Politics

Sports in entertaining, and often involves activities in which we could be, and have been, participants. If you ever hit a home run, or surprise bunt, and turned an unexpected double play (or even hit into a double play), you can appreciate what it is about.

Politics is somewhat similar. While much of what politicians do is prohibited by halacha (heck, we can’t even tell Lashon Ho’ra, not to mention make up insulting lies about people), what the politicians do does affect us, and those of other with a strong yetser ho’ra have all dreamed about being politicians (and in fairness, we can talk about politics but it isn’t respectable in our community to discuss becoming a robber or a serial killer or numerous other aveiras the discussion of which is not allowed).

coffee > But to believe your party is ה׳s gift to humanity and the other party’s as the worst thing in the world?

Taht is avoda zora and lack of sechel and historical knowledge … We can obviously observe sonaei Isroel like commies and Nazis, but the rest – you never know …

I like Larry Summers explanation of predicting inflation or recession: economy is lkie a skidding car with driver trying to control it. You don’t know l’hathila whether it is going to fall in the left or right, or survive in the middle. Same is true with politics: a country can end up on hard right or hard left, or stay in the middle. We can help by not over-reacting, same as in skidding, and, of course, davening for Hashem to give leaders chochma.

Dear Coffee,

I think people get hung up on what they cannot grasp. If you could fully control it, you would be bored by it. Just like kids play imaginative games, because they are not aware of how to control their imagination. Some people never understand that, and their adulthood takes on a childish imagination in it’s preoccupation. They become cultists or conspiracy theorists, and thrive on the political fringe. You can find them on the deep of edge of sports too. Just there are too many unbreakable rules in sports. They consume gigantic amounts of non factual material. Movies, novels, comics, television, Disney, etc.

Dear Yaakov,

Sports in specific and the arts in general, means more to stabilizing society than politics. I thought this goes without saying, as we just lived through it.

Dear Syag,

The Constitution does not mandate The America Dream. Let alone your personal fantasies. The executive branch is fulfilling it’s role. For the first time in fifteen years. I hope our situation improves. Why do you think that is politically orchestrated? It looks like social decay to me. That’s the clergyman’s domain.

coffee addict,

“Why are people so hung up on them (the same thing can be said about sports)”

I think there’s a few things at play:
1. Non-Orthodox Jews have effectively replaced Judaism with liberal politics as their religion, and they have been loudly proclaiming this message for years. Abortion is a Jewish value! etc. This has prompted a backlash in the Torah community.
2. The NYC government has singled out the Jewish community multiple times over the past few years in a highly tone deaf and humiliating manner. Coupled with the rise in antisemitic attacks and a perceived failure to address the root cause of these attacks, the visibly Jewish community in NYC and surrounding areas feels ignored and hated by the local level Democratic party establishment.
3. Whether you loved or hated the Trump Administration, there was never such engagement with the frum community specifically at the Federal level as we saw during his presidency, and additionally Republican senators such as Ted Cruz have increasingly commented on issues affecting the frum community, which are unique from the non-Orthodox issues. Thus, Orthodox Jews are feeling seen and heard by Federal-level Republicans at the same time they are feeling ignored and marginalized by Democrats at all levels of government.

Dear Avram,

Last week’s statement not to enforce gun control by executive order. As a long time senator, Biden understands that the Senate is the place for legal reforms, declarations of war, and ratifying treaties.

Dear Syag,

Television is what decides America’s course. It’s the tv hosts, athletes, actors, and influencers, that decide the country’s value system. Elon Musk has created a pseudo religion. First on the left and now on the right. His fans can rightly be called worshippers.

MLK, Dolan, Sheen, and Falwell, were all huge public figures their day.

Nothing,

So your measure of the Biden administration fulfilling their role is by doing nothing? Well then, he’s been very successful indeed!

He’s done nothing to control rampant violent crime, nothing on the border invasion, nothing on runaway inflation, nothing on skyrocketing energy prices, nothing to alleviate supply chain issues, nothing to prevent baby formula shortages, nothing to deter Russia’s invasion, nothing to stop the Taliban from conquering Afghanistan, nothing to counter Iran’s nuclear ambitions.

You have the gall to lecture Syag about the Constitution and personal fantasies for wanting to be safe and solvent? Apologists like you are the real social decay that will hopefully be completely excised by the political root canal coming in November.

Edited

Dear Gadol,

I have a lot more gall than that, and it was a comment nothing like a lecture.

Please clarify. You think that your local punk is influenced by politicians, more than entertainers?

Presidents are supposed to fulfill their constitutional role. Not help you yell at your television. It is the clergy’s job to get you to turn off the television and find something to do with your life.

Now, Biden has turned out to be a crummy President. He could still improve. But let’s not whitewash his incompetence by putting together a made for tv list, that does not reflect reality.

1. The 80s and 90s demonstrated that successful crime stopping is at the local level. In cities, this the police commissioner and the mayor. You think Reagan also failed on crime?

2. Everything on migration in the last bunch of administrations has gone nowhere. This administration just put in place a major solution. Give it a chance to fall on it’s face.

3. If you go back to a year ago, the feds were saying that inflation would be temporary. Either they lied, or were wrong. What should have been done?

4. Biden has done a whole bunch to lower energy prices. Almost none of it helps. Saudi Arabia has the keys. And they dropped it off by Putin for safekeeping.

5. There has been slow work on supply chain issues. Our advocacy bureaucracy at it’s best. The pandemic did not wait for government input.

6. What could have been done to prevent the formula shortage? That’s old news. What about the current item shortage? Maybe you can preempt the next one.

7. A whole lot to deter Russia. Where were you? Unlike Obama or Trump, nobody thinks Biden is a god.

8. Afghanistan. It looks like a smart move now with Russia in Ukraine. First time this century, that America is not at war.

9. There is a lot going on with Iran. America does not feel threatened by them. Comparatively, their behaving.

Why didn’t you mention his low television ratings?

Dear Coffee,

I hear your point.

So back to the first post…….

Why are people so hung up on sports? I assume this means fan culture. Now, most ardent fans of teams and clubs, don’t care about the general sport. They do not enjoy the contest as much as seeing ‘their’ team win. Does this not carry over well to politics?

getting very confused as to what I didn’t say, what I didn’t know and when I didn’t know it.

Oh gosh! Agreed! I was scratching my head over that one until you explained it for me.

coffee addict,

“For Yaakov Shwekey to sing “we are America” instead of we are a miracle is making politics into a religion”

I think the lyric was “we love America”. I wasn’t commenting on the correctness of the explosion of political expression over the past 5-10 years, just what I perceive to be the causes.

Dear Coffee,

I don’t see politics making people feel good about themselves. It makes them feel good about something else. But the question could be expanded to, why do people prefer a political portrayal of the facts? I mean that we do not need any government to have an opinion on abortion. And the range of possible opinions, is rather large. Yet, we talk in a pro or anti language and believe we sound intelligent for it. Or, at least more intelligent than the other Ride. What does that do for us? It seems like denial – denial that we do not fully grasp what goes on outside our daled amos.

Yes or No.

Yes. It makes them feel good that complexities can be simplified. Or that there is a clear distinction between the good and the bad. Really just pick any sociological copout that cuts around the harshness of reality.

No. It makes them feel good about themselves that avoided all the punditry to a clear conscience or some other feeling oriented goal.

No. They say that because they believe it to be the truth.

Alternately, they say because others do.