huju

I never liked the term “Reform Jew”; it sounds too much like “reformed alcoholic”. A reform Jew might say, “Yeah, I used to be shomer shabbos, but then I reformed and drive to shul on Shabbos and then go to a diner for a ham and eggs kiddush.”

As long as ujm brought it up, I will remind everyone of a statement attributed to Stalin. He said he supports democracy and elections, as long as he counts the votes.

Pop quiz: Who does that sound like?

To Health: “Purtoricans”? Reely? I am fluent in only one language, but when I have to include others in stuff I write, I try to be accurate. Is a “Purtorican” a Puritan from a Caribbean island?

I can daven in Hebrew, and with plenty of practice and coaching, I read from the Torah at the time I became a Bar Mitzvah (when dinosaurs ruled the Earth), but beyond that, English is my only current language. I was pretty good at Latin in high school, and I could read the Latin on some of the public monuments and ancient structures when I visited Rome recently. I would be curious to know your first, second and third languages.

To Syag Lchochm: I thought it was well established that there are people – generally businesses, trade associations, politicians and political groups – who are paid for posts in support of a particular point of view. I think that in some cases, the payers also write the posts, and in other cases, the paid posters write the posts. The paid posters are sometimes called “influencers,” and are paid for their posts, and also paid for the number of followers they have.

As for my being scary enough to make them stop? Well, not without a picture of my face.

To coffee addict: I am “not picking” on ujm. I have asked him/her, many times, in many places, whether he/she is paid for the posts. My reference to his/her 2 posts here was to point out that he/she has not answered my question.

I have asked the same question of certain other posters, at least one of whom stopped posting after my repeated inquiries, though I do not know whether my inquiries had anything to do with his/her cessation of posting.

To Health: Your Google research establishes that Rivera committed many horrible crimes, was unrepentant at the time of his convictions, and was considered unrepentant by the family of one of his victims. That would make his original sentence – I think it was 45 years – reasonable (or too light, in my opinion). I knew all that when I commented on his pardon.
But we do not know how he behaved (or did not behave) in prison or any other reason why he was pardoned, but we do know it came after he got old, and after he served 36 years. That’s why I do not believe that his pardon was inappropriate.

Someone said, facetiously, poor Jeffrey Epstein, if he just hung on (pun intended?) for another year, Trump would have pardoned him. I am not sure Trump would have pardoned Epstein, but neither am sure Trump would not have.

To Health:

1. I’m not lazy with a capital L. I’m lazy with a small L. Google the English rules for capitalization.

2. Googling alone is not research. I knew everything you told me when I talked about the pardon of Rivera, because I googled it. He did horrible things and served 36 years in prison for it. I would not have pardoned him, but that is a matter over which reasonable people (of which I am one, but I am, frankly, not sure about you) can differ.

3. I do not have any idols. It is horrible for one Jew to accuse another Jew of idolitry.

4. What is the basis of your calling Rivera “unrepentant”? I do not know whether or not he ever repented for his murders or other felonies.

To Health: No, I did not say any terrorists gets out of jail when he hits age 60. I am too tired, or lazy, to explain the typical process followed and the reasons for granting pardons. I am not even sure that it was followed in the case of Oscar Lopez Rivera. But you probably know the process, and the reasons, but will deny that they are appropriate and will insist, correctly, that they lack the force of law.

But what is clear to anyone willing to see it is that Trump’s use of the pardon power is the promotion of his lawless supporters, not sympathy or forgiveness or chesed.

To MadeAliyah: Permit me to answer the question you posed. Yes, supporting Bill Clinton opposes some moral values. I voted for him in 1992, and for Bob Dole in 1996. Some of us put a high value on high values.

But now it’s morning in America, by which I am referring only to the clock. It’s afternoon in Europe, evening in Asia, and 10th of Tevet in Australia, where many restaurants a closed, making it easier to fast. Trump has issued a bunch of pardons that he did not announce before the election. For you Trump voters, would any of his pardons have changed your vote?