SHOW NOTES: The Talking Points Are Out

Philip takes back over on Monday. My wife’s strong man competition is tomorrow, so prayers are appreciated. You guys have a great weekend.

It’s an Open Line Friday today, you can call in at 877-973-7425 and listen live here.

Welcome! We have bombed the Iranian military.

Headline of the Day: Liberal dark money network has donated $10M to anti-Israel causes.

A lot of good progressive Jews have been giving money to Arabella Advisors to fund leftwing causes. That money is now going to support pro-Hamas demonstrations in the United States it appears.

Also: Democrats' Rating of Biden Slips; Overall Approval at 37%

Must See: The talking points have clearly gone out in what appears to be a coordinated campaign against the new Speaker of the House.

Related and also 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂: Here’s Why Mike Johnson Is More Dangerous Than Donald Trump (Daily Beast, of course)

Now, since it is Friday and I am a magnanimous leader whose whole team has abandoned me today for vacation and deer hunting, screw the paywall; here’s everything for everyone today. But you should still be a paid subscriber.

Programming Note

Podcast:

iTunes: http://txtf.co/banMdRE

Spotify: https://txtf.co/tZCqSG

Google: http://txtf.co/banMdRD

Livestream:

http://erickerickson.com

Social Media:

Instagram: http://instagram.com/ewerickson

Twitter: http://twitter.com/ewerickson

Facebook: http://facebook.com/ewerickson

YouTube: http://youtube.com/ewerickson

Rumble: https://rumble.com/ewerickson

Created In the Image of God

Yesterday, in Los Angeles, students at UCLA chanted, “Israel, Israel you cant hide. We want Jewish genocide.” There’s video of the event. EDIT: I’m told what some were actually saying was, “Israel, Israel, you can't hide. We charge you with genocide.”

When Christianity leaves a society, new things do not take its place. Old things creep back in from the shadow. If you read Amos in the Old Testament, God condemns Damascus in Amos 1 for, among other things, “she threshed Gilead with sledges having iron teeth.”

In other words, the people of Damascus would lay their victims down and plow their bodies into the fields. Animals do not do that. An animal might tear someone to pieces to eat them, but animals do not cruelly destroy one who is made in the image of God. Demons and monsters do.

What we are seeing creep back into the world is a paganism that defines those not in the tribe as something other than human. Every class of people everywhere protects humanity. To kill humanity, they otherize it. The Nazis did this. The communists do this. These people are doing it too.

It requires the eradication of basic empathy for a people. One can sympathize with the Palestinian struggle, but one should also sympathize with innocent Israelis who were murdered in their homes. To not just treat them as responsible for their own deaths but to call for genocide against Jews in 2023 is to revert back to the paganism of Hitler, which was a pre-Christian paganism that saw others as something not human, which allowed them to refuse empathy for others.

There’s a lesson here in our political fights, too — when you see your political opponents as something deserving of no empathy, you have become them. Always remember, however much you find someone evil, they are made in the image of God, even if they reject him. You should not be like them.

The Talking Points Are Out

The leftwing media intends to shock the conscience that Speaker Mike Johnson is an orthodox Bible-believing Christian. It plays well in secular segments of the coastal elite.

The problem for the media and left on this is that it plays well with the people who will already hate him and vote Democrat. But if you’re trying to woo others to your coalition, you look like a religious bigot while trying to make him out to be one.

Do you really think a Hispanic person is going to care that Mike Johnson believes gay marriage is a sin? They do, too. Do you really think a blue-collar worker in Eastern Ohio is going to care that Mike Johnson thinks Noah’s Ark is real? He probably does, too.

The only people who will be offended by Johnson’s sensibilities are the people who are already voting for Biden. The persuadable middle and the working class tend to be more religious and more culturally aligned with Johnson than the media that attacks him.

So bring on your religious bigotry, MSNBC.

Who Funds the Activists?

This is a big deal.

One of the largest left-wing dark money networks has funneled more than $10 million to anti-Israel causes over the past five years, according to records reviewed by The Post, as the embattled Jewish state faces calls for its destruction in demonstrations across the US during its war against Hamas terrorists.

Washington, DC-based Arabella Advisors contributes to an array of progressive nonprofits through its New Venture Fund, Hopewell Fund, Sixteen Thirty Fund, North Fund, and Windward Fund, which have given a combined $10,833,396 to anti-Israel groups since 2018.

Those nonprofits have gone on to support radical Palestinian activist groups that have been linked to terrorism and agitated against US support for Israel in the wake of the Oct. 7 terror attack by Hamas jihadists that killed more than 1,400 people — including at least 33 Americans.

A Really Big Deal

The United States military has escalated the war in the Middle East by bombing the Iranian Revolutionary Guard positions in Syria.

The United States does not seek conflict and has no intention nor desire to engage in further hostilities, but these Iranian-backed attacks against U.S. forces are unacceptable and must stop. Iran wants to hide its hand and deny its role in these attacks against our forces. We will not let them. If attacks by Iran’s proxies against U.S. forces continue, we will not hesitate to take further necessary measures to protect our people.

These narrowly tailored strikes in self-defense were intended solely to protect and defend U.S. personnel in Iraq and Syria. They are separate and distinct from the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, and do not constitute a shift in our approach to the Israel-Hamas conflict. We continue to urge all state and non-state entities not to take action that would escalate into a broader regional conflict.

It’s all well and good for the Defense Secretary to issue this statement, but how do you think Iran is going to receive it? Also,

Nineteen American service members stationed in Iraq and Syria have been diagnosed with traumatic brain injury after rocket and drone attacks from Iran-backed militants last week, the Pentagon confirmed Thursday.

Fifteen troops at Al Tanf garrison in Syria and four at Al Asad air base in Iraq were diagnosed with the injury, said Pentagon spokesperson Brig. Gen. Patrick Ryder. Two additional service members at Al Tanf sustained other minor injuries, Ryder said.

The retaliatory response was absolutely justified. I just don’t think Iran will buy that this is not an escalation and a direct attack from the United States on them. I think this will heat things up.

DeSantis Continues to Use His Powers to Gain Traction

First, DeSantis organized a rescue flight out of Israel, bringing home more than 700 Americans. The government, meanwhile, demanded people pay back the government if they wanted rescue.

Now, DeSantis is doing this.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said Thursday he’s arranged to send drones, weapons and ammunition to Israel as it prepares for an incursion of Gaza in response to Hamas’ attack. It’s the latest official response DeSantis has taken to back Israel as he competes in the 2024 Republican presidential primary.

Florida has sent cargo planes with healthcare supplies, drones, body armor and helmets, said Jeremy Redfern, a spokesman for the governor’s office. The state also worked with groups to supply unspecified amounts of weapons and ammunition that were privately funded, Redfern said.

The governor’s office said it acted at the request of Israel’s consul general in Miami. Maor Elbaz-Starinsky, the consul general, initially said Thursday he did not request drones, body armor or helmets, nor had he talked to the governor about help getting weapons or ammunition through private parties.

That’s something no other GOP candidate can do or probably would do. But does DeSantis have the money to get the word out? He needs to push this hard in ads and messages as does his super PAC. It separates him from the crowd. But it won’t matter if no one knows.

In Other News

• Tlaib Employed Hamas Activists, Had 'Extensive Fundraising Ties' to Hamas Supporters (Hot Air)

• Harvard ‘doxxing truck’ parks outside homes of students who blamed Israel for Hamas attacks (NY Post)

• This 'Grassroots' Anti-Israel Group Is Actually Part of a Left-Wing Dark Money Behemoth (Free Beacon)

• Johnson faces legislative landmines as Republicans let untested speaker chart new course (CNN)

• Bar Martha, Tokyo, where the customer isn’t always right (Guardian)

• Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene files censure resolution accusing Rep. Rashida Tlaib of inciting an insurrection (NBC)

• Rep. Dean Phillips will challenge Biden in Democratic presidential race: "This is an election about the future" (CBS)

• Former Arizona GOP Senate candidate Blake Masters is running for Congress (NBC)

• A barrage and a midair explosion: What visual evidence shows about the Gaza hospital blast (Washington Post)

• 🚨One-way plane tickets: NYC offers migrants free travel anywhere to move (Politico)

• Larry Elder drops out of 2024 GOP primary, backs Trump (The Hill)

• Arming Ukraine is cheap compared to the far higher price of Russian victory (Atlantic Council)

• Donald Trump Jr. goes after Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in Iowa appearance (NBC)

Must See TV:

Go here on Twitter, but here is the video.

Market Snapshot