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May 24, 2013

Rabbi Tzvi Hersh Weinreb: When I didn't so 'humbly disagree'

Caroline B. Glick: Thank you, Hafez al-Assad

Diana West: From the Brooklyn Bridge to London
Morgan Housel: Why spotting bubbles is so much harder than you think

Environmental Nutrition editors: NuVal labeling to the rescue?

Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom : Memorial Day: Jews Serving and KIA in War on Terror; Liberace Bio-Pic; Jew Wins "Survivor"; Shalom, Dr. Brothers; More

The Kosher Gourmet by Emma Christensen: HIDE THESE FROZEN TREATS FROM THE KIDDIES!: Sangria pops; Irish cream pudding pops; mango Lassi pops

May 22, 2013

John Thorne: They launched the 'Arab Spring' but now yearn for the good old days of a strongman

John Rosemond: 'Disciplinary math' adds up to parental successl

Warren Richey: Are prayers before public meetings OK? Supreme Court to decide
Rick Montgomery: Use of ADHD drugs as study aid raises concern on campuses

Brierley Wright, M.S., R.D.: 6 convincing reasons you should keep carbs in your diet

Eoin O'Carroll: Scientists examine nothing, find something

The Kosher Gourmet by Carole Kotkin: This soup is made from one of the great pleasures of spring: A wonderful pairing of rosy color and earthy tang

May 20, 2013

Richard A. Serrano: Is Meir Kahane's assassin now a changed man?

Hannan Adely: Town raises Palestinian flag at City Hall

Melissa Healy: Genetic copies of living people from embryos no longer science fiction
Morgan Housel: When smart investors do stupid things

Sharon Saloman, M.S., R.D.: Hunger games: Eat more, weigh less, without starving

Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom : Jews Inducted into Rock Hall of Fame; Anton Yelchin co-stars in New "Trek" film; Kutcher (but not Kunis) visits Israel; Jewish TV Star Praises Jewish Rap Star

The Kosher Gourmet by Cathy Pollak: WARNING: This WALNUT CAKE WITH PRALINE FROSTING, perfect for afternoon coffee, is addicting

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


Jewish World Review Nov. 16, 2006 / 25 Mar-Cheshvan, 5767

The bigotry of worn-out stereotypes

By Suzanne Fields


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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | "Americans are too racist for Barack/Americans are too sexist for Hillary." Says who? So says Benjamin Wallace-Wells, an essayist prominently displayed in The Washington Post. The headline makes the case that rednecks, male chauvinists and secret segregationists in the suburbs are insurmountable obstacles blocking the path to the White House for Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.


The Post puts no question marks after his assertions that the American public may not be ready for either of them to lead because of his race and her sex. But, perhaps thinking better of it, the Post added question marks in its online edition. But even as questions, these ideas are remnants of an out-of-date bigotry. They clearly don't apply to the senators from New York and Illinois, and there's growing evidence that they don't apply to anyone else, either.


"Recent polls have found that the percentages of Americans who say they would not vote for a hypothetical black or female presidential candidate, long formidable, have dwindled into single digits," concedes Mr. Wallace-Wells. Indeed. Stereotypes provide shortcuts for bigots, who argue with exaggeration and simplification, but neither Barack nor Hillary — to use the first name familiarity now afflicting public discourse — suffers from public generalizations about race or "gender." They have been examined and tested in the public forum.


Barack talks about himself as a walking symbol of "diversity," with a white mother from Kansas and a black father from Kenya, the triumphant example of American possibility. He's no Charlie Rangel or Jesse Jackson; it's easy to listen to him and never think of his color. He may suffer from lack of experience, but not his race.


Hillary suffered, literally and figuratively, as Bill Clinton's uppity wife in the White House, a moving political target, but she's been elected on her own in New York. It's not her sex that's a problem so much as the inconsistencies of her leaps from moderate to liberal to conservative and back again to liberal, and her obtrusive, obstreperous, philandering husband who has nothing to do now but talk, talk, talk. "Buy one, get one free" won't be a Clinton slogan for '08. Nor is Hillary a Geraldine Ferraro, who was fairly untested in the national eye when she ran for vice president on the Democratic ticket in 1984, and who was reduced to talking about her muffin recipes.


Jews are large stereotypical targets of bigots, and yet in his campaign as an independent for the Senate, Joe Lieberman suffered none of the public prejudice that often bedevils Jews. This wasn't a problem when he ran for vice president with Al Gore in 2004, either, not even among the devout secularists who thought he talked too much about G-d.


Mitch Romney, a Mormon, however, is one presidential possibility who might be vulnerable to stereotyping. The governor of Massachusetts (not Utah) could suffer the slings and arrows tossed around on "Big Love," the raunchy television drama on HBO about a Viagra-popping Mormon husband with three needy wives and lots of whining in-laws. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints no longer permits polygamy (nor does the law), though some "jack Mormons" in Arizona and Utah still practice it in remote places on the shady side of the law.


Romney ought to be able to finesse the religious issue with a Jack Kennedy-like statement: "I am not the Mormon candidate for president. I am the Republican Party's candidate for president who also happens to be a Mormon. I do not speak for my Church on public matters — and the Church does not speak for me." But the jokes, some funnier than others, would be merciless.


Are there still racists and male chauvinists in our midst? You bet. (Borat is getting rich as a make-believe bigot.) But they don't have the impact they once did. Nancy Pelosi draws attention to the fact that she's a grandmother in the House, conjuring associations that run against type in discussions of leadership. Barack Obama gives strong voice to Bill Cosby's reminders that accepting personal responsibility and civil behavior is the short route out of the ghetto, that real men prove their manhood by taking care of the children they sire. His critics sneer at Mr. Cosby as part of the "Afristocracy," the black elite, playing to the stereotypes of the racists, but both he and Sen. Obama impress everyone else as confident, competent and ready for prime time.


Confident and competent blacks and women are no longer the exceptions on the landscape. They grew up from the grass roots that gave them legitimacy based on merit and accomplishment, not appeals to pity and charity for overcoming past prejudice. The old caricatures, like the soft bigotry of low expectations, are out. They've come a long way, baby. So have we all.

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 JWR contributor Suzanne Fields' column by clicking here.

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