35 Burst results for "Friedman"
Mark Levin
David Friedman: 'Route 60' Features Biblical Sites Not Regularly Visit
"His own Ten Commandments and he prayed to God. And you know, still that's there. Now it's on the side of a mountain. There's no signage. There's no access. You have to really hard to get to. But we went to a bunch of places like that because we had extraordinary access. That's, you know, Pompeo and I got the security details and help from the Israeli government because they wanted this fulfillment. So we got to see things and bring things to the audience that you really don't see on your typical tours. And I marked a lot. And, you know, I'll tell you, Mark, I think, you know, in synopsis that what's best about this thing is that when you you go to a place like this, you read, you know, all kinds of Bible stories as a kid and you learn it as an adult and you study it. But being there, you know, being there on the ground where the events took place, where your biblical heroes actually performed the miracles that are attributed to them, it really takes, you know, all these stories from the world from of legends, from the world of myth, and it brings them into a world of truth. And in that inspiration that I gained from being there is something I hope we can bring to our audience. You know, I'm to embarrassed say, but it's so true. The first time I went to Israel I was 60 years old and the second time I went to Israel, is that your invitation with the embassy in Jerusalem? Yes. And we went with our family, we went the first time, you know, 11 or 12 of us trucked over there, and I can remember just going to the City of David and touching the steps, touching things. I said, oh my Lord, the people who walked here and said, it's real. So your point is people haven't been there. It is really real. And that's what you get out of this movie, right? You do. That's exactly. the And City of David is very prominently featured in this film. It actually happened. And when you can, you know, feel that and touch it, it brings to you almost, you know,
Mark Levin
David Friedman: Previewing New Film 'Route 60: The Biblical Highway'
"Self -imposed ignorance by the State Department about this crucial area that somehow we would offend people if we traveled there and spoke to the 500 ,000 Israelis that lived there or the Palestinians that lived there. And so I broke that mold pretty early early on and I traveled there. When Mike Pompeo became Secretary of State he endorsed that policy and we traveled there together. And what we found there was so compelling and so important and we wanted to to bring it a much larger audience. We wanted to bring it to the world because most people think of this strip of land 6 ,000 miles away called the West Bank and they think it's just a street fight between Israelis and Palestinians that's been going on for 100 years. Well, it's not. It's a land where Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, King David, Jesus, where they walked, where they preached, where they ruled, where all of the biblical wisdom comes from, you where know, truths that are enduring, values that are enduring and authentic that have animated the founders of our country to write the Declaration of Independence. It's all there in this area that nobody wants to look at, nobody wants to talk about except just consider it some real estate dispute and it's so much more. Mike and I, we call it Route 60 because it's the biblical spine of Israel. Route 60 is the road from Nazareth to Beersheba and it is the road which is the road from Nazareth to Jerusalem and we went from place to place to place. Against the advice of all the great pundits, we went there from place to place and we brought it to a larger audience, hopefully to a very large audience and it's not political. We're not looking to tell people how to resolve the Israeli -Palestinian conflict. What we're asking them to do is just to care
The Eric Metaxas Show
"friedman" Discussed on The Eric Metaxas Show
"When we come and look, this is so basic. Any idiot should know this. I mean, this is, you know, you teach your kids. You want to be strong so that you can defend the weak, not so you can bully the weak, so you can defend the weak. And when the United States is strong, whether it's China or North Korea or Iran, whoever it is, they know we better think twice before we do X or Y or Z. And when you project weakness or confusion, as this administration has been doing, you invite trouble. That's that's been the case over and over and over again. And a strong America is the hero of the world. We can do things, we can get things done. And that to me, this is this is the classic case of that. Also doesn't hurt to do something which brings to you God's blessings. Right. Well, the two usually go together strangely. Right. That when you do the right thing, you get God's blessing. But particularly, I can't think of anything more on the nose. You know, this idea that we're going to we're going to do this thing in Israel. We're going to stand with Israel. You know, you're going to get God's blessing. And so it's an extraordinary thing. We achieved energy independence. We were able to stand up against, you know, OPEC countries and just accomplish so much the Abraham Accords. We don't have time to get into that. But I just want to say congratulations to you, Ambassador Friedman and to Secretary Pompeo and to TBN for making this film. It strikes me as genuinely important.It's Route 60. And again, you can look it up, Route 60, Route 60 dot movie. Ambassador Friedman, thank you. Eric, thank you so much. Appreciate it. We're redoubling our efforts to beat back the radical left's attacks on your constitutional religious freedoms and to defend the sanctity of human life. This is your moment to get in the fight. Every tax deductible gift will be doubled. Go to ACLJ.org right now and join us in the fight.
The Eric Metaxas Show
"friedman" Discussed on The Eric Metaxas Show
"Make like a little lamb and wham, you're shown. I tell you, chum, it's time to come blow your horn. Welcome back. I'm talking to David Friedman, who was U.S. ambassador to Israel under President Trump. And we're talking about a new film. It'll be in theaters September 18th and 19th called Route 60. You can find out more at Route 60, that's 60.movie. What was the conversation, if I can ask you, that you had with President Trump around the concept of we're going to move the embassy? We're going to do something that's not been done in the history of national Israel. We're going to move it to Jerusalem. Everybody said you can't do it. What was the origin? How did that come about? So we had lots of conversations about it, but, you know, the president wanted to get to the right decision. He called a select group of people down to the Situation Room. This was going to be the final discussion. He goes, I want to get to an answer. And so we're sitting in the room, basement of the White House in a secure room with then Secretary of State Tillerson, Secretary of Defense James Mattis, the National Security Advisor, the head of the CIA, a couple of other people, and me. And the president said, OK, I know that there's only one person here who's in favor of this, you know, David. So you take the pro, and I want everybody who's against it to come up with the cons. So we went through a robust discussion. And then, you know, at the end of the conversation, you know, the president said to me, OK, make your final case. I want to hear, you know, what's your best argument? And I said to him, you know, Mr. President, I think the world is really watching right now. And as you alluded to earlier, Eric, the world is looking to see whether you're a regular politician who campaigns, you know, with a bunch of promises and never keeps them, or whether you're different, whether you're the person who you claim to be. And I'm going to tell you something. If you keep your promise and move the embassy to Jerusalem, that's just not going to just resonate in Israel. That will resonate in North Korea or resonate in Russia or resonate in Iran or resonate in China. People will know that you have the guts to keep your promises and you're not flinching from the threats of rogue nations. And he said that has to be the right answer. That has to be the right answer. And that was really the how this came about. It was a long discussion, but that was really the synopsis of it. And and if you think about it, do we have any wars, any new wars during that period of time? Do we have any issues we have now? You talked about this the other day.
The Eric Metaxas Show
"friedman" Discussed on The Eric Metaxas Show
"Welcome back, folks. I'm talking to David Friedman, who served as U.S. Ambassador to Israel under President Trump, and I'm very excited that you're with us in the studio here. You'll notice TBN has a nice studio. But I'm really excited because TBN has brought pastrami into the green room that you said you're not going to eat, so I'm going to eat the pastrami when you leave. In all seriousness, I want to talk about the details of the film. So this is you and Mike Pompeo giving us a tour of Route 60 in the film, Route60.movie. What else does Route 60 go through? Because when you just mention a few of these places, Shechem, or how do you pronounce it? Shechem. Shechem. Good. Gesundheit. Shechem. Or, obviously, in the Bible, it may be written Shechem. But hugely important site. You mentioned Shiloh, where the tabernacle in the wilderness was, and you said it had been called the path of the patriarchs. Route 60, yes. Route 60. So tell us, what else do we find if we watch the film? What else is along Route 60? So it starts in Nazareth, right, which is the birthplace of Jesus. We wind down to the altar of Joshua. Fascinating place. You'd never find it in a million years if you just got into your car and used the GPS. Is it well marked? It's not well marked. And how can that be? David, how can that be? I don't get it. Hopefully, it'll become well marked one day. The altar of Joshua. Yeah. And understand what this altar is. Joshua, you know, takes over for Moses on the eastern side of the Jordan River. Impossible. Impossible task. Brings the Jewish people, the Jewish nation, across the Jordan River. God gives him a layup. The first battle, Jericho, right? Walk around seven times, blow your horn, and you win. Right? Next battle already, Joshua loses. He's now doubting, you know. Is it Ai? Ai, exactly. A-I. The battle of Ai. Yeah. Because one of the soldiers took from, you know, looted Jericho. He wasn't supposed to do that. That was the punishment. Joshua's now, you know, one for two. He's doubting his role. What does he do? He reconnects with God. On the downward slope of Mount Ebal, he builds an altar. He writes his own Ten Commandments. He prays to God. And he goes from being a soldier to being a leader, to really, you know, this is where I think, you know, his motivation to really build the Jewish nation. Because remember, Moses never brought the Jews back to Israel. You know, he passed away in Jordan, the mountains of Moab, right? Joshua was the first one back. And he now forges the Jewish nation, realizes it's not just about winning wars. It's about reconnecting with God, about building the altar, about fulfilling the commandments, about building a Jewish nation, not just a military force. And this altar, right, which is 3,500 years old? It's just on the side of a mountain, you know, a rocky mountain on Har Ebal, which, of course, is biblically significant in and of itself because it's down a valley. And the other side of the valley is Mount Gerizim. This is where the blessings and the curses were given by God to the Jewish people. So we stop there, okay? But the idea that this is not Mark, this just kills me. So what is there? How do we even know that this is the altar of Joshua? Well, you know, we took the trip with an archaeologist. So we weren't just making this up. And you can see it. I mean, you can see the altar where it was built. And it was built in the right place. But in terms of branding, I mean, you know, if you're—we have it with states, you know, in the United States or with countries or whatever. It's like, you know, we need to like—we need to sell the sizzle. What are the historic sites? Let's make sure that we have signage and we've got, you know— Yeah, we're a long way off from that. But how is it possible with a prime minister like Benjamin Netanyahu that these things have not been marked out? I mean, I'm kind of amazed to hear this. Because I would say the short answer is the world denies Israel's right to this territory. And there's a huge amount of controversy every time Israel does anything to recognize its biblical heritage. The same is true with Bethel. Look, this is, you know, that dream of Jacob's ladder. I mean, how many places are referred to as Jacob's ladder? If you took a car there, you'd break your axle. I mean, it's really rough terrain to get into this place. But obviously we don't know exactly where he, you know, lay his head on a rock and had a dream, but we have some sense. Yeah, a pretty good idea, I'll tell you. Because, I mean, we make those references in the film. We have a pretty good idea that this is, you know, if it's not the exact rock, we're certainly very much in the right area. I mean, this is amazing. So this is an historic film, Ambassador Friedman, as you share this. I think to myself this is, it's groundbreaking. Because pilgrims will go on this journey after they see this. They have to ask to go because you can run this tour. It's not easy. And, you know, there will be places when people will recommend taking bulletproof buses. I mean, it's that, some of these places are that sensitive. But the upside of being there and connecting to this land is tremendous. Well, it's amazing. Glad you didn't get shot. Did you? No, I almost got shot when I was in the office, but not there. Is it true? Yeah, because I was down in the south, right along the Gazan border. And a bunch of my guards, you know, shoved me into a car. I was pretty angry at them when they told me I was in the cross hairs of a rifle from Hamas. So I guess that was okay. Nice guys. Yeah. Nice guys. All right. We're talking to Ambassador David Friedman. The website, route60.movie, and it's the number 60, route60.movie. It will be in theaters September 18th and 19th. You really need to go see this. Bring the kids. We all need to get educated along these lines. This is big stuff. We'll be right back. Welcome back. Talking to David Friedman, U.S. Ambassador to Israel under Donald Trump. And we're talking about this film. What a great idea. Congratulations on this. Route 60 is the film. Again, I was amazed when I heard you talk about this the other day that I had not heard about this before. That all of these historic sites, they can be denied as being some of the most important historical sites in the history of the Bible, happened in what is today being claimed by the Palestinians as this is our territory, you know, stay out. It's the West Bank. We know that's not right. And you had the guts to make a film about it. And we get to see this film. So I'm just excited about it. So tell us, what else is along Route 60 through Israel? What else would we find? So I think I had mentioned Bethel. When you go south of Bethel, you go to – you're in Jerusalem. Probably the one place that some of your viewers are familiar with. But, you know, deeply important to Jews and Christians. We spent some time in the Garden of Gethsemane, Church of the Holy Sepulcher, the Western Wall, the Temple Mount. Spent a good amount of time talking about it. And then we went to a place that I guarantee you very few people have gone to, which is the grave, the tomb of Rachel. Now, you know that Hebron, which is further south, which we also went to, is the site of three patriarchs and three matriarchs. But Jacob's wife Rachel died in childbirth as she was giving birth to Benjamin. And she was buried on the side of the road. And Rachel is the – the day that Rachel passed is the – sort of the Mother's Day of Israel. Israel doesn't have a Mother's Day per se. But, you know, when you ask, you know, who's the mother of Israel, it's Rachel. And Rachel, you know, in the Book of Jeremiah is portrayed as someone who's never at rest. She's buried on the side of the road. She's not buried with her husband. She's not buried with her sister. She is perpetually crying for her children. And Jeremiah says to Rachel, God will stop your crying one day and your children will return to their borders. It's one of the great prophecies of the return of the Jewish people to the land of Israel. And Rachel's tomb is a place where people who really need to pray, really, you know, need something. You know, some of them are ill. Some of them are – can't conceive a child. Deep fervent prayer takes place in Rachel's tomb. And I have some personal stories about my experience there, which I share. You know, my – one of the canopies that sits over Rachel's tomb is a wedding dress. It used to be a wedding dress. And it was the dress of a young bride who was sitting with her father in Jerusalem the night before her wedding. And a suicide bomber came in and blew her up and blew her father up. And so instead of a wedding, the next day we had a funeral. And so my cousin, who was engaged to this bride, to bring meaning to this, he took her wedding dress that was never worn. And it was – it's now hung over Rachel's tomb as a canopy. And it's that symbol of the perpetual, you know, tragedy and triumph of the Jewish people. You know, on the one hand, the great tragedy of people who never were able to realize the potential of their lives. On the other side, it's the great triumph that the Jewish people are back in their land. And as Jeremiah said to Rachel, they've returned to their borders. So it was deeply moving for me personally. I've got to say, it's hard not to be moved by that, even if you weren't directly related, which you were. That's an unbelievable story. So how far south of Jerusalem are we at that point in Rachel? We're just, you know, a few miles. A few miles outside of Jerusalem. So near Bethlehem. Near Bethlehem, exactly. And then, of course, we went to Bethlehem, which, you know, speaks for itself as a very important place. And then we went to Hebron, you know, which is not as accessible as it should be, because it's an incredibly important place. It's where Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Sarah, Rebecca and Leah are all buried. Do we know, forgive me for asking such stupid questions, but do we know where they're buried? Here we know exactly where they're buried, exactly. And 2,000 years ago, King Herod built a big monument around their graves, which still stands today. It's one of the few, you know, 2,000-year-old buildings that wasn't destroyed by anybody. Because... That is interesting. Because, you know why? Because you have a place that speaks to all three Abrahamic faiths. Yeah. It's a place where, you know, both Isaac and Ishmael, Jews and Arabs, buried their father Abraham. And nobody wanted to destroy it, because it kind of belongs to everybody. And so the tomb of the patriarchs and the matriarchs was something, you know, deeply important. And, you know, great credit to Mike Pompeo, because, you know, here's a former secretary of state going, literally, where no secretary of state has ever been before, you know, not even close. So, you know, it's a major, I think, statement of his character and his belief to come to these places. And then we kind of ended the trip in Beersheba, which is the end of the road. Again, it starts in Nazareth, ends in Beersheba, 146 miles. And, you know, Beersheba also, where almost all of the biblical patriarchs lived at one point in their lives. And so obviously Jerusalem is not in across the line. Well, it's split. So Route 60 kind of bisects Jerusalem between the Old City and the New City. And Eastern Jerusalem is on one side, Western Jerusalem is on the other. And, you know, now, of course, you know, Israel has, you know, since 1967 has declared its sovereignty over all of Jerusalem. But again, you know, the world, other than America, in a couple of small countries, the world doesn't recognize that. And America doesn't recognize it if you have the wrong guy in the White House. Let's be blunt. Trump was heroically pro-Israel. There's no way around it. He was, his son-in-law, his daughter, his grandkids are Jews. And so he is very pro-Israel just for that. But, I mean, he acted on it. And this is what I, you know, always say when people talk about character. Doing what you say you're going to do is one of the principal ways you look at someone's character. Is somebody a talker? Most politicians, presidents, even presidents that I have liked, they have said things and never followed through. George W. Bush never made the move to put the embassy in Jerusalem, even though he said he would. And Donald Trump did. And that's just dramatic. And I think that when we come back, we can talk more about this. But who our political leaders are couldn't be more important. People need to take that very seriously. We'll be right back.
The Eric Metaxas Show
"friedman" Discussed on The Eric Metaxas Show
"You know, we've been deserved over more than 100 years in our foreign policy by not challenging conventional wisdom. And I was very blessed to have a boss who said to me, you know, you do what you think is right. We knew each other a long time and he trusted me and he gave me the runway to to make these changes. And the world's a better place for it. I mean, we've we've made peace, not war as a result. I mean, it's so dramatic. You know, people need to know, need to give Trump credit for what he did with regard to Israel. It is monumental. It is historic. I think you said it the other day and it's true. Other than Harry Truman, you can't think of a president that was so pro-Israel, that was so heroically strong for Israel. And it seems to me that, you know, the forces of darkness always kind of dangle that there's going to be violence. Be careful. Be careful. Don't do that. You're going to cause trouble. You're going to cause trouble. And when Reagan said what he said, you know, to Gorbachev, it ended the Cold War. It didn't end the cold. We won the Cold War because of his kind of muscular, heroic stance. And similarly, you know, I remember reading the papers just just, oh, if if if Trump does this, he's he's such a nut. If he pulls this off, it's just going to cause violence in the Middle East. And you just said, no, it didn't. It didn't. And apart from the importance to Israel, it's incredibly important to Americans, too, because, you know, we're living in a time when we are growing more and more untethered from the values that made our country so great. So where do those values come from? You know, Isaiah makes it very clear out of Zion goes forth the law, the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. This is the wellspring of all the values that animated, you know, all the great actions of our founders to form this great country. And we're just losing sight of them. Now, you can say, well, these are ideas that they don't lock to a territory. But it's not true when you go to these places and you can go to these places by physically visiting them, as Mike Pompeo and I did, where you can watch the film. It's not as good, but it's a close second. But you can see maybe plan a trip in the future when you reconnect with these places. You really are reconnecting to these values and recharging your your moral batteries in a very important way. Did you get any pushback on making this film from those people that, you know, would say, oh, we're not supposed to cross that line. We're supposed to stay over here. No, we had actually great support from the Israeli government, from the from the IDF, which had to protect us from time to time. This is a story that many people have been waiting for for decades to be told. You know, they hear all these stories about the West Bank. That word doesn't really do any justice to what we're talking about. I mean, the West Bank is, you know, a little area alongside the Jordan River, where the river flows. This is a big territory where literally every one of our great biblical stories that we think about and study when we're kids and extrapolate into broader ideals as we get older, it all happened on this road. I want to ask you, before we get into the film itself, more into the film itself, what were you doing before President Trump decides to make you U.S. ambassador to Israel? What was your life before that? It was a lot less interesting.
The Eric Metaxas Show
"friedman" Discussed on The Eric Metaxas Show
"It's my privilege to have in the studio with me, David Friedman. He was the ambassador, US ambassador to Israel under President Trump. And we're talking now about a genuinely exciting film that you and Secretary Pompeo are the hosts of called Route 60. People can find route 60 dot movie is the Web site route 60 dot movie. This will be in theaters and we're talking about it. September 18th and 19th. So people can preorder tickets at route 60 dot movie. But what you're describing again, I'm marveling at the fact that I didn't know most of what you're saying. It's a little astonishing to me that when you describe these seminal moments in history, biblical history, that they happened along Route 60. Let me ask you, what was the provenance of this concept of making a film? Was it TBN? Was it you? Was it? I mean, because it's such it's such a brilliant idea. You kind of think, why did we wait till now to make it? So TBN and I did a project a couple of years ago, a four part documentary on the Abraham Accords. And it still streams on TBN. And it was such a good experience. I just started thinking of what to do next. And, you know, I called Matt and said, what do you think of this? And I raised this issue about Route 60 serving in government for four years as the ambassador to Israel. One of my great frustrations is when I got there, the U.S. government, the State Department policy was you can't set foot over the green line. You can't set foot anywhere in Judea and Samaria. That's not part of Israel. And, you know, my response was it's not part of Israel. I mean, first of all, there are a lot of Israel's half a million Israelis living there, but it's not part of Israel. I mean, these places, these biblically incredible places, including, by the way, Jerusalem, parts of Jerusalem are not part of Israel. And they said, no, no, we don't consider it part of Israel. And and when I heard that, I said, OK, well, we've got to change that. So I was the first U.S. ambassador in 75 years to actually travel over to the green line to go to these holy places. You know what that's called? That's called chutzpah. That's called having guts. That's called leadership. And I want to congratulate you on that. I see that Trump is also that kind of a leader. People who are willing to color a little bit outside the lines, in this case, almost literally, and say, excuse me, but that's not right. And we need to break that precedent because it's it's you know, it's kind of like going along with China with regard to Taiwan or whatever. And if you're not a little bit heroic and a little bit tough and willing to push back a little bit, you know, you're you're you're helping the dark forces. And it seems to me that our State Department has been dramatically guilty of that over the over the decades being unwilling to challenge. I mean, I think of Reagan, you know, in in Berlin saying, Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall. The guys in Foggy Bottom did not want him to say that. So it seems to me that you're part of challenging you were part of challenging the establishment when you did this, when you said we're going to move the we're going to move the embassy to Jerusalem. Everybody says no, you can't do that. And you said, well, yes, we can and we should and we will. And you did. And the sun rose the next day and there were no wars. There were no irreconcilable conflicts as a result.
The Eric Metaxas Show
"friedman" Discussed on The Eric Metaxas Show
"And you said that it falls along what is now Route 60 in Israel. Is that a coincidence? I mean, how is it that it happens to be falling along what is today Route 60? This is stuff that happened, some of it, you know, 35 centuries ago. Sure. So this road goes back 35 centuries. It wasn't black-topped. It didn't have lane markers in those days, but it's the same road. It was a road that basically, if you think about I-95, you know, along the East Coast, you know, sort of the midpoint is Washington, D.C. So think of Route 60 as sort of the road from north to south. The middle is Jerusalem. And, you know, for thousands of years, pilgrims, mostly Jewish but not always Jewish, came to Jerusalem for the three major festivals, and they came along this route from the south. They headed north, and north they came south. And this is called, it's been called for many years, the Path of the Patriarchs, because it's a road that was walked by Abraham, Isaac, Jacob. It was walked by Jesus when he lived in Nazareth and he came to the temple for, as we know he came many times, or Bethlehem is along this road. So it's a place of enormous importance to Jews and Christians alike. It's literally the path that all of our biblical heroes took thousands of years ago. And when was it named Route 60? Was this like in 1948 or in the 50s? I mean, when did this historic road become Route 60 in Israel? Yeah, it's been called Route 60 for about, you know, 75 years. I don't think any particular thought was given to the number that was given to it. Right. Well, the whole thing's kind of funny because this is like an issue of branding. And then when you talked about this the other day, that what lit me up was, wow, so that road is still there, and if we walk along that road, we're walking along history. Now, part of how you got into telling it, I want you to reprise that here. You know, you talked, because a lot of people, myself included, are not very familiar with the situation in Israel. You talked about the, you know, what's called the West Bank and whatever that. A lot of what we know to be historical to Israel, the Palestinians are claiming it as their territory. And that's one of the reasons it's really important that you vote for the right candidate because this is really, really central to world history. But talk a little bit about that because when you talk about, you know, where Route 60 starts and, you know, coming down, it goes through territory that today is technically Israel's but that the Palestinians are boldly claiming somehow is theirs. So it just begins in 1949 where, you know, Israel declared its independence and seven Arab countries declared war on Israel. Most people thought Israel was going to get pushed into the sea miraculously. It survived, and there was an armistice line in 1949 that was established. It wasn't the border. It was the line where the Arab countries said, look, we're going to stop fighting on this line, but we reserve the right to push you into the sea on another date. It had no significance. It wasn't negotiated as a border, and that's this thing called the Green Line. And the Green Line was somehow considered off limits to the Jewish people. Jordan controlled this area that is referred to by much of the world as the West Bank from 1949 to 1967. The Six-Day War comes along. Israel in six days defeats all of its enemies, and it recaptures the West Bank, which in biblical terms and in theological terms is referred to as Judea and Samaria. And that's what this land is. Now, we think of Israel as the land of the Bible, and it is the land of the Bible, but much of the Bible took place on the other side of the Green Line, on the side of the Green Line that much of the world thinks the Jewish people have no right to be. When I was in office, I worked very closely with my partner in this film, Mike Pompeo, and Mike reversed that. Mike, you know, there's a thing called the Pompeo Doctrine, where Mike is, you know, on behalf of America, the State Department has said that the Jewish people do not violate international law by living in their biblical homeland. So he made huge progress during the Trump administration. But that's what we're talking about. This road is a road that a lot of people never get to. They don't get to see it because most tours that bring people to Israel don't go over this Green Line. Well, it's amazing. You shared the other day, and I want you to share now, what is on the other side of that Green Line? In other words, when you talk about the history of Israel, what are some of the places along Route 60 that, you know, a lot of people say, well, you know, the Jews don't really have a right to be there. That's Palestinian territory, even though technically it's Israel. Sure. So we'd start off in the north with a place like Shechem, called Shechem, I guess, if you anglicized it. It's where Abraham first came when Abraham received the call from God. He wasn't in Israel. He was in, you know, on the border of Syria and Iraq. And he came down to this town called Shechem. That's also the place where, when the Jews returned from Egypt after being exiled in Egypt, this is where Moses brought the bones of Joseph that were, that to this day. So where is this roughly? This is in the north and the south? This is in the north. This is in the north, right. Now, you go down another 20 kilometers or so, and you're in a place called Shiloh, or Shiloh. And now there's about 50 to 100 American towns called Shiloh, right, because this has such biblical significance. Shiloh is where the, is the first place where the Jews stopped wandering when they returned from Egypt. Where they built the tabernacle famously in the wilderness. I know there's some excavations going on in Shiloh at the site of what they believed was the tabernacle. But it doesn't get more central. I mean, the idea of the tabernacle in the wilderness, you know, you think that that's, that could be ground zero in terms of where is Israel. But you're telling me today that is in this disputed territory. It's there, and it's where the tabernacle rested for 369 years. By the way, it's where Hannah taught the world how to pray. You know, there's a spectacular episode in the book of Samuel where Hannah is whispering, and no one knows what she's doing because nobody prayed before, right. And the high priest says to her, are you drunk? Because he didn't understand what she was doing, and she says, no, I'm speaking from my heart to God. And this is really the origins of prayer in Shiloh. Now you go down another 10, 15 kilometers, and you're in Bethel, right, another 50 to 100, you know, towns in America called Bethel. This is where Jacob had the dream of the ladder ascending to the heaven, angels going up and down, where God promised Jacob that he would become a great nation. And we could just go on and on. I want to go on and on. We'll be right back. We're talking to U.S. Ambassador to Israel under Donald Trump. David Friedman is my guest. Don't go away.
The Eric Metaxas Show
"friedman" Discussed on The Eric Metaxas Show
"Welcome to The Eric Metaxas Show. We'll get you from point A to point B. But if you're looking for point C, well, buddy, you're on your own. But if you wait right here, in just about two minutes, the bust of point C will be coming right by. And now, here's your Ralph Cramden of the Airways, Eric Metaxas! Hey there, folks. Very special show today. My guest is David Friedman. He served as the U.S. Ambassador to Israel under President Donald Trump. He is a Nobel Prize nominee and National Security Medal recipient for his efforts in helping secure the historic Abraham Accords. He's also the best-selling author of a number of books. David Friedman, welcome. Eric, thank you so much. Great to be with you. I had the privilege last week of being at Bedminster National Golf Club with the President and a number of pastors, where you came on Skype or Zoom and gave a presentation on the thing we're going to talk about today. And I was so excited in hearing about it, and I thought, I get to interview you about this right now. So before we get into your background, because I want to, let's just start with the headline. There's a film coming out. Just talk briefly about that, and then we'll kind of backtrack. Sure. Well, the film is called Route 60, the Biblical Highway. And it is not just about a road, although it tracks this road, which is the biblical spine of Israel. It begins in Nazareth, ends in Beersheba. It's 146 miles long. And I would say that around 90 percent of all the Bible stories that you and I might be familiar with either happened along that road or within a few kilometers in either direction. When I heard you talk about this last week, you didn't know I was in the room, but as I heard you talk about this, I thought, I'm always amazed when I'm hearing something hugely important that I've not heard before. And so you're sharing this stuff, and I'm just kicking myself. I'm thrilled and I'm kicking myself. How is it possible that I didn't know this? Because what you shared is utterly central to history, utterly central to the history of Israel.
The Eric Metaxas Show
A highlight from David Friedman (Encore)
"Welcome to The Eric Metaxas Show. We'll get you from point A to point B. But if you're looking for point C, well, buddy, you're on your own. But if you wait right here, in just about two minutes, the bust of point C will be coming right by. And now, here's your Ralph Cramden of the Airways, Eric Metaxas! Hey there, folks. Very special show today. My guest is David Friedman. He served as the U .S. Ambassador to Israel under President Donald Trump. He is a Nobel Prize nominee and National Security Medal recipient for his efforts in helping secure the historic Abraham Accords. He's also the best -selling author of a number of books. David Friedman, welcome. Eric, thank you so much. Great to be with you. I had the privilege last week of being at Bedminster National Golf Club with the President and a number of pastors, where you came on Skype or Zoom and gave a presentation on the thing we're going to talk about today. And I was so excited in hearing about it, and I thought, I get to interview you about this right now. So before we get into your background, because I want to, let's just start with the headline. There's a film coming out. Just talk briefly about that, and then we'll kind of backtrack. Sure. Well, the film is called Route 60, the Biblical Highway. And it is not just about a road, although it tracks this road, which is the biblical spine of Israel. It begins in Nazareth, ends in Beersheba. It's 146 miles long. And I would say that around 90 percent of all the Bible stories that you and I might be familiar with either happened along that road or within a few kilometers in either direction. When I heard you talk about this last week, you didn't know I was in the room, but as I heard you talk about this, I thought, I'm always amazed when I'm hearing something hugely important that I've not heard before. And so you're sharing this stuff, and I'm just kicking myself. I'm thrilled and I'm kicking myself. How is it possible that I didn't know this? Because what you shared is utterly central to history, utterly central to the history of Israel.
Dennis Prager Podcasts
A highlight from Is There a Devil?
"You know, I so love this opening theme that I wonder how many people tune into Dennis and Julie just to hear the music. Credit to Richard Friedman. Correct. And his wife, Leslie. Correct on both. I really do. And it puts me in a mood, doesn't it? It's an interesting question. This is so typical of us. I can't believe that I got completely off everything I was going to think about. Can any of our sensory perceptions trigger the emotions that sound does, specifically music, but sound in general? This is so typical of you. And by the way, I love it. It's what makes you unique. Smell, perhaps. I think smell. So I've thought of smell, but it's rare. When I smell a certain... My mom uses Jo Malone perfume, and when I smell that, I think of my mom. And I feel very comforted. It's very powerful. In fact, when I smell it, I think of your mom, too. By the way, this is Dennis and Julie. Welcome. Oh, yeah. Dennis and Julie. Shalom. Let me just go through this. The power of sound is unrivaled in most ways. Not in every way, but I'll give you an example. I'm laughing because I'm laughing at me. I don't know how many people have ever made this experiment, conducted this experiment to speak better English. Watch a horror movie without sound, and it is not one -fifth as scary. That's interesting. Well, you say that the ear is more powerful than the eye. I'd like you to explain why, because I know this Dennis Prager argument, but I forget the reasons. Okay, so I developed this from the credo of Judaism, which is in the Torah, the first five books. Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord alone, or the Lord is one. There are many ways of translating it. The Lord is our God. So that's the credo. Many Jews walked into the gas chambers reciting this phrase. Isn't that the Shema? The Shema, yeah. What does Shema mean? It means hear or listen. So why do they say hear, O Israel? It doesn't say look, O Israel. That's my point. It says hear, O Israel. In that regard, I believe that audio only is in many ways more powerful than audio and video. Why? Because the eye is emotional and the ear is both emotional, like the sounds of a horror movie, and intellectual. The eye is not intellectual. The eye is seduced by beauty in a nanosecond, and it just reacts emotionally. Roger Ailes, the former president of Fox News, he's dead, right? He died? I think he died. Anyway, that doesn't matter at all to the point. He was the former head of Fox News. He was entangled in this sexual harassment scandal, but he did have a knack for identifying talent. And one of his criteria or tests when he was evaluating if he wanted someone to be on the air was to turn the sound off and just watch them without hearing anything. But that makes sense because it's Fox News. It's cable TV. You only have, what, five minutes? So he wanted to make sure that you were visually riveting? Yeah, okay. Well, that's TV. That's TV, exactly. It makes sense for TV, but it sort of supports your point that the eye is not intellectual. I'll give an example. Yes, the intellectual is clear, but even emotionally, like the sound of a horror movie, it's not a horror movie without the sound.
CoinDesk Podcast Network
A highlight from MONEY REIMAGINED: A Rant | The Labyrinth of Digital Feudalisms Grip and the Quest for Intentionality
"You're listening to Coindesk's Money Reimagined with Michael Casey and Sheila Warren. Hello and welcome to Money Reimagined. I'm Michael Casey. This week, it's Sheila and I just doing what we do from time to time just to sort of do a bit of a roundup of what's going on and like get in each other's heads a bit. We are, of course, available. We can listen to us weekly on the Coindesk Podcast Network or wherever you get your podcasts. And if you've enjoyed this episode or any of our episodes, we would really like to hear from you. If you didn't like our episode, you could also talk to us and you could email us to do so at podcasts .coindesk .com with the subject line of Money Reimagined. As always, there's just lots going on, Sheila. Maybe we can talk a little bit later about the ongoing saga that is Sam Bankman free. He's in jail now, of course, but he's now pled not guilty to his latest indictment. We had some news of Coinbase acquiring a stake in Circle, which has got people intrigued. Markets aren't looking so great. A bit of a weird, wild collapse in Bitcoin. And that's, obviously, a determinant of all sorts of other things. But look, you came on, I don't know, saw text messages from me before we started this. You were obviously in a bit of a mood, a bit angry about a few things. You just want to rant about a few things. And you talked about comparing the United States to Japan and maybe the regulatory framework in each country. I thought we can get you under that. But it got me thinking that maybe we should, and if we do these two -way things, the one -on -ones, that we should just have a section just called Sheila's Rant. And I'm trying to think about what - The Rant of the Week. The Rant of the Week. The Rant of the Week. There's always something to rant about. I could just like a now. I could bring a now BBC voice. It's time for Sheila Warren's rant. Sheila, rant away. She's like, over to you. Over to you. Please rant away, Sheila. But your rant, actually, I thought you were going to rant about, you know, the US v Japan. I was. But then you joined us and you started talking about problems with your Google connection on things that was actually undermining your ability to actually do things, which got me thinking that this is a perfectly good rant because it is a way to speak about the whole dependency on centralized platforms. Yes. Yeah. Let me let me just walk our listeners through the last hour of my life. So I have a new laptop. Yay me. Hooray. That's very exciting. And I was trying to do what I thought would be a fairly simple task of pairing my Bluetooth mouse with my new laptop, which you would think would just be a very simple click a couple of times and things are done. No, apparently not. So in the course of this, I restarted my laptop and now I don't have access to Google Chrome. I literally cannot use Google Chrome. I can't download it unless it comes from someplace, whatever this that bottom line is without Google Chrome. What the realization I was late to our recording today because without Google Chrome on my machine, I have to use my laptop, not my phone, because I have a mic and I have to plug it in whatever for a variety of reasons. I'm dependent on my laptop for our particular from any reimagined to record this podcast and between Apple and Google and their willingness to interface in some ways and not others, etc. And then throw in Zoom, which is where we do our recordings for the podcast. I wasn't able to access my Zoom account. So then I had to like back into my Zoom in a different way. And then I had to like reset a password. It was just like, you've got to be kidding me with this. But all of that, I think, Michael, just it's just emblematic of the problem that I think we talk about, even not as pointedly as this, but more generally on this show, which is we are beholden in ways we don't even realize. Like I'm at a point now where, thank goodness, I've got people on the back end working on figuring out how to get me Chrome. Yeah, you've got an army of people trying to. Well, I wish I had one person, but regardless, I've got someone helping me with this and it's going to figure it out on our IT support side. But without access to Chrome, I basically can't really do my job unless I'm on my phone, in which case if I work on my phone for too long, I'm just going to like lose my eyesight, which is a whole other issue. You know, it's just it's just we're beholden in ways we don't even understand, because when these things function, the point is that when these things function, we don't even realize how connected they are. I don't know that I deliberately set my Zoom account up to run through Google, but at some point I did that or someone did it for me is probably more likely what happened, to be very honest. But regardless, the whole thing just kind of falls apart. And yes, you can very deliberately choose. I'm very conscious about data person, right? I mean, we've talked about this many times. So I do tend to use different kinds of browsers for other things, this and that. But when it comes to kind of hyper efficient work product oriented things, like we just default to the big platforms because everyone else is on there. It's a lot easier. You can make different kinds of connections. We work in Google Docs, whatever it is, right? If those things don't function, the integrations are somewhat default. And if those don't function, your productivity takes a massive hit. But your ability, I think, to engage is really complicated. So this isn't so much about data capture and control. It's about the ability to actually engage online, engage digitally in a meaningful way, which is is not it's just it's so beholden to these gigantic entities. And I find that today I find it deeply irritating and annoying and frustrating. I want to throw my machine out the window. But as a general matter, it's highly problematic. Well, the two are related, right? Like it's not just that there's data capture going on. It's that they create such a level of dependency. Yes. And such an integration of all these other elements of your life that the data is all the more rich from their point of view and therefore valuable from their point of view. Right. So, I mean, it is all related. But yeah, there is this convenience of the network effect of everything tied together. The one that I often think about lately is what's happened to email. So we often talk about how, oh, at least email, right? SMTP, it's this independent protocol. And you can send an email to anybody on any email server anywhere. And then whatever client you're using, you're fine, right? Well, I'm not so sure about that anymore because everybody has Gmail, right? So many corporate accounts are now just Gmail accounts. It is so big that Gmail's spam filtering system will, if you happen to be from a smaller server, I mean, there's not really not many left. People have ProtonMail for privacy and there's a few Yahoo and a few others that are still there. But any of the little guys, any independent email provider, you're going to be interpreted by Gmail's spam server as spam and just pushed out into the... You're not going to get your stuff read because you're not using... So there's this backdoor way in which Google has created control of what we thought was at least an architecturally far more decentralized system. And that is problematic in addition to all of the other ways in which Google just sits there in the middle of our lives. When you're using Waze in your car, it's Google. If you've got Google Home, it's Google. And of course, we can say the same about Amazon with Alexa and Prime and AWS and everything else, but this is the reality. We've built these dependencies. In fact, as anybody who listened to last week's episode will now know, I'm actually in the middle of writing a book with Frank McCourt, as I said then. More information will come about what it's really going to be about, but maybe it's going to come out in a drip form because I'll just offer this little tidbit. I mean, I'm just in the process of working on a chapter to try to give it a little bit more context to what we mean in the book by this concept of being a subject or a vassal in a new modern form of feudalism, as opposed to being a citizen in a kind of a republic and a democracy. Given that our information system is fundamental to who we are as a society, like it's critical to democracy, it's critical to a free market. If that information system is so controlled by these powerful platforms and that they are using that data to then actually feed back on you to direct you to what to read and what to say and how to behave and all that behavior modification stuff, which by now is very well documented, by the way, then in effect, we've lost agency. We've lost our citizenship, right? So this goes into digital feudalism. And I think one of the ways to describe it is this, right? It's the same way that like, oh, you can't actually go to this part of the country unless the king lets you go there or this dependency on the say so of some powerful lord is very similar to, I think, what we're at here right now. And that's a cause for great concern. I completely agree. And I think what's really even more disturbing about it is unlike physical feudalism, right, where there are boundaries and markers and you physically could not cross. Here, it's very invisible. And so to your point about Gmail's ubiquity, I think most people know this, but I don't think people really realize that your domain name does not say anything about the corporate master behind the email account, right? So most companies, to your point in tech, do use a Google interface. And so they have their own domain name of their own company. It's going to be whatever .com or whatever .org or whatever it is. But that's all run on the back end by Google. It's a Google account. It's all a Google workspace. And that's very common in tech. And unless you're a competitor of Google, in which case you have your own interface that you're using, right? Microsoft being a great example of this. But regardless, I mean, there is almost complete capture of many parts of the ecosystem through that functionality, not to mention servers. AWS servers come up with some regularity. But the idea is that most companies are back ended into an AWS server. AWS is actually a bigger portion of Amazon's profit than Amazon, than the brick and mortar kind of the retail facing part. And you can imagine, given how often the frequency of how people use amazon .com to buy things, you can imagine if that's like a drop in the bucket compared to what AWS is making in terms of gross profit. It's pretty wild to think about that. But our entire digital infrastructure is really dependent in ways that when they break down, it's like, you have a day like I'm having today, it's really abundantly in your face and obvious how problematic that is. When it functions well, it's something that is pretty invisible in ways that I think regular feudalism, if you will, was pretty in people's faces. It was a pretty obvious system. This is invisible to a lot of people. You don't think about it until it breaks down. And when it breaks down, you're just annoyed about it and you're frustrated because you can't, like I'm a person who's incapable of not contextualizing things. But I think most people in my position today would just be very irritated and want to just fix it and move on without the reflection necessarily on what it means, right? Right. We were talking before about how this is actually very different from, say, a regular tool breaking down, right? This is not just getting a flat tire on your car and being annoyed with that. But I think most people will see it that way. They'll just go, oh, damn it. Yeah, it's a temporary problem. The dishwasher's got some problem with the detergent rinsing function and that's it, right? But no, it's actually a very clear reflection of the dependencies that we're talking about. I'm glad you mentioned Amazon because we should recognize this is not just one company, there are a few of them that have these particularly powerful roles. But I'm going to go back to Google because I was thinking as you were saying this, one of the ones that, like back in January, of course, there was the ruling from the Department of Justice that sued Google successfully for monopolizing digital advertising technologies. Right. And like, yes, now there's been a response to that, thankfully. But it's just the very fact that we've managed to create this system, I think is one of the most clearest reflections of this power, right? So, again, Google controls Chrome, Google is control search. And so every aspect of how we actually find things and therefore all of the ways in which every single website is incentivized through search engine optimization, which is a buzz word that we journalists have to deal with every single freaking day, SEO is designed to keep that Google algorithm happy. So we are shaping the way we design our content and curate our content specifically to keep Google happy. So that's on the content side. But how is our content monetized? Well, regardless of whether or not it is on Google, it's like, you know, like it's not just Google ads, but our own ads themselves have to really play through the sort of the big Google network. So our content enter ads because there's the Google ad exchange, which has a sort of a combination ad of network technology to actually broker that the amount of space that's taken up inside the whole real estate of the Internet by bringing the sell side components together with the buy side, right? You've got folks who are publishers trying to sell that space and you've got folks who want to buy media space. Google sits right in the middle of it because it's engineered this perfect ecosystem in which you have no choice but to sit in the middle of it. Why this isn't looked upon as something that is, I don't know, 10, 20 times worse than Standard Oil was or rubber barons and the thing that led to the antitrust movement and Teddy Roosevelt's very important laws at the turn of the century. It baffles me. We've never seen anything like this level of monopolistic control over our economy. Well, I think it is in part because a lot of it is, as we were discussing, it's somewhat invisible. People don't really realize the interconnections and the way that it kind of reminds me of this show 30 Rock, which probably most of us are familiar with. And there was this running joke of like the corporate map, right, of 30 Rock and who owned the studio and the fact that they owned like it was a microwave or whatever it was, but all rolled up to this one central company. And Alex Baldwin character, Jack Donaghy was his character, which joke a lot about the fact that everything rolled up to this one company and there are all these different things and they were all in the do product placement of the other kinds of parts of the company and whatnot. But when it comes to our online world, people just don't really they don't even understand the different things that go into making these services possible. Right. And how they all interconnect. And I also think that there is an element of just sort of embarrassment, like I think most people like I am beyond this in my personal life, but I'd say probably a decade ago when everything failed on my laptop like this morning, I would have been like, oh, my God, it's user error. I did something wrong. I messed it up. Now I'm like, no, no, it's not me because I'm sophisticated as an Internet user at this point. And I know what is me and what is a pepcak issue, as they say, problem exists between keyboard and computer. Right. And what is not. And I know this is not. But in many cases, people feel a level of tech illiteracy or embarrassment around it because they don't understand it. They don't they know they don't understand it. They don't really get it. There's nothing visual about it that you can really process. You just know it's not working and you feel an immediate. It's part of partially the addiction of it. You feel stress. You feel a tremendous amount of stress that you're not able to get this thing to function. And then you feel, I think, according with that embarrassment and shame. And this has been documented by many sociologists that when people's tech is not working, they feel shame and embarrassment in ways they don't feel when their microwave fails or they get a flat tire or whatever. They don't have that level of anxiety and shame around it, which they do. Right. Which they have when their online tools aren't working. It's another form of control in terms of like the trust us. We got this because we know don't get this. That differentiation is dividing divide. You don't understand this. You don't. And you can't trust. And you can't. Right. So we build up that even if you could easily just by building up that expectation that you can't by holding out these tech geniuses as sort of the lords of everything you can only only once you can get it. We build that expectation and therefore we ultimately lock ourselves into again, more dependency. I think that that's what I find even more challenging about this. Right. Just to take this out, go out even one more layer is when we think about how this is affecting a lot of the ways that elites think about education and not just elites, but really, but the way that the focus on technical mastery, being a coder, all this stuff is now considered the pinnacle of educational achievement in many ways. And there's some backlash against this around liberal arts education. You need to have other kinds of skills and talents and creativity, all these kinds of things that really matter. I think anyone who's been in tech for a long time will tell you that the EQ component is the thing that really makes or breaks a career in tech, not so much your technical ability or capacity to do things like code. Nevertheless, the emphasis on that, I think on the one hand, it's important to be competitive in the global economy. That is certainly an important thing. But the overemphasis I would say on it, it reinforces this concept. So as demographics get older, there's a sense that, well, I'm too old to understand this is too complicated for me. My oldest kid and I are watching the show called Avid Elementary. Highly recommend. It's phenomenal. I'm Avid rewatching Elementary. It's fantastic. 110 billion. I mean, we're going back and rewatching season one, and it's really funny. But there's an older teacher who's been teaching for many, many years. And there's an episode we just watched last night that's called something like tech or whatnot, new tech or something like that. And they bring in this tablets, right? And they're like, this is how you're going to teach the kids to read. They're going to use these tablets and you're going to do all this stuff. And the older teacher who's probably in her 40s or whatnot, she's not that old, but relatively speaking, she is like, I don't know how to do this. She just kind of like does an end run around the technology and winds up coding in that her kindergartners are reading it like fourth grade level. Okay. So of course there's an assembly and they want to pre it's really funny. It's a great episode. But part of it, I think she talks about having a hot male account, all this stuff. Right. But I was watching that and I was thinking about this idea that we have basically created a generation of people. We've kind of told them and shamed them into thinking that they are just not capable of understanding these technologies. And in countries, I think where you're getting older and older versus younger and younger, there's this kind of flip, right? This flip has happened where not only do we prize youth and vigor and all that kind of thing, but we also think there's something about their brains that makes them more capable of understanding how a computer works or how an online, which is just absolute nonsense. That's just completely untrue. It makes no sense whatsoever. If anything, the logic that underlies how a lot of these systems work is something that age and experience actually are helpful in comprehending, right? Because you understand systems, you can be a systems thinker, the older that you get. So I find all of this kind of cultural framing of tech and our dependence on tech equally challenging to how complicated tech itself is, which is not to say that tech is not complicated. It is to some extent, but it's not, it's not unparsable by anyone, frankly. We hit on something there that I think is really, and I do want to get to another quick rant before we go, because I got to run this out, but a different topic. But you said systems thinking, which I think is really important here because to me, the biggest insight that I think I've had, and I really do believe that being in the blockchain space has allowed me to think about these things, about what is wrong with this web two world, these centralized platforms is the business model, right? Is the idea that there are literally incentives amongst everybody to keep drilling down on this model and building out essentially a system of data extraction, this abusive manipulative system that we have, because it pays, because everybody's locked into that system. And I think one of the things that I find talking to my daughter sometimes about this is that she knows there's something big, bad, and wrong about this. And yeah, she gets tech as well, and she's comfortable using a whole range of technology, but she doesn't have that economic understanding. I don't think of business models of thinking through what's driving Wall Street. What's driving capital? Where is the actual profit motive that's driving all this? That is definitely something that you acquire as an older person. Right. And so in some respects, what you're talking about as well is a system that prevented those of us who have that knowledge, that EQ, that broader knowledge of systems from being able to then apply it to this model. Oh, it's tech. I can't. I couldn't. You know what? How could I possibly? You would see the same old stuff that we've seen for years that drives business decisions that leads to these extractive, broken systems. That's kind of where the book's going to be all about, by the way. Anyway, look, the segue I'll try to pull off here is, of course, I thoroughly believe we need not just blockchain technology, but a range of other decentralizing mechanisms that will require perhaps some centralization as well, but to redesign this whole thing. And that's where the policy challenges come into place because we really need to be thinking creatively about enabling these technologies to develop in the right environment to emphasize what's leading centralization. And of course, you've been looking at different models around the world and the U .S. is really lagging. And I keep writing about it. And so now we've got Japan somehow strangely leading the way over here. Well, that was my original rant. So I just got back from family vacation in Japan, 11 out of 10 recommend. Phenomenal. It was really amazing, even with the really little kids. And part of the reason it was so incredible is just the infrastructure. And so not only I immediately noticed a couple of things since my last trip, which was in 2019, which is a work trip. A, the transit system has gotten even more efficient and effective, which is remarkable considering in the United States, our transit is just, I mean, infrastructure bill and all that, but that's a long time coming. And oh, my God, that's a whole battle. It's going to be fought and how that all gets implemented. But, you know, grateful for at least a step in the right direction. But also the accessibility, just the way that accessibility is modeled into urban design is something I just found remarkable. And I live in San Francisco, and we're pretty thoughtful about these things here. But it is my kids were asking, like, oh, why is there this thing there? Why is this thing over here? Why is there the sound or why is there this bumpy thing in the road or whatever it is? I was like, that's all for people who are visually impaired. And it's just built into urban design in a way that I found remarkable. I don't think I've seen that as prominently a feature of urban design anywhere else. My co -author Frank McCourt will be loving, I mean, he's going to get into this next episode. He'd be loving to hear this because this is this idea about building architecture with people in mind. Right. As opposed to the company that runs things. It's truly human centered. Right. And part of that look is the demographics in Japan. We talked about demographics. And the Internet was built for machines, not humans. This is one of the problems. That's exactly right. So looking at AI, for that matter, is built as a tool to help make machine learning. Right. So just put there, leave it there and say what you will. I think, though, that there is a demographic thing there. There are older people in Japan. It's an older demographic. There are fewer and fewer children being born in Japan to the point that the government's providing incentives for people to actually have more children to kind of try to alter and adjust the demographics. So there's a real practical need for this. But imagine if this were the default in everywhere in the world. It should be. There's really no reason. And I looked a little bit, because I'm a nerd, into the kind of cost structure behind all of that. And it's marginal. It's negligible if you do it from the beginning and do it intentionally. So I've always loved Japan. I used to run an office in Japan and have major Japanese colleagues in my last role. And we, of course, have engaged in Japan at CCI as well, because to your point that you were making earlier, it is quite robust and thoughtful in how it's thinking about crypto regulation in ways that I find very impressive, especially around NFTs and stablecoin as well. But regardless, I hadn't been there as a tourist and as a regular person in quite some time. And it was just a remarkable experience. And I can't say that I came back overly impressed by the American offerings in these areas like infrastructure and accessibility, which I have not been historically, but I was even more deeply unimpressed when I was faced with the parallel option of what could be, with a little bit of imagination, a little bit of political... I'd love to really understand some of the aspects of Japanese culture that makes this sort of instinctive recognition of building for use and for humans so automatic almost, because there's one little example that I just thought was so fascinating. If you walk through the streets of Tokyo and look down, I don't know if it's right across the city, but certainly in a number of them, you'll see manhole covers sometimes in the city, which one has its own little design with colors and artwork in it. Somebody decided that it would be of interest to the society to have artwork that was differentiated across each of the manhole covers. That's a unique thing to decide to do. And it's a lovely thing to decide to do. It brings a whole new experience to being walking outside and looking down and being part of the environment that you're in, right? It's fascinating. It's something really quite magical about that capacity. Look, Japan's got lots of problems as well. Yeah, no culture, no countries, but on an infrastructure level, it was really hard to argue with the manifestation of a vision that really did put people and their needs at the center of the plot. You know, there's a place called the Shibuya Crossing, which is the biggest intersection in the entire world. It's got the most foot traffic of any intersection, apparently, in the entire world. And so we, of course, my kids wanted to see that and they wanted to cross it multiple times and whatnot. It just functions. It just functions. And you look across a city like that and you think about what that would look like in many other cities in the world. And suffice to say, it's not the same experience. Just not the same experience, right? It's organized. Part of that's cultural. Part of that is a cultural politeness, which has its own challenges, right? I'm not here to say that. I'm not here to laud any particular aspect of that or anything else. I think there's individualism is not as highly prioritized that has its own challenges. But nevertheless, just from a straight up urban infrastructure perspective, it was pretty hard to argue with how it functioned, how it was maintained, how efficient it was. All of those things I found not only admirable, but really compelling. And so coming back, I have to say, you know, I'll be in D .C., New York and San Francisco and none of those cities, I'm sorry to say, have anything to compete with that with what you've got on offer. So there you have it. That was actually less of a rant and more of a kind of a bit of a wistful observation. Yeah. And a little bit of an acknowledgement, a love song, if you like, almost to Japan, which is I mustn't say I love the place, the food. I love going to those little cocktail bars where the guy will spend like, you know, 10 minutes gently stirring you a martini. There's something very, really unique about it. All right. I'll wrap up there. Hopefully, this meandering conversation has actually landed in a place that our listeners found useful. Hopefully, it'll lead to people thinking a little bit more about intentionality. When I think about Japanese culture, the number one thing that comes up to me is intentionality and intentionality and how we engage online, intentionality and how we engage with each other, intentionality and how we build in our infrastructure, both digitally and physical. All of those things, I think, can only benefit us as a society. And I just don't know that that is a, I think the intentionality is there in our digital environment based out of the US, but it is intentionality to your point around a particular business model, which is not one that necessarily puts people and their needs and their desires at the center of anything. Well, the connection between the two ideas is the physical infrastructure into Japan being built with its intentionality to humans. And we need to really start to think heavily about the infrastructure of the internet, our infrastructure digital being built with humans in mind. And that is a major challenge that every one of us needs to be confronting right now. Okay. Let's leave it at that. We didn't get to talk about Stan Bankman Friedman, talk about Bitcoin price. Those of you who are looking for that, read Coindesk. There's loads of great material on that, as always, because it's the one stop shop for all of this vital employment information. A little bit of a housekeeping note for everybody, since I am writing a book, just so you all know, those of you who are subscribers to my newsletter that comes to the same name, Money Reimagined, thank you for doing so. Unfortunately, I'm putting on a hiatus for a little while. So if you're not getting in there wondering where it is, it will be back. But I need to kind of get this book project done. The podcast will continue every week. Don't worry. This is Sheila and I doing this. We're never going to stop, Sheila. This will go on to where like, I don't know, 105 years old. I'll be dialing in from, you know, wherever I need to dial in from when I'm 80. We're hopefully not a Google Chrome problem at that time. But otherwise, yes, just stick with us. It's great to have you around. And if you do have anything to say about this episode or any other ones, of course, you can reach us at podcasts at coindesk .com. Subject line Money Reimagined and certainly, you know, tell it to all your friends, subscribe. You can listen to us weekly here on the Coindesk Podcast Network or wherever you get your podcasts. That's all for now. Bye. Bye.
The Eric Metaxas Show
"friedman" Discussed on The Eric Metaxas Show
"When we come and look, this is so basic. Any idiot should know this. I mean, this is, you know, you teach your kids, you want to be strong so that you can defend the weak, not so you can bully the weak, so you can defend the weak. And when the United States is strong, whether it's China or North Korea or Iran, whoever it is, they know we better think twice before we do X or Y or Z. And when you project weakness or confusion, as this administration has been doing, you invite trouble. That's that's been the case over and over and over again. And a strong America is the hero of the world. We can do things. We can get things done. And that to me, this is this is the classic case of that also doesn't hurt to do something which brings to you God's blessings. All right, well, the two usually go together strangely, right? That when you do the right thing, you get God's blessing. But particularly, I can't think of anything more on the nose. You know, this idea that we're going to we're going to do this thing in Israel, we're going to stand with Israel, you know, you're going to get God's blessing. And so it's an extraordinary thing. We achieved energy independence. We're able to stand up against, you know, OPEC countries and just accomplish so much. The Abraham Accords, we don't have time to get into that. But I just want to say congratulations to you, Ambassador Friedman and to Secretary Pompeo and to TBN for making this film. It strikes me as genuinely important.It's Route 60. And again, you can look it up, Route 60, Route 60 dot movie. Ambassador Friedman, thank you. Eric, thank you so much. Appreciate it. When I grow up, I want to work for a woke company like Superwoke. When I grow up, when I grow up, I want to be hired based on what I look like rather than my skills. I want to be judged by my political beliefs. I want to get promoted based on my chromosomes. When I grow up, I want to be offended by my co-workers and walk around the office on eggshells and have my words policed by H.R. Words like grandfather, peanut gallery, long time no see, no can do. When I grow up, I want to be obsessed with emotional safety and do workplace sensitivity training all day long. When I grow up, I want to climb the corporate ladder just by following the crowd. I want to be a conformist. I want to weaponize my pronouns. What are pronouns? It's time to grow up and get back to work. Introducing the number one woke free job board in America. Red balloon dot work.
The Eric Metaxas Show
"friedman" Discussed on The Eric Metaxas Show
"Welcome back. I'm talking to David Friedman, who was U.S. ambassador to Israel under President Trump. And we're talking about a new film. It'll be in theaters September 18th and 19th called Route 60. You can find out more at Route 60. That's 60 dot movie. What was the conversation, if I can ask you, that you had with President Trump around the concept of we're going to move the embassy, we're going to do something that's not been done in the history of national Israel, we're going to move it to Jerusalem. Everybody said you can't do it. What was the origin? How did that come about? So we had lots of conversations about it. But, you know, the president wanted to get to the right decision. He called a select group of people down to the Situation Room. This was going to be the final discussion because I want to get to an answer. And so we're sitting in the room basement of the White House in a secure room with then Secretary of State Tillerson, Secretary of Defense James Mattis, the national security adviser, the head of the CIA, a couple of other people and me. And the president said, OK, I know that there's only one person here who's in favor of this, you know, David. So you you take the pro and I want everybody who's against it to come up with the cons. So we went through a robust discussion. And then, you know, at the end of the conversation, you know, the president said to me, OK, make make your final case. I want to hear that. You know, what's your best argument? And I said to him, you know, Mr. President, I think the world is really watching right now. And as you alluded to earlier, Eric, the world is looking to see whether you're a regular politician who campaigns, you know, with a bunch of promises and never keeps them, or whether you're different, whether you're the person who you claim to be. And I'm going to tell you something. If you keep your promise and move the embassy to Jerusalem, that's just not going to just resonate in Israel. That will resonate in North Korea or resonate in Russia or resonate in Iran or resonate in China, because people will know that you have the guts to keep your promises and you're not flinching from the threats of rogue nations. And he said, that has to be the right answer. That has to be the right answer. And that was really the how this came about. It was a long discussion, but that was really the synopsis of it. And and if you think about it, do we have any wars, any new wars during that period of time? Do we have any issues we have now? You talked about this the other day.
The Eric Metaxas Show
"friedman" Discussed on The Eric Metaxas Show
"And, you know, Beersheba also where almost all of the biblical patriarchs lived at one point in their lives. And so obviously Jerusalem is not in across the line. Well, it's split. So Route 60 kind of bisects Jerusalem between the old city and the new city. And Eastern Jerusalem is on one side, Western Jerusalem is on the other. And, you know, now, of course, you know, Israel has, you know, since 1967 has declared its sovereignty over all of Jerusalem. But again, you know, the world other than America and a couple of small countries, the world doesn't recognize that. And America doesn't recognize it if you have the wrong guy in the White House. Let's be blunt. Trump was heroically pro Israel. There's no way around it. He was his son in law, his daughter, his grandkids are Jews. And so he is very pro Israel just just for that. But, I mean, he he acted on it. And this is what I always say when people talk about character, doing what you say you're going to do is one of the principal ways you look at someone's character. Is somebody a talker? Most politicians, presidents, even presidents that I have liked, they have said things and never followed through. George W. Bush never made the move to put the embassy in Jerusalem, even though he said he would. And Donald Trump did. And that's just dramatic. And I and I think that when we come back, we can talk more about this. But who our political leaders are couldn't be more important. People need to take that very seriously. We'll be right back.
The Eric Metaxas Show
"friedman" Discussed on The Eric Metaxas Show
"Welcome back. Talking to David Friedman, U.S. ambassador to Israel under Donald Trump. And we're talking about this film. What a great idea. Congratulations on this route. Sixty is the film. Again, I I was amazed when I heard you talk about this the other day that I had not heard about this before, that all of these historic sites, they can be denied as being some of the most important historical sites in the history of the Bible happened in what is today being claimed by the Palestinians as this is our territory, you know, stay out. It's the West Bank. We know that's not right. And you had the guts to make a film about it and we get to see this film. So I'm just excited about it. So tell us what else is along Route 60 in through Israel? What else would we find? So I think I'd mentioned Bethel when you go south of Bethel, you go to you're in Jerusalem, probably the one place that some of your viewers are familiar with, but, you know, deeply important to Jews and Christians. We we spent some time in the Garden of Gethsemane, Church of the Holy Sepulcher, the Western Wall, the Temple Mount, spent a good amount of time talking about it. And then we went to a place that I guarantee you very few people have gone to, which is the the grave, the tomb of Rachel. Now, you know, if you know that Hebron, which is further south, which we also went to, is the site of three patriarchs and three matriarchs. But Jacob's Jacob's wife, Rachel, died in childbirth as she was giving birth to Benjamin. And she was buried on the side of the road. And Rachel is the the day that Rachel passed is the sort of the Mother's Day of Israel. Israel doesn't have a Mother's Day per se. But, you know, when you ask, you know, who is the mother of Israel? It's Rachel and Rachel, you know, in the book of Jeremiah, is portrayed as someone who's never at rest. She's buried on the side of the road. She's not buried with her husband. She's not buried with her her sister. She is perpetually crying for her children. And Jeremiah says to Rachel, God will stop your crying one day and your children will return to their borders. It's one of the great prophecies of the return of the Jewish people to the land of Israel. And Rachel's tomb is a place where people who really need to pray, really, you know, need something. You know, some of them are ill, some of them are can't conceive a child. Deep fervent prayer takes place in Rachel's tomb. And and I have some personal stories about my experience there, which I which I share. I, you know, my one of the one of the canopies that sits over Rachel's tomb is a wedding dress. It used to be a wedding dress. And it was the dress of a young bride who was sitting with her father in Jerusalem the night before her wedding. And a suicide bomber came in and blew her up and blew her father up. And so instead of a wedding, the next day we had a funeral. And so the my cousin who was engaged to this this bride, he to bring meaning to this, he took her wedding dress that was never worn. And it was it's now hung over Rachel's tomb as a canopy. And it's that it's that symbol of the perpetual, you know, tragedy and triumph for the Jewish people. You know, on the one hand, the great tragedy of people who never were able to realize the potential of their lives. On the other side, it's the it's the great triumph that the Jewish people are back in their in their land. And as as Jeremiah said to Rachel, they've returned to their borders. So it was deeply moving for me personally. I got to say, that's hard not to be moved by that, even if you weren't directly related, which you were. That's an unbelievable story. So how far south of Jerusalem are we at that point? We're just, you know, a few miles, a few miles outside. So near Bethlehem, near Bethlehem. Exactly. And then, of course, we went to Bethlehem, which, you know, speaks for itself as a very important place. Yeah. And then went to Hebron, you know, which is not as accessible as it should be, because it's an incredibly important place. It's where Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Sarah, Leah, Rebecca and Leah are all buried. It's where do we know, forgive me for asking such stupid questions, but do we know where they're buried? Do we do we know where we know exactly where they're buried? Exactly. And two thousand years ago, King Herod built a big monument around their graves, which still stands today. It's one of the few, you know, two thousand year old buildings that wasn't destroyed by anybody. Wow. Because that is interesting, because, you know why? Because you have a place that speaks to all three Abrahamic faiths. Yeah. It's a place where, you know, both Isaac and Ishmael, Jews and Arabs, buried their father, Abraham, and nobody wanted to destroy it because it kind of belongs to everybody. And so the tomb of the patriarchs and the matriarchs was something, you know, deeply important. And, you know, great credit to Mike Pompeo, because, you know, here's a former secretary of state going literally where no secretary of state has ever been before. You know, not even close. So, you know, it was it's a major, I think, statement of his character and his belief to come to these places. And then we we kind of ended the trip in Beersheba, which is the end of the road. Again, it starts in Nazareth, ends in Beersheba, 146 miles.
The Eric Metaxas Show
"friedman" Discussed on The Eric Metaxas Show
"Well, it's it's amazing. Glad you didn't get shot. Did you know I almost got shot when I was in the office, but not not there. Is that true? Yeah, because I was in the I was down in the south, right along the Gosman border, and a bunch of my guards shoved me into a car. I was pretty angry at them when they told me I was in the crosshairs of a rifle from Hamas. So I guess I guess that was OK. Nice guys. Yeah, nice guys. All right. We're talking to Ambassador David Friedman. The Web site Route 60 or Route 60 dot movie, and it's the number 60 Route 60 dot movie, it will be in theaters September 18th and 19th. You really need to go see this. Bring the kids. We all need to get educated along these lines. This is big stuff. We'll be right back. Tell me why relief factor is so successful at lowering or eliminating pain, I'm often asked that question just the other night I was asked that question. Well, the owners of relief factor tell me they believe our bodies were designed to heal. That's right. Designed to heal. And I agree with them and the doctors who formulated relief factor for them selected the four best ingredients. Yes, 100 percent drug free ingredients. And each one of them helps your body deal with inflammation. Each of the four ingredients deals with inflammation from a different metabolic pathway. That's the point. So approaching from four different angles may be why so many people find such wonderful relief. If you've got back pain, shoulder, neck, hip, knee or foot pain from exercise or just getting older, you should order the three week quick start discounted to only nineteen ninety five to see if it'll work for you. It has worked for about 70 percent of the half a million people who've tried it and have ordered more on one of them. Go to relief factor dot com or call eight hundred for relief to find out about this offer. Feel the difference on my pillows, 20 year anniversary with over 80 million my pillows sold. Mike Lindell with my pillow wants to thank you by giving you the lowest price in history on their my pillows. You'll receive a queen size my pillow for nineteen ninety eight. Regular price is sixty nine ninety eight and just ten dollars more for a king size with a special anniversary offer. You'll also receive deep discounts on all my pillow products such as their bedsheets, mattress toppers, pet beds, mattresses, my slippers and so much more. This is the time to try out some of their other amazing products. You've had your eye on for some time now. Go to my pillow dot com and click on the radio podcast square and use promo code Eric to receive this amazing offer on the queen size my pillow for nineteen ninety eight or call eight hundred nine seven eight three oh five seven now eight hundred nine seven eight three oh five seven. This offer comes with a 10 year warranty and a 60 day money back guarantee. It's time to start getting the quality sleep you deserve. Go to my pillow dot com and use promo code Eric or call eight hundred nine seven eight three oh five seven today.
The Eric Metaxas Show
"friedman" Discussed on The Eric Metaxas Show
"Welcome back folks. I'm talking to David Friedman who served as US Ambassador to Israel under President Trump and I'm very excited that you're with us in the studio here. You'll notice TBN has a nice studio. But I'm really excited because TBN has brought pastrami into the green room that you said you're not going to eat. So I'm going to eat the pastrami when you leave. In all seriousness I want to talk about the details of the film. So this is you and Mike Pompeo giving us a tour of Route 60 in the film Route 60 dot movie. What else does Route 60 go through? Because when you just mentioned a few of these places Shechem or how do you pronounce it? Shechem. Shechem. Good. Gesundheit. Shechem. Or obviously in the Bible it may be written Shechem. But hugely important site. You mentioned Shiloh where the tabernacle in the wilderness was and you said it had been called the path of the patriarchs. Route 60. Route 60. So tell us what else do we find if we watch the film? What else is along Route 60? So it starts in Nazareth, right, which is the birthplace of Jesus. We wind down to the altar of Joshua. Fascinating place. You'd never find it in a million years if you just got into your car and used the GPS. Is it well marked? I mean this is… It's not well marked. And how can that be? David, how can that be? I don't get it. Hopefully it'll become well marked one day. The altar of Joshua. Yeah. And understand what this altar is. Joshua, you know, takes over for Moses on the eastern side of the Jordan River. Impossible task. Brings the Jewish people, the Jewish nation, across the Jordan River. God gives him a layup. The first battle, Jericho, right? Walk around seven times, blow your horn, and you win. Right? Next battle already, Joshua loses. He's now doubting, you know… Is it Ai? Ai. Exactly. The battle of Ai. Because one of the soldiers took from, you know, looted Jericho, he wasn't supposed to do that. That was the punishment. Joshua's now, you know, one for two. He's doubting his role. What does he do? He reconnects with God. On the downward slope of Mount Ebal, he builds an altar. He writes his own Ten Commandments. He prays to God. And he goes from being a soldier to being a leader, to really, you know, this is where I think, you know, his motivation to really build the Jewish nation. Because remember, Moses never brought the Jews back to Israel. You know, he passed away in Jordan, mountains of Moab, right? Joshua was the first one back. And he now forges the Jewish nation, realizes it's not just about winning wars. It's about reconnecting with God, about building the altar, about fulfilling the commandments, about building a Jewish nation, not just a military force. And this altar, right, which is thirty five hundred years old, it's just on the side of a mountain, you know, a rocky mountain on Har Ebal, which, of course, is biblically significant in and of itself because it's down a valley and the other side of the valley is Mount Grecium. This is where the blessings and the curses were given by God to the Jewish people. So we stop there. And but the idea that this is not marked, this just kills me. So what is there? How do we even know that this is the altar of Joshua? Well, you know, we we took the trip with with an archaeologist. So we were we weren't just making this up. And and you can see it. I mean, you can see the altar where it was built and it was built in the right place. But how in terms of branding? I mean, you know, if you're we have it with states, you know, in the United States or with countries or whatever, it's like, well, you know, we need to like we need to sell the sizzle. What are the historic sites? Let's make sure that we have signage and we've got, you know, we're a long way off from that. But how is it possible with a prime minister like Benjamin Netanyahu that these things have not been marked out? I mean, I'm kind of amazed because because I would say the short answer is the world denies Israel's right to this territory. And there's a huge amount of controversy every time Israel does anything to recognize its biblical heritage. The same is true with Bethel. Look, this this is, you know, that that that dream of the Jacob's ladder. I mean, how many places are referred to as Jacob's ladder? If you took a car there, you'd break your axle. I mean, it's really rough terrain to get into this place. But obviously, we don't know exactly where he, you know, lay his head on a rock and had a dream where we have some sense. We have a pretty good idea, I'll tell you, because I mean, we make those references in the film, we have a pretty good idea that this is, you know, if it's not the exact rock, we're certainly in very much in the in the right area. I mean, this is amazing. So this is an historic film, Ambassador Friedman, as you share this. I think to myself, this is it's groundbreaking because pilgrims will go on this journey after they see this. They have to they have to ask to go because you can you can run this tour. It's not easy. And, you know, there'll be places when people will recommend taking bulletproof buses. I mean, it's it's that some of these places are that sensitive. But the the upside of being there and connected to this land is tremendous.
The Eric Metaxas Show
"friedman" Discussed on The Eric Metaxas Show
"Thank you. Every day we hear about another familiar brand selling out their customers and going woke. Americans are sick and tired of having leftist propaganda jammed into every product they consume. Woke mobile companies are no different. For years, they've been dumping millions into liberal causes, and we've had to take it because you need a cell phone and probably thought there was no alternative. I've got news for you. There is. And I want you to make the switch today. Patriot Mobile is America's only Christian conservative wireless provider offering. Dependable nationwide coverage on all three major networks so you can get the best possible service in your area minus the leftist propaganda. When you switch to Patriot Mobile, you're sending a message that you support free speech, religious freedom, the sanctity of life, Second Amendment and our military veterans and first responder heroes. Their 100 percent U.S. based customer service team makes switching easy. Keep your phone. Keep your number too. Just go to Patriot Mobile dot com slash Metaxas or call 878-PATRIOT. Get free activation today with the offer code Metaxas, ask about their coverage guarantee while you're there. Get the same dependable service and take a stand for your values make. Just go to Patriot Mobile dot com slash Metaxas. Legacy Precious Metals has a revolutionary new online platform that allows you to invest in real gold and silver online. In a few easy steps, you can open an account online, select your metals of choice and choose to have them stored in a vault or shipped to your door. You'll have access to a dashboard where you can track your portfolio growth in real time anytime. You'll see transparent pricing on each coin and bar. This puts you in complete control of your money. The platform is free to sign up for. Visit Legacy PM Investments dot com and open your account and see this new investing platform for yourself. Gold can hedge against inflation and against the volatile stock market. A true diversified portfolio isn't just more stocks and bonds but different asset classes. This new platform allows you to make investments in gold and silver no matter how small or large with a few clicks. Visit Legacy PM Investments dot com to get started. You're going to love this free new tool that they've added. Please go check it out today. That's Legacy PM Investments dot com.
The Eric Metaxas Show
"friedman" Discussed on The Eric Metaxas Show
"You know, we've been disserved over more than 100 years in our foreign policy by not challenging conventional wisdom. And I was very blessed to have a boss who said to me, you know, you do what you think is right. We knew each other a long time and he trusted me and he gave me the runway to to make these changes. And and the world's a better place for it. I mean, we've we've made peace, not not war as a result. I mean, it's so dramatic. You know, people need to know need need to give Trump credit for what he did with regard to Israel. It is monumental. It is historic. I think you said it the other day and it's true. Other than Harry Truman, you can't think of a president that was so pro-Israel, that was so heroically strong for Israel. And it seems to me that, you know, the forces of darkness always kind of dangle that there's going to be violence. Be careful. Be careful. Don't do that. You're going to cause trouble. You're going to cause trouble. And when Reagan said what he said, you know, to Gorbachev, it ended the Cold War. It didn't end the cold. We won the Cold War because of his kind of muscular, heroic stance. And similarly, you know, I remember reading the papers just just, oh, if if if Trump does this, he's he's such a nut. If he pulls this off, it's just going to cause violence in the Middle East. And you just said, no, it didn't. It didn't. And apart from the importance to Israel, it's incredibly important to Americans, too, because, you know, we're living in a time when we are growing more and more untethered from the values that made our country so great. So where do those values come from? You know, Isaiah makes it very clear out of Zion goes forth the law, the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. This is the wellspring of all the values that animated, you know, all the great actions of our founders to form this great country. And we're just losing sight of them. Now, you can say, well, these are ideas that they don't they're not locked to a territory. But it's not true when you go to these places and you can go to these places by physically visiting them, as Mike Pompeo and I did, where you can watch the film. It's not as good, but it's it's a close second. But you can see maybe plan a trip in the future when you reconnect with these places. You really are reconnecting to these values and recharging, you know, your your moral batteries in a very important way. Did you get any pushback on making this film from those people that, you know, would say, oh, we're not supposed to cross that line. We're supposed to stay over here. No, we had actually great support from the Israeli government, from the from the IDF, which had to protect us from time to time. This is a story that many people have been waiting for for decades to be told. You know, they hear all these stories about the West Bank. It doesn't that word doesn't really do any justice to what we're talking about. I mean, the West Bank is, you know, a little area alongside the Jordan River that where the river flows. This is a big territory where literally every one of our great biblical stories that we think about and study when we're kids and extrapolate into broader ideals as we get older. It all happened on this road. I want to ask you before we get into the film itself, more into the film itself. How did you what were you doing before President Trump decides to make you U.S. ambassador to Israel? What was your life before that? It was a lot less interesting. It was I was a partner in a big law firm for thirty five years. I had the privilege occasionally, not not that often, to represent President Trump. That's how we got to know each other. I had the I had the blessing, nothing other than a blessing to have won every single case I had for the president. And some of these cases weren't easy. And I'm telling you, at the time, I didn't see it as anything more than, you know, a day at the office, but it really established a relationship that I had with him that put me in a very good position. I think I think a a godly designed position to then flip into this role and do some good things. I don't think there's any doubt about it. I mean, moving the embassy to Jerusalem, there is no other word to describe that other than historic or epical. Huge, gigantic. And you shared this the other day and maybe you shared again that every president said, we'll do this, except, you know, unless there's some kind of security reason not to do it. That's when they talk about abortion, talk about the life of the mother. Those are called weasel words. They say that so that they will never do it. And that's basically what you're talking about here, that presidents over and over and over again said, we're going to do it. Not a single one of them until Donald Trump had the guts actually to do it. That that's an extraordinary thing. And today, the embassy is in Jerusalem. It's in Jerusalem. The move was very popular. One of the things that I take, you know, great, great pride in is that when President Trump went all around the country right now, I'm not talking about New York or Miami, where there's large Jewish communities, but he would go to the heartland and he'd speak to 20,000 people and he would talk about his record as president, you know, and it took a certain path, you know, domestic issues. When he got to about an hour into the speech, he talks about how he moved the embassy to Jerusalem. It was the biggest applause line all around the country. It was so gratifying to see so many people feel so good about it. And look, it's going to stay there. I mean, even, you know, the administration that we have now, which I think is lacking in how they treat Israel, even they're not going to move it because it's so popular and it's all right that it's there.
The Eric Metaxas Show
Why Now for the New Film 'Route 60'? David Friedman Explains
"To my privilege to have in the studio with me, David Friedman. He was the ambassador U .S. ambassador to Israel under President Trump. And we're talking now about a genuinely exciting film that you and Pompeo Secretary are the hosts of called Route 60. People can find Route 60 dot movie is the website route 60 dot movie. This will be in theaters and we're talking about it September 18th and 19th. So people can preorder tickets at Route 60 dot movie. But what you're describing again, I'm marveling at the fact that I didn't know most of what you're saying. It's a little astonishing to me that when you describe these seminal moments in history, biblical history, that they happened along Route 60. Let me ask you, what was the provenance of this concept of making a film? Was it was a TBN? Was it you? Was it I mean, because it's such it's such a brilliant idea. You kind of think, why did we wait till now to make it? So TBN and I did a project a couple of years ago, a four part documentary on the Abraham Accords. And it still streams on TBN. And it was such a good experience. I just started thinking of what to do next. And, you know, I called Matt and said, what do you think of this? And I raised this issue about Route 60 serving in government for four years as the ambassador to Israel. One of my great frustrations is when I got there, the U .S. government, the State Department policy was you can't set foot over the green line. You can't set foot anywhere in Judea and Samaria. That's not part of Israel. And, you know, my response is it's not part of Israel. I mean, first of all, there are a lot of Israel. There's half a million Israelis living there, but it's not part of Israel. I mean, these places, these biblically incredible places, including, by the way, Jerusalem, parts of Jerusalem are not part of Israel. And they said, no, no, we don't consider it part of Israel. And and when I heard that, I said, OK, well, we got to change that. So I was the first U .S. ambassador in 75 years to actually travel over to the green line to go to these holy
The Eric Metaxas Show
"friedman" Discussed on The Eric Metaxas Show
"We're doing a campaign for Food for the Poor. People who listen to this program know that we partner with Food for the Poor. They are total heroes. Food for the Poor steps up because there is always there are always hurricanes flooding other natural disasters at this time of year. So because of poverty or collapse infrastructure in a lot of these countries. By the way, in case you didn't know, America is an amazing country. These other countries do not have a lot of infrastructure. So we need to step up. Those of us who have the ability to step up, I want to encourage you to go to Metaxas dot com and give what you can. Let's get a good start. Go to Metaxas talk dot com. Do what you can or just text Eric to nine one nine nine nine. Please do this. Text Eric to nine one nine nine nine or phone eight four four eight six three. Hope eight four four eight six three. Hope eight four four eight six three. Hope. I'd like to tell you about a stunning new movie called The Hiding Place. The Hiding Place takes you on a journey back to World War Two as the boots of the Third Reich echoed through Europe. One family chose to resist in this incredible true story loved by millions. Corey 10 Boom and her family risk everything to hide hundreds of Jewish refugees from Nazi invaders, and they ultimately face the consequences when they are discovered. The Hiding Place is an inspiring story of faith, hope, love and forgiveness in the face of unthinkable evil. Written for the stage, filmed for the big screen Broadway world calls The Hiding Place stunning, powerful and deeply moving. Don't miss the story of a brave woman who impacted generations. This global cinema event opens in theaters only August 3rd. Showtime's are selling out fast. Get your tickets now online at the hiding place film dot com. That's the hiding place film dot com. Get your tickets now online at the hiding place film dot com. That's the hiding place film dot com. Check it out.
The Eric Metaxas Show
"friedman" Discussed on The Eric Metaxas Show
"Folks, welcome to The Eric Mataxas Show, sponsored by Legacy Precious Metals. There's never been a better time to invest in precious metals. Visit LegacyPMInvestments.com. That's LegacyPMInvestments.com. Welcome to The Eric Mataxas Show. Have you heard that some people have a nose for news? Well, Eric has a nose for everything. That's why this is called The Show About Everything. Now welcome your host, who definitely passes the smell test. Eric Mataxas. Hey there, folks. Very special show today. My guest is David Friedman. He served as the U.S. ambassador to Israel under President Donald Trump. He is a Nobel Prize nominee and National Security Medal recipient for his efforts in helping secure the historic Abraham Accords. He's also the best selling author of a number of books. David Friedman, welcome. Eric, thank you so much. Great to be with you. I had the privilege last week of being at Bedminster National Golf Club with the president and a number of pastors where you came on Skype or Zoom and gave a presentation on the thing we're going to talk about today. And I was so excited in hearing about it. And I thought I get to interview you about this right now. So before we get into your background, because I want to, let's just start with the headline. There's a film coming out. Just talk briefly about that and then we'll kind of backtrack. Sure. Well, the film is called Route 60, the biblical highway. And it is it is not just about a road, although it tracks this road, which is the biblical spine of Israel, begins in Nazareth, ends in Beersheba. It's 146 miles long. And I would say that around 90 percent of all the Bible stories that you and I might be familiar with either happened along that road or within a few kilometers in either direction. When I heard you talk about this last week, you didn't know I was in the room, but as I heard you talk about this, I thought I'm always amazed when I'm hearing something hugely important that I've not heard before. And so you're sharing this stuff and I'm just kicking myself. I'm thrilled and I'm kicking myself. How is it possible that I didn't know this? Because what you shared was is utterly central to history, utterly central to the history of Israel. And you said that it's if it falls along what is now route or Route 60 in Israel. Yes. Is that a coincidence? I mean, how is it that it happens to be falling along? What is today Route 60? This is stuff that happened some of it, you know, 35 centuries ago. Sure. So this road goes back 35 centuries. It wasn't black topped. It didn't have lane markers in those days, but it's the same road. It had been it was a road that basically, if you think about think about I-95, you know, along the East Coast, you know, sort of the midpoint is Washington, D.C. So think of Route 60 as sort of the road from north to south. The middle is Jerusalem. And, you know, for thousands of years, pilgrims, mostly Jewish, but not always Jewish, came to Jerusalem for the three major festivals. And they came along this route from the south. They headed north and north. They came south. And and this is called it's been called for many years the path of the patriarchs, because it's a road that was walked by Abraham, Isaac, Jacob. It was walked by Jesus when he lived in Nazareth and he came to the temple for as as we know, he came many times. Or Bethlehem is along this road. So it's a place of enormous importance to Jews and Christians alike. It's literally the path that all of our biblical heroes took thousands of years ago. And when was it named Route 60? Was this like in 1948 or in the 50s? I mean, when did this historic road become Route 60 in Israel? Yeah, it's because it's been called Route 60 for about, you know, 75 years. I don't think any particular thought was given to the number that was given to it. Right. Well, it's the whole thing is kind of funny, because this is this is like an issue of branding. And then when you talked about this the other day, that what lit me up was, wow. So that road is still there. And if we walk along that road, we're walking along history. But now part of how you got into telling it, I want you to reprise that here. You know, you talk because a lot of people, myself included, are not very familiar with the situation in Israel. You talked about the, you know, what's called the West Bank and whatever that. A lot of what we know to be historical to Israel, the Palestinians are claiming it as their territory. And that's one of the reasons it's really important that you vote for the right candidate, because this is really, really central to world history. But sure, talk a little bit about that, because when you talk about, you know, where Route 60 starts and, you know, coming down, it goes through territory that today is technically Israel's, but that the Palestinians are boldly claiming somehow is theirs. So this begins in 1949, where, you know, Israel declared its independence and seven Arab countries declared war on Israel. Most people thought Israel was going to get pushed into the sea miraculously. It survived. And there was an armistice line in 1949 that was established. It wasn't the border. It was the line where the Arab countries said, look, we're going to stop fighting on this line, but we reserve the right to push you into the sea on another date. Because it had no significance. It wasn't negotiated as a border. And that's this thing called the Green Line. And the Green Line was somehow considered off limits to the Jewish people. Jordan controlled this area that is referred to by much of the world as the West Bank from 1949 to 1967. The Six Day War comes along. Israel in six days defeats all of its enemies and it recaptures the West Bank, which in biblical terms and in theological terms is referred to as Judea and Samaria. And that's the that's what this land is. Now, we think of Israel as the land of the Bible, and it is the land of the Bible. But much of the Bible took place on the other side of the Green Line, on the part on the side of the Green Line that much of the world thinks the Jewish people have no right to be. When when I was in office, I worked very closely with my partner in this film, Mike Pompeo, and Mike reversed that. Mike, you know, there's a thing called the Pompeo Doctrine, where Mike is, you know, on behalf of America and the State Department has has said that the Jewish people do not violate international law by living in their biblical homeland. So he made huge progress during the Trump administration. But that's that's what we're talking about. This road is is a road that a lot of people never get to. They don't get to see it because most tours that bring people to Israel don't go over this Green Line. Well, it's amazing you you you shared the other day and I want you to share now what is on the other side of that Green Line. Now, there's when you talk about the history of Israel. What are some of the places along Route 60 that you know, a lot of people say, well, you know, the Jews don't really have a right to be there. That's Palestinian territory, even though technically it's Israel. Sure. So we start off in the north with a place like Shechem called Shechem. I guess if you anglicized it, it's where Abraham first came when Abraham received the call from God. He wasn't in Israel. He was in, you know, on the border of Syria and Iraq. And he came down to this this town called Shechem. That's also the place where when the Jews returned from Egypt after being exiled in Egypt, this is where Moses brought the bones of Joseph that were that to this day. So where is this roughly? This is in the north and south of the north. This is the north. Right now you go down another 20 kilometers or so and you're in a place called Shiloh or Shiloh. And now there's about 50 to 100 American towns called Shiloh. Right. Because this has such biblical significance. Shiloh is where the is the first place where the Jews stopped wandering when they returned from Egypt, where they built the tabernacle famously in the wilderness. I know there's some excavations going on in Shiloh at the site of what they believed was the yeah, the tabernacle. But it it doesn't get more central. I mean, the idea of the tabernacle in the wilderness, you know, you think that that's that could be ground zero in terms of where is Israel. But you're telling me today that is in this disputed territory. It's there and it's where the tabernacle rested for 369 years. By the way, it's where Hannah taught the world how to pray. You know, there's a spectacular episode in the book of Samuel where Hannah is whispering and no one knows what she's doing because nobody prayed before. Right. And the high priest says to her, are you are you drunk? Because he didn't understand what she was doing. And she says, No, I'm speaking from my heart to God. And this is really the origins of prayer in Shiloh. Now you go down another 10, 15 kilometers and you're in Bethel. Right. Another 50 to 100, you know, towns in America called Bethel. This is where Jacob had the dream of the ladder ascending to the heaven. Angels going up and down where God promised Jacob that he would become a great nation and we could just go on and on. I want to go on and on. Folks, I want to remind you, we're doing a campaign with Food for the Poor. Very important that you go to Metaxas talk dot com and give what you can. You can text my name, Eric, to nine one nine nine nine vitally important. We'll be right back. We're talking to U.S. ambassador to Israel under Donald Trump. David Friedman is my guest. Don't go away.
The Eric Metaxas Show
Former Israel Ambassador David Friedman Talks New Film 'Route 60'
"Guest is David Friedman. He served as the U .S. ambassador to Israel under President Donald Trump. He is a Nobel Prize nominee and National Security Medal recipient for his efforts in helping secure the historic Abraham Accords. He's also the best selling author of a number of books. David Friedman, welcome. Eric, thank you so much. Great to be with you. I had the privilege last week of being at Bedminster National Golf Club with the president and a number of pastors where you came on Skype or Zoom and gave a presentation on the thing we're going to talk about today. And I was so excited in hearing about it. And I thought I get to interview you about this right now. So before we get into your background, because I want to, let's just start with the headline. There's a film coming out. Just talk briefly about that and then we'll kind of backtrack. Sure. Well, the film is called Route 60, the biblical highway. And it is it is not just about a road, although it tracks this road, which is the biblical spine of Israel, begins in Nazareth, ends Beersheba. in It's 146 miles long. And I would say that around 90 percent of all the Bible stories that you and I might be familiar with either happened along that road or within a few kilometers in either direction.
The Eric Metaxas Show
A highlight from Doug Giles
"Welcome to The Eric Mataxas Show. We'll get you from point A to point B. But if you're looking for point C, well, buddy, you're on your own. But if you wait right here in just about two minutes, the bus to point C will be coming right by. And now here's your Ralph Cramden of the airwaves. Eric Mataxas. Hey there, folks. If you're watching, you can see that I'm back in the studio after four years off, actually wasn't four years off. It needed to be for my mental and emotional health, but it was only, I think, three weeks. But I'm back and I'm I'm feeling reasonably well. We oh, my gosh. Today is Wednesday, in case you didn't know that. And we used to do a thing. Well, we've done a thing over the years where we do like a listener writes. So I got one just this morning and I thought, I want to read this. It's kind of raw, but I want I wanted to read this before I read this. I want to say coming up in the next segment, our old friend, amazing hipster warrior Doug Giles is my guest for our one today. He is unforgettable. If you don't know who he is, hold on to your hat. In our two, we have the former ambassador to Israel, David Friedman, coming on. He is a phenomenal figure, very important figure, and it'll be my joy to talk to him. So Doug Giles, David Friedman, there's great breadth in the guests just in today's show. And but first, I want to read this letter. OK, here's the letter. Somebody named Sean writes, Hey, Sean here. I'm writing you to donate to some of the causes you stand for. I'm not rich, but would like to give to some of the organizations you support that help those in need. I believe there's CSI, an organization where women are slaves and you work with people to get them out of slavery. There's an abortion organization that you've mentioned. Send me a list of who you're involved with. I want to do what I can to help others in need. And knowing the monies will go to where they're supposed to love. Listening to you, to John's Mirack and to your guests, exposing corruption, telling the truth about many things as a believer, as believers, we need to stand our ground and stand against these self -righteous, power hungry Idjits and Idjits is spelled I -D -G -I -T -S, which I believe is correct. Yes, we do need to pray for them also, but we need to let them know they're not going to get away with their stealth, cheating, abusive power. Keep up the good work, Mr. Metaxas and crew. God bless you all. There's a lot there. Chris, Chris Himes, you're you're speaking to me remotely from Maryland today. Isn't that an interesting email for I just said I have to read that because we get so many emails from people who listen to the show and this mentioned a number of things that I wanted to mention. Well, yeah, the word Idjit was not on my bingo card for today. But yet here we are. So I'm glad you lose. But everyone else wins because that the word Idjit spelled that way. It kind of says it all. Yeah. OK, so what one of the reasons I wanted to read what Sean wrote is we do need your help in what we raise money for for a lot of things for Metaxas media. I've got to give, send, go page, give, send, go slash Eric. We've got a lot of projects we're working on and we really need your help.
The Hugh Hewitt Show: Highly Concentrated
A highlight from Former V.P. Mike Pence on Putin's threat to Poland and Biden's interference in Israeli politics
"Welcome to today's podcast, sponsored by Hillsdale College, all things Hillsdale, hillsdale .edu. I encourage you to take advantage of the many free online courses there. And of course, to listen to the Hillsdale dialogues, all of them at hughforhillsdale .com or just Google Apple, iTunes, and Hillsdale. Welcome back, America. I'm Hugh Hewitt, joined by former Vice President Mike Pence. Mr. Vice President, welcome back to the Hugh Hewitt Show. Hey, good to be with you, Hugh. Thanks for having me on. Well, I want everyone to go to mikepence2024 .com if they want to support you, if they want to learn about the campaign. We'll come back to the campaign in a second. But I'm not mistaken, Mr. Vice President, you and the former president are the only two people running for office who have ever received the daily brief, who understand, had all the clearances you could. So I want to ask you three national security questions this morning, beginning with the threat that Vladimir Putin made in the company of Lukashenko, the dictator of Belarus, that any attack on Belarus would be an attack on Russia. And then the Belarusian leader made the claim that the Wagner people in Belarus are wanting to go to Warsaw. What would be the obligation of the United States in the event that Wagner, Belarus, or Russian troops attacked Poland? Well, there's no question what the obligation would be under Article 5 of the NATO treaty. And that would be required to support Poland, we'd be required to be involved militarily. It's one of the reasons why I've said many times, I mean, Joe Biden has done a terrible job explaining what our interest is in Ukraine. He keeps giving these gauzy speeches about democracy. And for all the world, it sounds like another campaign speech and our interest there. And the reason why we should continue on an increasing basis to give the Ukrainian military what they need to repel the Russian invasion is because we never want to see the day that the Russian military, whether it's a Wagner group in Belarus or otherwise, crosses the border of a NATO country where our troops would be required to fight. I mean, that's how you get peace through strength, is by living out the Reagan doctrine, which always said, if you're willing to fight the communists on your grounds with your soldiers, we'll give you what you need to fight them there. So we don't have to fight them. And yet there are too many voices in our party that are sounding the retreat. They're willing to let Putin keep the land grab that he's made in Eastern Ukraine, willing to make promises. I heard my former running mate has announced over the weekend that he's willing to promise that Ukraine will never be in NATO. Look, in my opinion, the only thing Putin will understand is strength and providing those courageous fighters in Ukraine what they need to to repel the Russian invasion is the fastest way to security and preventing the day that American forces are actually required to go into battle in Europe again. What do you think Lukashenko and Putin are doing here? The Telegraph calls it a setup for a false flag operation or is it just mind games? Yeah, look, I would hardly ever counsel Hugh Hewitt on foreign policy, but you and I both know the only thing you can know for sure about anything coming out of Russia is you don't know for sure. Okay, well said. Nothing is as it seems. When you find out that after Ferguson does this supposed coup against Putin, now we found out in the last week that they apparently met a couple days later and had a conversation and the whole thing could have just been a put -up job for Putin to flush out his enemies in his own government. I wouldn't have put it past him. I do like what was once said by another presidential candidate. He said he looked into Putin's eyes and he didn't see his soul. He saw KGB. That's who you're dealing with and so nothing is as it seems in the acolyte state of Belarus that I just wouldn't trust him as far as I could throw him and that's why we just need to stay strong in this effort and continue to demand that the Biden administration stop dragging their feet on providing arms in Ukraine, which they've been doing for the last year and a half. Give those people what they need. They can win this war and secure the peace of Europe and the security of our country. Now Vivek Ramaswamy, who you'll be sharing a stage with on Friday at the Iowa GOP Lincoln and with all the other candidates are going to have their speeches in Iowa, Vivek was throwing shade on NATO this weekend on Fox News Sunday. Meanwhile, the US and 13 allies were holding a record -setting military exercise in Australia. It seems to me that this might be a time for us to expand our alliances, Mr. Vice President, not sever them. Well, we'll be strengthening our alliances. The last thing that we ought to do is try and secure peace in Ukraine by rewarding Vladimir Putin's naked and brutal invasion into that country by giving him the land and giving him promises never to have Ukraine be a part of NATO. Look, and this has everything to do with the wider world, Hugh. I mean, there's no question in my mind that if we end up capitulating to Putin's aggression, that will only embolden President Xi in his military ambitions in the Asia Pacific. And I just think this is one of those moments where we learned hard lessons in the first half of the 20th century where America, we thought we could hang back. We thought we could hang back within our borders and watch as the world became more unstable and unfurled. And we learned hard lessons than having to come into the fight, both in World War I and especially in World War II. And we won those fights for freedom, but we've secured the peace now for three quarters of because a century we've been willing to stand strong. We've been willing to be the arsenal of democracy. And if I'm president of the United States, I promise you we're going to live out that commitment of being leaders of the free world. And let me also say, I had a sporting debate on stage about a week or so with a former Fox News host that got some play on the Internet. I just don't think we have to choose between solving problems here at home, which is the economy that's failing, the border crisis, the crisis in energy, the crime wave in our cities. I don't think we have to choose between solving problems here at home and being the leader of the free world. We can do both. And anybody who says we can't has a pretty small view of the greatest nation on Earth. Now, Mr. Vice President, third, I'm playing rapid fire national security, but a lot happened this weekend. Right now they are voting in the Israeli Knesset on the reform of the Israeli Supreme Court. Got nothing to do with America. It's an internal Israeli domestic issue. Yesterday, President Biden told Israel to stop, slow down and not do that. And Tom Friedman, one of the most extraordinary columns ever in The New York Times, telling the president to address the dear President Biden that the October 1973 intervention by Richard Nixon to save Israel is what he's facing right now. He has to save Israel by getting by involved speaking the truth. What do you make of the intervention of an American president into the internal domestic politics and policy and judiciary of an ally? Look, I said many times and I was at Christians United for Israel a week ago, Hugh, and I was honored to receive some recognition there, Defender of Israel Award. I was humbled by that. Look, I was a part of the most pro -Israel administration in American history, I always would say. And I will tell you, if I'm president of the United States, if the world knows nothing else, the world will know this. America stands with Israel. And this preoccupation of Democrats, which literally goes back decades of trying to micromanage what's happening in the domestic politics in Israel, is wrongheaded. And it undermines a clear message to one of the most dangerous parts of the world of our commitment to our most cherished ally. I reject it categorically. I'm a great admirer of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. He's absolutely determined to see this this court reform through. And I think we ought to let Israel be Israel, let them sort these things out domestically. And our position should just be to always give them what they need to defend themselves, by themselves, and to make it clear in the region, in the world, that America stands with Israel. Period paragraph.
Mark Levin
Biden Regularly Leaks to NY Times' Friedman to Trash Netanyahu
"Hey! The US reassessment of Netanyahu's government has gone. Who gave him that? Biden. His people. This guy's a Benedict Arnold. In so many ways. So what is Biden doing? Starting this summer, writes the Associated Depressed, millions of Americans with student loans will be able to enroll in a new repayment plan that offers some of the most lenient terms ever. Interest won't pile up as long as borrowers make regular payments. Millions of people will have monthly payments reduced to zero. Millions will have monthly payments reduced to zero. You're basically wiping out their debt. In as little as ten cancelled. How does this not violate the Constitution and the Supreme Court? You You don't hear a single voice call for his impeachment. You don't hear a single Democrat objecting to
Mark Levin
Joe Biden Abuses the WH, State Department to Attack the Jews
"And so when the Conservatives win just country they lose because they're blocked virtually on every path by this court because they seize power 15 now of them we have a court Joe Biden likes the court in Israel he likes the radical left Marxist court in Israel so he wants to protect it he's literally interfering in the domestic affairs of another country he and his State Department and the Democrats always use the White House in the State Department to trash the Jews I'm just being honest these Jews are in Israel Now they like Jews who come to them on their knees as Menachem Begin refused to they like those kinds of Jews in fact they like those kinds of but in Netanyahu they're not going to get it. So he interferes in the reforms of the judicial system in Israel which has absolutely nothing to do with us zero and yet he defies a Supreme Court in the United States and then he gets the backing of Thomas L. Friedman of the New York Times. Remember that a -hole? This guy marries into a billionaire family He lives in a 12 ,000 square foot home in Bethesda Maryland one of the most in the country on seven acres so nobody can bother him He's a secularist.
The Dan Bongino Show
What Is Bidenomics?
"Hilarious Dan Bongino biden in his typical angry rotting bag of oatmeal finger pointing screaming peeing and wetting himself losing control of his bowels style is giving a speech in the crime capital the midwest tonight chicago run by his fellow liberals talking about bidenomics and i said that jim jim was laughing he said during the break he said yeah dad bidenomics took about trickle down again i'm like jim don't laugh bidenomics is great i mean what what do you mean by it's now a fantastic model i mean get a position of power by lying to people faking your entire life story uh maneuver into the presidency by manipulating hiding in a basement during covid lying about donald trump and using the fbi to do it then as you're gaining these positions of power send your drug addicted sex addicted son over to foreign countries to shake them down for millions of dollars it's the greatest get rich scheme ever people liberals are like sign me up for bidenomics baby that sounds great you mean i don't have to do squat have evaluated skills whatsoever can lie about my entire life and become a millionaire hell become a millionaire it reminds me of that guy in something about mary who gets this great idea you remember was it eight minute absig seven -minute abs that's joe biden someone came up with like you know capitalism free markets and you know friedman chicago school theory of economics because i got a better one the biden school of economics just get power and shake foreign governments down for
The Dan Bongino Show
Milton Friedman: How the Government Spends Other People's Money
"Their own prosperity I want you to listen to this this is the greatest explanation of why government is just too stupid to spend people's money check this out well you know you can spend your own money on yourself and when you spend your own money on yourself you're very careful of what you spend it on and you make sure that you get the most for your daughter you can spend your own money on somebody else you give gifts to other people you take people out to dinner when you spend your own money on somebody else you're very careful that you don't spend too much you try to keep down the amount you spend but you don't worry very much about what the other fellow is getting from it you don't pay anything like as much attention to the gifts you you buy for other people as to the things you buy for yourself or you can spend somebody else's money as when you're spending the government's money i say the government's money the taxpayer's money which the government has control over now spending you're somebody else's money let's say you're spending your boss's money you're out to lunch on a expense account but you're spending it on yourself you're very careful that you get good things for your money you try to go to lunch and pick the right things but you're not very much worried about whether you get the cheapest...spent all you want...spent all you want you'll be careless now what happens when you spend somebody else's money on somebody else you're a distributor of welfare funds well you're interested in making your own life as good as you can and most people have humane instincts and want to do the best they can but you're not going to be anything like as careful in spending somebody else's money on somebody else so there are four ways in which you can spend money here's another reason that's just genius someone in the chat there thinks it's uh too complicated it's not too complicated the essence and the beauty of what he just said is its lack of complication why shouldn't we give the government any additional money than it needs to fulfill basic
The Dan Bongino Show
The Government Cannot Continue Spending the Way It Is Now
"To be straight with you about something Jim is like oh wait no I'm worried Whenever I start off with something like that you know this show the show can go any one of a thousand directions at any given moment Depends on who emailed me during the break No but seriously I need to be straight with you about something I'm very passionate about economics and finance I personally passionate I just love it I don't know why I don't know I like making money I don't know And I just started reading some books and it turned into read more books and then it turned into self help books It turned into like Friedman books and jump eater books and soul books and Hayek books on economic theories and then I started reading somehow out of the left these think about Keynes and read a great book why Kane's was wrong one of my favorite books then I went to business school and focused on finance I'm just fascinated with the plane pure numbers of economics and why people rationally try to maximize their positions in the world and how they do it by how they allocate their money Economics is called the dismal science and some of these segments people like some don't but this is a simple one Because the premise of it I'm going to start with is absolutely factually accurate We are going broke as a country And we are growing broke at a rapidly increasing rate You know herb Stein famous economist once said what can continue won't I want to state to you in unequivocal terms that the amount of money the government is spending right now In contrast to the amount of money it takes in it can't continue We are over $30 trillion in debt I want you to understand what that means
The Charlie Kirk Show
Milton Friedman's Wise Comparison: Inflation Is Like Alcoholism
"Let's play cut 39. Great wisdom from the legendary Milton Friedman played up 39. Inflation is just like alcoholism. In both cases, when you start drinking, or when you start printing too much money. The good effects come first. The bad effects only come later. That's why in both cases, there's a strong temptation to overdo it. To drink too much and to print too much money. When it comes to the cure it's the other way around. When you stop drinking, or when you stop printing money, the bad effects come first. And the good effects only come later. That's why it's so hard to persist with the cure. Why is the west been so great? A lot of reasons. One of them is delayed gratification. We used to be a civilization in a country that believed and delayed gratification, delayed gratification from how we ate, to our exercise, and how we raised our children, to how we invested, to yes, even how we appropriated money via public policy decisions. Delayed gratification is all about leaving the next generation better off. But the temptation to retire. Delayed gratification as a core value was irresistible. The leaders in the early 1990s primarily led by baby boomers, and I know I'm gonna get a lot of emails about this. I'm not blaming every baby boomer, but this is a generational fact, okay? There was a decision made in the early 1990s to retire delayed gratification and prioritize instant gratification. And it was hard to resist that temptation. The guard was dropped after the fall of the Berlin Wall. The 90s was the tech boom. It was roaring. It was the best time to be in America. The stock market just kept on going up, wealth kept on getting created. It seemed like it seemed like boom times was going on forever. Delayed gratification when it said, hold on a second. We're not going to engage in mala investment or relaxing monetary standards. And everything changed after 9 11. And again, I'm not blaming every member of the baby boomer generation, just so happens every person who made these decisions were largely baby boomers in power. And 2001, 9 11, 2001, and the Rubicon began to get crossed.
AP News Radio
Judge recuses himself from overseeing Catholic bankruptcy
"A federal judge named in an Associated Press investigation into the bankruptcy case, involving the archdiocese of New Orleans, has recused himself to avoid the appearance of a conflict. U.S. district judge Greg guidry had donated tens of thousands of dollars to the archdiocese of New Orleans, and an AP investigation found he'd been consistently ruling in favor of the church. In the case involving nearly 500 clergy sex abuse victims. A number of judges had questioned his impartiality, one legal expert Joel Friedman called it a clear and blatant conflict. Late Friday, the judge announced that he will recuse himself from the matter in order to avoid any possible appearance of personal bias or prejudice. AP's review of finance records showed guidry gave nearly $50,000 to local Catholic charities much of it coming after the archdiocese sought chapter 11 bankruptcy protection three years ago. Amid a crush of sexual abuse lawsuits. Guidry also served on the board of Catholic charities between 2002 1008. I'm Jackie Quinn
AP News Radio
The latest in sports
"AP sports, I'm sheck Freeman. I'm at my comeback by the Miami Heat who rode one of the best playoff performances of all time. Jimmy Butler had 56 points, leading the heat to a one 19 one 14 win or the NBA's overall number one seed Milwaukee Bucks. The heat trail by 14 in the fourth quarter. I think this is where all the best players they show up in their show out. And I'm not saying I'm one of those best players. I just want to be looked at, looked at as such. The heat lead the series three games the one. LA Lakers best at Memphis one 17 one 11 in overtime, LeBron James with 22 points, including the driving lamp with .8 seconds left to send the game to OT, Lakers up three games the one. The long awaited trade has happened, Green Bay Packers trade Aaron Rodgers to the New York Jets for multiple draft picks. NHL playoffs Toronto erased of three gold deficit in the third period and beat Tampa 5 four in overtime. Seattle even its series with Colorado at two games apiece after a three two overtime win. Las Vegas defeated Winnipeg four two to take a three two serious lead and New Jersey, even at Ceres with the New York rangers at two two, a three to one devil's win, the devil's Jack Hughes is pleased they were able to win both games in New York. Yeah, you could call it that was hockey, but you know, we got the one and we had a lot of belief in the room that we'd get the second one tonight. So now we're really in this thing in two two and we're really excited with where we're at. Baseball. It'll play Colorado defeat at Cleveland 6 nothing Cincinnati beat Texas 7 6 to snap a 6 game skid. Detroit over Milwaukee and Arizona down Kansas City. America league, Baltimore's one 7 in a row, 5 four over Boston. He was Tampa setting a modern day baseball record by starting the season with 14th straight home wins. They beat Houston 8 three. Toronto over the Chicago White Sox Minnesota beat the New York Yankees and Oakland down the LA angels and extra innings. National league and the braves pitcher Spencer strider took a no hitter into the 8th inning and the braves 11 nothing shut out of Miami and San Francisco blank St. Louis for nothing. The colonels continued their slow start, chuck Friedman, AP sports.
Crypto Voices
A Look Back at the Federal Reserve's Coffers
"I left off the last video, we started to talk about compound annual growth. What does it really mean? The Federal Reserve, when it opened its doors in 1914. They had 300 million or so. Dollars in total assets at the time, they did jump to a billion plus pretty soon after that after World War I and as World War I was ending. And then you go all the way out here a 108 nearly a 109 years out. And you see that as of last week's balance sheet 8.7 three $1 trillion, remember a thousand billion is a $1 trillion. How do we compare those numbers? Over such a long time frame. One way is to look at it on log scale, which we are doing, and we can start to see trends. We can see when it's gone up, down, just with our eyes. But there is, of course, a more scientific statistical way to look at this using trendlines is one, as well as percentile bands around the trendline, which I showed last video. But we can also measure the trendlines at different epochs, different periods. From here, obviously, in the Federal Reserve themselves have kind of said this, as I mentioned in the last video, Ben Bernanke told Milton Friedman that he thought they didn't do enough during The Great Depression he would never make that mistake. Again, he told Milton Friedman in the end of the 90s. Of course he did not make that mistake. He followed through with his word on certainly doing things. Once the markets were in trouble. Nonetheless, yes, the Federal Reserve balance sheet did plump here at the end of World War I. It pumped at the end of World War II. But still, we look at this period, what's called the great moderation, and then of course we have the global financial crisis, which it just goes, haywire. Trillions and trillions of dollars were printed. Again, it's not completely technically correct to say that the Federal Reserve's balance sheet equals the printing press. It's very close, but you have to look at the liability side.