social media posts by Fady Hanona, who was a contributor to at least six articles published by the Times during the latest flareup of violence in Gaza. (Times of Israel, Aug. 13, 2022)
ISRAEL’S UN AMBASSADOR CALLS FOR REINSTATEMENT OF OFFICIAL OUSTED FOR DENOUNCING ISLAMIC JIHAD (NYC) – Gilad Erdan, Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations urged the U.N. to reinstate Sarah Muscroft, who was ousted as head of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in the Palestinian Authority after writing a tweet last week in which she condemned the “indiscriminate rocket fire” of the Gaza-based terror group Palestinian Islamic Jihad. (JNS, Aug. 15, 2022)ISLAMIC JIHAD TRIED TO LAUNCH DRONE TOWARD TAMAR GAS RIG – ISRAELI ARMY (Gaza) — Gaza’s Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) was involved in a failed attempt to launch a drone toward the Tamar gas rig off the coast of Ashkelon during this past weekend’s ‘Operation “Breaking Dawn.”‘ (i24, Aug. 9, 2022)
ISRAELI RUNNERS WIN GOLD IN MUNICH CHAMPIONSHIPS, 50 YEARS AFTER OLYMPICS MASSACRE (Munich) — Israeli marathon runners took the gold at the European Championships in Munich, Germany — nearly 50 years after the Jewish state’s Olympic delegation was massacred in the same city by Palestinian terrorists. The men’s marathon team won first place with a total time of 6 hours, 31 minutes, and 48 seconds, while Ethiopian-born Israeli runners Marhu Teferi and Gashau Ayale also earned individual silver and bronze medals, respectively. (Algemeiner, Aug. 15, 2022)
KING OF POP DIES: ISRAELI POLITICIANS, FELLOW ARTISTS PAY TRIBUTE TO LEGENDARY ‘MAESTRO’ ZVIKA PICK (Jerusalem) — Legendary Israeli rock star and composer Zvika Pick, dubbed the Maestro, who produced numerous hits during his lifetime, died at the age of 72. In memorializing his death, PM Yair Lapid stated. “ He was a revolutionary artist of his generation and one of the pillars of Israeli pop.” (Algemeiner, Aug. 14, 2022)
ORTHODOX JEWISH MAN STABBED IN THE FACE BY COWORKER IN MONTREAL – REPORT (Montreal) — A 24-year-old Orthodox man was attacked with scissors outside of a kosher meat processing plant by a co-worker. The assailant was a Lebanese immigrant who was recently employed at the plant. The victim survived and is in stable condition. (Jerusalem Post, Aug. 13, 2022)
QUEBEC’S ‘SECULAR LAW’ IS ALIENATING JEWS, NEW STUDY FINDS (Quebec City) –Jews in Quebec are feeling the sting of discrimination in the province, a new survey by the Association for Canadian Studies (ACS) has found. The law, known as Bill 21, is meant to “confirm the province’s secular status,” and also prohibits the wearing of religious symbols by civil service employees in positions of authority and by teachers in the public sector. 50% of Jewish men and women surveyed reported feeling compelled to mask their Jewishness, 33% of Jewish women and 40% of Jewish men said they have heard bigoted comments about Jews. Others reported being mistreated by their superiors at work. (Algemeiner, Aug. 16, 2022)
POLIO DETECTED IN NYC WASTEWATER AS DATA REVEALS HEAVILY ORTHODOX WILLIAMSBURG IS VULNERABLE (NYC) — Polio was detected in New York City wastewater, three weeks after a Jewish man in Rockland County was diagnosed with the first polio case in the U.S. in 10 years. The announcement suggests that the potentially deadly virus is circulating in the city. After the Rockland man was identified as an Orthodox Jew, attention turned to the Orthodox Jewish communities in suburban New York and Brooklyn, where there are pockets of people resistant to getting vaccines. (NY Jewish Week, Aug. 12, 2022)WHY ILHAN OMAR’S PRIMARY OPPONENT DIDN’T RECEIVE MORE SUPPORT (MN) — Rep. Ilhan Omar’s (D-MN) razor-thin margin of victory (2500 votes) in Tuesday’s Democratic primary in Minneapolis is raising questions about why pro-Israel political action committees didn’t back former City Councilman Don Samuels in the race. Privately, pro-Israel Democrats said they feared getting involved would backfire and give Omar a boost. Constituents argue that support from activists and donors outside the Minneapolis-based district might not have been enough to help Samuels, and that the barrage of pro-Israel spending last year may have worked to Omar’s advantage. (Jewish Insider, Aug. 11, 2022)
REPORT: RUSHDIE STABBER WAS IN DIRECT CONTACT WITH IRGC (NYC) — Hadi Matar, the 24-year-old man accused of stabbing author Salman Rushdie in New York, had been in direct contact with members of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps on social media. A NATO counter-terrorism official from a European country said the stabbing of Rushdie had all the hallmarks of a “guided” attack, where an intelligence service talks a supporter into action, without direct support or involvement in the attack itself. (Israel National News, Aug. 15, 2022)
GOP REP. JORDAN SAYS 14 FBI WHISTLEBLOWERS HAVE COME FORWARD SINCE TRUMP RAID (Washington) — Republican Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan said that 14 whistleblowers from within the FBI have come forward with concerns about the Department of Justice’s alleged political bias following the FBI’s raid on former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate last week. (Just the News, Aug. 15, 2022)
TRUMP’S LEAD WIDENS OVER DESANTIS IN 2024 PRIMARY AFTER FBI RAID: POLL (Washington) — Former President Trump’s lead has grown by 12 points over Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in a hypothetical 2024 Republican presidential primary, according to a Morning Consult/Politico survey conducted after the FBI raided the Trump’s Florida residence. If the primary were held today, 58% of registered voters would vote for Trump, as opposed to 54% last month. (Just the News, Aug. 15, 2022)
TRUDEAU LIBERALS DEFEND RCMP’S FREQUENT USE OF SPYWARE TOOLS ON CANADIANS (Ottawa) — Trudeau Liberal Minister Marco Mendicino and RCMP officials are defending the force’s previously undisclosed use of spyware on Canadians, after the RCMP admitted last month that it had used spyware to infiltrate the cell phones of Canadians, including by remotely turning on the camera and microphone of suspect’s cellphones and laptops. The RCMP had not consulted with the privacy commissioner of Canada about its use of tools to hack into Canadians’ devices. (Post Millennial, Aug. 10, 2022)
If We Don’t Defend Free Speech, We Live in Tyranny: Salman Rushdie Shows Us That: Margaret Atwood, The Guardian, Aug. 15, 2022 — A long time ago – 7 December 1992, to be exact – I was backstage at a Toronto theatre, taking off a Stetson.
