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June 17, 2013

Rabbi Simcha Weinstein: Black to the Future: American Apparel Gets Biblical

Patrik Jonsson: Minnesota Nazi: How did Nazi hunters miss Michael Karkoc?

Kate Irby, Ali Watkins, Trevor Graff and Kevin Thibodeaux: All the ways you're being watched
Don Lee: G-8 meeting will test NSA leaks' effect on U.S. influence

Patrik Jonsson: Fort Hood shooting: Judge nixes Nidal Hasan defense strategy. What now?

Stacey Burling: Why the stigma for migraine sufferers?

The Kosher Gourmet by Lisa Abraham: Does it work? 5 new kitchen gadgets put to the test

June 14, 2013

Rabbi Abraham J. Twerski: A spiritual budget: Religious economics and being a ruler

John P. Martin: Hitler insider's missing diary found

Matt Pearce: NSA surveillance disclosure could affect court cases
Peter Tinti: US bounties changes strategy on (Wild, Wild) West African jihadis

Daniel Pendrick, M.D.: Memory loss? Old age may be the least of it

Lauren F. Friedman: But it's all natural! Should we have an instinctive preference for herbal remedies?

Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom : Streisand and Alicia Keys in Israel; "Girls" Stuff; Mel Brooks, Another TV special; Superman (who is Jewish) returns --- Israeli plays his mom

The Kosher Gourmet by Sharon K. Ghag : Bored with salad? Bling it up a bit (4 effortless recipes that will result in a 'WOW!')

June 12, 2013

Stephanie Hanes: Little girls or little women? The Disney princess effect

Fred Weir: In tweak to US, Russia would 'consider' asylum for Snowden

Sharon Palmer, R.D.: What's so special about Omega-3 supplements?
Morgan Housel: What newspapers were saying when you should have been buying

Pete Spotts: How cockroaches evolved so as to bypass 'roach motels'

The Kosher Gourmet by Anjali Prasertong: Deep-dish cookie: Warm, gooey and a little over the top

June 10, 2013

Joseph A. Slobodzian: Faith healing and third degree murder: Thorny legal case
Lindsay Wise: Few options for online users to avoid spying, experts say

Sharon Palmer, R.D.: There are plenty of nutritional food bargains out there
Harvard Health Letters: Can bariatric surgery control diabetes?

Zach Murdock: Superglue helps doctors save infant's life

The Kosher Gourmet by Celebrated chef Mario Batali : As good as grilling gets: Rib eye with dry mushroom spice rub

June 7, 2013

Rabbi David Aaron: Beating jealousy

Caroline B. Glick: Wounded . . . and dangerous

Clifford D. May: Al Qaeda vs. Hezbollah
Harvard Health Letters: Fighting back against allergy season

Kimberly Lankford: Grandparents who use FSA to cover grandkid's braces and other must-know info

Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom:J ewish Tony Nominees/Tony Awards; Jewish Teen Actor In Sci-Fi Flick; Jewish singer in "Voice" finals

The Kosher Gourmet by Anjali Prasertong: A tart filling so good it might not make it to the crust

June 5, 2013

John Rosemond: Mom, Dad: Talk More and listen less

Kristen Chick: Egypt court sentences 43 pro-democracy workers to prison

Sharon Palmer, R.D.: Mushrooms Have Medicinal As Well As Culinary Value
Morgan Housel: Why you never learn from your investment mistakes

Don Lee: In China, kindergarten rivalry takes deadly turn

The Kosher Gourmet by Sara Kate Gillingham-Ryan: 30-Minute Coq au Vin isn't a dream

June 3, 2013

Molly Hennessy-Fiske: Military judge to consider letting Fort Hood shooting defendant represent himself

Richard A. Serrano: Pvt. Bradley Manning's WikiLeaks trial also a test for government

Mark Trumbull: Have degree, driving cab: Nearly half of college grads are overqualified
Kim Lankford: What to do when long-term care insurance premiums rise

Deborah Netburn: Study: Adults' mouth bacteria may help babies

Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom: Jewish Contestant on 'The Voice'; Will Smith's 'Jewish movie family'; Bravo Gives Long Island Jews the Jersey Shore Treatment; Magicians and More

The Kosher Gourmet by Bill Ward: How to be as refined as the wines at a wine tasting

May 29, 2013

Andrew Connelly and Helene Bienvenu: The Little Synagogue that Refused to Die

Dennis Prager: The 'Muslims-Killed-by-the-West' Lie

David Clark Scott: Open war on teachers?
Morgan Housel: If you know only five things about investing, make it these

Sara Reardon: AGenome detectives change the donation game

Deborah Netburn: A one-way ticket to Mars? 78,000-plus and counting apply by video

The Kosher Gourmet by Bev Bennett: CHEDDAR AND CHERRY MUFFINS --- your mouth is already watering

May 24, 2013

Rabbi Tzvi Hersh Weinreb: When I didn't so 'humbly disagree'

Caroline B. Glick: Thank you, Hafez al-Assad

Diana West: From the Brooklyn Bridge to London
Morgan Housel: Why spotting bubbles is so much harder than you think

Environmental Nutrition editors: NuVal labeling to the rescue?

Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom : Memorial Day: Jews Serving and KIA in War on Terror; Liberace Bio-Pic; Jew Wins "Survivor"; Shalom, Dr. Brothers; More

The Kosher Gourmet by Emma Christensen: HIDE THESE FROZEN TREATS FROM THE KIDDIES!: Sangria pops; Irish cream pudding pops; mango Lassi pops

May 22, 2013

John Thorne: They launched the 'Arab Spring' but now yearn for the good old days of a strongman

John Rosemond: 'Disciplinary math' adds up to parental successl

Warren Richey: Are prayers before public meetings OK? Supreme Court to decide
Rick Montgomery: Use of ADHD drugs as study aid raises concern on campuses

Brierley Wright, M.S., R.D.: 6 convincing reasons you should keep carbs in your diet

Eoin O'Carroll: Scientists examine nothing, find something

The Kosher Gourmet by Carole Kotkin: This soup is made from one of the great pleasures of spring: A wonderful pairing of rosy color and earthy tang

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


Jewish World Review Oct. 25, 2004 / 10 Mar-Cheshvan, 5765

In praise of inertia

By Jonathan Tobin


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Despite election hysteria, remember the real American revolution of 1800



http://www.jewishworldreview.com | With about a week to go before the Nov. 2 presidential election, the one thought that seems to unite many Republicans and Democrats is relief at the prospect that this nasty contest will soon be over.


The 2004 election will surely go down in history as one of the most bitterly fought in our country's history.


I'm enough of a student of history to know that other elections have been dirty. For example, the matchup in 1800 between Federalist John Adams, and his once and future friend — Republican Thomas Jefferson — was pretty awful; it featured false accusations that Adams was a monarchist, and smears that Jefferson had fathered children by one of his slaves. (Two centuries later, we've discovered that accusation was probably true.)


But of all the presidential races of my adult life, this one appears to be the most divisive, with the most apocalyptic rhetoric from both major parties. Why has this happened?

Maniacal extremes
On the one hand, most Democrats think the last election was stolen from them, and that the winner has launched an illegitimate war in the depths of the Middle East. On the other, many Republicans have come to view the all-out demonization of the president by the anti-war left as libelous, if not disloyal, during wartime as America struggles against Islamist foes.


These issues have poisoned the debate in a way that has reduced many otherwise sane and sober citizens to ranting nincompoops prepared to wildly accuse their opponents of everything from treason to grand larceny.


Democrats talk of President Bush as an idiot or a war-mongering tool of corporate interests who is about to turn America into a right-wing religious dictatorship.


Republicans speak of Sen. John Kerry as a leftist appeaser who would sell out U.S. security to a corrupt United Nations.


Those campaigning in the Jewish community have taken the debate over support for Israel and church-state separation to similar extremes.

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Some Democrats claim Bush will sell out Israel in his second term, and that Jewish rights will vanish in a Philip Roth-like right-wing religious dictatorship. At the same time, some Republicans claim Kerry will sell out Israel in his first term in order to curry favor with the anti-Semitic French.


It's gotten so crazy that in reading the volumes of orchestrated e-mail from radical supporters of both sides, you can often forget that there are serious choices to be made on Nov. 2.


For example, on Israel, Kerry's election will probably mean Washington will revert to the policies carried out in the Clinton administration to try and push through a peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians, while Bush will probably maintain the hands-off approach that has given Israel a green light to pursue its own vision of disengagement.


Bush and Kerry also have different ideas about whether or not faith-based charities would be funded by the government, as well as on other church-state issues.

The republic will survive
But for all of this, it may be worthwhile to take into consideration the fact that no matter who wins on Nov. 2, the republic as we know it will survive. Even if Kerry tries to imitate Clinton in the Middle East, the prospect of seeing Yasser Arafat returning to his familiar stamping grounds in the White House are virtually nil. A President Kerry may have sour relations with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, but he will be hard-pressed to rehabilitate the Palestinians. And despite his Europhile tendencies, a looming conflict with Iran may ultimately leave Kerry as disillusioned with his erstwhile pals in Paris, as Bush has been.


On Israel, Bush is no more likely to sell out Israel in his second term than he was in his first, which was won without much Jewish support. His convictions on this issue seem firm. And despite the alarmist talk coming from Democrats, four years of Republican control of the White House and Congress have not led to the repeal of the Bill of Rights — or even led to progress for Bush's faith-based charity initiative.


The point is, the genius of the American constitution is the inertia it creates. The obstacles our system of checks and balances places in the way of radical change are frustrating at times, but in tandem with the basic moderation of the American electorate, they also serve as roadblocks to extremism.


Which brings me back to Adams and Jefferson. The 1800 election bore little resemblance to anything remotely like a modern American election. Few direct votes for president were cast anywhere and after all, African-Americans and women couldn't vote, and in most states, neither could men who didn't own property. But it deserves to be remembered for reasons that have nothing to do with Sally Hemmings or Adams' predilection for suppressing dissent.

The test of democracy
Why? Because, the spirit of '76 notwithstanding, 1800 was the real American revolution. That's because it was the first time in American history that a peaceful handover of political power was accomplished.


When Jefferson won, the incumbent Federalists left Washington. They did appoint as many judges as they could in their waning days of power. But when his term ended, John and Abigail Adams packed up their duds and their accumulated grievances, and went home to Massachusetts.


Those who have followed the course of democracy elsewhere in the world know this is no small thing. Though they have been independent almost as long as their counterparts in North America, most of the republics of Latin and South America are still finding it difficult to maintain democracy. And throughout Africa and Asia in the postcolonialist period, the rule has generally been one man, one vote, one time.


So, when the results are hopefully finalized in the wee hours of Nov. 3, it's important that we honor the outcome, even if we're sore about it. Attempts to delegitimize the results in advance through wild and premature charges of fraud do nothing to preserve our freedom. Nor do we advance the cause of democracy when partisans feel free to say anything and everything about their foes in the last weeks of campaigning just because they can.


No election victory is worth compromising the integrity of the American system. That is the lesson of John Adams, who, disgruntled though he was, simply handed over the reins of power and gracefully accepted his foe's triumph.


That is a lesson this year's loser should emulate, whether his name is Bush or Kerry. It is even more important that their supporters prepare to do the same.

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

JWR contributor Jonathan S. Tobin is executive editor of the Philadelphia Jewish Exponent. Let him know what you think by clicking here.

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© 2004, Jonathan Tobin