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February 10, 2012
Lisa M. Krieger: Man with defibrillator demands access to his own heart's information
David G. Savage: Why activists may not be in a hurry to have High Court rule on alternative marriage
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Menachem Wecker: Though Controversial, LL.M.'s Can Lead to Specialized Legal Jobs
The Kosher Gourmet byDana Velden: Going to the bother of making soup? You know it better be good. This CREAM OF TOMATO SOUP certainly is! And it's a cinch to make, too (Includes techinques and serving secrets)
February 7, 2012
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February 6, 2012
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Jeffrey Fleishman: In newly democratic Egypt, tens of democracy activists jailed, to stand trial; their groups are 'threatening the stability of the homeland'
Julie Deardorff : Researchers say antioxidants may not be that effective and could do more harm than good
Mark Clayton: How did Anonymous hackers eavesdrop on FBI and Scotland Yard?
February 3, 2012
Edmund Sanders : Israeli official says Iran is creating missile that could reach East Coast of US
Victoria Kim: Immigrant-smuggling ring used black drivers to avoid racial profiling
February 2, 2012
Jim Carney: Wrong number call may have saved her life
Reza Kahlili : Ex-CIA spy in Iran's Revolutionary Guard: What Obama doesn't grasp about striking deals with Tehran
Tina Susman: For woodchuck rescuer, every day is Groundhog Day
February 1, 2012
Brian Bennett: US officials see increasing threat of domestic attack from Iran
Emily Brandon: How to Take Advantage of New 401(k) Fee Disclosures
January 31, 2012
January 30, 2012
Paul Richter and Ramin Mostaghim: Misreading Teheran's limits -- deadly and economically devastating as they may be -- is a risk administration, Europe seem willing to take
Suzanne Bohan: Warning: Nap-deprived tots missing more than sleep, study finds
Meg Handley: Banks Revamping Rewards Programs to Woo Customers
January 27, 2012
Caroline B. Glick: Obama: Of course I intend to prevent a nuclear holocaust . . . in a few months
Yochonon Donn: In liberal New York City, fervently-Orthodox Jews may soon be getting a district to call their own
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Katy Hopkins: New budget rules may affect how much money you get for college
January 26, 2012
Ed Koch: To the New York Times, calling for the murder of Jews by those capable of having their incitement taken seriously isn't news
Jeannine Stein: Mental illness struck one in five U.S. adults in 2010: Report
January 25, 2012
Richard Simon: House passes two bills endorsing the use of religious symbols at military memorials
Fred Weir: Putin: Multiethnic Russia cannot survive as a US-style 'melting pot'; must find its own way
Susan Johnston: 5 Sneaky Coupon Strategies Consumers Should Watch Out For
January 24, 2012
Carol Clark: The price of your soul: How your brain decides whether to 'sell out'
Caroline B. Glick: America lost most in 'Arab Spring'. Sadly, many voters still don't grasp the extent
Warren Richey: Drug criminal scores win in GPS ruling from conservative-leaning high court
Erika Bolstad: Black conservatives gather to talk about gaining strength
January 23, 2012
Melissa Dribben: Jewish voters to play a key role in Florida's Republican primary
Jordan Rau: In quest to grow, Catholic hospital system will announce this morning its break from church
Ali Safi: U.S. envoy gives Taliban terms for peace talks
January 19, 2012
January 18, 2012
January 17, 2012
Frank J. Gaffney Jr.: No-kidding red lines: U.S. response to an Iranian nuke may be bluster, but Israel's won't be
David G. Savage: They sued their principals after slandering them online --- now the cases are headed to the Supreme Court
David Francis: Where to Invest in 2012: With stocks expected to rebound, opportunity abounds for investors
January 13, 2012
Ben Lynfield: Israeli lawmakers move to annex Jewish Judea, one museum at a time
Alexia Elejalde-Ruiz: Thriving through touch: Gentle massage helps older people with low mobility improve in mind and body
January 12, 2012
Warren Richey: Landmark Supreme Court ruling a 'resounding win' for religious groups
Warren Richey: Supreme Court says no to new rule on eyewitness testimony
John Fauber : Statins found to raise diabetes risk in postmenopausal women
Katy Hopkins : Consider This Before You Pay for an Online Degree
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January 11, 2012
Shari Roan: Millions of atrial fibrillation sufferers at risk for devastating, but preventable, stroke
Tom Hussain: Pakistan -- recipient of more than $21 billion in civilian and military aid -- speeds pursuit of Iranian pipeline, defying US
David G. Savage: High court signals it won't be loosening TV's 'indecency' rules
Stephen Ceasar: Oklahoma's Islamic law amendment can't go into effect, court rules
January 10, 2012
Reza Kahlili: From an ex-CIA spy: US must exploit new split in Iran's Revolutionary Guard
Karen Kaplan: Study: Nicotine replacement products ineffective when used in real-life situations
January 9, 2012
Michael Doyle: Put through legal hell over dream home, couple fought back hard --- all the way to Supreme Court
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Jewish World Review
January 21, 2008
/ 14 Shevat 5768
Race hides campagn's bigger issue
By
Clarence Page
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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
Usually I would like to see hecklers, no matter what their cause, go take a long walk off of a short pier.
But when some off-camera guy interrupted MSNBC's Democratic presidential debate in Nevada, shouting for an end to the "race-based (or baiting) questions," I sympathized.
I'm all in favor of questioning the candidates for their views on race and gender issues. But, after 20 minutes of the two-hour debate, I began to wonder if they were going to get to anything else.
For several days, the Democrats had slogged through a national argument that Sen. Hillary Clinton inadvertently started in regard to Martin Luther King Jr.'s role in winning passage of civil rights laws. Emotions were further fueled by questions about the role women played in helping Sen. Barack Obama's close loss to Clinton in the New Hampshire primary.
After days of seeing their party's political base divided against itself by the same identity politics that helped to build it, all three frontrunners did their best to be nice to each other at the Las Vegas debate and move on.
But in its opening segment, every time the three Democratic front-runners tried to shy away from race and gender, the questioners pulled them back in.
In one wince-inducing question to Sen. John Edwards, a San Diego woman asked, "Why should I, as a progressive woman, not resent being forced to choose between the first viable female candidate and the first viable African American candidate?"
It wasn't clear who was "forcing" the woman to choose between Edwards' opponents, but Edwards responded with a passionate recitation of his agenda and bio. He said voters should vote based on whether they believed "America needs change" and "the system in Washington is broken" and "middle-class Americans" are "struggling and suffering" and "can't pay for their health care" and "losing their jobs" and "can't pay for their kids to go to college."
As a guy who "grew up in a family of millworkers" and "the first person in my family to actually be able to go to college," winning similar opportunities for others who grew up like him was "central to everything I do, … a personal, personal fight for me."
To which Natalie Morales from NBC's "Today Show" brought laughs with this rather blunt question: "What is a white male to do running against these historic candidacies?"
Oh, I dunno, Natalie, maybe curl up and die?
But, no, Edwards didn't say that. He's nicer than I am. He talked instead about how proud he was to belong to a party that has "a woman and an African American who are very, very serious candidates for the presidency. They've both asked not to be considered on their gender or their race. I respect that."
Nice answer. It is particularly ironic for Clinton and Obama to be caught in an identity trap, since both have a long record of rising above identity politics and benefited from it by broadening their base.
In his second best-seller, "The Audacity of Hope," Obama relates a lesson he learned while sitting in the Illinois senate with a white Democratic legislator as they watched a black colleague, whom Obama called "John Doe," deliver a floor speech on why eliminating a certain program was racist.
"You know what the problem is with John," the white senator asked him. "Whenever I hear him, he makes me feel more white."
As an African American reading that passage, I nevertheless understood how that white senator must have felt. After all, sometimes I hear white people who make me feel more "black." I won't mention names, but some demagogic talk radio hosts come quickly to mind.
Obama observed that it's not easy for a black politician to strike the right tone between anger and not-angry-enough. But, rightly or wrongly, "white guilt has largely exhausted itself in America."
Every time news people talk about "the black vote," for example, I suspect it makes somebody feel "more white." But race is so deeply ingrained in American customs, traditions and memory that it's hard to cover politics without talking about it.
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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