Vote for David French!

From Slate: "If reality show star Donald Trump proved, not at all figuratively, that anyone can run for president these days, conservative multitasker Bill Kristol appears set to test that hypothesis. Over the weekend, Kristol floated the idea that an independent candidate was coming to ballots near you and that this candidate was “an impressive one, with a strong team and a real chance.” On Tuesday, Bloomberg reported that Kristol’s secret candidate was none other than David French. Wait. Who? You know, conservative magazine staff writer, David French. Tennessee lawyer David French? Still nothing? Well, fear not, you’re not alone."  

Here is David Horowitz:  "This is a perfect instance of  'Trump derangement syndrome,' the underlying animus that motivates Kristol and his destructive cohorts. Dismissing Trump as an ignoramus and a stunted twelve-year old is the stuff of schoolyard put-downs, not a serious critique of someone with Trump’s considerable achievements. Yet this is typical of Trump’s diehard opponents on the right.Is Trump more unprepared than Barack Obama whose qualification for the presidency was a lifetime career as a leftwing agitator? And how did that work out? Despite the lacunae in his executive resume, Obama is now regarded as 'one of the most consequential presidents in American history' by reasonably qualified experts."

Memorial Day

Here's the famous poem "In Flanders Fields" by Lt.Col.John McCrae, MD:

"In Flanders Fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields."

Watcher's Council

The Council has spoken! Here are this week's Watcher's Council results!

It's Never Too Late!

Is this a great story, or what?  "Dr Henry Heimlich uses Heimlich manoeuvre for first time at 96.  Surgeon employs anti-choking technique that bears his name to dislodge hamburger from woman’s airway in retirement home."

What Obama Should Have Done

Instead of going to Hiroshima, Obama should be going to Pearl Harbor this Memorial Day and paying tribute to our war dead, killed by the Japanese on December 7!

Contrast him with Harry Truman, to whom the New York Sun pays homage in its May 26 editorial.

A Must-Read by Alan Dershowitz

This powerful Alan Dershowitz column in defense of Israel and the Jewish people should be required reading:

"My visit to Europe made one thing unmistakably clear: if there is any group in the world that needs a safe homeland—a sanctuary from bigotry and hatred—it is the Jewish people. When Hitler was willing to expel them from Europe, before deciding to exterminate them, no country – not even the United States or Canada – would give them asylum. Britain closed the doors of what is now Israel to them. They had no place to go. So they were murdered by the Nazis and their willing executioners throughout Europe. There is no group whose history entitles it to a safe and secure homeland more than the Jewish people. For reasons that are difficult to explain, the hatred of the Jewish people and its nation defies rationality, but it is as real as the gas chambers of Auschwitz -Birkenau and the emerging fascist parties of Greece and Hungary. Jews today continue to be scapegoated in many parts of the world, and their nation state is demonized at the United Nations, on university campuses, in the media and in legislative assemblies. Following the Holocaust, there seemed to be an understanding that Jews would no longer be victimized. Now less than a century after the Nazis came to power, that moratorium on Jew-hatred seems to have expired, as the memory of the Holocaust grows dim in most parts of the world.

"My weeklong visit to Hell reaffirmed my commitment to defend Israel’s right to exist, to speak out for Israel when it is unfairly attacked, and to defeat its enemies in the marketplace of ideas. We owe nothing less to the victims of the worst crime in the history of humanity—a crime that could not have occurred without the complicity of most of the world. And a crime that will not recur if there is a strong and secure Israel."

Lots 'o Links

Relive this week's news, gossip, and general insanity courtesy of Maggie's Farm, Betsy's Page, and Larwyn's Linx!

Here's a good rebuttal to Obama's attack on Trump while in Japan. He had the nerve to talk about Trump's lack of experience. At least you knew who Trump was back in 2008; did you even know who Senator Obama was?

Desperate for Publicity

I got a kick out of Michelle Malkin's vivid descriptions of immodesty in general, and celebrity tastelessness in particular. Here's a sample: "Nineteen-year-old pop star Lorde slouched up the steps at the Met Gala earlier this month in a ton of pink tulle from the waist down — but with practically nothing on top to contain her bra-less upper self. Fifty-seven-year-old Madonna was there, too, trussed up in an atrocious goth cloth featuring breast cutouts and a geriatric thong she called a 'political statement.'"

The only statement they're making is that they'll do anything to be noticed, no matter how low class they look.

Antisemitic Mobs on Campus

It's an outrage that this is happening in our country: "Jewish Woman Forced to Hide From Anti-Israel Activists at UC-Irvine. Pro-Palestine student group dubbed violent protests a 'success,' justified by presence of police and IDF soldiers An event hosted by a pro-Israel student group ended abruptly Wednesday night as police were called to protect attendees from an angry mob that had gathered. One student who never made it inside the venue called 9-1-1 as she hid in fear from anti-Israel activists who chased her into a building on the University of California-Irvine campus."

Argus Hamilton Quips

Argus Hamilton's latest column includes such news zingers as this one: "Democrats openly worried about rioting at the Democratic Convention by Bernie Sanders fans. They’re fervent. Bernie Sanders is the only seventy-four-year-old man in America who has college girls pointing at him and screaming without standing in a lineup at the police station." 

(Terrific cartoon by Michael Ramirez.)

Six Degrees of The Clintons

Somehow, I was not at all surprised to hear this news today:  Official: Feds investigating Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe.

Black Boxes

Why can't anyone invent a method to make aircraft black boxes easier to find?

The Foods of Brooklyn

Here's  a nostalgic look at the foods that people in Brooklyn enjoyed during the 1930's and 1940's.

A Clever Line

From Roger L. Simon: "Hillary has tied herself to Obama's botched (to put it mildly) foreign policy and Bernie thinks the real terrorists are in Prada suits at Goldman Sachs." That almost sounds like an Argus Hamilton quip! 

Watcher's Council

The Council has spoken! Here are this week's Watcher's Council results.

Lots 'o Links

Here are this week's reports from Maggie's Farm, Betsy's Page, and Larwyn's Linx.

When I heard late last night about the dreadful EgyptAir disappearance and crash, I immediately assumed it was terrorism, as everyone with common sense who is not a  liberal would assume. Trump tweeted out the same thing, and I saw they were criticizing him for that this morning. So in politicallycorrectland, even when innocent people die horribly, it's still worse to blame terrorism than it is to deny it's terrorism!

And speaking of politically correct, this proves that people are insane: "Greeting customers as “Mr.” or “Mrs.” — or even not using the pronoun “ze” or “zir” — could prove costly for New York City businesses under rules drafted by Mayor Bill de Blasio’s bureaucrats." Sorry, but nothing is going to make me call a man "Miss" or "Ze", $250,000 fine or not!

World's Smallest Violin

I went to the WQXR website today intending to listen to some classical music and got this ridiculous news instead:  "Itzhak Perlman was supposed to have been en route to North Carolina Monday night, but the eminent violinist canceled his plans and remained in New York, speaking of his outrage against the state's House Bill 2.  'The proverbial whatever it is hit the fan,' Perlman told WQXR, hours after he made the decision."

Please stick to your concerts and stop with the liberal nonsense!

(Cartoon by Gary Varvel.)

Argus Hamilton Quips

I find this presidential election cycle so stressful I either have to ignore it or turn to something humorous for relief, such as Argus Hamilton's latest column.  Here's just one item: "Newt Gingrich drew particular interest when mentioned as Donald Trump’s possible running mate Friday because they have six wives between them. The strategy is to carry the women’s vote by marrying them all. If Trump-Gingrich gets elected, the first lady and second lady will be the third lady."

The Nobel War Prize

The American Enterprise Institute says that "Obama has no one to blame but himself for becoming the nation’s longest serving war president."

Meanwhile,  "US Secretary of State John Kerry said world powers would back Libya in seeking exemption from a UN arms embargo. He said IS was a 'new threat' to Libya and it was 'imperative' it was stopped."  Gee, that's a far cry from the "JV team"!

Watcher's Council

The Council has spoken! Here are this week's Watcher's Council results!

Lots 'o Links

Ready to relive the week in news, politics, and culture? Make sure you read Betsy's Page, Larwyn's Linx, and Maggie's Farm.

Bonus: read Daniel Greenfield's beautifully written column about Israel and Yom HaZikaron.

How Our Country Has Changed

John Hawkins has written an excellent column titled "How Conservatives See America."  It could also be titled "How Sensible People See America".

In the No Common Sense department is this headline, which shows you just one example of the utter preposterousness going on in our country today: "Lynch: States Can't 'Insist' a Man is a Man and a Woman is a Woman, If Person Feels Otherwise."  I give up!

Argus Hamilton Quips

Argus Hamilton's latest column includes his amusing take on the current news, including these items:

The Justice Department announced Thursday that the U.S. government will no longer refer to convicted criminals as convicts or felons. They feel that using pejorative labels stigmatizes large numbers of minority men. O.J. Simpson is not a murderer or an armed robber, he’s legally challenged. 

Donald Trump and his wife Melania confirmed in a joint interview Monday that if he’s elected president, he will move into the White House. That would certainly make social history. It’d be the first time a billionaire ever moved into federal housing that had been vacated by a black family.

Yiddish!

Here are two amusing columns from The Schmooze News:

Shakespearowitz? Shakespeare’s Jewish connection, and a scene from my Jewish rendition of Hamlet, called “Hemlet.” - by Marnie Winston-Macauley.

You Want To Learn Yiddish? Read Joseph Dorinson's Book, "Kvetching and Shpritzing" - by Marjorie Gottlieb Wolfe.

Watcher's Council

The Council has spoken! Here are this week's Watcher's Council results!

Lots 'o Links

This has been some kind of week, and you can relive it all by reading all the news and gossip over at Betsy's Page, Larwyn's Linx, and Maggie's Farm!

Bonus: read Aaron Goldstein's column, in which he describes Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump in no uncertain terms: "As I see it, Donald Trump is a buffoonish, lying, narcissistic bigoted bully without a smidgen of character or virtue...Hillary Clinton is a lying, conniving shrill shrew who views Herself to be above the law. She too is a narcissistic bully without a smidgen of character or virtue." All I can say is that the Republicans started out with 17 candidates from which to choose;  and the voters had plenty of opportunity to have chosen any of the other 16.

Holocaust Remembrance Day

From European Jewish Press.

Here's a lovely letter to his parents from Avi Dichter:  "Mom and Dad, you know that over the years I felt your loss and pain in many ways. But today, in your first home, which became our family's huge graveyard, where virtually all my familial ancestors were killed, I keep thinking about only thing: How in God's name did you have the strength to raise a family and bring me and my sister Yael to this world, and build a home in the land of Israel out of all places, despite all you had to go through -- or perhaps it was because of all you have gone through?"

Strong Women

Here's a touching article with about the unforgettable image above:  How a Ukrainian Mother Taught Me to be Brave. The author wonders "Who was she, and what was she thinking as she held her children in her arms and waited to usher them to death?"

You wonder about the women in this photo as well.

Politics As Unusual

What a surprise to see Cruz bow out tonight and Kasich stay in!  Carly Fiorina's gracious introduction of Cruz made me again marvel at how politicians can attack each other one day and then be all lovey-dovey the next.

Here's a headline for you: Clinton says she'd take Bill 'out of retirement' for White House jobs role.  Do you really want the Clintons in power for eternity?  Plus, you know Obama and Bernie Sanders will each be thrown a bone, so our country will continue to become one big San Francisco.

Antisemitism: A Disease With No Cure

From Legal Insurrection:  British Labour Party Anti-Semitism – ‘like lifting up a stone and having insects crawl out’.

Unfortunately, there are more and more insects appearing every day, such as in today's news:  James Medina is accused of trying to blow up the Aventura Turnberry Jewish Center during Passover services. Officials portrayed Medina as being anti-Semitic.   

And no amount of fighting against it or educating people about it seems to make any difference.

Jews In America

If you haven't already seen the PBS documentary "The Jewish Journey", you should get it on DVD. It will make you look at your own old family photos a little longer.

The Excitement of Climate Change!

You'll laugh at the photo seen in Don Surber's Tweet of the Day.