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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 January 22, 2009 / 26 Teves 5769

Farewell to 43

By Jeff Jacoby

Jeff Jacoby
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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | And so, after the majestic, hopeful, and deeply stirring ceremony with which American democracy renews itself every four years, the Bush administration is history. President Obama thanked his predecessor "for his service to our nation," but for most Americans the departure of the 43rd president came none too soon. Except for Richard Nixon, no president since World War II has departed with higher disapproval ratings than George W. Bush: 61 percent, according to Gallup's final survey last week. Indeed, for years it has been fashionable on the left to proclaim Bush the worst president ever — or as a Harper's headline put it last spring: "Worst. President. Ever."


By all accounts, Bush is neither bitter nor self-pitying about being so unloved. That is partly a function of his personality — in his last press conference, he described self-pity as "pathetic" — and partly the result of being widely read in presidential history and knowing that it will not be his contemporary critics who render the final verdict on his presidency.


In a stern summing-up this week, the Economist observed that "the Bush family name, once among the most illustrious in American political life," is now hopelessly "tainted." Perhaps. Then again, quite a few storied American brands are badly underrated these days. Sooner or later, their market values will climb. Bush's reputation will too.


Nothing did more damage to Bush's popularity, or more inflamed his opponents, than the war in Iraq. Harry Reid, the Senate's Democratic leader, spoke for countless Americans when he called it "the worst foreign policy mistake in the history of this country." Barack Obama would almost certainly not be president today had it not been for his fervent opposition to the war during the Democratic primary campaign.


But wars are ultimately judged less by how they unfold than by how they end, and this war appears to be ending in a clear victory for the United States. The conduct of the war in its first years was badly flawed and cost many lives, but the Iraq Bush leaves to his successor is largely unified, stable, and free — an infinite improvement over the dangerous hellhole he inherited in 2001.


The new commander-in-chief acknowledged yesterday that we are at "war against a far-reaching network of violence and hatred." Among his predecessor's signal accomplishments are two great turning points in that war: the fall of Saddam Hussein and the defeat of the Islamist terrorists who chose to make Iraq the central battlefield of their jihad against civilization. Whatever he may have said as a candidate, the new president realizes that his mission in Iraq is not to undo Bush's handiwork, but to preserve it.


The Bush presidency had its failures too, of course. Perhaps the saddest — and most ironic — is reflected almost daily in the hyperpartisan shrillness of our national politics.


It is hard to remember now, but Bush originally ran for president on an agenda of restoring courtesy and goodwill to the political sphere. He promised to end the "arms race of anger" in Washington, and pointed to his record of bipartisanship in Texas, where he had won re-election as governor with 70 percent of the vote — and with the endorsement of the state's highest-ranking Democrat. "I have no stake in the bitter arguments of the last few years," Bush told the 2000 Republican convention in Philadelphia. "I want to change the tone of Washington to one of civility and respect."


Needless to say, things didn't work out that way. Some of that was Bush's fault. As the Washington Post's E.J. Dionne wrote the other day, Bush "was better at announcing policies than explaining them" and "never really engaged his opponents." Despite the tenuous nature of his 2000 victory, he often acted as though he had won a mandate for a sweeping agenda most Democrats opposed.


But it's also true that many of Bush's bitterest foes, including some in the media, never gave him a chance. It became commonplace to describe the 2000 election as "stolen" and the Bush presidency as illegitimate. Democratic candidates vied to outdo each other in anti-Bush invective. For many, "Bush hater" became a label to wear with pride.


Now it is Obama's turn to try and bank the fires of partisan rancor. "The stale political arguments that have consumed us for so long no longer apply," he said in his inaugural address, one day after hosting dinners to honor Republicans John McCain and Colin Powell. The 44th president and the 43rd embraced each other before the swearing-in, and embraced again afterward. Presidential inaugurations nearly always engender uplifting feelings; sustaining those feelings is a different story. Bush hoped — alas, in vain — to be "a uniter, not a divider." May Obama be blessed with greater success.

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.

Jeff Jacoby is a Boston Globe columnist. Comment by clicking here.

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