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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
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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
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Jewish World Review
Dec. 31, 2009
/ 15 Teves 5770
Decade of disillusion
By
Rich Lowry
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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
If the 1990s were the decade when history ended, in Francis Fukuyama's famous formulation, the 2000s were the decade it came back and human nature exacted its revenge for our fatuousness.
The 1990s were prefaced by the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, an exhilarating burst of liberty for tens of millions. In the 2000s, Russia backslid into a sullen authoritarianism, and the initially stirring liberations of Iraq and Afghanistan proved more inconclusive than advertised.
Major institutions in American life took a battering. The "voice of G0d" role of the network news anchor effectively ended when Dan Rather immolated himself with his fake Bush draft story. The Catholic Church was caught covering for priests who had abused young people. Baseball players cheated on a vast scale the names McGwire, Sosa and Bonds secured in infamy alongside "Shoeless" Joe Jackson and the league looked the other way.
Corporate America bookended the decade with the tech and the financial bubbles, giving us Ken Lay and Richard Fuld as corporate anti-heroes. A supposed pillar of the New York financial community, Bernie Madoff, turned out to be the rankest crook. The great authorities of the 1990s boom, Alan Greenspan and Robert Rubin, were diminished in the bust of the late 2000s.
Two of the Big Three car companies, Chrysler and General Motors, went on the federal dole. The highly touted financial industry its titans once the subject of worshipful coverage in business magazines nearly died in the fall of 2008, brought to the brink by its own folly. The Dow started the decade at 10,000 and ended the decade right back at 10,000.
If New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani captured the can-do spirit of the 1990s by taming the ungovernable city, California was the representative jurisdiction of the 2000s, sinking under its special-interest politics, hostile business environment and debt.
Under old management (the DeLay Republicans) or new (the Pelosi Democrats), Congress stuffed itself with pork and earned the low esteem in which the public held it. The Congress of the 1990s balanced the budget and passed one of the most successful social reforms in decades, welfare reform. The current iteration of Congress is ladling on the debt and is on the verge of passing an ungainly, poorly financed health-care bill that won't reduce costs or improve care.
Yes, the 2000s had its heroes. The firefighters running into burning buildings on 9/11. The troops fighting our wars. Capt. Chesley Sullenberger landing in the Hudson. But a motto of the decade could have been "put your faith not in men." A paragon of probity as unassailable as Tiger Woods could be exposed as something entirely different within the space of a few days.
We ran into limits, and constant warnings against excess and enthusiasms. A great human contrivance like New Orleans could nearly drown under the fury of nature. Even the best-intentioned of projects, like the seemingly unobjectionable bipartisan goal of increasing homeownership, could backfire horribly. Wielding a might unparalleled in human history, we could topple tyrannies in Afghanistan and Iraq with relative ease, but putting those societies back together again would tax us to the breaking point.
The 2000s didn't feature the convulsive internal shocks of the 1960s or the crisis atmosphere of the 1970s, when the Soviets were on the march and the economy was stuck in a stagflationary gear. But a drip-drip of disappointments made it a decade of disillusion. No wonder the national mood is characterized by doubt and anxiety, and on the right, left and in between a bristling populist spirit distrustful of established authority.
Through democratic accountability, the rigors of the market and the wide latitude liberty provides for individual initiative, the American system has always reinvigorated itself. It will again provided we don't block the wellsprings of renewal with an administrative state operating outside democratic consent, an increasingly politicized economy, and burdensome taxation and regulation. Then, we'll have cause to look back on the 2000s fondly.
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© 2009 King Features Syndicate
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