We Built It Blog by Larry Jacob

We’ve all been raised to believe that the US justice system is fair, that justice is “blind,” that everyone is equal before the law. The Constitution guarantees that everyone is innocent until proven guilty. That’s what most of us have always believed. Trials with preordained verdicts, so-called “show” trials are the province of autocratic countries like Russia, North Korea and China. Not the US.

However, after witnessing the miscarriage of justice masquerading as Donald Trump’s trial for fraudulent valuation of certain assets, I have serious doubts regarding the equity of the US judicial system. Letitia James, the NYS Attorney General who brought the case had bragged continually during her election campaign that she would “get” Trump. The clear implication was that she would conduct an unrelenting investigation of Mr. Trump until she found a case that was prosecutable in her view. Mr. Trump became her entire focus. In the process she has essentially ignored the myriad of problems NY has such as, among others, rampant crime, the influx of illegals, and high taxes. She pushed all those problems aside to focus solely on Mr. Trump. Governor Hochul shares much of the responsibility as well.

Following her election, she felt it was incumbent upon her to make good on her campaign promise. She had to find something, anything and bring it to trial. The result was the fraud case. It was not a solid case. It had some fatal flaws as you will see below.

Briefly, the state alleged that in the course of applying for financing Trump had defrauded various banks by inflating the value of certain properties that were being offered as collateral for the loan. There are several problems with the case that eroded its validity, to wit:

1. In applying for the loan Mr. Trump’s lawyers had specified that the banks were advised to calculate their own valuations of the properties rather than merely accept theirs. Indeed, these lenders were very sophisticated and experienced in the world of real estate and financing, and they would have done so as a matter of course. They were not the type of lenders that would be defrauded.
2. Both parties agreed that the valuations were reasonable. However, the judge disagreed. He placed his own values on the properties, which were unrealistically low.
3. None of the lenders lost any money on the deal. In point of fact, they all made a considerable amount of money. They had done business with Mr. Trump in the past and were eager to do so again prospectively.
4. In the course of my research into this matter I did not find any independent person who agreed with the judge that the valuations were inflated and the lenders defrauded.
5. According to Jonathan Turley and many other attorneys this case featured an “unprecedented” application of the law Mr. Trump was accused of having violated and the fine levied was considerably excessive. (More on that later). The law was intended to apply to situations in which the offender had committed a crime, declared bankruptcy to avoid repayment, or caused the victims to lose money. None of these applied in this case. Even the left-leaning NY Times, no friend of Mr. Trump’s, denoted that it could not find a single instance in which the accused was not guilty of any of those.
6. Mr. Turley and many other attorneys maintained that the $455 million fine, including interest, imposed by the judge was excessive and designed to make it very difficult, if not impossible, for Mr. Trump to appeal the decision. Turley pointed out that under NYS law in order to file an appeal Trump would first be required to deposit the full amount in a court account. This is a very high bar even for a man of Trump’s immense wealth and resources. It may require him to sell properties at distress prices, or perhaps, even declare bankruptcy.

Conclusion

In my opinion, the prosecution and the court clearly overstepped. This case, itself, and the decision have been widely seen as a personal vendetta against Mr. Trump for the reasons cited above. Surely, the appeals court would substantially reduce the fine or even reverse the entire decision. The question is can Mr. Trump raise enough money to finance the appeal?

Most of the public sees this for what it is – a political “hit job.” It reinforces the growing feeling in America that the scales of justice are tilted depending upon the defendant’s politics. It compromises the entire notion of equity of our system of justice. The rest of us should beware. If this can happen to a prominent man like Trump, with all his resources, it can certainly happen to the average “Joe.” Again, this situation is a characteristic of an autocracy, not a democracy.

Even worse, it clarifies what many of us have long believed. The Dems are deathly afraid of Mr. Trump’s popularity, and this case and other pending cases against him, which are also comprised of “trumped up” charges, are designed to knock him out of the race. It is a blatant attempt at voter suppression, to prevent the people from being able to decide elections without outside interference.

The unintended consequence of all this, that the Dem governing class was either too blinded by hatred or too dumb to anticipate, is that once it becomes apparent to other business leaders and wealthy people what the governor and DA have done it could stoke fears that they may do it to them as well and may accelerate their departure from NY to states with more favorable political, economic and social situations. NY is already suffering a sizeable exodus of people and businesses, and it can ill afford this. The Dem leaders may end up being hoisted on their own petard, and it would serve them right.

What’s in a name? Apparently, in some cases, a lot.

One cannot control one’s birth name. It is what it is. Our parents named us, and that’s that. The vast majority of us go through life with our given names and make the best of it, although some people create a nickname such as “Buddy,” “Sonny,” or “Junior.” Not so for many celebrities.

Many celebrities have changed their birthnames. There are various reasons for this. For example: 1) They or their agent may have felt it was “too ethnic.” This was fairly prevalent years ago in less enlightened times, not so much now. 2) It was too foreign sounding. 3) It could be confused with another celebrity’s name.  4) It was too hard to pronounce, which might impair the public’s ability to remember it. 5) It was too long for a billboard. 

Below I have selected 20 celebrity stage names and 25 celebrity birth names. See how many you can pair up. As you go through the lists, I think the reasons for many of the name changes it will become apparent to you. To be fair, I have tried to select people that were fairly well-known. Have fun, and good luck. 

Birth names:

1. Eric Marlon Bishop
2. Aubrey Graham
3. Elizabeth Grant
4. Neta-Lee Hershlag
5. Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta
6. Belcalis Almanzar
7. Caryn Johnson
8. Peter Gene Hernandez
9. Ilyena Lydia Mironoff
10. Alecia Beth Moore
11. Maurice Joseph Micklewhite
12. Carlos Irwin Estevez
13. Robert Allen Zimmerman
14. Vincent Damon Furnier
15. David Robert Jones
16. Archibald MacLeish
17. Reginald Kenneth Dwight
18. Marion Robert Morrison 
19. Dana Elaine Owens
20. Issur Danielovitch Demsky

Stage names:

1. David Bowie
2. John Wayne
3. Drake
4. Cardi B
5. Whoopi Goldberg
6. Demi Moore
7. P!NK
8. Bob Dylan
9. Lee Grant
10. Alice Cooper
11. Kirk Douglas
12. Ben Affleck
13. Elton John
14. Tom Jones
15. Queen Latifah
16. Jamie Foxx
17. Matt Damon
18. Lana Del Ray
19. Lady Gaga
20. Bruno Mars
21. Helen Mirren
22. Natalie Portman
23. Eric Bana
24. Charlie Sheen
25. Michael Caine

Answers: 1. Jamie Foxx; 2. Drake; 3. Lana Del Ray; 4. Natalie Portman; 5. Lady Gaga; 6. Cardi B; 7. Whoopi Goldberg; 8. Bruno Mars; 9. Helen Mirren; 10. P!NK; 11. Micharl Caine; 12. Charlie Sheen; 13. Bob Dylan; 14. Alice Cooper; 15. Cary Grant; 16. David Bowie; 17. Elton John; 18. John Wayne; 19. Queen Latifah; 20. Kirk Douglas.

The following rant is strictly my opinion, and, fair warning, some of you will not agree with it. But that’s okay. Unless I time-traveled last night and woke up this morning in Soviet Russia circa 1930 this is still America, and the Constitution and the Bill of Rights are still the law of the land.

I have refrained from writing political blogs for a while now. Frankly, current events have been too upsetting. But I have reached the point where I simply must “get some things off my chest.” I feel like the character in the movie, Network, who shouted “I’m mad as hell, and I’m not going to take it anymore.”

Like most of you I try to stay abreast of the news. However, whenever I do so I get depressed, ill, angry, or all of the above. Simply put, unless you are a terrorist, an illegal immigrant, a criminal, an anti-Semite, hate Trump, hate America, or an oblivious Ivory Tower liberal or elite at the present time there is nothing positive occurring in the country or, for that matter, the world. In just three years President Biden, his Administration, and his supporters, both in the mainstream media and among the general public have been systematically ruining this country and everything it has stood for. In his tenure I cannot think of one positive accomplishment. Not one. Can you? I challenge you, the reader, to identify one positive accomplishment.

We would have better off if he had done nothing, just hidden in his basement and slept for three years. But he has done worse than nothing. In my opinion, his actions and policies have been severely detrimental to America. I don’t know if they have been driven by ignorance, stupidity or a combination of the two, but the result is the same. Truly, it seems like he is the “Manchurian Candidate.” More on that later.

I don’t have the time and space to articulate all of Biden’s detriments, but below please find the most egregious.

1. When he took office, the US was energy independent for the first time. We were pumping enough oil and gas not only to supply our needs but also much of the world. On day one, he ordered the cessation of drilling, and closed down the pipeline that was supplying much of our oil. Soon, we went from energy independence to having to beg the Middle East sheiks for oil. Furthermore, this action has propped up the economies of Iran and Russia, among others, which has enabled them to foment terrorism and the war in Ukraine.
2. Under President Trump illegal immigration was a mere tickle. He was building a wall and had enacted various other measures to control it. Biden halted the construction of the wall and has systematically dismantled most of President Trump’s immigration policies. The predictable result was that illegals have been pouring in over the southern border. We don’t know how many (estimates run as high as 12 million), where they are from (all over), why they are here, and what they will do (nothing good). What we do know is they have caused increases in crime, strained our economic and social resources and divided the country further. Incredibly, the Biden Administration has been treating them better than American citizens. They are not all asylum-seekers. They are not all here seeking a better life for themselves and their families. Those are myths. In fact, many of them are single fighting-age males. Many of them have come from Russia, China, Iran and other countries that hate us and want to harm us. Young adult single fighting-age male refugees from China, Russia and Iran seeking asylum? Seriously? It is just as likely their governments sent them here to spy and cause other problems. Far-fetched? If you know your history you will recall that Japan employed this very tactic prior to WWII. This will be, perhaps, the most damaging of his actions long term. 
3. When Biden took office we were not engaged in any wars. None. Terrorist groups were under control. Moreover, our enemies feared and respected us. Now, there are various wars, notably in Ukraine and the Middle East. Various terrorist groups have been operating with impunity. Iran, China and Russia have been saber-rattling. The world is a very dangerous place. It is easy to imagine WWIII breaking out.
4. Crime is worse than ever. Criminals are not being imprisoned. Most of our cities are becoming ungovernable and unlivable unless one is among the elite. Many of them are or are becoming bankrupt paying for social services they can’t afford. We are being divided into tribes that hate and mistrust each other. Anti-Semitism is as overt as it has been at any point since the Nazis in WWII.
5. Finally, the economy. Regardless of what positive information has been emanating from the government with respect to inflation, housing, rental costs and other necessities anyone who has bought food, gassed up their car, bought medicine or tried to rent or buy housing knows that it is harder to make ends meet. Approximately, 2/3 of households are living paycheck to paycheck or using credit card debt to buy necessities. Many households are having to choose among the Hobson’s choices of buying food, paying the rent or buying medicine. The middle class is dissipating. Biden is tone-deaf to this. He stupidly keeps praising “Bidenomics.” Someone should tell him that historically, absent war, elections, as the saying goes, are “about the economy, stupid.”

I could go on, but I think you get the point.

CONCLUSION

One could argue that as bad as the above is, it is not the worst of it. For several years, even before Joe Biden became president, it has been clear to many of us that Biden and his entire family have been compromised by China, Russia and other of our enemies. Obviously, there is a quid pro quo. Tens of millions of dollars have been paid to Joe, Hunter and other family members. The evidence has been mounting to the point where it can no longer be ignored. This would be one hypothesis as to why so many of Joe’s policies have been obviously detrimental to the US. They have made no sense otherwise. Our leaders cannot be that stupid, can they? I believe many of Joe’s and Hunter’s actions have risen to the level of treason.

That said, I would be surprised if Joe is ever tried for treason or if any of the Bidens see the inside of a prison. Joe will not even be impeached, nor probably will any of his Cabinet that deserve it, such as Alejandro Mayorkas Even Hunter will likely get some sweetheart deal. That doesn’t mean they shouldn’t, just that they won’t.

The Dems are already trying to rig the 2024 election. They have been harassing Trump with a slew of bogus criminal charges. Moreover, in some states they are trying to remove him from the ballot. I believe these obvious attempts to suppress votes and thwart the will of the people will not stand, but they may have other dirty tricks up their sleeves.  It doesn’t look so now, but if through some miracle (or cheating) Biden were to win re-election. God help us!

Many historically-significant events have occurred during the month of December. Below please find what I consider the most significant:

12/1/1955 – Rosa Parks was arrested in Montgomery, AL for refusing to surrender her seat on a bus to a white man. This action precipitated a year-long bus boycott and many other protests against segregation led by the Reverend Martin Luther King, among others, and was what many consider the seminal event for the civil rights movement.
12/2/1804 – Napoleon Bonaparte was crowned Emperor of France by Pope Pius VII.
12/2/1823 – President James Monroe articulated the “Monroe Doctrine,” which, essentially, forbad any further colonization of the Western Hemisphere by any European power, and which became a key element of the US’s foreign policy prospectively.
12/2/1954 – The Senate condemned Senator Joseph McCarthy for misconduct, effectively ending his irresponsible communist witch-hunt.
12/3/1967 – Dr. Christiaan Barnard performed the first successful heart transplant in Cape Town, South Africa.
12/6/1492 – Christopher Columbus “discovered” the “New World,” landing at the Caribbean island of Hispaniola.
12/6/1865 – The 13th Amendment to the US Constitution was ratified, which abolished slavery.
12/6/1973 – Gerald Ford was sworn in as vice president replacing Spiro Agnew who had been forced to resign following his pleading “no contest” to charges of income tax evasion.
12/7/1787 – Delaware became the first state to ratify the US constitution.
12/7/1941 – Japan perpetrated a surprise attack of the US naval base at Pearl Harbor destroying the US Pacific Fleet and precipitating the US’s entry into WWII. FDR called it a “date that will live in infamy,” and it has.
12/10/1896 – Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel died. In his will he stipulated that a committee of the Norwegian Parliament award from his estate annual prizes (valued at approximately $1 million) for Peace, Chemistry, Physics, Medicine, Literature and Economics.
12/11/1901 – Guglielmo Marconi transmitted the first transatlantic radio signal.
12/11/1936 – King Edward VIII abdicated the English throne in order to marry American divorcee Wallis Simpson.
12/13/1642 – Dutch navigator Abel Tasman discovered New Zealand.
12/14/1799 – George Washington died at Mt. Vernon.
12/14/1911 – Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen became the first person to reach the South Pole.
12/15/1791 – Virginia became the 11th state to ratify the Bill of Rights making it an official part of the Constitution. (Ratification of an amendment to the Constitution requires 75% of the states, and Vermont had become the 14th state. The three holdouts were Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Georgia, which did not ratify it until 1939.)
12/15/1961 – Notorious Nazi SS Colonel Adolph Eichmann was sentenced to death in Jerusalem for his role in the Holocaust during WWII.
12/16/1773 – A group of Bostonians, disguised as Indians, boarded British ships anchored in Boston Harbor and dumped 300+ containers of tea overboard as a protest to what they viewed as an unjust tax on the product. This became known as the Boston Tea Party and was a part of the chain of events that culminated in the American Revolutionary War.
12/17/1903 – The Wright Brothers – Wilbur and Orville – made the first successful airplane flight at Kitty Hawk, NC.
12/19/1946 – War broke out in what was then called French-Indochina. Eventually, the French were ousted, and the US got drawn into war in Vietnam, which did not end well for us.
12/20/1860 – South Carolina became the first state to secede from the Union. Over the next few months ten other states followed, and the Civil War ensued.
12/21/1846 – Dr. Robert Liston was the first surgeon to use anesthesia (in a leg amputation in London).
12/21/1945 – General George Patton, aka “Old Blood and Guts,” died from injuries suffered in a car accident in Germany. Some historians have postulated that the accident was intentional, but this has never been proven.
12/23/1947 – The transistor was invented at Bell Laboratories.
12/25 – Christmas Day when Christians commemorate the birth of Christ.
12/25/1776 – George Washington led a small contingent of Colonial troops across the Delaware River from Valley Forge, PA to Trenton, NJ in the dead of night, where they surprised and defeated a substantially larger contingent of Hessian mercenaries. This daring and famous victory provided a major boost to the flagging revolutionary war effort.
12/26 – Boxing Day is celebrated in the UK, Canada, and various other countries that, formerly, were part of the British Empire. It has nothing to do with pugilism. Most likely, it has evolved from the 18th Century English custom of giving a “Christmas box” containing gifts, such as food or clothes, to servants and tradesmen as a reward for good service throughout the year.
12/26 – 1/1 – Kwanza, an African – American holiday established in 1966, is observed. It celebrates family unity and a bountiful harvest. The word means “first fruit” in Swahili.
12/29/1890 – The US cavalry massacred in excess of 200 Sioux Indians at Wounded Knee, SD., which became a symbol of the white man’s brutality to Native Americans.
12/31/1781 – The Bank of New York became the first bank to receive a federal charter. It commenced business on January 7, 1782, in Philadelphia.
12/31/1879 – Inventor Thomas Edison first demonstrated the incandescent lamp (light bulb) at his lab in NJ.
12/31 – New Year’s Eve is celebrated throughout the world.

Birthdays – Charles Stuart, American portrait painter (of George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, among others), 12/3/1755; Joseph Conrad, Polish novelist, 12/3/1857; Martin Van Buren, 8th President, 12/5/1782; General George Armstrong Custer, 12/5/1839; Walt Disney; 12/5/1901; Ira Gershwin (wrote several hit songs for “Broadway” shows), 12/6/1896; Eli Whitney (cotton gin), 12/8/1765; Clarence Birdseye (invented process for freezing foods), 12/9/1886; Emily Dickenson (poet), 12/10/1830; Melville Louis Kossuth Dewey (invented Dewey decimal system used to categorize books in libraries), 12/10/1851; NYC Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia,12/11/1882; John Jay (first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court), 12/12/1745; General James Doolittle (led audacious bombing raid on Tokyo during WWII), 12/14/1896; Alexandre Eifel (Eifel Tower), 12/15/1832; Ludwig van Beethoven (composer), 12/16/1770; George Santayana (philosopher) (“Those who cannot remember the past are doomed to repeat it.”), 12/16/1863; Wily Brandt (Chancellor of West Germany), 12/18/1913; Harvey Firestone (Firestone Tire and Rubber), 12/20/1868; Iosif Vissarionovich Dzhugashvli, aka Josef Stalin, 12/21/1879; Claudia Alta Taylor, aka “Lady Bird Johnson,” 12/22/1912; Japanese WWII Emperor Hirohito, 12/23/1901; Christopher “Kit” Carson, frontiersman, 12/24/1809; Howard Hughes, 12/24/1905; Isaac Newton (theory of gravity), 12/25/1642; Clara Barton (nurse who founded American Red Cross), 12/25/1821; Humphrey Bogart, 12/25/1899; Mao Tse Tung, 12/26/1893; Louis Pasteur (pasteurization process), 12/27/1822; (Thomas) Woodrow Wilson, 28th President, 12/28/1856; Andrew Johnson (17th president, first to be impeached), 12/29/1808; Pablo Casals (cellist), 12/28/1876; Rudyard Kipling (poet, wrote Jungle Book), 12/30/1865; Hideki Tojo (Japanese WWII Prime Minister), 12/30/1884; General George C. Marshall (Army Chief of Staff, WWII), 12/31/1880.

In retrospect we should have expected this. Hamas has repeatedly exhibited wanton brutality and indifference to human life, not only to Jews but even to fellow Palestinians. Regarding Jews, members of Hamas have freely and repeatedly stated that they want to annihilate all Jews in the area “from the river to the sea.” Moreover, they have demonstrated their disregard for the civilian Palestinian population by hiding and storing weapons and explosives in hospitals, schools and other locations where innocents, including children, the elderly and the infirmed would likely become collateral damage. The Hamas terrorists don’t care. In fact, they want collateral damage. To them, any person who is not a “true believer” is the enemy and fair game. They “spin” it as Israel being the oppressors, being indifferent to innocents. As preposterous and inane as this argument is, much of the world’s antisemites and anti-Jew media “buy” it. In view of the foregoing, now that some of the released hostages have been examined by medical personnel and debriefed regarding their time in captivity the horrific reports of maltreatment that have been reported in the media recently should not be surprising.

As you know, the hostage situation has been a very fluid situation. By the time you read this blog there may have been changes, perhaps, significant ones. But below please find a summary of the recent developments as published by the BBC, USA Today, the Times of Israel, and various other media outlets. Warning: some of you may find what follows most disturbing, but I believe this information needs to be disseminated.

1. Hamas kidnapped 240 hostages on October 7. 105 of them have been released. Of the remaining 135, several are believed to be dead from various causes. It is estimated that perhaps as many as 20 have since died in captivity due to disease, torture, malnutrition, or other causes. We do not know for certain the whereabouts of the rest of them. They could be in the tunnels; they could have been handed off to other terrorist groups; or they could also be dead.

  2. Freed hostages have told shocking stories of the various hardships they and others have endured such as scarcity of food, a dearth of bathroom facilities, family separation, and perhaps worst of all the uncertainty of their ultimate fate. Were there attempts being made to rescue them? Would their captors torture or kill them? Had they been forgotten? Remember these were civilians, children even, not soldiers trained to deal with captivity.

  3.  Sharon Alony-Cunio and her two three-year-old twin girls, were released but her husband was not. He was “taken away” three days before their release. She believes he is still alive and being imprisoned somewhere in Gaza, but she does not know for sure. She remains “petrified” he is dead or will be murdered. She described the food as “meager” and related how her girls had limited access to a toilet and often had to pee in a sink or a trash can. She characterized her experience as “a Russian roulette.” Captives were afraid they could be killed at any time “just because they want to.” One of her girls was separated from the family for ten days. Why? Who knows? She is hopeful that the remaining hostages will be released asap. ”We are not just names on a poster. We are human beings, flesh and blood.” Amen.

  4. Medical personnel who have been examining the freed hostages have been reporting many of them were drugged with depressants, such as valium, to keep them compliant.  At least one girl was given ketamine, which is often used as a “date rape” drug. Additionally, an untold number of them were subjected to physical, mental, psychological and sexual abuse. As an example, one man was told his wife was dead when, in fact, she was alive and not a captive at all. Another former hostage described how she and several others were placed in total darkness for several days.  Another former hostage opined “they wanted to break us not only physically [but also] mentally.” Renanna Eltan, director of the psychiatric division of the Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center-Ichilov, described the degree of abuse as ” just terrible” and remarked she had “never seen anything like that in 20 years of treating trauma victims.” She noted that several have become “psychotic,” “developed suicidal thoughts,” devolved into “dissociative states” (wherein one minute they think they are back as captives and the next they are back at the treatment center) and/or suffered from “hallucinations.” The aftereffects are akin to PTSD and could be long-lasting.

5. It has been widely reported that the IDF has commenced flooding the tunnels with seawater to flush out the terrorists. Obviously, this will be a double-edged sword. On the one hand, it will be an efficient way to kill terrorists with a lesser cost of Israeli soldiers’ lives. But on the other hand, there is likely to be some collateral damage among hostages that may be sequestered there, which could result in a public relations nightmare. Hopefully, the IDF will exercise proper restraint.

There have been further developments regarding antisemitism on college campuses.

1. Harvard, with its $51 billion endowment, has become the “poster boy” for antisemitism on college campuses. Congresswoman Elise Stepanik, who has been in the forefront of this issue, has declared “we must defund the rot in America’s higher education. Harvard’s president has refused to resign and despite growing outside pressure the board of directors has refused to fire her. In addition, she has been accused of plagiarizing parts of her doctoral thesis, which would constitute a clear violation of the school’s academic integrity policy. That, by itself, should be sufficient cause to fire her. Yet, she is continuing to refuse to resign, and the school is still refusing to fire her. Could it be due to the fact that she is a black woman? Regardless, I find this excessive arrogance and insensitivity incredulous. This is despite extensive and intensive negative press, donors clawing back donations, the possible loss of copious federal payments, grants and tax breaks (presently, for instance, Harvard pays no taxes on capital gains, bond interest and dividend income), bills being introduced in Congress to penalize colleges that fail to curb on-campus antisemitism, and a pending investigation by the federal Department of Education to determine whether or not the school has transgressed against the civil rights of its Jewish students in contravention of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act.  It’s as if Harvard thinks it is untouchable and can do whatever it wants.
2. Some Jewish students at MIT have claimed that pro-Palestinian groups have been offering “bounties” to anyone who identifies one of them. Furthermore, a group of alumni has authored a blistering criticism directed at school officials for the school’s failure to condemn antisemitism on campus or even to issue an apology. (Subsequently, the school did issue a feeble, vague statement “rejecting antisemitism in all its forms,” but, to me, it was too little, too late.)
3. At the University of Pennsylvania, the president resigned, and donors are continuing to claw back donations. That’s a fine beginning, but the school has not gone far enough to deal with antisemitism.

CONCLUSION

Obviously, I find this entire antisemitism issue to be extremely disturbing. It has the potential to tear this country apart. This issue is a direct attack on the very foundation of what America stands for, free speech, freedom of religion and the rest of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. Even those of you who are not Jewish should be appalled at the current state of affairs and should help quash this in the bud. Speak up. Act. History has taught us that the oppressors will not stop at the Jews. Next, they will come after Catholics, Blacks, Hispanics, and anyone else they deem to be different. Even moderate Muslims would not escape their wrath.

We would be advised to heed the warning conveyed by Martin Niemöller. Niemöller was a prominent Lutheran pastor in Germany in the 1920s and 1930s. He was an early supporter of the Nazis, but later he was imprisoned for speaking out in support of the church. Upon his release he uttered the following advice, which still resonates today.

“First they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out because I wasn’t Jewish; then they came for the communists, and I did not speak out because I wasn’t a communist; then they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out because I was not a socialist; then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out because I was not a trade unionist; and then they came for me, and there was no one left to speak for me.”

The moral of the quote is obvious. The current wave of antisemitism affects us all. We must all speak out before it is too late.

I am very disappointed, but not surprised, that the Administration and the Democrat Party, in general, have not been more forceful in supporting Jews in general and Israel in particular. The far-left wing of the Dems has been particularly vociferous in espousing antisemitism. As a result, it has cowed the Administration and mainstream Dems into silence. The Dems solution to this problem is the same they offer to deal with any problem. They offer platitudes and vague generalities but never solve it. Therefore, in my opinion, I see no reason why any Jew or other minority would vote for any Dem. As Election Day 2024 approaches they will do what they always do – obfuscate, deflect, exaggerate and make false promises and accusations. These tactics worked in 2020. Don’t be fooled again.