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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 April 17, 2006 / 19 Nissan, 5766

Temptation doesn't always win in D.C.

By Jonathan Gurwitz


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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | Flying home from Washington for college vacations in the 1980s, I frequently had a congressional traveling companion. Rep. Henry B. Gonzalez was as gregarious in flight as he was at the gate. He might have been seated in first class, but once the plane took off, he made a point of walking back and visiting with Texans headed home.


I never cared much for Henry B.'s politics, but there were two things about him I admired — and have grown to admire even more with the passage of time.


First, Gonzalez thought, spoke and acted with his heart, which occasionally allowed his passion to overtake his reason.


And second, few politicians spend as much time in Washington as Gonzalez did and don't succumb to the capital's imperial vices. Henry B. served in Congress for 37 years. But his friends and adversaries alike will attest that he was buried in San Antonio in 2000 the same man with the same values who went to Washington in 1961.


I wonder: About how many men and women who have spent far less time in Congress can the same thing be said?


Tom DeLay went to Washington in 1984. And for a long time, the word that often characterized him was "ordinary." That's how some of his colleagues recalled him in the Texas Legislature. It's an attribute that followed him to Congress.


"DeLay provides the ordinariness that is the heart and soul of the House," Paul Burka, senior executive editor at Texas Monthly, wrote in a 1996 profile of the then-majority whip. "Even his appearance is ordinary: average height and weight, a face that looks a little younger than his 49 years, a minimum of distinguishing gestures and inflections, and down-to-earth concerns."


Around the time Burka penned those words, the representative from Sugar Land must have begun to succumb to the extraordinary temptations of Washington. Sometimes, as with Wilbur Mills and Bob Packwood, the imperial temptation is sex. Sometimes, as with Duke Cunningham, the imperial temptation is money. In the case of Tom DeLay, the imperial temptation was power.


DeLay spent 15 years in the political minority. In 1994, he found himself in the leadership of a new Republican majority that pledged to transform Washington. Washington, however, has ended up transforming at least a few Republicans.


Scandals plagued Congress in the years leading up to the 1994 watershed election. Leading Democrats faced corruption charges. Ethics failures compelled the resignation of a House speaker. There was a savings and loan scandal, a House bank scandal and a House post office scandal.


Republicans came to power pledging to do things differently, to — as the Contract with America put it — end the cycle of scandal and disgrace.


DeLay's announcement last week that he would resign his House seat came three days after his former deputy chief of staff, Tony Rudy, pleaded guilty to conspiracy and corruption charges. According to the Washington Post, Rudy told federal prosecutors of a "criminal enterprise being run out of DeLay's leadership offices."


Michael Scanlon, DeLay's former press secretary, in November pleaded guilty — along with his partner Jack Abramoff — to conspiracy to corrupt political officials. A third DeLay staffer, former Chief of Staff Ed Buckham, has now emerged as a central figure in the corruption probe.


DeLay has not been indicted, let alone been found guilty, of any criminal wrongdoing in relation to the Abramoff scandal. But he is clearly guilty of Congress' cardinal imperial sin: believing the rules for everyone else don't apply to him. Rep. Cynthia McKinney, who allegedly assaulted a Capitol police officer, offers the latest evidence of how broad and diverse the congregation of congressional sinners is.


Last fall, DeLay came back from Washington to be booked on charges he conspired to evade Texas' malleable campaign finance laws. Those charges, unlike the burgeoning Abramoff scandal, are political puffery.


The telling detail, however, is that DeLay flew home on a corporate jet owned by R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co.


Henry B. would have flown coach.

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 Jonathan Gurwitz, a columnist for the San Antonio Express-News, is a co-founder and twice served as Director General of the Future Leaders of the Alliance program at NATO Headquarters in Brussels, Belgium. In 1986 he was placed on the Foreign Service Register of the U.S. State Department.Comment by clicking here.

Jonathan Gurwitz Archives


© 2005, Jonathan Gurwitz

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