That’s what Muslims in the Near East called us Jews. We seemed always to carry with us a curious little volume we called the Torah which contained the laws undergirding Jewish life. We referred to it constantly. Was an action right or wrong? Consult the Torah!
Over the millennia this tradition was handed down to children via Jewish education. I was never the most observant Jew but the Law burned deep and bright in my child brain. In a world of chaos and confusion there was a central fixed point. I grew up taking the law very seriously. And I didn’t like it when I observed people not as respectful of the law as I was. To disrespect the law was a moral and intellectual outrage. There’s no point in having laws if they can be cavalierly disregarded.
I am annoyed at the collapse of the rule of law, even in the littlest things. When someone tries to take 40 items into a supermarket express lane I see our precious society’s fabric being eroded. And don’t get me started on bipping and retail theft and violent crime. I sometimes get involved when most people wouldn’t. I will, for instance, tell a security guard at Whole Foods if I think a person is shoplifting. Does this make me a Karen, a BBQ Becky? Maybe to some extent. The line is so thin between apathy and sticking up for what you know is right. What is the role of the individual in defending the rule of law?
I’ve made my choice.
I don’t think I’m that different from most other Americans. Trump got elected largely on the issue of public safety, which encompasses this topic. Trump as usual goes too far, prompted by his maniacal fans in the religious fanatic, White supremacist extremes. Trump could use a little Jewish moderation: our rabbis and prophets also counseled compassion. Where is the line between upholding the law and compassion? Ah, countless debates over the millennia have brought little clarity.
There’s nothing new about this. But it feels more tense than ever because the stakes throughout the world are so high. It’s not just a topic in the high school debating club.
I don’t think that anything Trump can or will do will successfully reverse the deterioration of our country’s respect for the law. The conditions for it to thrive in adults begin in children and as we can see in Oakland, too many kids are being raised with no respect for the law. They’re taught that the law is an anachronistic relic of White supremacy that needs to be overturned, although progressives have no answer when you ask: By what will you replace it? I’m sure you’ll get some psychobabble about “equity” but that’s a unicorn. As long as progressives can demand equity in everything, they’ll never stop their demands because true “equity”—meaning perfectly equal outcomes in all measures of human activity—is impossible. Wokes know this. It’s the essence of their con.
The most dangerous con of all in Alameda County right now is Nikki Bas. Notice how she’s already setting herself up as the chairwoman of the board of the Anti-Trump Coalition. If Gavin Newsom can trump-proof the State, Bas can trump-proof the county.
There’s purpose in this. Opportunistic and crafty, Bas is already bored with the Board of Supervisors, a functionary office fit only for career bureaucrats. She will remain there only as long as she must.
Steve Heimoff