RUTHFULLY YOURS

THE HOUSE I LIVE IN-1943

What is America to me
A name, a map, or a flag I see
A certain word, democracy
What is America to me

The house I live in
A plot of Earth, a street
The grocer and the butcher
And the people that I meet

The children in the playground
The faces that I see
All races and religions
That’s America to me

For the rest of the lyrics go to the internet…..It is an interesting story. The music was written by Earl Robinson and the lyrics by Abel Meeropol,  a communist, who later adopted the sons of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg. Happy Thanksgiving!

 President Trump pardoned soldiers facing prison terms for “war crimes” and flouting the military rules of engagement. How can one apply rote rules to decisions made in the moment of high risk situations?

Lt. Col.David Bolgiano, U.S. Air Force and Author of: Combat Self-Defense: Saving America’s Warriors From Risk-Averse Commanders and Their Lawyers wrote:

https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/haditha/themes/roe.html

Rules of engagement are a device used by a commander to set forth the parameters of when, how, for what duration and magnitude and geographical location, and against what targets our forces can employ force, generally deadly force … in a theater of operations.

The rules of engagement, strictly speaking, as they work in the military, contain a caveat … that nothing in these rules of engagement shall limit the right, inherent right, of self-defense. And what’s left unspoken but is legally significant, is the phrase, when confronted with “an imminent threat of death or serious bodily injury.”

Why is there confusion over the right to self-defense? …

The confusion over the inherent right of self-defense doesn’t come from the written word. It doesn’t come from the law.  The confusion over the inherent right of self-defense comes from assessing judgment-based shootings after the fact that, in the clear vision of 20/20 hindsight, may not appear to be reasonable when, in fact, by law and by tactics, they were. 

In January 2005, a vehicle approached a hastily constructed traffic control point on the route from downtown Baghdad to Baghdad International Airport. The vehicle approached the checkpoint in speeds close to 60 miles per hour, ignored flares and warning signs to slow down and halt, at which point the soldiers on the traffic control point reasonably perceived a threat, an imminent threat of death or serious bodily injury, and engaged the vehicle.

In the clear vision of 20/20 hindsight, we learned that it was an Italian intelligence officer driving the vehicle who was, unfortunately, shot and killed.  But that decision at the time the soldier [pulled] the trigger was, nevertheless, reasonable.

And that’s where a lot of the confusion comes from. It comes from folks that don’t understand the tactical dynamics of an encounter and wish to impose, one, either their Hollywood notion of what’s reasonable, or two, try to judge the person by what is learned in the clear vision of 20/20 hindsight.

My mailbox is full of late year requests for donations from organizations, institutions, publications, the arts and politicians.

 Warning about the growing epidemic of Anti-Semitism is always good when mining the pockets of donors. Take the Anti Defamation League whose avowed purpose is: : “Fighting Anti-Semitism and Hate-The mission of the ADL is to stop the defamation of the Jewish people and to secure justice and fair treatment to all.”

So, given this lofty purpose how is it that the ADL, in 2017 published an excellent overview on the outsize antisemitic violence, hatred, sermons and school lectures in Moslem nations, and has now simply air-brushed it?

See and hear Charles Jacobs in this video explain it all.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=255&v=jVqqPx-Cq8k&feature=emb

I am sick and tired of the summer soldiers who get their knickers in a knot over every single Trump tweet, insult, malapropism, exaggeration, mini-scandal, etc.

We had a recent Republican president who dressed impeccably, did not tweet, was a perfect gentleman with perfect manners, never divorced, never groped or harassed or ogled women, had a lovely patrician wife, and an absolute absence of scandal no matter what the media tried to dig up on him, and perfectly groomed brown hair.

That describes George W. Bush the minor 43rd President of the United States who accomplished very little in his two terms. He made one superb speech after 9/11, declared a war against the Taliban but declared “mission accomplished” leaving the Taliban scattered but hardly defeated. Only months after 9/11 he invited the tyrant/monarch of Saudi Arabia, locus and funder of almost all the 9/11 terrorists, to his ranch in Crawford Texas to craft another “peace plan” for Israel. He blinked on China, Iran, North Korea, immigration, regulations and domestic energy production and the economy tanked. He was a mediocre, low energy, president who ignited no patriotic passion.

Donald Trump has outpaced him on every single policy-foreign and national. So frankly I don’t give a hoot about his style…. And if you want Obama redux go vote for the Democrats. .rsk

Tulsi Gabbard is the winner on her biography, substance, delivery and independence in a liberal circular firing squad.

However, the winner is President Donald Trump. As Peter Smith, an Australian journalist puts it:

“Republican presidents are always demonized by the Left but this time, with this president, it is different. The hate is palpable, extreme and unremitting, the depths unfathomable to which his enemies will descend in order to stitch him up with this bogus conspiracy or that one. Yet, with an aplomb not seen outside a superhero comic, he pummels them left and right. “

Peter Smith

When I was an immigrant youth this is what we sang on Columbus Day:

IN 1492

In fourteen hundred ninety-two
Columbus sailed the ocean blue.

He had three ships and left from Spain;
He sailed through sunshine, wind and rain.

He sailed by night; he sailed by day;
He used the stars to find his way.

A compass also helped him know
How to find the way to go.

Ninety sailors were on board;
Some men worked while others snored.

Then the workers went to sleep;
And others watched the ocean deep.

Day after day they looked for land;
They dreamed of trees and rocks and sand.

October 12 their dream came true,
You never saw a happier crew!

“Indians! Indians!” Columbus cried;
His heart was filled with joyful pride.

But “India” the land was not;
It was the Bahamas, and it was hot.

The Arakawa natives were very nice;
They gave the sailors food and spice.

Columbus sailed on to find some gold
To bring back home, as he’d been told.

He made the trip again and again,
Trading gold to bring to Spain.

The first American? No, not quite.
But Columbus was brave, and he was bright.

https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2019/09/on_the_jewish_new_year_reflections_on_resilience_and_survival.html

Tonight, Jews will celebrate the advent of 5,780 years of our existence. On reflection it seems almost impossible that after millennia of persecution and genocide we have survived. Great and powerful empires — Hellenist, Roman, Hittite, Mesopotamian — have disappeared and we are still here.

We remain links in an unbroken chain which started in Hebron, the cradle of our faith; which led us from slavery in Egypt; which defeated worship of false idols; which defied assimilation and conversion; which brought Commandments as a guide to decency in private as well as public life; which survived an epic genocide in which one of every three Jews in the world were slaughtered.

Most recent in our history of resilience and survival is the advent of Jewish sovereignty in ancestral lands only three years after the Genocide.

In a remarkable rescue of survivors from Europe and persecuted Jews from all the Arab nations, the Jews of Palestine, with the help of international Jewish charity and social institutions, set up absorption centers to provide counseling, housing, vocational training, and language schooling to teach Hebrew.

The latter was no minor undertaking since it is safe to say that more people in the world spoke Mongolian than Hebrew, which, outside of Israel was largely relegated to ritual and prayer in the Diaspora.

One of the first acts of Israel’s new parliament was to abolish the priority of English as a national language and replace it with Hebrew: parliamentary debate and enactment of laws was to be conducted exclusively in Hebrew. This was an act of nationalism as well as a pointed rebuke to Great Britain for its historic duplicity with respect to a Jewish homeland.

The revival of Hebrew as a modern language can actually be credited to Eliezer Ben Yehuda ((1858-1922), who went to Israel in 1891 determined to revive the language. His mantra was “Hebrew in the homes and schools” and “talk and talk.”

But it was modern Israel that accomplished this in the shadow of the unrelenting Arab war and terrorism against the state.

Today, roughly seven million citizens speak, argue, teach, and enjoy chatter in fluent Hebrew.

Even more remarkable, roughly seven million people make outsize contributions to scientific, medical, technical, and social advancements and innovations that improve the lives and welfare of billions of people in every single continent on the planet.

Again, this is achieved in the shadow of hypocritical and overtly anti-Semitic slanders from every corner of the world.

On this holiday, as on every Jewish holiday, I reflect with awe and pride on our remarkable legacy of survival and resilience. I give thanks to the United States, the happiest corner of the Diaspora where we remain free to worship and assemble and dissent under the protection of government and laws and our President Donald Trump.

Happy 5780!

In the film’s ingenious examination on the nature of truth, “Rashomon” is an outstanding example of faulty  justice. In Kurosawa’s masterpiece four people recount totally differing accounts of a crime.So it is with the latest brouhaha about the transcript of President Trump’s conversation with Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky.The Democrats all screech “impeach! impeach now!.” But some conservative pundits display a variety of opinions.David French and Jonah Goldberg at the National Review  see malfeasance and evidence of a quid pro quo and unconvincing Trump spin, but remain sanguine about Biden corruption and Ukraine’s role in the Mueller narrative.The Justice Department issued the following: “Relying on established procedures set forth in the Justice Manual, the Department’s Criminal Division reviewed the official record of the call and determined, based on the facts and applicable law, that there was no campaign finance violation and that no further action was warranted,” read a Wednesday statement from Justice spokesperson Kerri Kupec. “All relevant components of the Department agreed with this legal conclusion, and the Department has concluded the matter,” she added.And Kimberley Strassel of The Wall Street Journal writes after reading the same transcript as  French and Goldberg:Kimberley StrasselVerified account @KimStrassel1) Having read DOJ’s Trump-Ukraine release, here’s the real story: This is another internal attempt to take out a president, on the basis of another non-smoking-gun.Thomas Lifson of American Thinker writes  : “The text in italics seems to indicate that President Zelensky already had investigation plans, and wanted US cooperation. This is the opposite of Trump demanding or coercing cooperation with a threat to withhold military aid or supply any positive or negative incentive.  ”None the less Lifson thinks the Dems will still demand impeachment and it could be injurious to the President.So which is it?It’s Rashomon. I mostly agree with Thomas Lifson, but the biggest loser will ultimately be Joseph Biden…..rsk

I hate the word “moderate”. In the Middle East it is always applied to duplicitous tyrants. Sadat, the “peacemaker” flouted every single paragraph of the Camp David Accords before the ink was dry. Then Arafat was declared a “moderate” in Oslo and the White House lawn, and there segued the PLO’s longest and most brutal spree of terrorism within Israel. Then Mahmoud Abbas was the new darling for those who sought a “moderate.” Turns out that his speeches and actions and corruption were those of a terrorist in a grey flannel suit. And now, the latest “moderate” icon to be exposed is President Sisi of Egypt.

Yesterday, Raymond Ibrahim who has reported vigilantly and courageously about the persecution of Christians throughout the Arab/Moslem world writes.

 “EGYPT REINSTATES NOTORIOUS HATE PREACHER “ So much for President Sisi’s “religious reforms.”

Andrew Bostom warned about Sisi a long time ago:

https://www.andrewbostom.org/2013/08/why-egyptian-putschist-general-al-sisis-anti-secular-u-s-army-war-college-thesis-matters/

https://twitter.com/andrewbostom/status/727515716040151040

May 2016 tweets Sisified Egypt’s jihadist insignias on its new line of amphibious assault vehicles praising the killing of non-Muslim infidels with Koranic imprimatur (& citation):https://twitter.com/andrewbostom/status/72751571604015104

There goes another “moderate” fawned on by the dhimmi-eyed western observers.

This past weekend I set off to lease a new car. I knew exactly the make, the model and the trim that I wanted. Since Google does what it does, I was contacted by many dealers with a variety of incentives. I chose the one with the best deal in a low-end business corridor in the East Bronx.
When I arrived, the concierge called me “mami” and directed me to Steve, from Ghana, who called me “nana” and took me to Ramon in sales who informed me that his grandmother has the car which is best for old people. My salesperson whose white beard and cane indicated more senior status told me that his mother in law has the same car. (?)
The sales manager Sal groaning and pretending to suffer because he was taking a hit told me that the reason he accepted my offer is that I reminded him of his great aunt Ruth.
During the tedious wait for the new registration, license plate transfer, and servicing, every single person on the staff offered me coffee, donuts, a sandwich, a more comfortable chair- in several variations of the word “mother.” Ah, the perks of superannuation. They could not have been kinder.
When my spiffy new vehicle was ready, they helped me adjust settings and preferences and pair my cell phone and navigation. They all offered admonitions about driving safely and when I pulled out, they shouted “goodbye and God bless you!”
I did not just get a new car. I feel as if I got a gift that gives the lie to the media’s continual and disturbing claims that racial and ethnic relations among Americans are terrible. RSK