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June 19, 2013

Peter Grier and Harry Bruinius: In the end, NSA might not need to snoop so secretly after all

Howard LaFranchi: Taliban peace talks hold glimmer of hope, but also unanswerable questions

Warren Richey: Supreme Court: For right to remain silent, a suspect must speak
Meredith Cohn: Leeches are making a comeback as medical helpers

Kerri-Ann Jennings, M.S., R.D.: How to pick the healthiest breakfast cereal

The Kosher Gourmet by Cathy Pollak: Spicy Double Chocolate Banana Muffins

June 17, 2013

Rabbi Simcha Weinstein: Black to the Future: American Apparel Gets Biblical

Patrik Jonsson: Minnesota Nazi: How did Nazi hunters miss Michael Karkoc?

Kate Irby, Ali Watkins, Trevor Graff and Kevin Thibodeaux: All the ways you're being watched
Don Lee: G-8 meeting will test NSA leaks' effect on U.S. influence

Patrik Jonsson: Fort Hood shooting: Judge nixes Nidal Hasan defense strategy. What now?

Stacey Burling: Why the stigma for migraine sufferers?

The Kosher Gourmet by Lisa Abraham: Does it work? 5 new kitchen gadgets put to the test

June 14, 2013

Rabbi Abraham J. Twerski: A spiritual budget: Religious economics and being a ruler

John P. Martin: Hitler insider's missing diary found

Matt Pearce: NSA surveillance disclosure could affect court cases
Peter Tinti: US bounties changes strategy on (Wild, Wild) West African jihadis

Daniel Pendrick, M.D.: Memory loss? Old age may be the least of it

Lauren F. Friedman: But it's all natural! Should we have an instinctive preference for herbal remedies?

Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom : Streisand and Alicia Keys in Israel; "Girls" Stuff; Mel Brooks, Another TV special; Superman (who is Jewish) returns --- Israeli plays his mom

The Kosher Gourmet by Sharon K. Ghag : Bored with salad? Bling it up a bit (4 effortless recipes that will result in a 'WOW!')

June 12, 2013

Stephanie Hanes: Little girls or little women? The Disney princess effect

Fred Weir: In tweak to US, Russia would 'consider' asylum for Snowden

Sharon Palmer, R.D.: What's so special about Omega-3 supplements?
Morgan Housel: What newspapers were saying when you should have been buying

Pete Spotts: How cockroaches evolved so as to bypass 'roach motels'

The Kosher Gourmet by Anjali Prasertong: Deep-dish cookie: Warm, gooey and a little over the top

June 10, 2013

Joseph A. Slobodzian: Faith healing and third degree murder: Thorny legal case
Lindsay Wise: Few options for online users to avoid spying, experts say

Sharon Palmer, R.D.: There are plenty of nutritional food bargains out there
Harvard Health Letters: Can bariatric surgery control diabetes?

Zach Murdock: Superglue helps doctors save infant's life

The Kosher Gourmet by Celebrated chef Mario Batali : As good as grilling gets: Rib eye with dry mushroom spice rub

June 7, 2013

Rabbi David Aaron: Beating jealousy

Caroline B. Glick: Wounded . . . and dangerous

Clifford D. May: Al Qaeda vs. Hezbollah
Harvard Health Letters: Fighting back against allergy season

Kimberly Lankford: Grandparents who use FSA to cover grandkid's braces and other must-know info

Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom:J ewish Tony Nominees/Tony Awards; Jewish Teen Actor In Sci-Fi Flick; Jewish singer in "Voice" finals

The Kosher Gourmet by Anjali Prasertong: A tart filling so good it might not make it to the crust

June 5, 2013

John Rosemond: Mom, Dad: Talk More and listen less

Kristen Chick: Egypt court sentences 43 pro-democracy workers to prison

Sharon Palmer, R.D.: Mushrooms Have Medicinal As Well As Culinary Value
Morgan Housel: Why you never learn from your investment mistakes

Don Lee: In China, kindergarten rivalry takes deadly turn

The Kosher Gourmet by Sara Kate Gillingham-Ryan: 30-Minute Coq au Vin isn't a dream

June 3, 2013

Molly Hennessy-Fiske: Military judge to consider letting Fort Hood shooting defendant represent himself

Richard A. Serrano: Pvt. Bradley Manning's WikiLeaks trial also a test for government

Mark Trumbull: Have degree, driving cab: Nearly half of college grads are overqualified
Kim Lankford: What to do when long-term care insurance premiums rise

Deborah Netburn: Study: Adults' mouth bacteria may help babies

Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom: Jewish Contestant on 'The Voice'; Will Smith's 'Jewish movie family'; Bravo Gives Long Island Jews the Jersey Shore Treatment; Magicians and More

The Kosher Gourmet by Bill Ward: How to be as refined as the wines at a wine tasting

May 29, 2013

Andrew Connelly and Helene Bienvenu: The Little Synagogue that Refused to Die

Dennis Prager: The 'Muslims-Killed-by-the-West' Lie

David Clark Scott: Open war on teachers?
Morgan Housel: If you know only five things about investing, make it these

Sara Reardon: AGenome detectives change the donation game

Deborah Netburn: A one-way ticket to Mars? 78,000-plus and counting apply by video

The Kosher Gourmet by Bev Bennett: CHEDDAR AND CHERRY MUFFINS --- your mouth is already watering

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


Jewish World Review May 1, 2007 / 13 Iyar, 5767

Down to the Bijou to hiss George W.

By Wesley Pruden


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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | Hating George W. Bush is a full-time job, but it's a labor of love for most of his critics, even for those who get paid to do it.


Frank Rich of the New York Times, a perfectly nice man if you run into him at a party or at the deli, goes off his meds when he sits down to write about anyone who doesn't lust to throw a rotten egg, an overripe tomato or a shoe at the president. Frank thinks getting shot by an overeager Secret Service bodyguard, trained to rough up bystanders and ask questions later, would be a small price to pay for such a satisfying expression of hate and contempt.


He even calls up the ghost of columnist Joe Alsop ("the now forgotten columnist and Vietnam War cheerleader"), dead for decades, as an example of how the thoroughly modern media should not treat George W. and the war against terrorists in Iraq. Frank is having a hot flash because editors and reporters showed good manners toward the president at the White House Correspondents Association dinner the other night in Washington. You might think Frank's mama never taught him that you're obliged to be polite to someone you invite to dinner.


"This fete," he wrote of this year's dinner, "is a crystallization of the press' failures in the post-9/11 era: it illustrates how easily a propaganda-driven White House can enlist the Washington news media in its shows. Such is literally the case at the annual dinner, where journalists serve as the supporting cast."


Frank is not a reporter, of course, or even a journalist. He's a pundit who sees everything through the eyes of an especially bitter partisanship. He's typical of a certain kind of partisan who thinks everyone who doesn't (or can't) call up his brand of venom, spraying it at the landscape to poison anyone in the way, is a compliant enabler of evil.


Why do Frank and his friends hate George W. with such consuming passion?


We've had dedicated president-haters since the beginning of the republic Washington was reviled, Jefferson was mocked, Lincoln was ridiculed. The favorite pastime of certain Republican critics of FDR was famously portrayed in a classic New Yorker cartoon of the era: "Let's all go down to the Bijou and hiss Roosevelt." Bill Clinton was mercilessly derided for his clumsy rutting (some of it only attempted rutting) with a succession of prey ranging from doxies to thoroughly respectable women (some of them more bystanders than prospects). But much of the ragging of the 42nd president was pointed banter, not harsh scolding. The question every morning was, "What now?"


With George W. Bush, it's unalloyed hate. No doubt part of it is envy, part of it jealousy, and a large part of it rage against the new media order. The liberal left controlled the culture for decades, with the great unwashed the rednecks, the evangelicals, Joe Sixpack and his friends kept on the sidelines to be seen and not heard, to pay their taxes and send their sons to war, but never to have much say about the why and the wherefore. That changed with talk radio, the ascent of "conservative media," beginning with the birth of The Washington Times at the dawn of the Reagan era, then cable television, and nothing has been the same since. The Internet followed, and soon the New York Times, The Washington Post and the television networks no longer decided what was suitable for public discussion. Conservative candidates were elected to office, and the great unwashed finally had an effective voice.


Nobody likes losing a monopoly. Now it's the liberal left thrashing about in wild frustration, making ever more foolish denunciations of imagined high crimes and low misdemeanors. The rhetoric of these worthies mirrors the rhetoric of the frustrated sages, savants and wise guys on the rightmost ramparts of yesteryear.


The Bush-haters should brace for more grief. Nearly everybody collecting eggs, tomatoes and shoes to throw at George W. regards as a certainty that the next president will be a Democrat. And he (or she) may be. But Gallup suggests that red-hots on the left take a cautionary cold bath, or at least a cool shower. Public-opinion polls are meaningless this far out from Election Day 2008, but the likeliest Republican candidates are running ahead, or even with, Hillary and Barack Obama in several big swing states. The front-runners today may, like chewing gum left on the bedpost, lose a little flavor overnight, but hating George W. won't be much fun when he's not on the ballot. Frank and his friends will have to find a new hate object.

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.

JWR contributor Wesley Pruden is editor in chief of The Washington Times. Comment by clicking here.

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