Trump and the Democrats: The shtarker
and the shtoonks
Posted By: Magnante, 3/5/2025 1:26:03 PM
Watching President Trump speak to both Houses of Congress, two colorful Yiddish words kept floating into my mind. (snip) each captures an aspect of the reality of that unprecedented gathering that the English language fails to convey with the same level of nuance. As President Trump spoke, I kept thinking that he’s a real shtarker, which is often translated as “tough guy”, but which carries considerable historical context. (snip) "In Europe, studious, myopic Jews (snip) were easy pickins for their loutish, violent anti-Semitic neighbors and were often attacked and beaten. Every community had their tough guy (shtarker = strong one) who could be summoned to prevent or mitigate a beating
Below, you will find ...
Most Recent Articles posted by "Magnante"
and
Most Active Articles (last 48 hours)
Most Recent Articles posted by
Magnante"
Watching President Trump speak to both Houses of Congress, two colorful Yiddish words kept floating into my mind. (snip) each captures an aspect of the reality of that unprecedented gathering that the English language fails to convey with the same level of nuance.
As President Trump spoke, I kept thinking that he’s a real shtarker, which is often translated as “tough guy”, but which carries considerable historical context. (snip) "In Europe, studious, myopic Jews (snip) were easy pickins for their loutish, violent anti-Semitic neighbors and were often attacked and beaten. Every community had their tough guy (shtarker = strong one) who could be summoned to prevent or mitigate a beating
There must be a lot of sour stomachs among Democrats in the wake of Donald Trump’s acceptance speech Thursday night. He did what he had to do: we saw a convincing portrait of a man whose essence remains the same but who has been simultaneously (and seemingly contradictorily) both softened and tempered.
His entrance was pure Trump, glitzy and over-the-top showbizzy, with flashing lights and his name spelled out in giant illuminated letters:
Just as Hamas targeted young children, even babies, for unthinkable torture and death, pro-Hamas demonstrators in Berkeley targeted a Jewish Community Center (NOT an Israeli facility) with preschool students in class as they chanted slogans through a bullhorn and marched. Even worse, the students who walked out were reportedly accompanied by two vice principals from the Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School as they intimidated the innocent toddlers, guilty solely of being Jewish.
The Democrat Mayor of Los Angeles, Karen Bass, didn’t send police onto the campus of UCLA when pro-Hamas demonstrators took over parts of it and prevented Jews from entering, just as Nazis one blocked Jewish students from the University of Vienna. A Jewish girl being beaten unconscious and hospitalized also drew no police response to the state government-owned campus. But when non-student members of the Jewish community of Los Angeles entered the campus....
Joe Biden Comes to Town
6 replies
President Biden is attending a fundraiser, hosted by Michael Douglas, Eileen Fischer, and a few other wealthy, liberal elites who live in my town. The disruption to residents’ lives and local small businesses is intrusive and appalling. (snip) Biden is here, and I’m stuck at home, not able to drive my car off my street, walk my dogs on the path that I usually do, or go into town to dine in one of the restaurants we frequent. My husband can’t get home from work. (snip) Schools in all of these towns were forced to close early, and after school activities were canceled.
Are you aware that there have been two near-catastrophes at major American airports (DC Reagan and NY JFK) where airplanes were cleared to cross runways as another airplane was taking off? (snip) The first incident took place last Thursday, April 18, at Reagan National Airport when the tower controller ordered a Southwest jet to cross a runway as a Jet Blue plane was taking off. (snip) A mere 3 days later, at JFK Airport, a Swiss Airlines jumbo jet was at the end of the runway cleared for takeoff when multiple airliners, including a Delta jumbo jet were cleared to cross the runway.
Trust is foundational in relationships, whether between individuals or between individuals and institutions. A Gallup survey from last summer found, “Americans’ faith in major societal institutions hasn’t improved over the past year following a slump in public confidence in 2022.” (snip) Doctors, hospitals, and healthcare systems used to be held in high esteem, but no more. Aren’t these the “experts” in white coats? What happened to that trust? Why do only 1 in 3 Americans trust what was once a sacred healing profession? (snip) What is interesting is the partisan divide, with Democrats far more trusting in medical instructions than Republicans.
DEI is hobbling the effectiveness large organizations throughout our economy. Nowhere is this more evident and urgent than the semiconductor chip industry (snip) Intel announced that it’s putting the brakes on its Columbus factory. The Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) has pushed back production at its second Arizona foundry. The remaining major chipmaker, Samsung, just delayed its first Texas fab.
This is not the way companies typically respond to multi-billion-dollar subsidies. So what explains chipmakers’ apparent ingratitude? In large part, frustration with DEI requirements embedded in the CHIPS Act.
A fellow Georgia prosecutor has come forward after viewing the televised testimony in the Fani Willis disqualification hearing, alleging what amounts to witness tampering on the part of the DA in Atlanta. If the account is truthful, that would make Fani the dumbest prosecutor ever, apparently blissfully unaware that the rules apply to her, too. (snip) A new witness could testify Fani Willis warned lover Nathan Wade’s former business partner to stay quiet about their affair (snip)
“They are coming after us. You don’t need to talk to them about anything about us,” Willis is alleged to have warned Terrence Bradley in a September 2023 phone call.
Trump’s Promise -– Retribution or Revenge?
21 replies
Former President Donald Trump is cruising toward the GOP nomination. (snip) An NBC News headline last week revealed palpable fear:
Fight or flight: Fearful Trump critics weigh the risk of retribution if he’s reelected. Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman and family wonder if they will have to flee the country if Trump is reelected. (snip) Retribution is a form of punishment imposed by law and legally authorized.
Revenge, in contrast, is a form of personal punishment, one not sanctioned by law.
The ultimate goal of Retribution is to punish the wrongdoer or offender and ensure that justice is served to the victim and public as a whole.
The student-run daily newspaper at Harvard, the Harvard Crimson, reports that in the face of continuing discovery of plagiarism evidence in her published work, Claudine Gay has resigned (snip)Quite simply, Gay has damaged Harvard’s core mission. No, I don’t mean the education of students or the production of research. Harvard’s real business is the production and maintenance of institutional prestige. That prestige is what attracts students, faculty, donors, campus visitors and other people who bring value and further enhance prestige. And it has taken a gigantic hit.
The Great Taking: You Really No Longer
Own Your Securities, and You Could Also
Lose Your Freedom 13 replies
Own Your Securities, and You Could Also
Lose Your Freedom 13 replies
Under a veil of benevolence, the Great Reset engineered by the World Economic Forum (WEF), aims to shift wealth from individuals and small businesses to global organizations controlled by the elite. As part of this agenda, a revamping of the financial system has been underway for – believe it or not – over half a century, says David Rogers Webb in his recent book The Great Taking and its accompanying documentary.
Webb’s research and insights demonstrate that the WEF’s dubious catchphrase You’ll own nothing, and you’ll be happy already has risky implications for investments in securities, mutual funds, pension funds, and the like.
Most Active Articles (last 48 hours)
On Wednesday morning, in a 5-4 emergency decision, the Supreme Court upheld a decision from U.S. District Judge Amir Ali that essentially says that Donald Trump can't withhold $2 billion in USAID money from existing contractors. Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Amy Coney Barrett sided with the three liberal members of the court. Justices Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas, Neil Gorsuch, and Brett Kavanaugh voted in favor of Trump, with Justice Alito writing the lengthy dissent that begins with: Does a single district-court judge who likely lacks jurisdiction have the unchecked power to compel the Government of the United States to pay out (and probably lose forever) 2 billion taxpayer
Crying poor.
Hunter Biden has asked a federal judge to drop the laptop hacking lawsuit he slapped against a former Trump White House aide — because he’s “millions of dollars” in debt, “exacerbated” by losing a home in the Los Angeles wildfires, court filings show.
The embattled former first son, 55, blamed the recent fires, as well as dwindling sales from his artwork and memoir, for him being plagued by “significant debt” keeping him from “litigating this case” against Garrett Ziegler, according to a motion filed in federal court in California on Wednesday.
During Donald Trump's big speech on Tuesday night, the Democrats proved more than ever that they hate this country and do not wish to see it succeed. They refused to clap for common sense things like lowering taxes and removing dangerous criminals from the streets. Even worse, they failed to applaud for everyone from the mothers of young girls who were brutally murdered to foster dads and foster children. But one of the most disgusting moments of the evening came when they refused to acknowledge a young boy with brain cancer for something that was about as far from partisan as you can get.
Billionaire Elon Musk polled users of his social media platform X about how they want to approach ending daylight saving time (DST). Musk asked..., "If daylight savings [sic] time is canceled, do you prefer" an hour earlier or an hour later. [Snip] Moving to DST permanently or remaining on standard time permanently would require an act of Congress, even as 18 states have enacted laws that would provide for permanent DST if Congress allows such a change, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. [Snip] The American Academy of Sleep Medicine issued a recommendation in 2020 that the U.S. transition to a year-round fixed time,
Former Georgia Democratic gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams said Wednesday on CNN’s “News Central” that President Donald Trump is a “petty tyrant’ surrounded by “complicit flunkies.”
Abrams said, “I have a podcast called ‘Assembly Required’ and we have been having this conversation for the last six weeks and we have to do all of the above. We have to call out Donald Trump on his lies. We have to point out that an unelected oligarch is doing his best to steal America from its people in Elon Musk.”
She added, “We have a complicit Congress that is allowing him to fire thousands of people
Actress Mia Farrow just dropped a new theory about the survivability of Democracy in America. This time saying she’ll be surprised if we make it to Labor Day.
“If we have 6 months of democracy left i’ll be surprised,” actress Mia Farrow said in Bluesky, adding “Im guessing 3-4 months – unless we do something.” [BlSky]
What that “something” is, Farrow didn’t explain to her 200,000 followers.
Farrow’s wild theory came just as President Donald Trump was delivering his primetime address to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday.
She also revealed new nicknames for the president and took shots at the Republicans cheering him on during his speech.
If you watched Trump’s speech to a joint session of Congress Tuesday evening, you know that Democrats behaved like children, and Rep. Al Green (D-Texas) was so disruptive that House Speaker Mike Johnson had him forcibly removed from the chamber.
Speaking to reporters after the incident, Green doubled down on his disruptive behavior and, of course, defended his childish actions.
“The president said he had a mandate, and I was making it clear to the president that he has no mandate to cut Medicaid,” Green said. “I have people who are very fearful. These are poor people, and they have only Medicaid in their lives
The Biden presidency might have been the greatest con job ever perpetrated on the American people. A shocking investigation by the Heritage Foundation's Oversight Project has revealed that virtually every document bearing Joe Biden's signature during his presidency was signed by an autopen — except for one.
What makes this revelation particularly damning is that the only document confirmed to have Biden's actual signature was his letter announcing his withdrawal from the 2024 presidential race. Let that sink in for a moment.
Remember when House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) revealed his discussion with Biden when Biden couldn't recall signing the executive order halting LNG exports?
CBS’s Stephen Colbert stayed up for a live show on what turned out to be Wednesday morning after President Donald Trump’s address to Congress. Colbert spent his monologue praising Rep. Al Green for getting kicked out of the House chamber and attacking Trump on everything from transgender issues to shipbuilding. Later, he would welcome former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg to wonder, “Where is the soul of our nation headed?”
Democrats have long used Trump’s speeches as a chance to engage in eye-roll-inducing theatrics, but Colbert was a big fan of Green,
During the final months of the Biden administration, the National Institutes of Health awarded $28 million to a mysterious venture-backed company called Vaccine Company Inc., a biomedical firm founded in 2022 whose chief financial officer happens to be one of former president Joe Biden’s top COVID advisers.
To Sen. Joni Ernst (R., Iowa), the September 2024 grant from the NIH’s Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health doesn’t pass the smell test. Vaccine Company has left virtually no public footprint showing what it has done with the taxpayer funds, which the Biden administration doled out to a seemingly random post office box in Bethesda, Maryland. Ernst urged Health and Human Services
Hamas brushes off Trump’s threat and
says it will only free hostages in return
for a lasting truce 21 replies
says it will only free hostages in return
for a lasting truce 21 replies
Cairo—The Hamas militant group on Thursday brushed off President Donald Trump’s latest threat and reiterated that it will only free the remaining Israeli hostages in exchange for a lasting ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.
Hamas accused Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of trying to back out of the ceasefire agreement they reached in January. The agreement calls for negotiations over a second phase in which the hostages would be released in exchange for more Palestinian prisoners, a permanent ceasefire and an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.
Hamas spokesman Abdel-Latif al-Qanoua said the “best path to free the remaining Israeli hostages” is through negotiations on that phase, which were supposed to begin
As a lifelong Democrat, I never imagined I would watch my own party embarrass itself so thoroughly — and so publicly — as it did during Tuesday’s joint session of Congress.
From obnoxious booing to childish protest signs to a sitting member of Congress having to be physically removed from the chamber, Democrats turned what should have been a solemn, dignified event into a bad reality show.
And for what? To go viral on TikTok? To book a slot on MSNBC to brag about their “resistance”?
Nothing was more disgraceful than when my colleagues refused to stand or clap when 13-year-old DJ Daniel, a brain-cancer survivor, was made an honorary Secret Service agent.