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February 10, 2012
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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)
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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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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
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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
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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
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Katy Hopkins: New budget rules may affect how much money you get for college
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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
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Carol Clark: The price of your soul: How your brain decides whether to 'sell out'
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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
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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
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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
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
March 15, 2007
/ 25 Adar 5767
Duelling stories define today's politics
By
Clarence Page
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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
Conservative icon Newt Gingrich has wiped away whatever doubts I had that he might be planning to run for president.
The former House speaker has revealed on national television that he conducted an affair with a young staffer, who is now his wife, while seeking President Bill Clinton's impeachment in connection with, of all things, an affair with a young intern. Gingrich admitted in an interview with James Dobson, founder of Focus on the Family, a conservative Christian group, that he had "fallen short of my own standards. There's certainly times when I've fallen short of G-d's standards."
I leaped to one conclusion: Oh, yeah, Newt's running.
Candidates do not normally toss their bonnet into the political ring by announcing on national TV that they have had an extramarital affair, but these are not normal times.
The 2008 race is unusually wide open. With no incumbent president or vice president in the race, both parties have crowded fields. Yet, Republicans have been expressing surprisingly deep disappointment with the choices they have been offered.
And, yes, Democrats are nervous about whether their two current frontrunners can go the distance.
It's significant in that sense that Gingrich's confession just happened to follow Sen. Barack Obama's riveting account of his parents' connection to the civil rights history that did not happen quite in the way that he recounted it.
Speaking at the commemoration of the 1965 "Bloody Sunday" confrontation over voting rights in Selma, Ala., the Illinois Democrat energized a church crowd by linking the event to his birth. "There was something stirring across the country because of what happened in Selma, Alabama," he preached, "because some folks are willing to march across a bridge. So (my parents) got together and Barack Obama Jr. was born. So don't tell me I don't have a claim on Selma, Alabama. Don't tell me I'm not coming home to Selma, Alabama."
It was such a spellbinding story that I almost didn't want to wonder how the Selma event could have led to the senator's birth, which happened four years earlier. We might call it a story too good to allow facts to get in the way, were he not a presidential candidate.
These are the days of what I call the Narrative Primary, a Get-To-Know-Me period in which candidates project their best sides into the voters' minds through spellbinding stories of their lives, struggles and epiphanies. Obama eagerly wanted the civil rights generation folks in that sanctuary to embrace him as one of their own. A little embellishment of one's life story is permissible in that pursuit, but one should at least keep the timelines straight.
Critics have accused Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of similar biographical embellishment that day, although the charge appears to be a bum rap. In another Selma church, she recalled poignantly how seeing Martin Luther King speak in Chicago had inspired her during her high school years. Unmentioned were her descriptions of herself in her memoirs during those years as "an active Young Republican" and "a Goldwater girl, right down to my cowgirl outfit." Ah, details, details.
Since Sen. Barry Goldwater, the GOP's 1964 presidential candidate, was one of six Republican senators to join Southern Democratic segregationists in opposing the 1964 Civil Rights Act, her admiration of King sounded contradictory to her critics. But, as the liberal Media Matters for America Web site points out, the New York senator's 2003 memoir "Living History" explains the seeming contradiction in detail. A liberal minister taught her to admire King and a conservative teacher taught her to admire Goldwater, both for their rugged individualism that "swam against the political tide," even if in different political directions.
"I liked them both personally," she says of the senator and the civil rights leader, "and did not see their beliefs as diametrically opposed then or now." Makes sense to me. It also fits nicely into the middle-of-the-road narrative frame that appeals to swing voters who Sen. Clinton is trying to reach.
Which brings us back to Gingrich. His time may have come. The right is restless, hungry for a hero these days. A CBS/ New York Times poll released Tuesday (March 13) found nearly 6 in 10 Republicans said they wanted more choices than the candidates already in the race.
So, if I were Newt right now I'd be thinking: Why not me? If Giuliani implodes as more conservatives find out about his past support for gay rights, abortion rights and gun control, Newt looks increasingly like Luke Skywalker against the encroaching liberal Empire.
As the author of a long list of fiction and nonfiction books, Gingrich understands the power of a good narrative. He's smart to get the bad news about his personal life out now, along with his apologies. American voters can be quite forgiving, as long as you keep your facts straight.
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