Opinion

For more than two years and more than $25 million of taxpayer’s money, the country has been taunted with the notion that President Trump was in collusion with the Russians with regard to the 2016 elections. The Democrats had hoped that the findings of the Mueller investigation would prove the president unfit for office and impeachment proceedings would take place. But the Mueller report found no such thing. Despite the 448 pages explaining this, the Democrats went at it again this past Wednesday with hearings by the Judiciary and Intelligence Committees of the House of Representatives. Democrats had hoped Robert Mueller would say that he would have charged President Trump with obstruction of justice were it not for Justice Department guidance instructing that a sitting president may not be indicted. But Robert Mueller was not up to the task. He was seen stumbling through questions and at times unclear about the contents of his own much-heralded report. Harvard Law Professor Laurence Tribe said, “Far from breathing life into his damning report, the tired Robert Mueller sucked the life out of it.”

As we celebrate the Fourth of July weekend, I am proud to admit that I’m a patriot – a real-life “Yankee Doodle Dandy.” By definition, a patriot is a person having an attachment to his/her country. It is based on a feeling, sentiment, or passion toward national loyalty. I have tremendous hakaras ha’tov to this country, which took my parents in after living through the ravages of the Shoah when no other place wanted them. My folks were given a dollar by the Joint [Distribution Committee] at Ellis Island, which then wished them luck. Baruch Hashem, my parents were able to live out the American Dream. For that I am grateful and have strong feelings for this great country. This, of course, does not in any way negate my devotion and affection for Eretz Yisrael. Israel is my homeland and the US is the place of my birth, plain and simple.

There is nothing more disturbing and infuriating than the events that have taken place during this past week that disrespected our country. There were two incidents that sought to discredit the importance of the Pledge of Allegiance. One was the original decision by the city council of St. Louis Park, Minnesota, to stop reciting the Pledge at the beginning of each meeting. The skewed reasoning behind that decision was because it might offend newcomers to the community. But that logic is what my mother would have described as “Meshuga iz nit ken krank (Being meshuga is not a malady – it is just plain nuts). Those who come to this country (and we see how many are coming to the southern border) understand the virtues of what the US represents. The thought that anyone who has come here for a better life and/or freedom would be offended by the Pledge is ludicrous. If that be the case, they shouldn’t be here in the first place.

It seems that we Jews can never get a break. The formal recognition of Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan Heights by the United States should have been a day of jubilation, but instead it was a traumatic day for Israelis. Rockets were being launched deep into central Israel by the terror group Hamas in Gaza overshadowing the significance of the US gesture. The fighting has been fierce, and because civilians have been hurt this time, Israel must see tangible gains in this round with Hamas.

In his remarks at the formal signing of the presidential proclamation at the White House, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated, “US recogniti

When I first got involved with community activism many years ago, the elected officials courted the Jewish community. We were a strong political voting bloc (measured by numbers) that the politicians curried favor with, and sought our endorsement. Knowing our painful history, where citizenship and the ability to cast a ballot were denied us countless times throughout the years, we Jews took the precious freedoms granted to us in the United States very seriously. We cared about our community and our country, and the elected officials knew that. We wanted to make sure that the values that we held dear were preserved, and we chose to support those seeking political office who agreed with us. One didn’t have to be Jewish to receive our endorsement, but he or she had to be a mentch. But that is not the case anymore.

The United States Census is imperative to our borough. The Constitution requires the government to enumerate the number of people living in the Unites States every ten years and to use the data to apportion the seats in Congress among the states. The calculation is based on total resident population, which means citizens and non-citizens alike, and it generally shifts power between the states, once a decade, in line with population and migration trends. The current conventional wisdom seems to indicate that New York is expected to lose one seat in the House of Representatives. The Census is also a means that determines how Federal funds are distributed. That is why the count has to be accurate.