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May 20, 2013

Richard A. Serrano: Is Meir Kahane's assassin now a changed man?

Hannan Adely: Town raises Palestinian flag at City Hall

Melissa Healy: Genetic copies of living people from embryos no longer science fiction
Morgan Housel: When smart investors do stupid things

Sharon Saloman, M.S., R.D.: Hunger games: Eat more, weigh less, without starving

Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom : Jews Inducted into Rock Hall of Fame; Anton Yelchin co-stars in New "Trek" film; Kutcher (but not Kunis) visits Israel; Jewish TV Star Praises Jewish Rap Star

The Kosher Gourmet by Cathy Pollak: WARNING: This WALNUT CAKE WITH PRALINE FROSTING, perfect for afternoon coffee, is addicting
May 13, 2013

Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo: Why the giving of the document that would permanently change the world could only be done in desolation

David G. Savage: Church-state, literally? Supreme Court weighing public school graduation in a church

Emily Alpert: Recession dragged down birth rates for less-educated women
Morgan Housel: The deep downside of home ownership

Peter Teffer: Will Dutch police soon be stalking cybercriminals on your computer?

Heidi McIndoo, M.S., R.D.: Meatless 'meat' can have its own set of problems

The Kosher Gourmet by Diane Rossen Worthington: Celebrate! This must-try appetizer is delicate yet has depth of flavor: Corn-Leek Cakes with Caviar, Smoked Salmon and Creme Fraiche

May 10, 2013

Rabbi Berel Wein: Be all that you should be

Caroline B. Glick: The dirty little secret about Israel's Arabs

Mona Charen: Hawking's Moral Calculus: The man and the movement he embraces
Morgan Housel: The biggest retirement myth ever told

Sandi Doughton: Eyes may provide new insight into brain problems

Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom : The Great Gatsby's Jewish Ties; Jews in the "Time 100 list" List; People's Most Beautiful Women

The Kosher Gourmet by Linda Gassenheimer: A sweet-hot meal: Pear salsa spices up salmon

May 8, 2013

Peter Ford: Why China is welcoming both Israel's Netanyahu and Palestinians' Abbas

Warren Richey: Obama administration quietly backs out of appeal over new contraceptive mandate

Fred Weir: At Kerry-Putin meeting, US-Russia relations thaw --- a tad
Amanda Paulson: Study reveals sad truths about community colleges

Harvard Health Letters: Evidence weak that zinc, echinacea are beneficial

The Kosher Gourmet by Leela Cyd Ross : Almost too pretty to eat, this colorful salad with Sicilian inspiration will tickle the taste buds and delight your visual sensibility

May 6, 2013

Edmund Sanders and Patrick J. McDonnell: Think Israel's objective in Syria is to weaken Assad or embolden the rebels? Think again

Brian Bennett: Israeli airstrikes may show weakness in Syrian defense

Michael Ollove: Millions of ex-felons, parolees and those on probation are about to be entitled to tax-payer paid health coverage
Karen Kaplan: Most men can skip PSA test for prostate cancer, urologists say

Kimberly Lankford: How to track down a lost life insurance policy

Dream of Mars exploration achievable, experts say

The Kosher Gourmet by Susan M. Selasky: EGGPLANT WRAPS are an easy, sumptuous and scrumptious meal

May 3, 2013

Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo: Human Courage and the Unavoidable, Disturbing Text

Steven Emerson: Attorney General Fights CAIR in Court, Lauds it in Public

Mediterranean diet helps beat dementia: study
Harvard Health Letters: When to be screened for a hearing problem

Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom : Iron Man's Jewish Connections; Marc Maron's New TV Show; Martin Landau Grows Up with Israel; Shalom, Allan Arbus

The Kosher Gourmet by Diane Rossen Worthington: A sweet surprise for Mother's Day dessert

May 1, 2013

Jonathan Rosenblum: An Improbable Journey to Orthodoxy

Jonathan Tobin: Blame Obama, Not Israel for Syria Push

Kids, kittens the Same? With employee perks at struggling Internet pioneer Yahoo! it's hard to tell
Halena M. Gazelka, M.D.: Mayo Clinic Medical Edge: What you need to know about implanted pain relief devices

Sandy Kleffman: Artificial kidney offers hope to patients tethered to a dialysis machine

Jessica Shugart: When it comes to math, MRIs may be better than IQs

The Kosher Gourmet by Mario Batali: The celebrated chef on how high-maintenance ASPARAGUS RISOTTO need not be

April 29, 2013

Roy Gutman: Poland's new Jewish museum celebrates life, doesn't revisit Holocaust

Mark Clayton: Terrorism in America: Is US missing a chance to learn from failed plots?

Kim Murphy: Boston Bomber's 'Svengali' Revealed
Morgan Housel: He's rich, smart and old: Listen to him

Thomas Salinas, D.D.S.: Mayo Clinic Medical Edge: The safety of amalgam fillings

Harvard Health Letters: Tomatoes and stroke protection

Pete Spotts: Tiny satellites + cellphones = cheaper 'eyes in the sky' for NASA

The Kosher Gourmet by Diane Rossen Worthington: Swing into spring with lemon cream pie

April 26, 2013

Rabbi Abraham J. Twerski: The world is a mirror

Caroline B. Glick: Time to confront Obama

Clifford D. May: Defense in the Age of Jihadist Terrorism
Kimberly Lankford: New strategies ease pain of paying for long-term care insurance

Howard LeWine, M.D.: Ask the Harvard Experts: Too much ibuprofen?

Sharon Palmer, R.D.: How to feel your best -- with plenty of energy, a healthy weight and optimal mental and physical function -- without driving yourself batty

Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom: Jewish Major Leaguers, 2013; New Movies and Comedy Show; Shalom, 'Lumpy' (Leave it to Beaver)

The Kosher Gourmet by Emily Ho : A bright and cheerful salad to herald the warmer months ahead

April 24, 2013

Steven Emerson: Boston Bomber Exposes Islamist Secret

Morgan Housel Admit it: No one has any idea what's going on
Harvard Health Letters: Can you get headaches from headache medication?

Kerri-Ann Jennings, M.S., R.D.: How to easily get more Omega-3s in your diet

Melissa Healy: Pot in a pill: All the pain relief without the smoke

The Kosher Gourmet by Susan Russo: Chipotle Chili Butternut Squash Soup is bold, zesty, hot

April 22, 2013

Ken Dilanian: Counterterrorism's future is unclear

US man departing country arrested on terror charges
Barbara Williams: An unorthodox but growing treatment in a 9-year-old's battle against cancer

P.J. Skerrett, M.D.: How to recognize a good whole grain product

Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom: Teen actor Jonah Bobo in New Flick: Hunky James Wolk on Mad Men; Erich Segal's Daughter Writes Prize-Winning Jewish Novel


Jewish World Review January 5, 2009 / 9 Teves 5769

Blago's revenge

By Rich Lowry


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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | The disgraced Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich refuses to obey his script. Democrats wanted to shame him into inaction until the state Legislature impeached him and this blot on the new era of Democratic politics could be erased.


But why would the intrepid Blago do that, especially when Democrats left in his hands the very power to appoint a U.S. senator that was at the root of his most spectacularly corrupt schemes? At the same time that Democrats ranted about Blagojevich's moral turpitude, they let him keep a loaded political gun and simply trusted that their admonitions would prevent him from pointing it at anyone.


Sure enough, the delightfully shameless governor strode into a press conference, waved the gun around and then blasted away — and Democrats have no one but themselves to blame. They could have taken the appointment power away from Blagojevich by passing a law providing for a special election to fill Barack Obama's vacant Senate seat. Illinois' senior senator, Dick Durbin, initially favored a special election, and Blagojevich said he'd go along.


Then, a bone-chilling realization set in — the Democratic brand in Illinois had been so sullied that a Republican might win an election. Such are the risks when consulting voters about who should represent them. Better to push Blago aside and let the Democratic lieutenant government make the selection. But the appointment power had to be preserved, lest there be no guarantee a Democrat would fill Obama's seat.


The plan worked, sort of: A Democratic has been appointed for the seat. Only the appointee is has-been Illinois politico Roland Burris, who in the past decade has spent down his reputation as an African-American pioneer in a bootless quest for high office, and the appointer is the hated governor who was supposed to do everyone the favor of disappearing.


In introducing Burris, Blagojevich implicitly chided the Legislature for not going a more democratic route: "The law requires that the governor make an appointment of a United States senator in the absence of any other law that would have given the people of Illinois a chance to be able to elect the successor to the United States Senate." On this question, Blago occupied the moral high ground against all his Democratic tormentors. If they want an appointee, he was saying (although surely in more colorful language), I'll give them an appointee good and hard.


In a devilish ploy, Blagojevich choose to play demagogic racial politics only a little more blatantly than his fellow Democrats do all the time. Since there's no better way to distract from the merits of a question than the charge of racism, Blagojevich had it at the ready.


At the press conference that was more "Saturday Night Live" than C-SPAN, Blagojevich and Burris called on the former Black Panther and current congressman from Chicago, Bobby Rush, to put it all in perspective. Pointing out that there are no black senators at the moment, Rush warned against attempts to "hang and lynch" Burris. Subtle. A few days later, Rush compared opponents of seating Burris to Bull Connor.


If this seems too ham-handed to work, think again. The New York Times reports that callers to WVON, a black radio station in Chicago, have been livid at the racism allegedly directed at Burris (by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, who opposes seating him? by Barack Obama, who backs Reid?). Speculation is that if Burris is rejected by the Senate and Blagojevich is impeached, another African-American will have to be appointed by Blagojevich's successor, in a kind of victory for the Rush/ Blagojevich racial ploy.


Reid remains stalwart about blocking Burris, whatever the legal or political complications. The Nevada senator deserves whatever discomfort comes his way, since — ever the partisan — he opposed a special election. Blagojevich has turned the partisan greed and the cynical recourse to racial politics of his own party against it, in a gross, if entertaining, spectacle. Enjoy Rod Blagojevich's revenge while it lasts.

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© 2009 King Features Syndicate

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