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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
February 9, 2012
Laura McMullen: 10 Least Expensive Public Schools for Out-of-State Students
Kimberly Palmer: How to actually enjoy -- relaxing, financially -- your vacation
February 8, 2012
Warren Richey: Why momentous Prop. 8 ruling might not satisfy gay-rights groups
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
Frank J. Gaffney, Jr.: Caught off-guard? President's Super Bowl interview with Matt Lauer gives those who need a reason not to vote for him, a darn good one
Suzanne Bohan: Leaping lizards! Tiny reptiles advancing robot design
February 6, 2012
Jonathan Tobin: Iran Threatens Israel With Destruction, But the New York Times Doesn't Hear It
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
Jeannine Stein: An inflated ego and thinking you're 'all that' doesn't just make others sick of you, it can make you ill
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
The Kosher Gourmet by Joseph Erdos: This mushroom and barley soup has an intense -- almost nutty -- flavor that mixes robust with Middle East. It has creaminess without cream
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
Feb. 3, 2009
/ 9 Shevat 5769
My pledge? To know which way the wind blows
By
Rod Dreher
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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
Have you seen that creepy "I Pledge" video making the rounds on the Interwebs? It's a four-minute montage of Hollywood Obamatons making goobery resolutions in honor of our new Maximum Leader.
"I pledge to smile more ... to laugh more ... to love more," purr three willowy stars. "I pledge to sell my obnoxious car and buy a hybrid," says another. Jason Bateman offers a more Rabelaisian vow: "For the environment, I pledge to flush only after a deuce, never a single."
Celebrities ... what would we do without them?The "I Pledge" clip is twerpy and moralistic, but also kind of sweet. The queasy-making part comes at the end, when the video's creators, Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher, pledge "to be a servant to our president and all mankind."
With all the problems President Barack Obama faces the economy is now losing about 600,000 jobs a month it's just his luck that he'd have to deal with a bunch of famous lapdogs committing indecent love acts on his leg. My inclination is to defend the nation's small-r republican honor by mocking those ding-dongs and their hokey messianism. But that's me.
A less generous response comes from a blue-collar guy who lives in the Midwest, a part of the country Ashton and Demi usually only see from their first-class window seats (if part of their pledge is to fly commercial, too). He e-mailed:
"They and Barack want me to do more, to work harder? I just bailed out every stupid company in America, you [deleted]! We're going to be saved because Puff Daddy is going to turn his lights out? I'm supposed to buy a $30,000 hybrid because some Hollywood [deleted] tells me I should?"
Actually, that's a highly sanitized version of what Blue-Collar Guy wrote. The dude is angry. He knows perfectly well that the liberal cultural elite have no use for people like him and tend to regard his kind as bitter, racist mouth-breathers who "cling to guns or religion" because, the thinking goes, they don't have jobs.
Blue-Collar Guy is no Joe the Plumber, though. Later, he added: "The so-called conservative Republicans make me puke more than the Democrats." He explained in a post on my blog that the GOP pretends to look out for the cultural interests of people like him, but in practice it's just as devoted as Democrats to corporations and lobbyists. He would have found a sympathetic white-collar ear in a disillusioned finance executive from Florida I spoke to recently. He told me he'd raised lots of money for his party but was burned out by politics.
"Democrats and Republicans both it's all about corporate money," he said. "The little guy doesn't have a chance."
Tell Blue-Collar Guy about it. Explain to him how failed companies like Merrill Lynch can pick the taxpayer's pocket for $15 billion while paying $4 billion in bonuses to their executives for destroying the company. Ask him if he, like ex-Merrill CEO John Thain, has a $35,000 "commode with legs." Enlighten him about why he should listen to Tinseltown bien-pensants advise a nation losing 600,000 jobs a month to "Let them flush toilets" without wanting to storm their Bastille.
Granted, dim Demi didn't trash the economy. But insofar as Hollywood's smug political flibbertigibbetry inadvertently feeds populist rage and alienation, it's not helpful.
Inflamed crowds of Icelanders who lost everything in the economic crash helped bring that nation's government down last week. There has been major civil unrest in Greece and Latvia, with the same expected in other recession-wracked European nations. There is serious talk now that Great Britain Great Britain! could go bankrupt.
And what of us?
Don't sneer at or underestimate the anger of Blue Collar Guy. We in the news media rarely see him, much less sympathize with him. But he knows what's going on. He knows he's not too big to fail. He knows where he stands in the eyes of power elites and he's figuring out where he's got to take his stand when the time comes.
Oh, yeah ... he's armed. Gun sales have gone through the roof since the election.
If Obama fails, the corruption of the institutions of government, finance and even of culture conditions he inherited from predecessors in both parties will call up a predictable and quite possibly furious response. History shows that convulsive change from the Protestant Reformation to the Russian Revolution often comes when power elites are oblivious to both the effects of their behavior on the masses and their own vulnerability.
Embrace it or fight it as you will, but only entitlement-crazed Wall Street financiers and bubble-headed Hollywood flower children should be surprised by it. I pledge not to need a Weatherman to know which way the wind blows.
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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Rod Dreher is assistant editorial page editor of the Dallas Morning News and author of "Crunchy Cons" (Crown Forum).
PREVIOUSLY
01/15/09: A populist prairie fire from the right?
01/05/09: Sam Huntington was plainly correct
11/10/08: Here comes the conservative civil war
10/21/08: Mad men in crazy economic times
10/14/08: The positive act of not voting
10/09/08: The speech John McCain should give
09/30/08: And it was written, our blame
09/22/08: The Beehive buzzes for Sarah Palin
09/08/08: Palin's a fighter and worth fighting for
09/02/08: GOP slouches toward St. Paul
07/18/08: Wall-E Pixar's surprisingly political postmodern masterpiece
06/08/08: Era of cheap airfare is over
05/29/08: What if they're not smart enough?
05/11/08: From horror, a child's loving gift
05/07/08:Will a canary be our last meal?
04/03/08: Economic crisis is of our own making
02/14/08: What child-men need is some tradition
02/05/08: A Republican victory this year could do more long-term damage to the party than a loss
01/22/08: Putting faith in Obama: Do GOPers tempted by him know what they're supporting?
11/20/07: We can't fix the world with The Care Bear Stare
10/17/07: Every father should read this book to his son
10/03/07: Not even our parks are safe … And I lay at least part of the blame on the cultural revolution and our obsession with the individual
08/22/07: The Decalogue, dangerous? Advice for a society that cringes at commandments
08/15/07: Playing the anti-science card
08/01/07: How the U.S. can avoid its own version of the fall of the Roman empire
07/24/07: Conservative author: Big business can be as dangerous a threat as big government
07/09/07: All quiet but the doleful pleas of a father who knows
06/28/07: When we let conspiracy theory masquerade as news, we fall prey to much more than deception
06/20/07: Stranded on Delta: They may love to fly, but it certainly doesn't show
06/13/07: When did conservatism start to mean never having to say you're sorry?
05/08/07: PBS darling gets abused by PC police
05/02/07: Impervious to beauty and deadened to depravity
04/20/07: What I know about being a loner
10/28/05: How the conservatives crumble
© 2007, The Dallas Morning News,
Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Information Services.
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