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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

The Kosher Gourmet by Diane Rossen Worthington: 'Noodles,' Asian style is a carb sub, sure. But they are also amazingly delicious and colorful

April 19, 2013

Rabbi Yonason Goldson: When violence seems the only answer

Caroline B. Glick: Why Obama's visit to Israel had no impact on public opinion or government policy

Morgan Housel: Gold collapse: The start of something big?
Harvard Health Letters: Can you die of a broken heart?

Pete Spotts: Livable super-Earths? Two candidates among Kepler's latest finds

Nora Schultz: Oxytocin helps beat booze cravings

The Kosher Gourmet by Carole Kotkin: Middle Eastern cuisine meets Italian delicious with this lentil and eggplant pastitsio

April 17, 2013

Shira Rubin: Too much of a good thing? 'Palestinians' realize downside of foreign aid boom

Geoffrey Mohan: Can computers decode dreams? Researchers take a first step

Morgan Housel: BAD NEWS: EVERYONE IS RIGHT!
Brierley Wright, M.S., R.D.: 6 heart-healthy eating tips help cut saturated fat but not taste

Michael Craig Miller, M.D.: Ask the Harvard Experts: Told your child has sensory processing disorder? Seek a second opinion

The Kosher Gourmet by Diane Rossen Worthington: Corn and Curry Add Zing to Chilled Soup

April 15, 2013

Rabbi Yonason Goldson: The Death of Education?

Kristen Chick: Egyptian Christians respond with harsh words to attack -- rocks, Molotov cocktails, and gunfire -- against main cathedral

Marcy Darnovsky and Karuna Jaggar: High Court to decide if you should own your DNA
Howard LaFranchi: US bracing for more Russian blowback after taking action against 18 more human rights violators

Kristin Ohlson : The loneliest fight

The Kosher Gourmet by Dana Velden: A tasty, rich dish that hints at spring's arrival while still anchored in a favorite winter staple


Jewish World Review January 14, 2008 7 Shevat 5768

The Not-So-Great Debaters

By Suzanne Fields


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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | Bickering, not debating, is what modern politicians do best. Consider the Thursday night Republican debate in South Carolina. Fred Thompson accused Mike Huckabee of threatening the Reagan coalition. Did not, the governor retorted. Mitt Romney accused John McCain of not feeling the pain of laid-off Michigan autoworkers. Did too, the senator replied. Rudy Giuliani does too appreciate the surge in Iraq as much as anyone else. Is this a debate, or a grade-school shouting match?


The Democrats aren't such serious grown-ups, either. Hillary Clinton, campaigning in Nevada, suggested the debate over immigration is about sex, not law and demographics. "No woman is illegal," she told a group of Hispanic voters. (Men may still be illegal.) Barack Obama turned to losers past to shore up his campaign, gushing over an endorsement by John Kerry.


But it's the Republicans who are wrestling with an identity crisis. Mike Huckabee, the surprise of the campaign, took considerable fire in the Thursday-night debate, forced into a defense of raising taxes over his 12 years as governor of Arkansas. "What I did was," he said, "I governed." To many Republican ears, that sounds too much like a liberal Democrat making excuses.


But what, exactly, is a "liberal" and a "conservative"? Who's "true" and who's not? Different definitions proliferate at different times. Definitions can be misleading because, as Mark Twain observed, "all generalizations are false, including this one." Russell Kirk, one of the founding fathers of modern American conservatism, always said he was conservative because he was a liberal, with no fixed ideology but a strong sense of right and wrong. Those are almost fightin' words in a saloon-like brawl.



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David Frum, a former speechwriter for George W. Bush, argues in his new book, "Comeback: Conservatism That Can Win Again," that the big conservative ideas of the '80s have done their job and are no longer relevant. He insists that Reagan-style tax-cutting and deregulation are for the birds flying backwards. Mantras against taxes and guns, and promises to restore traditional values, he argues, will drive away the rising generation. He prescribes federal policies to encourage larger families, hence more taxpayers, and a greener conservatism, including a carbon tax that he calls a consumption tax. "Republicans treat the coal industry with the same protective reverence the Democrats grant to their school-destroying allies in the teachers' unions," he says. This sounds to a lot of Republicans like a Democratic platform, but he scolds Democrats for their trade protectionism, state-run social welfare programs and a foreign policy that treats the United Nations as the font of international legitimacy. Democrats should understand that stuff like that won't work any better now than it did the last time.


The struggle between the parties, between the competing ideologies, is always a struggle over who controls the language. Those who control the definitions of words control the debate. In a New Criterion symposium over the future of conservatism, Roger Kimball observes that conservatives have scored points by defining affirmative action as "discrimination according to race or sex," that taxation is "government-mandated income distribution." That's why conservatives have been winning.


Liberal reforms often exacerbate the problem, running afoul of the law of unintended consequences; think welfare without strings. Welfare without strings mostly resulted in a lot of single mothers and a lot of children without fathers. The conservatives prescribed a more reflective, more prudent approach, and won the argument when Bill Clinton signed welfare reform legislation that was arguably his most important accomplishment.


The greatest difference between conservatives and liberals, a difference yet to be effectively aired out in the young presidential campaign, are attitudes toward foreign policy and national security. Asked to name their top foreign-policy concerns, conservatives invariably say, "destroying al-Qaida." Liberals almost unanimously say withdrawing from Iraq trumps everything else. Only the surge, and the improving situation in Iraq that is now clear to nearly everybody, blunted the liberal attempt to make national security the overwhelming issue of the day.


The mangled early conduct of the war in Iraq cost Republicans their historical advantage with the national security issue and made it difficult for George W. Bush to get due credit for the fact that we've gone six years without a major terrorist attack on American soil. The president can take a bit of consolation that the good news from Iraq is making the election in November about who would make the best commander in chief. Now that the surge in Iraq is working, the most important issue for voters in November should be about who would make the best commander in chief. That beats endless bickering. Somebody should tell the candidates.

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