
 |
|
May 24, 2012
Jeff Jacoby: The peace process battered Israel's reputation
Michael Muskal: 'Pro-choice' position hits record low, according to poll
Chris Farrell: Are We in a Tech Bubble?
The Kosher Gourmet by Penelope Wall: PHILLY CHEESE STEAKS --- hold the steak!
May 23, 2012
Tony Pugh: More private colleges offering tuition discounts
Mary Beth Franklin: How to Choose the Right Annuity for You
Tina Susman: The wig wasn't enough: Man gets 13 years for posing as his dead mom
The Kosher Gourmet by Emma Christensen:A simple way to do fish right
May 22, 2012
Warren Richey: Can US group challenge overseas surveillance act? Supreme Court to decide
Thomas M. Anderson: Walking Away From a Mortgage
The Kosher Gourmet by Megan Gordon: Enjoy a celebration of the most rich and layered flavors: Black bean, sweet potato and quinoa chili
May 21, 2012
Mark Clayton: Cybersecurity: How US utilities passed up chance to protect their networks
Howard LaFranchi: NATO summit: Who will foot the bill for long-term Afghanistan security?
Chris Farrell : Earn Dividends in Emerging Markets with This WisdomTree ETF
Stephen Whiteside, Ph.D. : Mayo Clinic Medical Edge: Social anxiety disorder --- or just shy?
Guy Jackson : Victim's father regrets death of Lockerbie bomber
The Kosher Gourmet by Mario Batali: Famed chef's veal shoulder farsumagru: A festive meat course for late spring
May 18, 2012
Rabbi Berel Wein: Striving: The People of the Book's Book for (All of) the People
Steven Goldberg: 5 Great Stock Picks and the Exchange-Traded Fund that Owns Them
Mary Pickett, M.D.: Ask the Harvard Experts: Don't be forced into gluten-free lifestyle based merely on a doctor's false-positive test
The Kosher Gourmet by Carolyn Malcoun: DIY healthy lunchbox treats: HOMEMADE FRUIT BARS for kids and brown-bagging adults alike
May 17, 2012
Warren Richey: Teacher fired for being unwed and pregnant can sue religious school, court rules
Josh Mitnick: Netanyahu's 'centrist' coalition is already proving it's anything but
Steven Goldberg: Earn Dividends in Emerging Markets with This WisdomTree ETF
Amina Khan: Research links coffee to lower death rates
The Kosher Gourmet by Faith Duran : Cheesy Potato Breakfast Casserole with Cheddar and Sun-Dried Tomatoes
May 16, 2012
Carmen Terzic, M.D., Ph.D. : Mayo Clinic Medical Edge: A variety of exercises can help improve balance
Melissa Healy: National strategy on Alzheimer's disease aims to halt it by 2025
The Kosher Gourmet by Joyce White : GOODNESS GRACIOUS: GREENS! 4 winning recipes that are no longer just for down-home folks (Includes expert tips & techniques)
May 15, 2012
Kristen Chick: Obama administration resumes arms sales to Bahrain despite serious unresolved human rights issues. Activists feel abandoned
Pat Mertz Esswein: Homes are now affordable again and mortgage rates are low. What you need to know before you buy
Kathy Kristof: Our Practical Investor Fights Inflation with These 6 Investments
Sue Hubbard, M.D.: The Kid's Doctor: Lactose intolerant young child? Check again
The Kosher Gourmet by Kathy Hunt: Spread a Little Excitement with EXOTIC CONDIMENTS (4 RECIPES)
May 14, 2012
Lisa Gerstner: How to Protect Your Identity, Finances If You Lose Your Phone
Harvard Health Letters: Heart disease and dementia
The Kosher Gourmet by Megan Gordon: MANGO COCONUT OAT MORNING MUFFINS are a bright but hearty delight
May 11, 2012
Jessica L. Anderson: Get the Best Deal on a Used Car
Jett Stone: Forget face-lifts and fake knees. Scientists have seen the fountain of youth --- and it's broccoli
The Kosher Gourmet by Chef Mario Batali: The famed chef's vegetable dish that tastes true to the season: FAVAS AND SUGAR SNAP PEAS WITH POTATOES AND TARRAGON
May 10, 2012
Sergei L. Loiko: Putin sends warning to U.S., NATO in Victory Day speech at Red Square
Mary Rourke: How being a 'mentch' got Vidal Sasoon his start and fighting in Israel's War of Independence provided him with confidence and a strong sense of his own identity
Jeff Bertolucci: Get Home Phone Service for Less Than $10 a Month
The Kosher Gourmet by Betty Rosbottom: Gleaming with its golden, crimson, and snowy white hues, this silken smooth and creamy STRAWBERRY ORANGE TRIFLE looks impressive, but is easy to prepare
May 9, 2012
Sharon Palmer, R.D. How you can reduce your risk -- or delay -- chronic diseases associated with aging
|
| |
Jewish World Review
Oct. 30, 2007
/ 18 Mar-Cheshvan 5768
A season for gaffes and the goofy
By
Clarence Page
| 
|
|
|
|
http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
It's beginning to sound a lot like gaffe season in American politics. That's the time when the candidates become so exhausted from endless campaigning that their brains lose contact with the words flowing out of their own mouths.
Did somebody say "Joe Biden"?
Yes, in case you haven't heard, the Delaware senator and Democratic presidential hopeful stumbled into saying something recently that was not what he meant to say in comparing the performance of District of Columbia schools with Iowa's national famous education successes.
"There's less than 1 percent of the population of Iowa that is African American," he said. "There is probably less than 4 or 5 percent that are minorities. What is it in Washington? So look, it goes back to what you start off with, what you're dealing with."
Was he saying that the District's schools have fallen behind because they have too many black kids? Not quite, said his campaign. They quickly issued a clarifying statement later. Biden was talking about differences related to poverty, not race, the statement said. I can't speak for anybody else, but I believe him.
I'm sure that Biden meant no offense. I am also certain that he thought he was being nice to his opponent Barack Obama when he referred to the Illinois senator a few months back as "clean" and "articulate." Little did he know that his faint praise would spark a national dialogue or, in some cases, argument about what should or should not strike black ears as condescending.
As his latest embarrassing articulation faded from the headlines, Biden had a good reason to be grateful for his low poll numbers. News media pay more attention to your goofs when you actually have a prayer of winning.
That's probably why news media and the chattering classes made a bigger deal out Republican hopeful Mitt Romney's spontaneous switching of Obama's name for a similar-sounding Middle Eastern terrorist.
"Look at what Osam, uh, Barack Obama, said just yesterday," the former Massachusetts governor told Greenwood, S.C., businessmen. "Barack Obama, calling on radicals, jihadists of all different types, to come together in Iraq." Psst! Hey, governor, don't you mean Osama bin Laden?
He had it right the first time. He's fortunate the headline writers didn't re-nickname him "Muff" Romney after the slang term for a fumbled baseball.
Obama probably was not pleased, but I think candidates of all parties deserve a bit of a break. Amid the exhausting pace and volumes of verbiage spewed out during presidential campaign, we shouldn't be too quick to condemn them for blurting out something that they obviously didn't mean. Most of them provide us with plenty to criticize in the statements that they do mean.
Besides, Obama found he, too, could be caught in a crack of political correctness. Some of his top gay supporters were outraged that Obama's three-night gospel tour in South Carolina had booked Donnie McClurkin, a gospel star with an anti-gay reputation.
That's awkward. McClurkin has detailed what he calls a struggle with gay tendencies and vowed to battle "the curse of homosexuality." Gay activists wanted him dropped from the program, but that could offend a lot of the evangelical South Carolina voters Obama was trying to reach. Obama made a decision that echoed King Solomon: He announced that a gay minister would open the weekend concerts, while McClurkin would remain on the bill. As with all compromises, neither side was totally thrilled by the decision, but that's politics.
Halle Berry, by contrast, immediately tried to take back her joke, made during a taping of "The Tonight Show" with Jay Leno, that a computer-morphed photo of herself with an enlarged nose looked like "my Jewish cousin." Thinking better of it later, the apologetic Oscar winner asked that the remark be deleted before the show aired and it was. Here's a hint, Halle: Next time you want to make a joke, leave ethnicity out of it. It might not be as funny, but it's safer.
Berry's controversy pales next to conservative book machine Ann Coulter's assertions on a CNBC show that "we" Christians "just want Jews to be perfected" through conversion. She meant what she said, she said later, and most of the decent world is trying not to care. Coulter seems to make a habit of behaving like an attention-craving little kid, especially when she has one of her virtually annual books to sell. After all, it is the season for gaffes and other goofy pronouncements. She's apparently found a way to make it profitable.
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 on Clarence Page's column by clicking here.
Archives
© 2007, TMS
|
|

Arnold Ahlert
Mitch Albom
Jay Ambrose
Michael Barone
Barrywood
Lori Borgman
Stratfor Briefing
Mona Charen
Linda Chavez
Richard Z. Chesnoff
Ann Coulter
Greg Crosby
Alan Douglas
Larry Elder
Suzanne Fields
Frank J. Gaffney
Bernie Goldberg
Jonah Goldberg
Julia Gorin
Jonathan Gurwitz
Paul Greenberg
Argus Hamilton
Victor Davis Hanson
Betsy Hart
Ron Hart
Nat Hentoff
Marybeth Hicks
A. Barton Hinkle
David Horowitz
Jeff Jacoby
Renee James
Paul Johnson
Jack Kelly
Ed Koch
Ch. Krauthammer
Michael Ledeen
John Leo
David Limbaugh
Kathryn Lopez
Rich Lowry
Michelle Malkin
Jackie Mason
Ann McFeatters
Dale McFeatters
Dana Milbank
Jeanne Moos
Dick Morris
Jim Mullen
Deroy Murdock
Judge A. Napolitano
Bill O'Reilly
Kathleen Parker
Star Parker
Dennis Prager
Wesley Pruden
Tom Purcell
Sharon Randall
Robert Robb
Cokie & Steve Roberts
Heather Robinson
Pat Sajak
Debra J. Saunders
Martin Schram
Culture Shlock
David Shribman
Roger Simon
Michael Smerconish
Thomas Sowell
Ben Stein
Mark Steyn
John Stossel
Cal Thomas
Dan Thomasson
Bob Tyrrell
Ben Wattenberg
Diana West
Dave Weinbaum
George Will
Walter Williams
Byron York
ZeitGeist
Mort Zuckerman

Robert Arial
Chuck Asay
Baloo
Chip Bok
Dry Bones
Lisa Benson
John Branch
John Cole
J. D. Crowe
John Deering
Brian Duffy
Everything's Relative
Mallard Fillmore
Glenn Foden
Jake Fuller
Bob Gorrel
Walt Handelsman
Joe Heller
David Hitch
Jerry Holbert
David Horsey
Lee Judge
Steve Kelley
Jeff Koterba
Dick Locher
Chan Lowe
Jimmy Margulies
Jack Ohman
Michael Ramirez
Drew Sheneman
Kevin Siers
Jeff Stahler
Scott Stantis
Ed Stein
Danna Summers
John Trever
Gary Varvel
Kirk Walters
Dan Wasserman

Mr. Know-It-All
Ask Doctor K
Richard Lederer
Frugal Living
Tech Maven
On Nutrition
Bookmark These
Bruce Williams
|