March 19, 2010 Rabbi Berel Wein: The Divine is in the details JWisdom.com Stewards of sacrifice with Rabbi Sroy Levitansky (5 minutes) Caroline B. Glick: Why Obama is waging war on Israel March 18, 2010 Cal Thomas: Israel's New Enemy: America? JWisdom.com Love me not? with Rabbi David Aaron (5 minutes) Jonathan Rosenblum: Washington Throws a Tantrum March 17, 2010 Rabbi Yonason Goldson: Orwell, Santayana, and Me Jonathan Tobin: How Many Lives Is Biden's Pride Worth? March 16, 2010 Steven Emerson: Combating Lawfare JWisdom.com How to perform a miracle with Rabbi Yaakov Asher Sinclair (4 minutes) Anne Bayefsky: Behind Obama's Dangerous Overreaction on Israel March 15, 2010 The Jewish Ethicist By Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir: Father's obligations toward minor children JWisdom.com Moody, Grumpy, Irritable Children with Sarah Chana Radcliffe (5 minutes) Judith Graham: Get the whole picture before a CT March 12, 2010 Rabbi David Aaron: You CAN have Heaven on Earth JWisdom.com Manufacturing mediums with Rabbi Sroy Levitansky (4 minutes) Caroline B. Glick: The march of the Red-Green brigades March 11, 2010 Glenn Garvin: Conspiracy theories, why people believe them and how they spread JWisdom.com For Yourself, Not By Yourself with Rabbi Lawrence Hajioff (8 minutes) The Kosher Gourmet by Linda Gassenheimer : Turn leftovers into tasty New England hash Paul Richter: Biden promises 'viable Palestine' is in the offing March 10, 2010 Paul Greenberg: Death Checks In JWisdom.com How To Get A (Real) Life with Rabbi Warren Goldstein ( EXTENDED EPISODE) Paul Richter: Israel exerts soverign right to its capital as Biden looks on astounded Richard A. Serrano: 'Jihad Jane' indictment alleges threat from within U.S. March 9, 2010 Wesley Pruden: Joe's Israeli adventure JWisdom.com Free To Be (Responsibly) You and Me! with Rabbi Naftali Brawer ( 8 MINUTES) David G. Savage: Supreme Court to rule on free speech in case of soldier's funeral March 8, 2010 The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir: Make a fuss about those who cuss? JWisdom.com Finding or Losing Yourself? Here's How! with Rabbi David Aaron ( 5 MINUTES) Steven Emerson: America must learn from the UK about the future of Islamist subversion March 5, 2010 Rabbi Berel Wein: Golden Calf still with us --- except it has multiplied JWisdom.com The Limits of Eternity with Rabbi Sroy Levitansky ( 4 MINUTES) Caroline B. Glick: Biden's lost cause March 4, 2010 Alan M. Dershowitz: How About A Real Campaign Against Abuses? JWisdom.com Using Things, Loving People with Rabbi Lawrence Hajioff ( 7 MINUTES) Jordan "Gorf" Gorfinkel's Everything's Relative March 3, 2010 Rabbi S. Binyomin Ginsberg: NEVER!!! JWisdom.com Grasping The Name of Your Life Game with Rabbi Warren Goldstein ( 8 MINUTES) The Kosher Gourmet by Marialisa Calta : A cowboy's recipes for really good grub March 2, 2010 Rabbi Avi Shafran: Someone's there Diane Toroian Keaggy : Have we misunderstood Michelangelo? March 1, 2010 The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir: Lender responsibility JWisdom.com Whole in One with Rabbi David Aaron ( 5 MINUTES) Michael Muskal: Hillary meets with Israeli official, discusses gefilte fish dispute Feb. 26, 2010 Rabbi Francis Nataf: The Megilla of Spring JWisdom.com A Biblical Secret for a More Powerful You with Rabbi Sroy Levitansky ( 5 MINUTES) Caroline B. Glick: When rhetoric rules the roost Feb. 25, 2010 The Jewish Ethicist By Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir: When walking away from your mortgage is both economically sound and makes ethical sense JWisdom.com The Second Most Important Question in Your Life with Rabbi Yehoshua Karsh ( 5 MINUTES) Seema Mehta : U.S.-Israel relations raised in California's Senate race --- by conservatives Feb. 24, 2010 Rabbi Avi Shafran: The gift of the ‘prayer bomber’ Steven Emerson: Why Religious Freedom Commission is under attack Feb. 23, 2010 Dennis Prager: Government, Yes! The Divine and Parents, No! JWisdom.com The Last Laugh of Enlightenment with Rabbi Yaakov Asher Sinclair ( 5 MINUTES) Anne Applebaum: Prepare for war with Iran --- in case Israel strikes Feb. 22, 2010 Rabbi Yonason Goldson: Is it not refreshing Tiger Woods' career has crashed and burned so dramatically? JWisdom.com Esther and the third Truth with Rabbi David Aaron ( 9 MINUTES) Kelly Brewington: Going smoke-free may raise diabetes risk Feb. 19, 2010 Rabbi David Aaron: Is the Divine beyond us or within us? JWisdom.com Olympic Faith with Rabbi Sroy Levitansky ( 5 MINUTES) Caroline B. Glick: Israel and the West are perpetrators of a myth that endangers the Jewish State Feb. 18, 2010 Cal Thomas: Who is Rashad Hussain? JWisdom.com A Wedding Disaster to Remember with Rabbi Y.Y. Rubinstein ( 3 MINUTES) Everything's Relative By Jordan "Gorf" Gorfinkel : The altruist in hell Feb. 17, 2010 The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir: Entitlement Vs. Charity JWisdom.com Think your life is messed up? with Rabbi David Aaron ( 11 MINUTES) Greg Logan: 'Greatest Jewish sporting event of all time since David versus Goliath' may be postponed because of bar mitzvah Feb. 16, 2010 Anya Martin : Boy's 'cerebral palsy' fixed with diet JWisdom.com Feet On The Street Spirituality with Gavriel Aryeh Sanders ( 8 MINUTES) Marty Peretz: Let Europe Mind Its Own Business. It Brings Nothing To The Table Save For Mischief Feb. 15, 2010 Herb Geduld: Lincoln and the Jews JWisdom.com Are Our Children Really Ours? with Rabbi Mordechai Becher ( 5 MINUTES) Susan King: 'Wolf Man' reflected writer's wartime Jewish experience

Jewish World Review Nov. 27, 2006 / 6 Kislev 5767 Slurs merit ire, not laws By Clarence Page http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | Until his racist rant at a Los Angeles comedy club threw his faltering standup comedy career onto a bonfire of insanity, Michael Richards was best known to millions as The Guy Who Used to Play Cosmo Kramer on "Seinfeld," which was one of the most popular shows in TV history. Now he's known as the mixed-up weirdo who gave Americans something besides sports and the mid-term elections to talk about over Thanksgiving dinners. By now you know the story: A raging Richards was caught on somebody's video camera spewing the N-bomb and making obscene references to lynching in response to some black alleged hecklers in his audience on a recent Friday at Hollywood's Laugh Factory. When the remorseful Richards later apologized ("I'm very, very sorry") on CBS' "Late Night with David Letterman," even he seemed to disbelieve his own denials of racism. "I'm not a racist, that's what so insane about this," he said in a rambling satellite interview. "And yet it is said. It comes through, it fires out of me and even now in the passion that's here as I confront myself." His passive voice ("…It is said.…") sounded as unconvincing as President Ronald Reagan's saying, "mistakes were made" to disassociate himself from the Iran-Contra fiasco. Richards sound like a man trying desperately to disconnect himself from something for which he and only he stands accountable. His apology to "Afro-Americans," a term not much heard since the 1960s, revealed a man oddly out of touch with cultural currents, especially for an aspiring standup comedian. Yet, if being out of touch on race were a crime, the world would not have enough jails to hold all of the offenders. With that in mind, one hopes that Richards will not be alone in using this incident as a learning experience, although I'm not expecting miracles. The progress we have made from the era of lynchings to the era of racial bridge-builders like Bill Cosby, Barack Obama and Oprah Winfrey fools too many people into thinking our racial divide has been closed — until an ugly surprise like Richards' toxic tirade erupts. Instead of a learning experience, celebrities caught in such eruptions tend to do what Richards has done: They hire a spin doctor. Richards has hired Howard Rubinstein, a big-time crisis manager aptly described by The Washington Post's Lisa de Moraes as "The go-to guy for celebrities who have really stepped in it." Rubinstein, in turn, helped arrange apologetic phone calls by Richards to the go-to guys for big-time black rage, the Reverends Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton. Rev. Jackson has been talking to members of Congress about prohibiting the use of hate language in mass media, according to CBS-owned WBBM-TV in Chicago. If so, let us hope those talks don't get far. It's easy to agree with Jackson that hate speech divides society and can lead to violence, but if we let Congress decide which speech is hateful and what isn't, a lot of comedy clubs would be put out of business. And that's not all. Everything offends somebody. Imagine the repercussions for TV shows like BET's "Comic View" or HBO's "Def Comedy Jam" that feature black standup comedians. I've heard from readers, for example, who are offended when black standup comics on TV poke fun at whites, Hispanics or Asians in their audiences. From the black cultural point of view, such a good-natured call-out can defuse racial tensions. But, to some white folks and others viewing at home, it's hate speech. The same caution should greet the looming legal actions that two alleged black male targets of Richards' wrath might take. They've hired celebrity attorney Gloria Allred, the go-to woman for newsmakers with an actionable gripe. In a CNN appearance with her clients, Allred said they deserve compensation for the emotional pain they suffered. If so, I shudder to think where that could end. Current hate-crime laws add penalties to assault and other serious crimes if the offender's speech indicates they were motivated by hate. But, if abusive speech is grounds for a lawsuit without physical damage, the biggest laughs will be coming from lawyers. Meanwhile, Richards is living with his own punishment, properly condemned by the court of public opinion. Even his hip and edgy comrades in comedy are acknowledging that there still are lines of decency that none of us should cross. Among the offended is the real Kenny Kramer, on whom Richard's character was based. "Use some of that 'Seinfeld' money to buy yourself an act!," he advised. Right. Try some anger-management therapy, too. Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in 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 © 2006, TMS

Arnold Ahlert  Mitch Albom  Michael Barone   Dave Barry  Tony Blankley  Andy Borowitz  David Broder  Stratfor Briefing  Mona Charen  Linda Chavez  Ann Coulter  Greg Crosby  Larry Elder  Suzanne Fields  John Fund  Frank J. Gaffney  Lloyd Garver  Jonah Goldberg  Julia Gorin  Jonathan Gurwitz  Paul Greenberg  Lewis Grossberger  Victor Davis Hanson  Froma Harrop  Betsy Hart  Nat Hentoff  David Horowitz  Laura Ingraham  Cheri Jacobus Jeff Jacoby  Paul Johnson  Jack Kelly  Ed Koch  Ch. Krauthammer  Michael Ledeen  John Leo  David Limbaugh  Kathryn Lopez  Rich Lowry  Michelle Malkin  Jackie Mason  Dick Morris  Bill O'Reilly  Jim Mullen  Clarence Page  Kathleen Parker  Dennis Prager  Wesley Pruden  Tom Purcell  Jonathan Rauch  Celia Rivenbark  Robert Robb  Cokie & Steve Roberts  Pat Sajak  Debra J. Saunders  Culture Shlock  Roger Simon  Michael Smerconish  Thomas Sowell  Mark Steyn  John Stossel  Cal Thomas  Bob Tyrrell  Diana West  Dave Weinbaum  George Will  Walter Williams  Byron York  Mort Zuckerman  Robert Arial  Chuck Asay  Baloo  Chip Bok  Dry Bones   Lisa Benson  John Branch  Gary Brookins  John Cole  J. D. Crowe  John Deering  Brian Duffy  Everything's Relative  Mallard Fillmore  Jake Fuller  Bob Gorrel  Joe Heller  David Hitch  Jerry Holber  Steve Kelley  Jeff Koterba  Dick Locher  Chan Lowe  Ranan R. Lurie  Jimmy Margulies  Rick McKee  Michael Ramirez  Kevin Siers  Jeff Stahler  Ed Stein  Danna Summers  John Trever  Gary Varvel  Kirk Walters  How 2  Lori Borgman  Elder matters  Fixit  Dr. Peter Gott  GET A JOB! by Marty Nemko  Richard Lederer  Tech Maven  Every Monday Matters  Nutrition Myths  Bookmark These  Bruce Williams  How Stuff Works