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Jan. 9, 2009

Rabbi Yonason Goldson: Why there's hope amidst the destruction

Martin Peretz: At War, Not at War

Charles Krauthammer: Will Olmert screw it up yet again?

Jan. 8, 2009

Stratfor Geopolitical Intelligence Report: Arab regimes secretly rooting for Israel?

Larry Elder: Israelis and Palestinians: Who's David, Who's Goliath?

Jeff Jacoby: Yes, it's anti-Semitism

Jan. 7, 2009

Jonah Goldberg: Who are the real Nazis?

Anne Applebaum: Pointless Peace Proposals

Jan. 6, 2009

Caroline B. Glick: Iran's Gazan diversion?

Dennis Prager: Dissecting Dershowitz

Jan. 5, 2009

Mark Steyn: Gaza has its version of rocket scientists

Mona Charen: The So-called International Community

Jan. 2, 2009

Rabbi Abraham J. Twerski: Having a holy tongue

Caroline B. Glick : Hamas' march to victory

Dec. 31, 2008

Dore Gold: Is Israel Using 'Disproportionate Force'?

Renee Enna:: Succulent 'stewp' is quick, easy fix

Dec. 30, 2008

Jonathan Mark: Israel's Response Is Disproportionate

Wesley Pruden: It's time once more to blame the Jews

Dec. 29, 2008

Rabbi Hillel Goldberg: Chanukah: 'Give me Judaism or give me death'

Michael B. Oren: A crisis and an opportunity

Dec. 26, 2008

Rabbi Yonason Goldson: When the past meets the future

Caroline B. Glick: Iran and Hamas do Christmas

Dec. 24, 2008

Rabbi Dovid Zauderer: Judaism's Santa problem

The Kosher Gourmet by Ethel G. Hofman CHANUKAH FORK-FINGER FOOD FEAST

Dec. 23, 2008

Caroline B. Glick: Repeating failure in Gaza

Dec. 22, 2008

Rabbi Boruch Leff: Too many Jews today are missing the intended purpose of one of Judaism's most beloved holidays

Barry Rubin: Liar, liar, pants on cease-fire

Dec. 19, 2008

Rabbi Yonason Goldson: The Final Battlefield

Caroline B. Glick: Betting on a dead horse

Dec. 18, 2008

The Kosher Gourmet by Steve Petusevsky: Juicy Chef's hella top, hella bottom, hallelujah in the middle

Craig Crossman : More gifts for geeks --- and those who love them

Dec. 17, 2008

Dion Nissenbaum: Israel kicks out outrageously biased UN official

Craig Crossman : Gifts for geeks --- and those who love them

Dec. 16, 2008

Jonathan Rosenblum: The Gift of Joy

Frank J. Gaffney, Jr.: Uncle Shariah

Dec. 15, 2008

The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir : Expert witnesses who put themselves first

Barry Rubin: What they say isn't what you hear

Dec. 12, 2008

Rabbi Hillel Goldberg: Can the Bible be a secular language?

Caroline B. Glick: What a PM Netanyahu faces from Washington

Dec. 11, 2008

Rabbi Leiby Burnham: Our role in the Divine's global corporation, World Inc.

The Kosher Gourmet by Steve Petusevsky: A retro-tasting pareve pot pie made with a light hand

Dec. 10, 2008

Rabbi Paysach J. Krohn: Groom admits he was caught "red handed"

Kara McGuire: No money for gifts? No problem

Dec. 9, 2008

The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir : Can I make my boss treat me fairly?

Stratfor Geopolitical Intelligence Report: Next Steps in the Indo-Pakistani Crisis

Dec. 8, 2008

Rabbi Avi Shafran: 'Chanukah Bush' flap and graciousness

Mark Steyn: Jews get killed, but Muslims feel vulnerable

Dec. 5, 2008

Rabbi A. Henach Leibowitz: Truth --- The Key to Gratitude

Jeff Jacoby: UN's obsession is grotesque and Orwellian

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

Jewish World Review Oct. 27, 2006 / 5 Mar-Cheshvan, 5767

The Pelosi honeymoon begins

By Rich Lowry


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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | Let the Nancy Pelosi honeymoon begin. Sure, the current House Democratic minority leader hasn't even won a House majority yet, and it is traditional for honeymoons to follow, rather than anticipate, the blessed event. But the media can't help themselves, not when they are tingling with anticipation over the prospect of a Democratic victory.


Say what you will about Pelosi, but it is a matter of record that she's far left of the center of American politics; her rating from the liberal lobbying group Americans for Democratic Action is routinely a 100 percent. That she enforces party loyalty; her Democrats voted along party lines 88 percent of the time last year, a record for the past 50 years. That she has primarily occupied herself with blocking legislation in the House; she has tried to kill practically every Republican initiative, no matter how small. That she uses tough rhetoric; Republicans are, according to Pelosi, "corrupt," "incompetent" and running a "criminal enterprise."


There's nothing wrong with any of this. Politicians should have deep convictions, and they should work to organize their party around them and to defeat the opposition. Nor is there anything wrong with sharp rhetorical elbows. But the press usually professes to like none of these qualities, and typically dubs someone possessing them as "radical," "partisan," "obstructionist" and "mean-spirited."


Instead, in a typical media treatment, The Washington Post finds Pelosi a "tough-minded tactician." She has "kept the fractious House Democrats in line." She has "thwarted many GOP initiatives" by having the Democrats "hang together." Yes, Republicans "claim" she is an obstructionist, but that's just the sort of name-calling Republicans always engage in, now isn't it?


She's definitely not "casually reckless" in attacking her enemies. Not "ruthless." Not "authoritarian." Not a "bomb-thrower." Not given to "slash and burn, knife and smear" tactics. And, of course, not "mad as hell" or riding "a surge of voter anger."


All those descriptions were applied to Newt Gingrich when he won the speakership in 1994. Now, it is certainly true that Pelosi is personally more sympathetic than Gingrich. She's much prettier, and is, by all accounts, a wonderful mother and grandmother. But the difference between the way Gingrich and she have been described in the press comes down to whether you agree with him or her — and the media take her side every time.


The media can't conceal their rooting interest in this campaign, which leads them to pursue any narrative that's damaging to the GOP, even when it contradicts other narratives damaging to the GOP. When Republicans appeal to rural, white, socially conservative voters, they are Neanderthals. When Democrats do it, they are shrewd tacticians.


When Republicans work together with the Christian right, they are true-believing, would-be theocrats. When a book comes out alleging that some Bush aides said dismissive things about leaders of the Christian right, Republicans are manipulative hypocrites.


When the Foley scandal breaks, Republicans are protective of predatory gays. When Republicans oppose gay marriage, they are anti-gay bigots.


The press hates negative campaigning, except when it comes to its own. Virginia Republican Sen. George Allen infamously insulted a worker from a rival campaign by calling him "macaca." A stupid mistake. But The Washington Post has run so many front-page "news" articles on the incident, together with editorials, columns, editorial cartoons and style-section lifestyle pieces, that the paper's ombudsman concluded, gently, that "it looked like piling on." Even after that, the paper's biographical profile of Allen — in every other instance, a fluffy piece on a candidate — made his life seem a steady stream of nothing but racial incidents.


If there is any bright side for Republicans to the media partisanship and pre-celebration, it's that they already are getting a flavor for what a Pelosi speakership will be like. If she wins a majority, conservatives will soon have buyer's remorse, or more precisely, indifference remorse, realizing that their disaffection from the GOP only empowered liberal Democrats. The ongoing honeymoon should give them more incentive to try to call off the wedding.

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Rich Lowry Archives

© 2006 King Features Syndicate

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