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May 24, 2012
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May 23, 2012
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May 22, 2012
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May 21, 2012
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Chris Farrell : Earn Dividends in Emerging Markets with This WisdomTree ETF
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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
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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
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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
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Kathy Kristof: Our Practical Investor Fights Inflation with These 6 Investments
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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
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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
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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
May 11, 2007
/ 23 Iyar, 5767
No perfect options
By
Mona Charen
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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
Rudy Giuliani, clearly uncomfortable with his performance at the first presidential debate of 2008, has elected to jettison the soft pedal on abortion. It wasn't working. He sounded incoherent or indecisive or dodgy not the traits the hero of 9/11 wanted to project.
So he has embarked on the risky, but arguably unavoidable, strategy of forthrightness. Speaking in Huntsville, Ala., the former mayor of New York declared that "Ultimately, there has to be a right to choose" on abortion the opening gambit of what The New York Times reports is a new direction for his campaign. From now on he will be frank about his pro-choice views and hazard the consequences.
It makes the mind reel to consider that the Republican Party, resolutely pro-life since 1980, could nominate a pro-choice candidate. But this is a peculiar year. Wars have a way of eclipsing other issues, and many Republican voters are more concerned about the grisly plans of jihadists worldwide than anything else.
Some conservatives and Republicans are worried that the president's low approval ratings will damage the Republican "brand" in 2008. This concern was carried into the Oval Office on May 9 when 11 "moderate" Republican members of Congress warned the president that time was running out for progress on Iraq. The more panicky Republican voters become about 2008, the better for Giuliani, right?
Perhaps. A great deal of the energy in Republican primaries has traditionally come from pro-life and traditional values conservatives. On the other hand, exit polls in 2000 showed that among Republican primary voters, abortion ranked fifth among issues important to voters (at 6 percent). In 1996, it ranked fourth. A recent ABC News/Washington Post poll reveals that only 23 percent of those leaning Republican say they could not vote for Giuliani because of his stands on abortion and gay rights. That leaves 77 percent who could.
How that will play out in a state like Iowa, which requires organization and inspired volunteers, is not clear. The Des Moines Register's David Yepsen notes that Giuliani has not done the kind of small-scale, one-on-one events political activists in the state have come to expect. "He gives big speeches and races out of town," Yepsen says. Giuliani may be guessing that with the front-loaded primary schedule next year, the small contests in Iowa (Jan. 14) and New Hampshire (Jan. 22) may not matter as much and that his time would be better spent in the big states that have scheduled early primaries like Florida (Jan. 29), and New York, California, New Jersey, Arizona and others on Feb. 5.
The Republican primary voter assuming that the field of top candidates does not change is faced with no perfect options when it comes to the life issue. Mitt Romney's recent embrace of the pro-life label is not entirely convincing. As a candidate for the U.S. senate in 1994, Romney boasted that there was no difference between his position on abortion and his opponent's (Teddy Kennedy). When he ran for governor of Massachusetts in 2002, Romney promised to leave the state's liberal abortion laws untouched.
Now Romney urges voters to believe that "In considering the issue of embryo cloning and embryo farming, I saw where the harsh logic of abortion can lead to the view of innocent new life as nothing more than research material or a commodity to be exploited." Okaaaay. Maybe it was the philosophical insight that the soul is immanent in the human form at all stages of development, or maybe it was the imminence of the Republican primaries. Who knows? Just recently we learned that Mrs. Romney (like the Giulianis) has contributed to Planned Parenthood.
Not even John McCain can boast an utterly unblemished record on life. In 2000, when asked what he would do if his daughter were considering an abortion, McCain replied that he would convene a "family conference." In 1999 he told the San Francisco Chronicle, "I would not support repeal of Roe v. Wade, which would then force X number of women to undergo dangerous and illegal operations." He clarified the next day, explaining that he has always supported the repeal of Roe. And he points to a 25- year record of pro-life votes in Congress. On the debit side, he supports using embryos for stem cell research.
Inchoate candidate Fred Thompson once filled out a questionnaire to the effect that he favored legalized abortion in the first trimester, but he now stands staunchly against abortion.
So there we are no perfect options.
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Mona Charen Archives
© 2006, Creators Syndicate
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