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February 10, 2012
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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)
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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?
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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
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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
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Suzanne Bohan: Warning: Nap-deprived tots missing more than sleep, study finds
Meg Handley: Banks Revamping Rewards Programs to Woo Customers
January 27, 2012
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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
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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
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David Francis: Where to Invest in 2012: With stocks expected to rebound, opportunity abounds for investors
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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
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Katy Hopkins : Consider This Before You Pay for an Online Degree
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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
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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
March 31, 2006
/ 2 Nissan, 5766
Running on empty
By
Rich Lowry
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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
Vice President Dick Cheney gave assembled reporters at the Radio and TV Correspondents' Dinner a tongue-in-cheek assurance that there is nothing to the idea that White House staffers are tired out as a slide show that accompanied his talk flashed photos of Bush aides fast asleep on the job.
The crowd guffawed. But it's not physical exhaustion that is hampering the White House so much as the intellectual kind. And that's not so easily cured by the widely anticipated staff "shake-up" that is now under way with White House Chief of Staff Andy Card's replacement by Office of Management and Budget Director Josh Bolten.
Ask GOP strategists what the party needs, and they invariably say something like, "It would help to get a lucky break in Iraq." Indeed, it would, but the standard for what constitutes such a break has been ever-sinking. At this point, it might be avoiding a full-fledged civil war and seeing the Iraqis form a government, any government. Neither can be expected to be a political boon to the president.
President Bush swept into his second term determined not to be overcome by the political lassitude that traditionally drags down second-term presidencies. He had an ambitious reform agenda, and initially the debate among his supporters was over what should come first: Social Security reform or tax reform? Bush went for Social Security reform, and it sank without a trace, with tax reform quickly going the same way.
Thus, Bush lost the fight for the Big Ideas of his second term and has instead been thrown back to trying desperately to keep alive the Big Idea from his first term: democratizing Iraq. Other policy arrows in his quiver have been shot, since the budget deficit makes more tax cuts politically unsalable, and more big-spending measures are out for the same reason. To the extent that Bush's "compassionate conservatism" was ever a coherent approach to governing, it is now spent, and it's not clear that the White House nor the broader conservative community has any bright, plausible ideas about what should fill the void.
The one major new initiative Bush has left a guest-worker program and quasi-amnesty for illegal immigrants might pass Congress, but it's unpopular with the public. Congressional Republicans have been distancing themselves from Bush, but key GOP senators embraced a version of his approach after massive anti-enforcement protests. It's a sign of the times that Mexican flag-waving immigrants might have as much sway on the Hill as Bush's congressional-relations shop.
After GOP strategists muse about reaping a windfall of good fortune in Iraq, they tend to say that an election isn't a referendum on one party, but a choice: "You can't beat something with nothing." But the truth of that truism depends on how people feel about "something." If it is unpopular enough, they will go elsewhere. At the moment, the most accurate description of the competition between the parties might be Bush's "nothing" the difficult Iraq War and guest-worker program aside versus the Democrats' "nothing."
The Democrats are trying to dress theirs up with notionally substantive proposals. They just released a national-security plan, the centerpiece of which is "eliminating" Osama bin Laden. As if somewhere in the bowels of Bush's National Security Council an official is hitting his forehead saying, "I wish we had thought of that!" But Democrats would be foolish to identify themselves with anything more specific than broadly popular bromides, when Bush's and the GOP's poor standing is their best asset.
The GOP still has a few things on its side time (the public mood could shift before the fall); gerrymandering (so few congressional districts are competitive that it will be difficult for Democrats to find enough to pick off); and events (maybe, just maybe, Bush does get lucky somewhere). But none of this goes to the White House's real vulnerability: Intellectually, it is running on empty, no matter which long-serving Bush loyalist happens to be chief of staff.
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© 2006 King Features Syndicate
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