The Progressive agenda is unsustainable

Excessive governmental intervention in our daily lives, political correctness and “woke” terminology, the breakdown of law enforcement and the judicial system, and rampant entitlement for all, other than those who are “white”, have become the norm. Progressive politicians are at the vanguard of the assault on common sense values and principles that we grew up with. An ever growing majority of Americans, Europeans, and Israelis are waking up to the realization that this assault by progressive forces has made our lives unbearable; rampant inflation, misguided energy policies, crime and fear on the streets, dysfunctional schools, and the rejection of traditional values have all contributed to the demise of what was once a common future and the idea that we are creating a better world for our children.

At this critical time, it is imperative that we understand the monumental and destructive changes that are being forced upon us so that we the people, can change the future that towards which progressive politicians are leading us. The time has come for the voting public to fully express its democratic rights and elect politicians that represent the people’s will and values.

To fully comprehend the dangers of the progressive agenda, a simple examination of progressive energy policies of recent years would be a good place to start. In recent years progressive politicians throughout the Western World have drastically cut domestic fossil fuel production, and have begun to ban gasoline-powered vehicles while shifting to renewable sources from electricity, wind and solar. Yet at the same time, they have ignored that the power generation capacity and renewable energy infrastructure are not in place to achieve a realistic and sustainable green agenda. It seems as if the progressive agenda denies the need of a long-term solution that includes national strategies for reliable power production, affordable sustainable energy and a strengthened electrical grid.

The childish notion that we can overcome energy shortages when the wind doesn't blow and the sun doesn't shine is unsustainable and will make daily life unbearable, as we witnessed last year in the State of Texas when renewable energy sources collapsed resulting in the deaths of hundreds due to the cold.

This progressive energy agenda is doomed to failure and the public is paying the price. The dramatic inflation in energy costs has been felt simply by gassing up at a local gas station, but that’s only the tip of the progressive iceberg. In Europe we are witnessing skyrocketing energy costs for electricity and this winter Europeans will experience an eight-fold increase in energy prices. Homes will be unable to be kept warm in the winter. Much of the fertilizer used in the world today is a product of fossil fuel. Lack of fertilizer or a spike in the cost of fertilizer due to the spiraling cost or lack of fossil based energy will affect food production in the United States and Europe leading to famine and hunger in the undeveloped countries of Africa and other parts of the world.

Western nations will have to decide whether they want to produce food or heat homes due to the scarcity and high cost of electricity, a lose-lose situation and a clear result of progressive energy policies adopted in recent years. The progressive commitment to sustainability and so-called green energy in recent years has become unsustainable. Western nations will have to undo these decisions and go back to coal-fired plants to keep up with energy demands.

Progressive political leaders have yet to be held accountable for their unsustainable energy policies, and the consequences will fall on the shoulders of individuals, families, and businesses everywhere. The progressive pipedream of climate utopia should be exposed for what it is; ending fossil based energy and replacing it with a far less reliable wind and solar energy market. Now is the time for demanding accountability, and Election Day is payback.

With elections rapidly approaching in many Western nations, now is the time to remedy the progressive wackiness that has taken over the public discourse and undo the progressive mindset. For a starter, conservatives believe in individual rights, not special rights. Progressives sidestep the voting public by turning to judges, executive orders and government bureaucrats to overturn the will of voters (as does the Israeli radical left).

Progressives love the word choice as long as they define what that choice is. Conservatives take a different approach; decisions on education, health care and even how we live out our religious beliefs should be an individual choice not dependent on progressive dictates. Progressives have adopted victimhood as a way of life; “What is unfair”, “Who has offended me”, “What can I be compensated for”. Conservatives cling to the notion of what I can do for myself, my family, my local community, and for my country.

At this critical time, it is imperative that we understand the monumental and destructive changes that are being forced upon us so that we the people, can change the future that towards which progressive politicians are leading us.

Progressive energy policies are, as mentioned above, only the tip of the iceberg, the question that we must all ask ourselves is; will I be a supporter of the progressive agenda of unsustainable energy policies, or a supporter of the progressive ethic of entitlement? Or will I be reminded of the immortal refrain yelled by anchorman Howard Beale in the 1976 film Network. “I'm as mad as hell, and I'm not going to take this anymore!” It seems that the film, 46 years on from its release, has just as much to say about the state of the world today as it did back then.

Dissonance as a way of life

For many it began with the orchestrated and coordinated political campaigns supplemented with the blind support of the progressive leftist media to create the illusion of democratically elected governments of chaos, mismanagement, and corruption in response to the Corona virus pandemic. For others it began even earlier with the election of conservative political leaders in the United States and in Israel in recent years. Common sense has ceased to prevail, objective narratives are a relic of the past, and the general public has been left bewildered not knowing whom to believe, losing trust in basic societal institutions such as the judicial and court system, attorney generals, police enforcement, the education system, and even health providers. Judicial double standards and selective enforcement are the new norm, Our generation’s intellectuals, opinion makers, and influencers have chosen to ignore reality to willingly push agenda’s that are detached from the public will and the public’s basic values. In response to this confusion and loss of basic trust, the public in Israel and from what I have observed also in the United States have unwillingly begun to accept dissonance as a way of life.

Dissonance is a theory in social psychology that refers to a mental conflict that occurs when a person’s behaviors and beliefs do not align. On a societal level, dissonance occurs when common sense and long held beliefs are inundated and questioned relentlessly by the major providers and sources of information that we consume; the printed and broadcasted media, social media, internet and so forth. What a person believes and what providers of information tell us to believe contradict one another. It seems as if the media’s interpretation of reality always gives credence and credibility to the progressive agenda and ignores basic facts that we have always accepted as givens. Many among the general public experience a sense of discomfort, uneasiness, and tension. “Explaining things away” and injecting information that conflicts with existing beliefs have only made the dissonance felt by so many that much more intense and real.

The most blatant example of this type of dissonance has to do with the education system and integrating progressive indoctrination into the educational curriculum while circumventing parental involvement in decisions that directly affect their children as young as first grade. School boards are taking on the mindset that parents are nothing but a nuisance as they demand the right to mold children’s minds while completely ignoring the wishes of the parents. Basing whole curriculums on Critical Race Theory (based on teachings of the late Jewish historian Howard Zinn), and gender education are the most blaring examples of ignoring the will of the public and giving rise to dissonance on a wide scale. Had the public school systems excelled in educating our children they would parade their successes for all to hear and see, but the truth is as the progressive indoctrination has permeated the school systems everywhere, the level of schooling and educational achievements have been regressing and showing a consistent decline in scores and abilities. School parents are in a constant state of dissonance having no outlet for turning the clock back and are simply being scared into silence.

Black American bigotry and anti-Semitism appears to be rising in recent years with Jews being physically attacked almost daily on the streets of Brooklyn or while commuting on the subway, almost always by young Black Americans usually randomly and sometimes in planned attacks. The dissonance felt by many American Jews has reached new heights yet little has been provided in terms of real information as to what are the drivers of this violent anti-Semitism on the part of young Black Americans. Despite Jews serving as influential advisers to civil rights leaders such as Martin Luther King Jr., and despite the list of Jews who devoted themselves to black causes is literally all but inexhaustible, the Black American- Jewish alliance has never been a two-way street. Malcom X was a known anti-Semite: “The exploiters of blacks are the Jews,” and “the Jew is behind the integration movement.” Stockey Carmichael, a black and influential leader: “The only good Zionist is a dead Zionist,” and “We must take a lesson from Hitler.” These examples are pale in comparison to the record of Louis Farrakhan, whom the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) has called “the leading anti-Semite in America.” His assaults on Jews as “termites,” his description of Judaism as a “gutter religion,” his declaration that Hitler was a “great man” (later modified to “wickedly great”) have been widely reported. His Nation of Islam has distributed the notorious fabrication The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, as well as a tract of its own, The Secret Relationship between Blacks and Jews, which Henry Louis Gates Jr. condemned as “the bible of the new anti-Semitism.”

All of this basic information about how the Black American community have been historically lead by Black American anti-Semites has been withheld from the public. With the Judicial system releasing black criminals and felons, allowing them immunity from prosecution have all contributed to the runaway violent anti-Semitism perpetuated by Black Americans. The American public and American Jews are not blind to this development and the ensuing dissonance has never been greater. Yet, the progressive agenda and providers of information prefer to ignore reality and place all of the responsibility on conservative politicians or white supremacists. The discrepancy and large gap between the reality and what’s explained have all contributed to the dissonance felt by so many.

I could easily provide many more examples of what’s creating widespread dissonance among so many and conduct a meticulous analysis that befits the inheritors of the Talmudic tradition. However a decent and honest debate about what’s best for the public has been effectively ruled out. A general sense of fear and intimidation has overtaken the public discourse destroying honesty and the ability to question the progressive and radical narrative portrayed by the media to the detriment of the general public. This immense gap between the objective reality and the broadcasted and false interpretation of reality has created a sense of dissonance against the false prophets that promote the progressive political agenda forcing so many to accept dissonance as a way of life.

Yair Lapid’s obsession with hating Mizrachim

With just under 100 days until Israel’s national elections, the mainstream media have made a concerted effort to ignore the blatantly racist comments repeatedly expressed by Yair Lapid, Israel’s temporary Prime Minister and head of the center-left progressive party Yesh Atid. In any other Democratic country, Lapid’s racist comments would earn him the title of being a “White Supremacist”, but lo and behold, here in Israel, Lapid is the darling of the progressive left, and has designated himself to be the last line of defense against Benjamin Netanyahu being re-elected to Prime Minister come November. For this reason alone, Yair Lapid has become the ultimate Teflon politician in which any and all racist comments against the Mizrachim (Jews of Middle Eastern and North African origin) never stick, allowing him to avoid being labeled for what he is, a racist.

Over the past few weeks and months, Lapid has insulted and expressed racist comments against half of Israel’s population without remorse or even an iota of regret. His most scandalous statement occurred when he called the Mizrachim, and I quote “Sh-t heads”, or A—Holes, depending on your translation source. He has labeled the Mizrachim as “disgusting”. Recently during a widely broadcasted speech, Lapid labeled the Mizrachim as the embodiment of the “forces of darkness”; Darth Vader is turning over in his grave.

Every Jew, whether Ashkenazi or Sephardic should feel uncomfortable with hearing racist expressions against other Jews. So what makes Lapid’s racist statement palatable to mainstream media? Let there be no doubt, hatred against the Mizrachim and hatred against Benjamin Netanyahu and his supporters have become interchangeable. The majority of Benjamin Netanyahu’s supporters are Mizrachim, and for that reason alone, they have earned the insult of being called “baboons”, “battered wife syndrome”, “herd mentality”, repeatedly.

Lapid’s father, Tommy Lapid was a cabinet Minister and head of the Shinui political party two decades ago. Tommy Lapid was a hater of Mizrachim and a racist in his own right. The following are some of his racist “gems”: "With the money that you spend on hairdos, you could educate your children," he said to a mother during a discussion on poverty; at battered women - "I don't know the source of the number of 200,000 battered women; perhaps some sociologist heard that his neighbor beats his wife and came to the conclusion that in every house, there is at least one husband who beats his wife;" "We didn't conquer Tul Karm, Tul Karm conquered us," he said in reference to the Arab-style songs of Mizrahi musicians. (Lapid frequently interchanged between the poor and Mizrachim). Yossi Beilin defined Tommy Lapid’s political party Shinui as actually being “a nationalist Ashkenazi front, which has elements bordering on racism." As we say, the fruit does not fall far from the tree, and Yair Lapid has embraced his father’s racist mentality.

If Lapid was really interested in understanding why Mizrachim vote consistently and over the years for the Likud and Benjamin Netanyahu, he would take the time out to reach out and listen to what they, the Mizrachim have to say. Lapid would discover that the Mizrachim, or many of them feel that their suffering and their sacrifice is a price that they are willing to pay for the good of the nation. They do not perceive of themselves as if they are suffering as individuals, but embrace the notion that their place in Israel and their contribution to the State of Israel is for the collective good of the Jewish nation. The Mizrachim are also confident that Benjamin Netanyahu and the Likud have been and will be at the head of the political pyramid working for the overall good of the people including the Mizrachim. The past 12 years in which Benjamin Netanyahu and the Likud have lead the nation; the rising standard of living, education, housing, health, employment, security have all filtered down to all levels of society enabling all of Israeli society to benefit from the prosperity of the past decade, and not just the progressive elite that Yair Lapid represents. The Mizrachim believe and have a deep suspicion that the progressive left and Yair Lapid have forgotten what it means to be Jewish. In Israel, the Mizrachim embodies a large percentage of the population whose loyalty to Jewish values and the state’s Jewish identity is very deep and very personal and should not be diluted or altered and certainly not maligned.

Lapid’s constant use of derogatory and racist terms against the Mizrachim serves an additional purpose. This past year Lapid has made a number of high profile blunders and his high volume racist comments serve as the perfect distraction; a change of focus away from his inexperience, inappropriate “Tikkun Olam” politics, and sheer ignorance in geo-strategic issues that have severely diminished Israel’s international relations. Despite Lapid’s attempt to hide his poor performance as Israel’s Foreign Minister, his public criticism and attacks against the leaders of Poland, Turkey, and Russia have shaken Israel’s bi-lateral relations.

This past week Vladimir Putin, the leader of Russia ordered the closing of the Jewish Agency and affiliate offices operating within Russian territory just as Lapid held his first cabinet meeting as Prime Minister. This policy change by the Russians was implemented purposely the same week that Lapid become Prime Minister, who till now had been a vocal and public critic of Russia’s invasion of the Ukraine. Lapid has over the past months made a number of irresponsible comments critical of the Russian nation and its leader without even understanding the implications. Lapid has gotten so used to never being held accountable for his tactless, inexperienced, and racist comments here in Israel; he has allowed himself to act with the same derogatory manner with strategic partners and weaken Israel’s international standing.

To truly understand the imminent danger of Yair Lapid as Prime Minister of Israel, even for a brief period of four months until the coming elections, all one has to do is look over to the Ukraine. There too the leader of the Ukraine had a similar background to Lapid. Both Zelensky and Lapid have a background of being entertainment celebrities. Lapid made his name as a talk show host while Zelensky was a TV personality and comedian. Zelensky has shown a blatant inability to lead his nation during peacetime, while his inexperience and misguided decisions right out of the “progressive handbook of politics” have brought about the invasion by Russia and the total destruction of the Ukraine.

Yair Lapid seems to be guided by the very same “progressive handbook of politics” and has endangered the strategic interests of the State of Israel. The Russian decision to ban the Jewish Agency within Russian territory in response to Lapid becoming Prime Minister, may very well be only the first step, while an additional deterioration in Israeli- Russian bilateral relations may lead to additional restrictions that limit Israel’s freedom against the Iranian threat in Lebanon, Syria, and beyond. Let us hope and pray that Yair Lapid, an avowed racist, takes immediate steps to undue the imminent danger to the State of Israel that he himself has brought upon us.

A knock on the door; memories from Israel’s first Lebanon War

The month of June marks 40 years since Israel’s Operation for Peace for Galilee or for most of us in Israel, remembered as the first Lebanon war. The period preceding the war witnessed deep changes in Israel’s political landscape and a kind of transitory period where the Labor party’s political elite that had been in power since the establishment of the State of Israel had lost its political hegemony and loss of power to the Likud party lead by Menachem Begin.

Much of the anger expressed during the many demonstrations against the war, the vulgar and personal attacks on Israel’s democratically elected leader, Menachem Begin represented more than anything else, the rage of a deposed elite, albeit democratically, who were unable to accept the will of the people, nor accept defeat at the polls. As the public outcry gained traction and popularity, little attention or sensitivity was given to the soldiers themselves who had to bear the brunt of war on the front lines nor their families who had to bear the loss of their loved ones. Israel’s defeated political elite simply didn’t care, they empowered the opponents of the war to demonize not only the Likud party and its leader Menachem Begin but sadly also the IDF and foremost the soldiers serving on the front lines endangering their lives.

This was the reality of those serving during the Lebanon War and the extended period after the war when the IDF was entrenched in all of southern Lebanon. It was during this period that I served in Lebanon, at first in the Shouf Mountains overlooking Beirut and then later on at the Eastern front in the Bakke Valley for a total period of two years. I used to joke with friends that compared to the South Bronx where I was brought up, serving in Lebanon was a piece of cake. In reality it was just that, a dark joke to help with the reality of daily roadside bombs, and soldiers that could no longer bear the horrors of war. As an armored divisional mental health officer, my responsibility was to intervene and treat soldiers, at times in the heat of battle who were experiencing trauma, for many from seeing the bodies of their best friends mutilated by shrapnel. The immediacy of the intervention in many cases prevented the emotional damage from becoming permanent.

For these past 40 years, the first Lebanon war is not just a faded memory but a daily reality for the families who lost their loved ones. It was at a military ulpan that I first met and became friends with Jerry Wolf H”yd, brought up in Hollywood, Florida making Aliyah the year prior to my arrival in Israel. Jerry was a lone soldier and had been adopted during his military service by the Guy family from Moshav Nir Banim in the south. On June 6^th /June 7^th , 1982 Jerry was killed in action while serving as a gunner in a tank crew. During the same time frame on June 6^th, the oldest child of the Guy family, Shachar Guy H”yd, was also killed in action as a tank officer and commander. Despite them being killed in action within the same time period, notification of their deaths during the war came at an interval of 48 hours. I have been visiting the Guy family for the past 40 years, never once missing the Memorial Day ceremonials.

Nurit Guy, the mother of Shachar and adopted mother of Jerry, has over the years spoken to hundreds if not thousands of soldiers sharing with them her reality of being a mother of two sons lost during the same war. She is not only inspiring and uplifting but she is also able to convey how she has processed her own personal bereavement and used that introspection to help other parents deal with their own bereavement. I have sat with Nurit many times talking and listening to her understandings, and can confidently state that for her the month of June or Memorial Day is not a yearly commemoration but a daily event for the past 40 years.

Her own journey of bereavement began as for many with the knock at the door to her home, when the military notifyers arrived to give her the tragic and unbearable news. In her case they came twice within a 48 hour period. That knock at the door is now a memory, but a daily memory that never and will never be erased from her memory, as long as she lives. At a recent commemoration, the following poem was read to those attending the service for Jerry H”yd and Shachar H”yd

“The families of the fallen have been notified” by Izzy Man

This is the knock on the front door... It's the intercom buzz... It's the bell in his tune... / And seemingly, as always. After all, every day someone comes to the brink - each for his own affairs, and at the hour / And it is in neighborhood D... It's in a little house, in the shade of errands... It's in the dwelling, third floor... / And suddenly the ringing is sharp and prickly, and bouncing... And the beating of the heart is thunder - and a moment later silent / And it's in an apartment in a kibbutz... Up the hill, at the end of the seat... And in the high house, near the square / And it's the same sound, but at eleven o'clock at night it's different -- shaking... Cold... Alien... / And the ringing is heard again, and now reverberates throughout the house, and the knock begs to the door / And what invites every day to come and enter, at this moment is - suddenly - an overture of an axe on basalt / and the uniforms that seen through the viewfinder say it all. Without saying a word...

A message was given to the families. To the family waiting for him to come... Who had already waited for him with the gift of liberation... / to the family you inherited, who had already paid a terrible price that day frost... / to the family that the father had fallen in retaliation... And the nephew, named after him, was killed in the Golan... / And the cousins who were also imprisoned: a son, the salt of the earth, in a ditch... And a second son, Yaffa Described, in the explosive device... / A message was given to the family of immigrants, who did not yet know the land and its paths - but now lost the youngest son... / to the family whose grandfather perished with all his brothers in the Holocaust, but so hoped that in Eretz Israel the sun would shine... / to the family of a farmer... Or operating in a manufacturing plant... And a senior official, or a nature teacher and a violinist... / Everyone saw around the white angel, and prayed: "No, no more...

Not here... God, don't take our light" / Everyone was so worried, but hope that this weekend... And after the war... And in general - that the child would come back / and that Dad, who went out to reserve every year... Who's already seen the balls of death before his eyes... Who brought friends from the battle... / Will return -- and will no longer walk that path, behind the cypresses... And will not go - all - on the journey after him // A message was given to the families. And usually, no words... Usually, the heart has been afraid of the terrible... / And what remains to be said - and what remains - only the poignant message. The short/ so exactly, when the announcer of the casualties passes the path... Opening the gate... Rings the bell, or knocks on the door... / And then, the gospel - in its wake - enters the house, and strikes and resonates. And trembling. And jolting / After all, you don't have to tell Mom anything………