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May 25, 2012
Mark Clayton: Is Hillary's State Dept. hacking Al Qaeda? Not quite
Erika Bolstad: Temple cancels Wasserman Schultz speech
The Kosher Gourmet by Ethel G. Hofman: The former president of the International Association of Culinary Professionals, whose members included the likes of Julia Child, is back with contemporary Shavous cuisine: Ruby Fruit Soup, Sweet Noodle Kugel with Cheese, Key Lime Curd, Calsone Casserole Frittata with Wild Mushrooms, Sun-dried tomatoes and Olives, Baked Tilapia with Pepper Cheese Cream and Brown Sugar Shortbread
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
Mary Beth Franklin: How to Choose the Right Annuity for You
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
July 31, 2009
10 Menachem-Av 5769
A Shooting Star Dims
By
Suzanne Fields
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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
Barack Obama was a rock star on the campaign trail and his aura
went undimmed in his first few months of office. But then he began taking
too many curtain calls. The applause subsided, but he kept coming back to
center stage to try harder to wow us. He forgot what every star must learn,
that you've got to know when to get off that center stage. If you don't have
anything new to say, shut up. This applies even to presidents.
He's reaching for applause lines with the same ol' same ol'. So
his poll numbers begin to shrink. He pushes, and pushes, a flawed health
care scheme without having anything new to add. Then he goes off script to
accuse the Cambridge, Mass., cops of behaving "stupidly" in the arrest of
professor Henry Louis Gates, and loses the applause of fans in the second
balcony.
When Obama replaced George W. Bush as the top banana, his speech
if not his politics was dramatically refreshing. We were relieved to listen
to someone who wouldn't muff his lines, miss a cue or garble the English
language. Even those who disagreed with what the new president had to say
appreciated his speechifying skills. We became a collective version of
Moliere's "Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme," delighted to discover a leader who
could speak prose.
But we also discovered that a golden-tongued devil could deceive
us with the alchemy of smooth talk at a time when we need straight talk.
Great rhetoricians inevitably betray a weakness, small though it may be.
That's why the poet John Milton gave Satan the best lines, sprinkled with
vivid similes and sparkling metaphors, in "Paradise Lost." All the better to
deceive. By comparison, God in His heaven is plain to the point of boring,
but the smart reader gets the divine meaning.
Nobody likes being deceived. When the Congressional Budget
Office said Obama's health care numbers were wrong and his scheme would cost
a lot more than we had been told, some of us grew suspicious. When the
accountants at the celebrated Mayo Clinic said the cure was worse than the
disease, more of us decided that we didn't want the president's medicine.
When the Blue Dog Democrats vowed not to be rushed to such an important
decision, a lot more of us began to listen closely to other sides.
The Clinton administration knew Hillarycare would be a tough
sell, so they kept it secret while they worked on it. That scheme crashed,
anyway, when we discovered that it would make health care worse, not better
but more elusive. The Obama administration has gone to the other extreme,
turning it over to Congress where everybody wants to get an oar in, and
we're frightened on a daily basis. Meanwhile, the president keeps repeating
his defensive rhetoric, defying the drip, drip, drip of hard, cold facts.
His health care scheme promises change, but it's hard to see how both
quantity and quality of care will not be compromised. Can the president
deliver both? He no longer sounds like a man who thinks he can.
The frightening facts are sometimes subtle and can't be found in
presidential press conferences. Will the new emphasis on bureaucratic
control mean that the medical schools will attract mediocre applicants from
a diminished pool of bright young men and women, who are willing to enter a
profession that will tie them up in a tangle of endless red tape? Does it
mean that the scientists who've produced miracle drugs through a capitalist
system, which rewards accomplishment, will take their inventiveness
somewhere else? As old people increasingly outnumber the young, will health
care be increasingly perceived as an expensive burden to be avoided?
There's another wrinkle that's difficult to straighten out. The
push to require giving insurance to people regardless of pre-existing
medical conditions may lead young men and women to opt out of paying for
health insurance, until they find themselves with a medical condition that
requires expensive care. They'll risk gambling that they can pay for it
themselves when they need it.
The president likes golf because the greens provide refuge from
the public. Just as he wants to get away from us, more of us feel the urge
to get away from him. Too many press conferences and speeches without
anything new to say bores us, too. While he works on his backswing and short
putts, he might think about the tough questions that so far he can't answer.
He can take his time getting back to us.
Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in the media and Washington consider "must-reading". Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.
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Suzanne Fields Archives
© 2006, Creators Syndicate, Suzanne Fields
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