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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 June 16, 2010 / 4 Tamuz 5770

A rightward sequel to Year of the Woman?

By Kevin Ferris



http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | "In this season of discontent, it will be women who can transform the national rage and demoralization into hope."

Sounds like a potential campaign slogan for Meg Whitman, the newly anointed Republican gubernatorial candidate in California. Or Carly Fiorina, now the Golden State's GOP Senate candidate. Or Nikki Haley, who won the most votes in South Carolina's Republican primary for governor.

Actually, it's a line from a column written for this page by Patricia Ireland, president of the National Organization for Women. Publication was on May 13, 1992 — in YOW, the Year of the Woman.

YOW is on people's minds after last week's primaries featuring Whitman, Fiorina, and Haley. And Sharron Angle, who will take on Sen. Harry Reid in Nevada. And hundreds of other Republican female candidates.

Will this be a sequel with a rightward twist? As in, YOW II: Rise of the Conservatives?

Clearly it's a different time. There was a recession then, but nothing to equal today's problems. And that era's war in Iraq was mercifully brief. One common thread, though, is anger.

Then, all the rage was about — as Ireland put it — "the nomination of Clarence Thomas (to the Supreme Court) and the horrid treatment of Anita Hill by the Senate Judiciary Committee — comprised of 14 white males." (Two of those guys were Joe Biden and Arlen Specter.)

Stories of the time say the committee hearings outraged women and "galvanized" them to seek office. They were sick of being on the outside, ignored by out-of-touch, nonresponsive incumbents.

Those times were "vastly, vastly different," the current president of NOW, Terry O'Neill, told me last week. "That was really a moment when women claimed their power. Women were indignant about the trashing of a woman who had dared to come forward and tell the truth about Clarence Thomas."

In contrast, O'Neill said, this year "an enormous number of women are running who are not friendly to women's equality and are not supporters of women's rights."

That's one side. Sarah Palin, whose endorsement boosted Fiorina, Haley, and others she has dubbed "mama grizzlies," has said she sees an "emerging, conservative, feminist identity" — not at all what the boosters of the first YOW had in mind.

Then — as now — one concern was the low numbers of women in elected office. In 1992, 30 women served in Congress — two in the Senate and the rest in the House. Today, there are 90 women in Congress — 17 in the Senate and 73 in the House. Of that number, Republicans hold 21 seats — four in the Senate and 17 in the House. (These statistics and more can be found at the Center for American Women in Politics website, www.cawp.rutgers.edu.)

No one was calling '92 the Year of the Liberal Woman, but that view dominated. Ten of 11 Senate hopefuls that year were Democrats, as were 71 of 108 House candidates. The bulk of the coverage went to liberals: Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein in California, Carol Moseley Braun in Illinois, Patty Murray in Washington, and Lynn Yeakel, who challenged Specter in Pennsylvania.

Hoping to correct that ongoing imbalance is Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the Susan B. Anthony List, a fund-raising organization for pro-life candidates that emerged in reaction to the first YOW.

"It became clear that we had to create a machine for pro-life women running for office," Dannenfelser says.

What began as a start-up in Dannenfelser's home has grown to the point that she expects to raise $12 million for candidates this year from the group's 280,000 members and activists. They raised $7 million in '08, she says.

She credits President Obama for that recent growth, particularly the abortion planks of health-care legislation, which outraged conservatives and — shades of '92 — galvanized women to run for office. SBA List and others were ready to help with fund-raising, and, unlike in the past, there was a strong farm team of female candidates to back. For example, Whitman and Fiorina were CEOs. Haley and Angle have legislative experience.

The money and solid candidates are essential. Anger can be a catalyst but isn't enough to sustain a movement or a campaign. A single social issue might motivate some voters but won't necessarily inspire others who are more worried about their jobs and the economy.

So while the comparisons between YOW I and II are inevitable, don't get carried away with the imagery. Ireland was wrong. Women didn't "transform the national rage and demoralization into hope." They did OK in '92, but just two years later, voters sent a very different group of women and men to Congress. The next transformation will certainly include some of the GOP women in the spotlight last week, but they won't be alone.

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

Comment by clicking here.

Kevin Ferris is commentary page editor of the Philadelphia Inquirer.



Previously:


03/11/10: Dems silent on health-bill concerns
03/03/10: More than an angry mob
02/17/10: A summit for the rest of us
02/08/10: A moving tale of detainee shuffle
01/27/10: Standing for more than ‘No’
12/24/09: A duty, an honor that grows and grows
11/12/09: Obama should heed his own lofty words
11/05/09: Getting well, helping others
10/01/09: Helping the fighters thrive
09/03/09: Holder needs to explain dismissal of Philly case
08/19/09: Rage understandable, but what comes next?
08/05/09: A few words, and then some, from the Obama Center
04/29/09: Pity for ‘tortured’ terrorist?
04/22/09: For good or ill, to be a public figure is to have your image used and abused
03/11/09: GOP lacks leader but has potential
03/05/09: A dangerous naivete in foreign policy
02/25/09: Beware ‘dialogue’ on race
12/29/08: ‘Chicago II’: A governor's story
12/11/08: Operator: Welcome to transition hotline
12/03/08: How Obama will fight a growing front in Afghanistan
11/25/08: GOP ahead of curve for change
11/13/08: Prayers for President-elect Barack Obama
10/03/08: Obama's lowball attacks: Suggesting that McCain is a bigot runs afoul of the high-minded ‘unity’ tripe
09/06/08: It's unlikely that a President McCain would be driven by political ideology
09/04/08: Bold McCain will sharpen the contrasts

© 2008, Philadelphia Inquirer Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services

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