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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 Nov. 2, 2005 / 30 Tishrei, 5766

Trading political know-how with extremism

By Kathryn Lopez


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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | Minutes after Harriet Miers' withdrawal as the nominee for Associate Justice to the Supreme Court was publicly announced, conservatives who opposed the nomination based on principle (count me among them) were being tagged as "extremists" by the political right and left.

After a few weeks of right-on-right debates, there was some comfort to be taken in the partisan planets being placed back onto their axes. At least the political enemies were clear again, right? NARAL Pro-Choice America ominously warned of the "right wing's real agenda," which roughly translates to this: conservatives want a nominee who won't legislate from the bench or protect a right they believe judges wrote into the Constitution in the first place (Which — sorry, NARAL sisters — seems like a fair political position to me, one that the current president basically ran and won on).

Familiar faces, like Sen. Edward "Ted" Kennedy (D-Mass.), were out in force wearing their outrage masks. Kennedy said that "extreme factions of the president's own political party" were the only voices allowed to be heard on the Miers' pick. Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid threatened the president with fear of the right-wing reaper (those allies who couldn't get behind his Miers' pick), who would dash the president's future Supreme plans.

But the overheated rhetoric stemming from the Miers' nomination was circulating all around the political world. This was not exclusively a left-wing sport. In the early days of the doomed nomination, surrogates for the president on the right were calling conservative critics "sexist" and "elitist." Capitol Hill staff reported one White House aide patronizingly assuring them that Miers was "no slap-ass," as if critics assumed a woman would be a ditz just by virtue of being a woman. There were principled reasons to oppose the nomination. Many conservatives looked at the absence of a clear record on Miers' judicial philosophy and saw the pick as too much of a gamble, especially with a candidate who didn't seem to be Supreme Court material in the first place. Once Miers graciously withdrew her nomination, some of her campaigners claimed that she did, in fact, have the votes in the Senate. But Senate Majority Leader (and presidential hopeful) Bill Frist, who went to the White House and effectively ended the nomination, knew otherwise.

I gleaned this from my own readers' reactions. Readers on the right were far from monolithic on the Miers' nomination. The critical e-mails I would usually get from angry conservative readers suddenly echoed the ones I regularly get from liberal readers (like the many furious e-mails doused in expletives I received for my mild defense of the president's post-Katrina performance). In the wake of the failed Miers' nomination, readers sounded off with "idiot," "pathetic," and even blamed me for "destroying the Bush presidency."

This mentality is hysterical and "unhinged" politics. Michelle Malkin addresses this in her new book "Unhinged: Exposing Liberals Gone Wild" (Regnery). Malkin focuses on "Liberals who've lost their grip on sanity and reality." She writes,"From the grass roots to the top suits, Democrats have abandoned arguments in favor of ad hominem attacks and conspiracy theories."


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I've seen the unhinged at rallies. And I told you about my nasty e-mails — left and right. This is not how normal people deal with politics. On the other hand, if a quick look at many of the cable-political talk shows, blogs and congressional press gaggles is any indication, "normal" in politics is somewhat relative. It's only human, I suppose, but it's not all that constructive.

Elections are won. Supreme Court nominations fail. We move on. But why increasingly further away from civility, too? If you've got good, substantive ideas, why bury them in invective? If you don't, and insanity and anger is all you have to fall back on, you might want to reevaluate what you're standing for in the first place.

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