Speaker Johnson Counters Dem Attacks Against Netanyahu By Inviting Him to Address Congress Johnson’s invitation was the perfect response to these craven moves by the Biden administration and Schumer to throw Prime Minister Netanyahu under the bus to boost Biden’s reelection chances. By Fred Fleitz

https://amgreatness.com/2024/03/22/speaker-johnson-counters-dem-attacks-against-netanyahu-by-inviting-him-to-address-congress/

Kudos to House Speaker Mike Johnson, who yesterday extended an invitation to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to address the U.S. House of Representatives. This was an important and much-needed gesture to reassure the Israeli people that the vast majority of Americans stand with Israel in its war against the Hamas terrorists and do not agree with the surge in hostility toward the Israeli government by the Biden administration and some Congressional Democrats.

Johnson’s invitation was in response to the backlash over shocking comments made last week by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, describing Netanyahu as an obstacle to peace and calling for new elections in Israel. Schumer also condemned how the Netanyahu government has conducted the war against Hamas and for its opposition to a two-state solution peace plan, which Schumer said will make Israel a “pariah.”

Schumer’s comments were condemned by Republicans and many Jewish groups. His criticism was so over the top that Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz, Netanyahu’s chief political rival, criticized Schumer for meddling in Israeli politics when he said, “Israel is a strong democracy, and only its citizens will determine its leadership and future. Any external intervention in the matter is incorrect and unacceptable.”

Prime Minister Netanyahu, who usually avoids criticizing U.S. officials, lambasted Schumer in an April 17 CNN interview:

“It’s inappropriate to go to a sister democracy and try to replace the elected leadership there. That’s something that Israel, the Israeli public, does on its own, and we’re not a banana republic.”

“The majority of Israelis support the policies of my government. It’s not a fringe government. It represents the policies supported by the majority of the people. If Senator Schumer opposes these policies, he’s not opposing me. He’s opposing the people of Israel.”

An Inconvenient Truth A former director of German intelligence argues that neo-Nazis are not the primary source of antisemitism in Germany today. It is the intersection of left-wing activists and Muslim migrants. BY August Hanning

https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/news/articles/inconvenient-truth-germany-antisemitism-august-hanning

Germany is currently in a difficult situation that is beginning to recall some of the darker moments of the country’s past. Unprepared for the external crises of the war in Ukraine and the conflict in the Middle East, the nation now suffers internally from an unrestrained and uncontrolled influx of migrants. The economy is stagnating. Excessive social spending prevents necessary investments for the country’s future. Faced with an overwhelming bureaucracy, German companies primarily invest abroad, especially in the United States. The state budget is in disarray.

In the face of these crises, which stem from the Merkel era, a large segment of the German population yearns for strong political leadership. Yet Germany’s ruling coalition of three very different parties—the Greens, the Social Democrats (SPD), and the Free Democrats (FDP)—appears divided and ineffective. Chancellor Olaf Scholz is perceived as weak and lacks popular support.

Under Mrs. Merkel, the Christian Democrats (CDU) largely abandoned conservative values, essentially pursuing Social Democratic policies throughout the latter half of her 16-year-long tenure. Merkel’s decision in 2015 to open Germany’s borders to an unlimited influx of migrants remains exceptionally controversial. Socially and economically unprepared for the consequences of this decision, Germany continues to bear the burdens of physical accommodation, escalating social spending, and the difficulties of integrating new immigrants from difficult cultures, including in the education sector. The abandonment of conservative values in the CDU’s politics has led in turn to the rise of right-wing parties that can position themselves outside the country’s comforting, if sometimes stifling, postwar political consensus.

The Alternative for Germany (AfD) is the strongest of the country’s growing opposition parties, especially in eastern Germany. While political opponents derogatorily label the AfD as a “Nazi party,” neither its program nor the vast majority of its members remotely justify this label. Much of the AfD’s political program resembles that of mainstream Trump supporters within the Republican Party. The AfD criticizes the consensus parties, including the CDU, for a loss of control over the migrant influx, bureaucracy in the European Union, and development aid payments from the German state budget to countries in Latin America, India, and China. The AfD demands that the principle of “Germany first” be applied to all political decisions.

A pro-Israel musician faces challenges to artistic freedom — in the U.S. By Charles Lane

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/03/19/pro-israel-performer-matisyahu-concerts-canceled/?

There is no one quite like Matisyahu. The international reggae-hip-hop-rock artist burst on the scene 20 years ago, rapping his hit single “King Without a Crown,” while sporting the beard, sidelocks and black coat of Hasidic Judaism. NBC picked “One Day,” his stirring antiwar anthem, as theme music for its 2010 Winter Olympics coverage.

Matisyahu left Hasidism, but his music still reflects his strong Jewish identity, religiosity and affinity for Israel. Since Hamas’s massacre in Israel on Oct. 7, the singer has spoken out against rising antisemitism and in support of Israel. He has draped himself in an Israeli flag at concerts and placed an empty chair onstage to represent Israeli hostages in Gaza. He has called for Hamas to be “destroyed.” He has visited Israeli troops and sent a supportive video message to their families.

For all of that, he is paying a price: When Matisyahu arrived in Chicago earlier this month, he learned his March 8 show at the 1,400-capacity House of Blues — owned by Live Nation — would be canceled. The reason: the potential for unruly protests against him outside the venue.

The U.S. Palestinian Community Network, one of several groups calling for demonstrations against Matisyahu, cried victory: “Through our relentless pressure on [the House of Blues and] Live Nation, the concert of the racist, zionist Matisyahu was canceled!” the group said in a statement on X. “Chicago has made it clear that it stands with Palestine and supporters of the #GazaGenocide are not welcome here!”

Starting To Notice That The Energy Transition Is Not Happening Francis Menton

https://issuesinsights.com/2024/03/22/grid-draining-electron-guzzlers-and-the-end-of-driving/

Supposedly, there is a big energy transition going on. Throughout the West, countries have made ambitious pledges to reduce “greenhouse gas” emissions by specific percentages and by specific dates. Many such pledges were notably made in the Paris Climate Agreement of 2016. Some countries — for example, the U.S. and UK — have even gone beyond the Paris Agreement and made still more ambitious pledges in the years since then. But is any of it real?

No, none of it is real. The failure to make the progress that would be necessary to achieve the alleged pledges and mandates is obvious and easily tracked. But a code of silence has enveloped the progressive media, commanding that no one is allowed to notice.

A small crack in the wall of silence suddenly happened in the New York Times on March 14. The front page article had the headline “A New Surge in Power Use Is Threatening U.S. Climate Goals.” The gist is that various sources of new electricity demand are rapidly emerging, from data centers to EVs to AI. Demand for electricity is starting to rise, but wind and solar generators can’t be added to the grid fast enough to fulfill this demand. And thus utilities are starting to add large numbers of new natural gas plants.

Grid-Draining Electron Guzzlers And The End Of Driving

https://issuesinsights.com/2024/03/22/grid-draining-electron-guzzlers-and-the-end-of-driving/

In perfect Democratic Party form, the Biden administration has dropped another government burden on the private sector. Two days ago, the White House rolled out “the toughest-ever” automobile emissions standards. The objective, of course, is to force Americans to buy the cars that the ruling class wants them to drive. There’s a big problem here, though – the grid won’t be up to the task of keeping tens of millions of electric vehicles charged.

The headline from a Bloomberg story last week summed up the plan: “​​Biden Set to Crack Down on Auto Emissions to Accelerate EV Sales.”

Rules decreed by the Environmental Protection Agency are intended to “propel electric vehicle sales well beyond current levels,” says Bloomberg. “The EPA has projected that to meet proposed mandates, electric models would need to make up roughly two-thirds of car and light truck sales in 2032 — up from less than a tenth last year.”

This is no noble effort to prevent a climate catastrophe. Democrats, eco-activists and the thoroughly compromised media continually argue that we have to move to EVs to save the sky, but the federal rules and state mandates they propose and issue are part of a larger plan to drive Americans out of cars and into public transit, which is failing across the country.

There are a number of problems with the march to EV-topia. They’re not zero-emission vehicles, they’re an extravagant purchase, costly to repair, expensive to insure, hazardous to own, and they create a new class of hazmat problems.

CAN’T ERASE OUR JUDEO-CHRISTIAN PAST Bill Donohue

https://www.catholicleague.org/cant-erase-our-judeo-christian-past/

Militant secularists would like to erase our religious heritage, but they are clearly in over their heads. Our nation’s Capitol abounds with Judeo-Christian iconography, so much so that it overwhelms attempts to cancel it.

The dome of the U.S. Capitol was inspired by the dome of St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome, as well as St. Paul’s Cathedral in London.
The Supreme Court building is modeled after a Roman temple.
St. Joseph’s church on Capitol Hill was built in 1868.
The Jefferson Building of the Library of Congress features The Court of Neptune Fountain; it resembles a grotto.
The west end of the Mall—from the U.S. Capitol to the Lincoln Memorial—has a statue of Lincoln surrounded by comments he made about his respect for God. At the far end of the Mall, the Supreme Court, the Library of Congress, and the Capitol building have inscriptions honoring our Judaic heritage.
Within the Capitol there are statues of Catholic priests and nuns and medallions of Pope Innocent III and Pope Gregory IX.
On the first floor of the Main Reading Room in the Library of Congress there is a statue of St. Paul.
In the Library there is a quote from the Book of Proverbs and a reference to God from Shakespeare.
There is a chapel in the U.S. Capitol. Moreover, prayer meetings for Senators and Congressmen are commonplace throughout.
Crucifixes abound in the Capitol.
On the front doors of the Capitol are pictures of Franciscans with rosaries, symbolizing the history of Columbus.
In the Rotunda, there is a painting of Hernando De Soto and his armies standing on the banks of the river rejoicing, as well as a depiction of priests planting a cross.

The View From Israel’s Front With Hezbollah The Iranian proxy’s attacks have forced 60,000 northern civilians to evacuate. Is war their only way home? By Elliot Kaufman

https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-view-from-israels-other-front-evacuated-north-attack-hezbollah-lebanon-196d1006?mod=opinion_lead_pos5

Manara, Israel

Orna Weinberg can read my eyes. “In peacetime, this is heaven,” she says from atop a mountain ridge overlooking the Hula valley. The kibbutz of Manara, in Israel’s Upper Galilee, is breathtaking. Yet it feels obscene to take in the beauty amid so much pain. The only conclusion from our brisk walk through her battered, dangerous, evacuated community is that Hezbollah has made the north of Israel into hell.

The people here are no fragile flowers. “I learned to walk in a bomb shelter,” Ms. Weinberg, 57, a caregiver, says cheerfully. Frederieke Shamia, 48, stresses that “this community had never evacuated, ever—until now.” Rockets from Lebanon and Syria are nothing new to northern Israel, “but the antitank missiles changed everything,” Ms. Weinberg says. Her home was the second in Manara to be hit.

The southwest of the kibbutz is closed off. “The moment Hezbollah sees movement inside a building there, they fire,” Ms. Shamia says. “Turn on a light or adjust a blind—they fire.” Unlike the rockets, which can be intercepted and are typically inaccurate, the antitank guided missiles hit their targets in seconds.

Hezbollah, an Iranian proxy that holds the real power in Lebanon, fired on Manara half an hour before I got there. We drove east through an empty Kiryat Shmona, Israel’s northernmost city, which received 30 rockets that day, the first of Ramadan.

Jew Hate By Joan Swirsky

https://newswithviews.com/jew-hate/

There is nothing new about the fanatical hatred of Jews that we see playing out in today’s world––literally a pandemic of anti-Semitism which echoes the fear and loathing that gave rise to the over-4,000-year history of the Inquisition, the Crusades, centuries of pogroms, the expulsion of Jews from country after country, and the Holocaust of the 20th century in which six-million Jews were savagely incinerated in the crematoria of Hitler’s Germany as the entire world––including U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt––looked on and did nothing!

Plus ça change and all that. But it’s not exactly true that things have remained the same. Today, the staggering power of technology makes the spread of Jew Hate all the more rapid, powerful and lethal.

In America, while blacks, Muslims, feminists, single mothers, immigrants, the global-warming fetishists, college graduates in debt for their exorbitant-but-meaningless “educations” and minorities of every stripe all bleat endlessly about being victims of this or that indignity, slight, “unfairness,” historical insult or crime, the Annual Report on Hate Crimes released by the Uniform Crime Reporting Program of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) show that, by far, it is the world’s tiny population of Jews––15 million in a world of nearly eight billion––who experience the most bias, hatred, assaults, blatant racism and hate crimes.

When and How Did We Get Here?—Gradually, then Suddenly. Part Four

https://victorhanson.com/when-and-how-did-we-get-here-gradually-then-suddenly-part-four/

The final catalyst that led to our collective implosion was the election year 2020 and the accelerating Trump Derangement Syndrome. As the cities burned, unbelievable madness followed in efforts to ensure the incumbent president would not be reelected.

Suddenly, congressional officials, mayors, and governors all refused to keep the peace by requesting federal troops to stop the summer riots. The more the cities went up in flames, the more the blue states blamed Trump. It was almost as if they would fault Trump for the ongoing violence and blame him even more if he sent in the military to quell it.

Had they forgotten the Rodney King LA riots of 1992, when Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Gen. Colin Powell, called up President George H. W. Bush to encourage him to deploy the 5,000 Marines then ready to go into South Central and Watts to quell the violence? And so, Bush did just that and stopped the mass looting and rioting.

No matter. The nation was now a Luche Libre of open anti-Trump craziness. Mark Zuckerberg poured in a historic $419 million to absorb the work of the registrars in key election precincts. Social media suppressed news unfavorable to Biden.

Street riots and protests were modulated to aid the Biden campaign. Liberal Time essayist Molly Ball described the “conspiracy”:

There was a conspiracy unfolding behind the scenes, one that both curtailed the protests and coordinated the resistance from CEOs. Both surprises were the result of an informal alliance between left-wing activists and business titans. The pact was formalized in a terse, little-noticed joint statement of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and AFL-CIO published on Election Day. Both sides would come to see it as a sort of implicit bargain–inspired by the summer’s massive, sometimes destructive racial-justice protests–in which the forces of labor came together with the forces of capital to keep the peace and oppose Trump’s assault on democracy.

Pro-Palestinian Group Calls for ‘Intifada’ in NYC, Tells Supporters to ‘Find a Target’ and ‘Flood’ City By Zach Kessel

https://www.nationalreview.com/news/pro-palestinian-group-calls-for-intifada-in-nyc-tells-supporters-to-find-a-target-and-flood-city/

The pro-Palestinian activist group Within Our Lifetime (WOL) plans to hold a “Palestine is Everywhere” event in New York City from March 27 to 30, the organization announced, advertised in a flyer calling for “autonomous action” and “global intifada.”

The flyer, which WOL shared on its X page, directs the group’s supporters to “get a group together,” “find a target,” and “take action to defend Palestine.” WOL is urging its followers to “flood all of New York City” by taking “autonomous actions,” which include “de-occupations, assemblies and gatherings, public testimonies, roving shutdowns, sit-ins and slow downs, painting walls, wheatpastings, & other happenings.”