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Sept. 5, 2008

Rabbi Abraham J. Twerski: What does 'doing the right thing' entail?

Caroline B. Glick: The master strategist

Sept. 4, 2008

Ron Kampeas: Biden, Palin take lead in clash on Mideast issues

Bruce Dancis: With humor as their weapon, the Three Stooges took on Hitler

Sept. 3, 2008

Rabbi S. Binyomin Ginsberg: Productive school years don't just happen

The Kosher Gourmet by Linda Gassenheimer: Quick lamb stew serves up flavors of India

Sept. 2, 2008

The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir: Costly Advice

Caroline B. Glick: Calling Israel's bluff

JWisdom: Wandering in Wonder by Rabbi Mordechai Becher

August 29, 2008

Rabbi Berel Wein: 20/20 sightlessness

Caroline B. Glick: When history is not repeated

JWisdom: Blessed or Cursed: It's Really Up to You by Rabbi Sroy Levitansky

August 28, 2008

Steve Lipman: A Comeback for the 'Jewish Jordan'

Jeffrey Weiss: Researcher reports 'intriguing' diabetes breakthrough

August 27, 2008

Rabbi Zecharya Greenwald: Removing the perfectionist's mask

The Kosher Gourmet by Emily Nunn: Summer harvest linguine

JWisdom:: The Missing Link in Spiritual Life by Rabbi David Aaron

August 26, 2008

Yaffa Ganz: Grandma gets lessons in staying cool

Frank J. Gaffney, Jr.: The Dems' 'soft' jihadist

JWisdom:: Today: Holocaust in the Perspective of Faith by Rabbi Nosson Scherman: Plague of indifference

August 25, 2008

The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir: Q: A friend is bearing a silly grudge from a supposed wrong. What recourse do I have?

Daniel Pipes: Barack Obama through Muslim Eyes

JWisdom:: The knowledge you need to overcome your insecurities by Malka Schulman

August 22, 2008

Rabbi Berel Wein: Life's essential ingredient

Caroline B. Glick: Dominos anyone?

JWisdom:: Actually, Do Sweat the Small Stuff! by Rabbi Sroy Levitansky

August 21, 2008

Today in Biblical History by Rabbi Yonason Goldson: Popularization of Kabbalah: 20 Menachem-Av 1558 CE

Jonathan Rosenblum: Lessons from the Beyond

JWisdom: : The Olympian within is rooting for you -- yes, you! –- to go for the gold

August 20, 2008

Jonathan Tobin: Misleading Platform Platitudes

The Kosher Gourmet by Linda Gassenheimer: Chicken Salad with Asian Dressing

JWisdom: The Holocaust in the Perspective of Faith: America's Defense of the Jews --- Until WWII by Rabbi Nosson Scherman

August 19, 2008

Dennis Prager: If the Almighty doesn't exist

Frank J. Gaffney, Jr.: Obama's Islamist problem has nothing to do with his upbringing

JWisdom: Think your life is messed up? by Rabbi David Aaron

August 18, 2008

The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir: Business with Friends

Diana West: Roars About Russia, Bare Whispers About Islam

JWisdom: Relationship agony: The real cause by Malka Schulman

August 15, 2008

Rabbi Abraham J. Twerski: To love the Divine

Caroline B. Glick: Georgia, Israel, and the nature of man

JWisdom: The Truly Righteous Don't Demand Entitlements by Rabbi Sroy Levitansky

August 14, 2008

Rabbi Yonason Goldson: Confessions of broken spirit

Libby Lazewnik: The Numbers Game

JWisdom: Six Questions You'll Be Asked in Heaven? - Uh - Let's Just Take One for Now! by Gavriel Aryeh Sanders

August 13, 2008

Jonathan Tobin: Georgia should be on their minds

The Kosher Gourmet by Linda Gassenheimer: Go Greek: Pair flavorful lamb kebabs with a hearty salad

JWisdom: Human hybrids aren't science fiction by Rabbi David Aaron

August 12, 2008

Rabbi Avi Shafran: Bless us

Daniel Pipes: The West's Islamist Infiltrators

JWisdom: From Sadness to Gladness: The Route from Tisha b'Av to Rosh Hashana by Rabbi Mordechai Becher

August 11, 2008

The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir: A Jewish view on fair pricing

Caroline B. Glick: Ignoring failure in Gaza

JWisdom: 'Communication' Is Not The Answer! by Malka Schulman

August 7, 2008

Rabbi David Gutterman: A Continuing Story With a Sustaining Goal

Rabbi Berel Wein: Mourning and morning

JWisdom: Yes, we are still in exile by Rabbi Sroy Levitansky

August 6, 2008

David Ashenfelter: Government made military engineer's life a living hell because of his faith, Defense Department report documents

Jonathan Tobin: Speak the Truth; Defeat the Lies

JWisdom: Jewish Spirituality: Fusion or Confusion? by Rabbi David Aaron

August 5, 2008

Chris Leppek: Church/state wall beginning to crumble?

Paul Greenberg: Exit Olmert (no encore, please)

JWisdom: Serenity: Make the commitment by Rabbi Zelig Pliskin (Read by Gavriel Sanders)

August 4, 2008

The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir: Am I taking advantage of another's psychological quirk?

Andrew Silow-Carroll: A black and a Jew walk into the White House…

JWisdom: The Holocaust in the Perspective of Faith: Edward R. Morrow visits the ‘living dead’ by Rabbi Nosson Scherman

March 22, 2007

J-Rhythms with Avraham Rosenblum: JWR's cutting-edge music program showcasing performers -- singers, song writers, musicians, and bands -- who learn and live the Torah lifestyle (OUR NEWEST IGODCAST !)

Oct. 29, 2003
Mortimer B. Zuckerman: Graffiti On History's Walls (MUST-READ!)

Jewish World Review March 30, 2006 / 1 Nissan 5766

The real culprit in our worldwide image problem

By James Lileks


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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | SecDef Rumsfeld, speaking before the Army War College the other day, graded the way the United States made its case to the world on the war against Islamists. "D plus," he said. "Maybe a D."


He's right. And it's worse than he thinks. Despite the beliefs of some that the Bush team pumps out doublespeak propaganda 24/7 via Fox News mind-control rays, the administration has been unable to persuade millions of Americans that death-cult totalitarians are an existential threat to the civilized world. You'd think the case would be self-explanatory, no? Us equals democracy, whiskey, sexy, as a liberated fellow once summed it up. Them equals theocracy, blood, the burqa. Everyone clear?


Apparently not. It doesn't help that the most vocal and famous elements of the left appear less concerned about the peril posed by the raving nutters, and think Bushies have embarked on some strange, inexplicable crusade to be mean to everyone who doesn't fall down Sunday morning and speak in tongues.


American actors like Gary Busey and Billy Zane appear in anti-U.S. movies for Turkish audiences; piercing intellects like George Clooney spend their time reminding us how the corpse of Joe McCarthy is the real threat to democracy; Western "peace" activists rescued by Spec-Ops from a sword-assisted skull removal couldn't bring themselves to thank the troops, lest anyone suspect that guns might be occasionally useful after all.


You'd call them useful idiots, but it's hard to see the "useful" part.


Most telling event: Yale admits a Taliban spokesman to study in the name of understanding his cultural perspective. The military can't recruit on campus because it discriminates against gays, of course.


But you want to talk about Brokeback Mountain? It's when the government pushes a stone wall on you for being gay. If our institutions of higher learning lack the intellectual courage to tell a Taliban mouthpiece to get lost, how can we expect the rest of the smart set to make the case for the West?


Divided we may be, but that hasn't always stopped liberal democracies from presenting a united front. In World War II the left was squarely behind Hitler-whupping, because they hated fascists, and because   —   whew!   —   Uncle Joe got on the right side of that issue in the end. But the hard fuming left was a marginal element in the larger culture; isolationism on the right was perhaps a larger force. It, too, came around.


Both recognized that America, for all its flaws, was something worth defending, particularly since the alternative was an illiberal nightmare. If anyone suggested that America lacked the moral standing to face off with Adolf because some drinking fountains in the South were off limits to "Coloreds," they got a hard look and rolled eyes. Look, pal, we'll fix America after we've saved it.


That sentiment now seems rather antique.


We have an ill-timed failure of confidence in the West, just when we need to assert what sets us apart from the bloody run of human history. Old Europe has a bad case of clay feet and gives constant examples where this sort of cultural timidity leads. In his heart the average Frenchman believes his values have more to offer the world than those of an Algerian village, but he can't say so. He's paralyzed by the official dogma of cultural egalitarianism. No one believes it, but they're better people for pretending they do.


If an excitable imam of a smoldering Paris suburb demanded the use of Notre Dame to call the faithful to prayer, you suspect the French would deconsecrate the place and turn it into a dance club. (As long as no one's happy, everyone must be satisfied.) They will sell themselves the rope with which they are hanged, and console themselves with the fact that it's made of organic hemp.


And how would you grade their ability to convince the enemy they had no faith in their own civilization? A, no doubt. A plus.

Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in in the media and Washington consider "must-reading". Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.

JWR contributor James Lileks is a columnist for the Minneapolis Star Tribune. Comment by clicking here.

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© 2006, James Lileks

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