Bernie Sanders Versus the Tenth Commandment
Bernie Sanders, with the regularity of a steam engine, has pounded away for months at the injustice, the wickedness, even the racism of “income inequality.” If ever there was a Johnny one-note on the American political scene, he is it. Yet almost nobody, and least of all his hapless opponent Hillary Clinton, has thought to call into question the ethical validity or inflammatory character of the covetousness this political slogan urges upon the public, with a recklessness that has visited untold calamities upon Europe. (Among politicians, Charlie Rangel of New York did have the temerity to say, “OK, income inequality… But does he [Sanders] have anything else to say?”) Has religious illiteracy now reached the point in America where the Tenth Commandment has been so entirely forgotten that the most blatant repudiations of it go unnoticed? Here it is, for the sake of those who have forgotten (or never knew):
“You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor’s.” — Exodus 20:17.
This last of the ten commandments, as Biblical commentators have often observed, differs from previous “negative” ones in that it prohibits not an action (murder, adultery, theft, false witness) but a state of mind—covetousness—that is at the root of most sins against our neighbors. No doubt John Stuart Mill, a far more literate liberal than Bernie Sanders, had it in mind when he complained that “’thou shalt not’ preponderates unduly over ‘thou shalt’” in Biblical morality.
The ethical wisdom of this commandment has all too often been demonstrated by the way in which covetousness expresses itself in the murderous character of “negative” politics, which directs the wrath of the covetous against a particular group. In Sanders’ typical stump speech, it is usually “Wall Street” or “the one percent.” In the rhetoric of the “Occupy Wall Street” and other “Occupy…” mobs that Sanders admires, it gets a bit more specific about attaching a name to “the one percent.” But most specific of all is Noam Chomsky, whom Sanders has praised as “a very vocal and important voice [sic] in the wilderness of intellectual life in America…a person who [sic] I think we’re all very proud of.” Chomsky, who has publicly endorsed his friend Sanders for the Democratic nomination, has strong views about just which group of Americans should be named as the chief target of an aggressive campaign of class warfare against “the rich and privileged” whom Sanders is daily berating. “Antisemitism,” Chomsky has declared, “is no longer a problem, fortunately. It’s raised, but it’s raised because privileged people want to make sure they have total control, not just 98% control. That’s why antisemitism is becoming an issue.” To this does covetousness very often lead. Is it even remotely possible that Sanders doesn’t know? (Read more from “Bernie Sanders Versus the Tenth Commandment” HERE)
Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.
On Friday China announced its economy had expanded at a 6.7 percent rate in the first quarter of 2016. While this is the slowest growth since the depths of the great recession, it conveniently remains within the government’s official target of 6.5-7.0 percent. Unlike all developed countries, there will be no revisions to this figure in the coming months or quarters.
A Muslim man who killed a Muslim shop owner after the latter posted a message on Facebook professing love for Christians and and wishing them a happy Easter has defended his actions, saying the victim “disgraced” the prophet Muhammad. 
Conservative radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh believes someone played a dirty trick on Sen. Ted Cruz during his address to New York City GOP members Thursday night, as it was being broadcast live on Fox News.
People seem a bit surprised—even perplexed—by the breathless news reports and video of Russian warplanes “buzzing” an American warship operating in international waters in the Baltic Sea this week.
In an embarrassingly sycophantic interview, Hillary Clinton’s closest adviser Huma Abedin again shored up her bonafides as a covert Muslim Brotherhood agent when she flippantly revealed how proud her mother is of her. The revealing moment came right out of the gate as the obscure, valley girl-sounding co-hosts gushed to Huma over landing the interview. Huma responded by saying she thought her mother was the only person who considered her “a big deal”.
By Alex Isenstadt and Shane Goldmacher. The Republican National Committee is expected to debate a proposal next week that would dramatically shift the balance of power at this summer’s convention — and impose a new rulebook for selecting the party’s nominee.
Fox News ran an exclusive report Thursday about the impact budget cuts over the past few years have had on the U.S. Marine Corp, forcing commanders and soldiers to do more with less.
Unbound delegates in Louisiana are fuming over media reports that they have decided to back Ted Cruz over Donald Trump in the presidential GOP primary, calling them untrue.
So a bunch of left-wing US Attorneys General have held a meeting in New York — presided over by discredited professional climate-alarmist Al Gore — to discuss how best to use the legal system to wipe out climate scepticism once and for all. They did so under the shamelessly political slogan: “AGs for Clean Power.”