Man Throws Brick Through Synagogue in Sarasota After Viewing & Sharing Mamdani's Anti-Israel Video

Last month NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani's taxpayer subsidized rant against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu resulted in a pair of stabbings on the Upper West Side including a man leaving a synagogue.

Unfortunately, Mamdani's words have caused damage beyond New York City. As per the New York Post:

A Florida man charged with a hate crime for hurling a brick through a synagogue window was motivated by a video of Mayor Zohran Mamdani calling Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a “war criminal,” his police interview suggests.

Sarasota resident Brayton Laschinger, 30, admitted he targeted the Chabad House on July 29 and told detectives he became enraged by “propaganda on social media that was making him mad,” the Sarasota Police Department said.

“Laschinger admitted to deliberately throwing the brick at the window of the synagogue because it was a Jewish temple,” Sarasota Police Department Detective Frank Castro wrote in the probable cause affidavit dated July 30.

“He stated he was anti-Israel,” Castro added.

The only political content found on his public Instagram account was Mamdani’s July 21 video labeling Netanyahu with the “war criminal” moniker.

“Benjamin Netanyahu is a war criminal, the architect of a horrific genocide against the Palestinian people,” New York’s socialist mayor said in a video address that repeats unproven, pro-Hamas talking points.

This act of hate would not have happened had Mamdani not seen fit to disseminate this video. It is only a matter of time before Mamdani words result in death. The frightening thing is that even if his words do result in deaths, he will say those deaths have no place in our society and then continue to use his office to incite further violence against Jews.  

Strolling & Trolling in North Kingstown, Rhode Island

For the third summer in row, I took a daytrip to Rhode Island to see my friend Christopher Kain. 

Two years ago, our focus was Providence with stops at the RISD (Rhode Island School of Design) Museum, the Providence Athenaeum and Brown University before taking in the WaterFire along the Providence River. It was a fabulous time until I fell, bloodied my knee and ripped my pants and then discovering the Commuter Rail back to Boston was inoperable due to a felled tree on the tracks in Canton. Last year, we ventured to Newport highlighted by a visit to the Castle Island Lighthouse and dinner at the Valley Inn Restaurant in Portsmouth.

This year, we made our way to North Kingstown which is just under 25 miles south of Providence. Our first destination was an art installation of a troll by Thomas Dambo in Ryan Park. These trolls are wooden sculptures made mainly of recycled materials. This troll you see below is called the Iver Mudslider and is Troll 161 out of an estimated 170 which are situated all over the world. After we concluded our visit, several people asked us if we had been trolling. Indeed, we had.

From there, we made our way to Wickford which is a village within North Kingstown which has a large number of 18th Century colonial homes. It is Christopher's favorite spot in all of Rhode Island. Before we explored the area, we had lunch at Tavern by the Sea where I enjoyed salmon, veggies and rice pilaf without any dressing or sauce and it was quite refreshing. Equally refreshing was the level of service provided by our waitress, Leah. 

After our meal, Christopher showed me several antiques store before we made our way onto Main Street to look at these houses. Christopher then led me to the Old Narragansett Church which is believed to be the oldest Episcopalian house of worship in New England. We met with the church caretakers who showed us the pipe organ built in 1680 which has been with the church since 1800.

As you can imagine, this church was not air conditioned. So, we went back out in the 90-degree weather to cool off and made our way down to the ocean. After all, we were in the Ocean State.

We concluded the afternoon with a visit to the Village Ice Cream & Soup shop. I was hoping there would be gazpacho on this hot day. But I settled for a scoop of vegan cookies 'n cream ice cream before heading back to Providence where Christopher dropped me off at the train station.

Honestly, it doesn't seem like we did all that much, but what I described to you took place over a period of 6 hours. This was truly a day trip.

So, what will my next Rhode Island adventure be? I would like to go duckpin bowling. It is something I have not done since I was in Atlanta. Or perhaps we can pick some tulips next spring. Who knows? Maybe we venture to Westerly and bump into Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce.

In such a small place the possibilities are endless.

A Thought for Mike Krukow

Yesterday, Mike Krukow announced he will be retiring from broadcasting San Francisco Giants games at the end of the 2026 season. Krukow has been in the Giants broadcast booth, mainly with Duane Kuiper, since 1990. The pair, both former MLB players, are affectionately known as Kruk & Kuip. 

Prior to joining the Giants broadcast booth, Krukow pitched in San Francisco for 7 of his 14 MLB seasons from 1983 to 1989 with his best season coming in 1986 when he won 20 games and finished third in NL Cy Young balloting. Krukow has spent more than half of his life with the Giants organization.

Krukow is retiring with great reluctance. Sadly, for the past 20 years, Krukow has been battling inclusion body myositis, a degenerative muscle disease. It has affected his ability to move to the point where he has been broadcasting games remotely from his home in Reno, Nevada for the past several seasons. Kruk hopes to remain with the Giants in some other capacity. Some suggest that the Giants make him a special pitching adviser given his encyclopedic knowledge of pitching. 

I have occasionally viewed Kruk and Kuip cover Giants games on the MLB Network over the years. The pair have an easy camaraderie. Krukow is particularly knowledgeable without going over people's heads. Both men bring a joy to broadcasting and Giants fans tune in to find that joy even in a season which has been so disappointing for the Giants. 

The Giants enter tonight 21 games back of the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NL West. At this point, the only reason to tune into Giants games is to hear Kruk & Kuip together for one last summer. Because after this year, it just won't be the same. 

Jon Stewart Doesn't Think Israel is Part of The Jewish Community

 

I've never thought Jon Stewart was particularly funny. Not when he had a syndicated talk show more than 30 years ago and not today.

I've also never taken Jon Stewart seriously as a political analyst. Whenever he would be overmatched by someone who knew what they were talking about such as John Yoo, Stewart would by default say, 'I'm a comedian,' Well, that's a debatable proposition. In any case, I believe Stewart is daft.

Case in point was his testy interview with Pennsylvania Democratic Senator John Fetterman over his support for Israel. At one point in the interview, Fetterman told Stewart that he supports Israel in part because when Jews are persecuted "things end badly." Stewart shot back, "The Jewish community and Israel are not the same thing, brother-man. That is not the same thing."

If that is true then why did Ayman Mohamad Ghazali drive his truck into Temple Israel in West Bloomfield Township, Michigan armed with a rifle and with explosives? In the days which followed, newspaper headlines proclaimed the shooter's family had been killed in an Israeli airstrike. What was not mentioned was that Ghazali's brother was a Hezbollah commander. Abdul El-Sayed, now the Democratic Party nominee for the U.S. Senate race in Michigan, excused Ghazali's action stating that "hurt people hurt people." Those who hate Jews make no distinction between Jews in Israel, Jews in San Jose or Jews in the Philippines. 

Stewart's comment, on its face, is also absurd. Israel is a part of the Jewish community. Nearly half the world's Jewish population is in Israel. A country which emerged out of the ashes of the Holocaust after most of the world refused to admit Jewish refugees fleeing Hitler. Frederick Blair, the civil servant in charge of Canada's immigration system proclaimed, "None is too many."  It is those attitudes which necessitated the creation of Israel and necessitate its continuation. Indeed, the cradle of Judaism is to be found in Jerusalem. To suggest that Jews have no ties to Israel is akin to suggesting that Muslims have no ties to Mecca.

Of course, while Stewart is Jewish it is clear that he is woefully ignorant of his people's history and culture. I also suspect that Stewart is ashamed of being Jewish and hence his hostility to a non-Jew like Fetterman who goes out on a limb to support Israel and the Jewish community at large. After all, his real name is Jon Leibowitz. Alas, he is not the first Jew to Anglicize his name and sadly he won't be the last.

Seven Thoughts on El-Sayed Becoming The Democratic Nominee in the Michigan Senate Race

I have some thoughts I would like to share about Abdul El-Sayed becoming the Democratic nominee in the Michigan Senate race last night.

No Double-Digit Victory for El-Sayed

El-Sayed was widely expected to crush Haley Stevens by double-digits last night based on recent polls. Although he never trailed, El-Sayed only prevailed by 1% (48.5% to 47.5%) which adds up to all of about 15,000 votes. Somehow, Mallory McMorrow who dropped out last month earned 4% of the vote. How would those 61,000 votes have been split had she been off the ballot? El-Sayed might still have prevailed, but this was no cakewalk. He and his people have an air of overconfidence, and it nearly cost him. 

A Narrow Victory for El-Sayed is Still Very Cold Comfort

The fact that El-Sayed by a narrow margin is very cold comfort to me. After all, a plurality of Michigan Democrats didn't care they were voting for a vile anti-Semite. His proclamations of love to the Jewish people and Judaism ring hollow so long as he insists on palling around with Hasan Piker who champions Hamas, the organization responsible for the deaths of the most Jews since the Holocaust while making excuses for the terrorist attack on a synagogue in his own state.

I Partially Agree with Trump's Assessment of El-Sayed

After El-Sayed had been declared the winner, Trump wrote on Truth Social:

Great news for the Republican Party. El-Sayed, a Communist loser who hates Jews and Israel, is the projected winner in his race with the Socialist.

I agree with Trump when he says El-Sayed hates Jews and Israel. However, I think it would be more accurate to describe El-Sayed as an Islamist with a leftist facade. I'm also not sure if El-Sayed's victory is such great news for Republicans.

Republicans Are Overconfident Against El-Sayed

Matt Vespa of Townhall.com thinks El-Sayed's victory all but guarantees Republicans will retain control of the Senate. It is certainly a possibility that Mike Rogers will pick up this seat for Republicans against El-Sayed, but there is a lot of ground to cover in Michigan over the next three months.

For starters, El-Sayed has a strong ground game. Trump can scream fraud all he wants but El-Sayed has demonstrated he can get voters to pull the lever for him.

Speaking of Trump, he looms very large in this race. His disapproval rate in Michigan reflects the national average and isn't likely to get any better over the next three months. El-Sayed will do everything he can to tie Rogers to Trump.

Mike Rogers had better campaign with everything he can muster because he will need every bit of it.

If I Lived in Michigan, I Would Vote for Rogers with Reservations

I am thankful that I do not live in Michigan just as I am grateful that I do not live in Texas. But if I were a Texas voter, I could not bring myself to vote for either Republican Ken Paxton or Democrat James Talarico.

But if I were a Michigan voter, I would cast my ballot for Rogers. My vote would be more against El-Sayed than for Rogers. Again, El-Sayed is a vile anti-Semite. I don't want vile anti-Semites elected to the U.S. Senate. Unlike Paxton, Rogers does not have a history of corruption and knows how things work.

When it comes to Israel, I hope Rogers will put El-Sayed on the defensive and tie him to Hamas and Hezbollah and take him to task for his irresponsible statements concerning the synagogue shooting in West Bloomfield Township.

Yet I am not without reservations where it concerns Rogers. When Joe Biden beat Donald Trump in the 2020 election, Rogers urged Trump to accept the results. Rogers doesn't say such things anymore and has indulged Trump's conspiracy theories when he ran for the U.S. Senate in 2024 (narrowly losing to Elissa Slotkin) and in his current run for office.

Like other Republicans, I have no doubt Rogers doesn't believe any of Trump's nonsense where it concerns elections. The reality however is that the price of admission for running under the Republican Party banner is to indulge in Trump's election denialism.

Stevens is Fully Backing El-Sayed Days After She Accused Him of Engaging in Anti-Semitism

Yet let us not kid ourselves. The Democratic Party has a price of admission to run under its banner and in our current age that price of admission of is for its candidates to accuse Israel of genocide.

If Stevens wants to have a future in the Democratic Party, then that means she is going to have to support openly anti-Semitic candidates for office.

As mentioned, a few short days ago, Stevens castigated El-Sayed for wanting "to blame all of your problems on Jewish Americans." But when asked by CNN if she would support El-Sayed if he won the primary, Stevens said, "You bet."

Now perhaps Stevens will endorse him but keep her distance and not campaign with him. But if Stevens wants to return to Congress or decides she wants to run for Governor if Republican John James beats Democrat Jocelyn Benson, she will very likely have to back El-Sayed to the hilt. Of course, Stevens could do this, and Democratic primary voters will decide she is a Zionist and roundly reject her.

Conclusion: El Sayed's Election to the U.S. Senate Would Be Another Step in Legitimizing Anti-Semitism in America

While Democratic voters at large do not universally support anti-Semitic candidates, a plurality does and that plurality is likely to grow in years to come. Although Republicans sense an opportunity to gain a seat, they and especially Rogers would be foolish to underestimate El-Sayed's organization and the albatross that is President Trump.

If El-Sayed is elected to the U.S. Senate, then it would be another step in the legitimization of anti-Semitism in this country and perhaps a step more significant than the election of Zohran Mamdani in New York City. While NYC is a firmly left-wing city, the same cannot be said for Michigan. His election would demonstrate there is broader acceptance of anti-Semitism beyond left-wing precincts.

Michigan voters have three months to decide if they want to play a role in legitimizing anti-Semitism in this country or if they want to vote for decency.

Cori Bush Got Her (Wesley) Bell Rung

With less than half  of the vote counted, St. Louis area Democratic Congressman Wesley Bell handily withstood the primary challenge of former Squad member Cori Bush.

As of this writing, Bell has earned 66.8% of the vote compared to only 29.3% of the vote for Bush.

Two years ago, it was Bell who ousted Bush. After her defeat, Bush claimed she had been "radicalized" and vowed to tear down AIPAC. I'm glad to see Democratic primary voters not choose the anti-Semite this time around.

Needless to say, being an intemperate lunatic didn't sell so well in St. Louis. Bush has also been under federal investigation for misusing campaign contributions for her personal security and other personal expenses. Bell, on the other hand, comes off as a responsible representative and voters opted to have a drama free Congressman.

Of course, so-called progressives lambasted funding Bell received from AIPAC. Well, some voters don't like it when their representatives refuse to meet with their Jewish constituents and refuse to call Hamas a terrorist organization.

Don't feel too sorry for Cori Bush. I'm sure she has a future career as a faith healer and can unleash a whole new set of scams. 

Meanwhile, Missouri's first Congressional District will continue to be responsibly served by Wesley Bell. 

Red Sox Obtain Rutschman from Orioles; Send Mayer to SF

The Boston Red Sox, who have gone 28-5 since June 24th, did not rest on their laurels during the trade deadline.

This afternoon, the Bosox acquired catcher Adley Rutschman from the Baltimore Orioles along with fellow catcher Jake Rogers in exchange for catcher Carlos Narvaez and minor league prospects Enddy Azocar, an outfielder along with two righthanded pitchers - Anthony Eyanson and Kyson Witherspoon.

Rutschman, 28, was the number one pick in the MLB Draft by the Orioles in 2019 and runner up in AL Rookie of the Year balloting in 2022 behind Seattle Mariners slugger Julio Rodriguez. He has been named to three AL All-Star Teams in the past four seasons. 

It might be a while before Rutschman sees any action as he is currently on the IL with a wrist injury, his third IL stint this season. When Rutschman has been healthy, he has been productive hitting .251 with 8 HR and 47 RBI in 69 games played this season. Hence the decision to also acquire Rogers. 

Despite being only 2½ games out of the third AL Wild Card berth, the Orioles have chosen to be sellers at the trade deadline dealing starting pitcher Dean Kremer to the Minnesota Twins and outfielder Taylor Ward to the Seattle Mariners before parting ways with Rutschman.

Also of note, the Red Sox decided to give up on infielder Marcelo Mayer sending him to the San Francisco Giants in exchange for middle reliever Erik Miller. Mayer was the Red Sox's top draft pick in 2021 and the fourth pick overall in the nation out of Eastlake High School in Chula Vista, California, just outside of San Diego. However, in parts of two seasons, Mayer has hit only .223 with modest power, a propensity to strike out with very few walks.

I have heard stories that Mayer likes the nightlife. Mayer might get away with that if he was hitting better. Like Rutschman, Mayer is also currently on the IL since late June due to a forearm injury. The one thing Mayer has in his favor is that he is only 23 and can get a fresh start in San Francisco. Although things have been pretty chaotic this season and perhaps being teammates with former Red Sox player Rafael Devers might not be the best thing for him especially when the Giants come to Fenway later this month.

The impact of these trades won't be immediately known for the Red Sox but they may loom large as the season progresses.