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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

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 Oct. 4, 2006 / 12 Tishrei 5767

Oprah, Obama and the leadership gap

By Clarence Page


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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | It's official: Oprah Winfrey refuses to throw her own bonnet into the ring as a presidential candidate, but she's more than happy to push her senator, Illinois Democrat Barack Obama, for the job.


That's what she told Larry King on his CNN program last Monday. But, if Winfrey thinks she can defuse the draft-Oprah movement, such as it is, she's probably mistaken. There are forces larger than even Ms. O's charismatic popularity at work here.


By week's end, for example, Internet sites were offering "Oprah Obama '08" trucker hats, tote bags and other paraphernalia. If nothing else, the T-shirt and bumper sticker industries will keep hope for the two big O's alive.


So, alas, will the insatiable 24-hour appetites of cable TV, talk radio and other media. "The media only care about Obama because he's black," say a few one-liner e-mails that I have received from unimpressed readers. Well, as the young folks say, duh-uh!


Or, as older folks say, you have a keen grasp of the obvious.


Yes, friends and neighbors, Obama is black or, more precisely, the famously half-black son of a Kenyan father and a Kansas mom. But our curiosity should only begin with the realities of race, not end there.


The truly intriguing question is, why do so many Americans get all warm and excited over the prospect of a viable black presidential candidate?


We've seen serious draft movements rise up in both parties and among moderates over the past decade for Obama, Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice. We saw the neo-liberal Washington Monthly catch the temperature of the times by urging Democrats in early 2005 to consider Bill Cosby: "A successful, much-loved black man touting education and family-values—What's not to love?"


Now Oprah? Patrick Crowe, a retired Kansas City math teacher and former car wash owner, has been promoting a draft-Oprah movement for years. Hardly anyone noticed until Winfrey's lawyers did him the favor of threatening to sue him if he didn't stop using their client's name on his Web site. Up stepped Lady O, who admonished her lawyers to leave that dear man alone. She was flattered by Crowe's attention, she said, as if no one had been paying attention to her before.


But why the frenzy to draft Oprah and the rest?


Celebrity star power matters. Just ask California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. But with all of the political celebs who want to run for office, why all the fascination with the above-listed stars who don't?


Another reason: Symbols matter. I was surprised by several angry e-mails after I referred to Powell and Rice as important "symbols" of America's racial progress. "They're not 'symbols,'" my readers said defensively, as if I had said "tokens," which would mean they were not qualified for their jobs. Quite the contrary, it is their impressive qualifications for their jobs that makes them important symbols of progress, regardless of how you feel about their politics.


Obama's 2004 Democratic National Convention speech lit a fire under Democrats by giving them their own Colin Powell, a new face who offered a refreshing mix not only of races and cultures, but also of liberal ideas with traditional values.


Of course, the irony is that the quest to elect a symbol of how America has moved beyond race means that Obama, Rice, Winfrey, Cosby, etc., must be judged at least in part on the color of their skin, not the content of their character, as Martin Luther King Jr. dreamed. This effectively reduces them into something less than the individuals they strive to be. Such are the ways of modern politics, which pit one media-created image against another. But they also help explain why Obama, among others, has good reason to avoid jumping into the presidential ring too soon, if at all.


Which leads to my third explanation for the excitement surrounding Obama, Powell, Winfrey, etc.: Widespread disappointment with the current lineup of likely 2008 presidential candidates.


Democrats fear their current frontrunner, New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, won't cross over well to crucial moderates. Arizona Sen. John McCain, the Republican frontrunner, faces his biggest hurdle with conservatives in his own party's base.


Behind this disappointment I detect a national yearning for a truly transformational leader, the sort of leader who not only manages daily problem-solving but actually transforms the times in which we live, as Ronald Reagan did from the right or John F. Kennedy from the left. Instead, we see a lineup of "transactional leaders," fixated on short-term remedies and surrounded by spin doctors to prevent them from digging deeper holes for themselves.


The speech that launched Obama to stardom contained an important element of transformational leadership. The first President Bush called it "the vision thing." It matters a lot more than skin color.

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