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Sept. 5, 2008

Rabbi Abraham J. Twerski: What does 'doing the right thing' entail?

Caroline B. Glick: The master strategist

Sept. 4, 2008

Ron Kampeas: Biden, Palin take lead in clash on Mideast issues

Bruce Dancis: With humor as their weapon, the Three Stooges took on Hitler

Sept. 3, 2008

Rabbi S. Binyomin Ginsberg: Productive school years don't just happen

The Kosher Gourmet by Linda Gassenheimer: Quick lamb stew serves up flavors of India

Sept. 2, 2008

The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir: Costly Advice

Caroline B. Glick: Calling Israel's bluff

JWisdom: Wandering in Wonder by Rabbi Mordechai Becher

August 29, 2008

Rabbi Berel Wein: 20/20 sightlessness

Caroline B. Glick: When history is not repeated

JWisdom: Blessed or Cursed: It's Really Up to You by Rabbi Sroy Levitansky

August 28, 2008

Steve Lipman: A Comeback for the 'Jewish Jordan'

Jeffrey Weiss: Researcher reports 'intriguing' diabetes breakthrough

August 27, 2008

Rabbi Zecharya Greenwald: Removing the perfectionist's mask

The Kosher Gourmet by Emily Nunn: Summer harvest linguine

JWisdom:: The Missing Link in Spiritual Life by Rabbi David Aaron

August 26, 2008

Yaffa Ganz: Grandma gets lessons in staying cool

Frank J. Gaffney, Jr.: The Dems' 'soft' jihadist

JWisdom:: Today: Holocaust in the Perspective of Faith by Rabbi Nosson Scherman: Plague of indifference

August 25, 2008

The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir: Q: A friend is bearing a silly grudge from a supposed wrong. What recourse do I have?

Daniel Pipes: Barack Obama through Muslim Eyes

JWisdom:: The knowledge you need to overcome your insecurities by Malka Schulman

August 22, 2008

Rabbi Berel Wein: Life's essential ingredient

Caroline B. Glick: Dominos anyone?

JWisdom:: Actually, Do Sweat the Small Stuff! by Rabbi Sroy Levitansky

August 21, 2008

Today in Biblical History by Rabbi Yonason Goldson: Popularization of Kabbalah: 20 Menachem-Av 1558 CE

Jonathan Rosenblum: Lessons from the Beyond

JWisdom: : The Olympian within is rooting for you -- yes, you! –- to go for the gold

August 20, 2008

Jonathan Tobin: Misleading Platform Platitudes

The Kosher Gourmet by Linda Gassenheimer: Chicken Salad with Asian Dressing

JWisdom: The Holocaust in the Perspective of Faith: America's Defense of the Jews --- Until WWII by Rabbi Nosson Scherman

August 19, 2008

Dennis Prager: If the Almighty doesn't exist

Frank J. Gaffney, Jr.: Obama's Islamist problem has nothing to do with his upbringing

JWisdom: Think your life is messed up? by Rabbi David Aaron

August 18, 2008

The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir: Business with Friends

Diana West: Roars About Russia, Bare Whispers About Islam

JWisdom: Relationship agony: The real cause by Malka Schulman

August 15, 2008

Rabbi Abraham J. Twerski: To love the Divine

Caroline B. Glick: Georgia, Israel, and the nature of man

JWisdom: The Truly Righteous Don't Demand Entitlements by Rabbi Sroy Levitansky

August 14, 2008

Rabbi Yonason Goldson: Confessions of broken spirit

Libby Lazewnik: The Numbers Game

JWisdom: Six Questions You'll Be Asked in Heaven? - Uh - Let's Just Take One for Now! by Gavriel Aryeh Sanders

August 13, 2008

Jonathan Tobin: Georgia should be on their minds

The Kosher Gourmet by Linda Gassenheimer: Go Greek: Pair flavorful lamb kebabs with a hearty salad

JWisdom: Human hybrids aren't science fiction by Rabbi David Aaron

August 12, 2008

Rabbi Avi Shafran: Bless us

Daniel Pipes: The West's Islamist Infiltrators

JWisdom: From Sadness to Gladness: The Route from Tisha b'Av to Rosh Hashana by Rabbi Mordechai Becher

August 11, 2008

The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir: A Jewish view on fair pricing

Caroline B. Glick: Ignoring failure in Gaza

JWisdom: 'Communication' Is Not The Answer! by Malka Schulman

August 7, 2008

Rabbi David Gutterman: A Continuing Story With a Sustaining Goal

Rabbi Berel Wein: Mourning and morning

JWisdom: Yes, we are still in exile by Rabbi Sroy Levitansky

August 6, 2008

David Ashenfelter: Government made military engineer's life a living hell because of his faith, Defense Department report documents

Jonathan Tobin: Speak the Truth; Defeat the Lies

JWisdom: Jewish Spirituality: Fusion or Confusion? by Rabbi David Aaron

August 5, 2008

Chris Leppek: Church/state wall beginning to crumble?

Paul Greenberg: Exit Olmert (no encore, please)

JWisdom: Serenity: Make the commitment by Rabbi Zelig Pliskin (Read by Gavriel Sanders)

August 4, 2008

The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir: Am I taking advantage of another's psychological quirk?

Andrew Silow-Carroll: A black and a Jew walk into the White House…

JWisdom: The Holocaust in the Perspective of Faith: Edward R. Morrow visits the ‘living dead’ by Rabbi Nosson Scherman

March 22, 2007

J-Rhythms with Avraham Rosenblum: JWR's cutting-edge music program showcasing performers -- singers, song writers, musicians, and bands -- who learn and live the Torah lifestyle (OUR NEWEST IGODCAST !)

Oct. 29, 2003
Mortimer B. Zuckerman: Graffiti On History's Walls (MUST-READ!)

Jewish World Review April 18, 2006 / 20 Nissan, 5766

Hey, Dems: If you want to win, stop the Bush-bashing and stand for something

By Ed Koch


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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | The November elections will soon be upon us. Democrats believe they can win a majority in both Houses of Congress, and I agree. But victory will not be won by Bush-bashing. It will be won if we rally the country to support the core issues of the Democratic party.


On the international front, the overriding issue facing our country is whether Americans have the will to denounce, resist and vanquish the fanatic Islamists who hate democratic values, who engage in terrorism, and who want to kill us and say so. Take them at their brazen word. When Hitler wrote "Mein Kampf," we failed to take him at his word and lived to regret it. Sixty million people ultimately paid with their lives.


The best known Islamic fanatic in the entire world is Osama bin Laden, praised and followed by millions of Muslims. His chief deputy in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, has said, "Killing the infidels is our religion, slaughtering them is our religion, until they convert to Islam or pay us tribute." Who are these infidels? First the crusaders (Christians), Jews and Hindus, but ultimately the entire non-Muslim world.


A majority of Muslims and their leaders oppose these fanatics. But out of a worldwide Muslim population of 1.4 billion in 52 countries, the fanatics and their sympathizers number in the hundreds of millions. Further, their opponents, e.g., the leaders of Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt and the Gulf states that seek to resist bin-Laden and his extreme ideology are themselves in great danger of being overthrown by fanatics in their own countries. Those fanatics call moderate Muslim leaders and their supporters infidels and seek to assassinate them. President Musharraf of Pakistan has been the subject of at least three such attempts.


What would happen to Pakistan and its nuclear stockpile if the next attempt were to be successful? It is surely not unreasonable to fear that Dr. Abdul Qadeer Kahn, who developed the Pakistani nuclear bomb and who, according to The New York Times, provided Iran with "advanced technology" in "black market offerings," would resume control of Pakistan's nuclear program and distribute the bomb and the technology to use it to terrorist countries like Iran and terrorist organizations like al-Qaeda.


One such terrorist is Ayman al-Zawahiri, bin-Laden's second in command, who in his letter of July 9, 2005 to al-Zarqawi, stated among other goals that of "the establishment of a caliphate…" What would happen to our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan were the terrorists to have available to them the nuclear bomb? What would happen to the U.S. and to Israel if Iran which supports and finances terrorism in Lebanon, Syria, Gaza, the West Bank and elsewhere, secures a usable nuclear bomb immediately on the black market?


Iran's megalomaniacal President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has publicly threatened the destruction of both the U.S. and Israel. Is there any doubt that if he had a nuclear bomb, he would seek to use it directly or deliver it through terrorists? His missiles are now capable of reaching Hawaii and Alaska. How long will it be before they are capable of reaching Los Angeles and Chicago? Do we wait until we are attacked and millions of Americans are killed or do we do now whatever is required to prevent the Iranians from gaining access to such a weapon? Of course, if Iran struck first, we would annihilate that country, but how would that help a grieving America?


Every course of action — diplomatic and economic — should be used to prevent the bomb from being acquired by the Iranians, but if that approach fails, what then? I support the wisdom of Senator John McCain who summed up his position which I believe should also be that of the U.S. when he said, "There's only one thing worse than the United States exercising the military option, that is, a nuclear-armed Iran."


Will the Democratic Party convince American voters that it has the resolve to protect us from the terrorism of Islamic fanatics? If it does not, it won't win the next election, notwithstanding the failures and the botching of our occupation of Iraq by the Bush administration.


On the domestic front, the overriding issue is universal comprehensive medical insurance. 45 million Americans are without health coverage, millions of whom are working at minimum and low-end wages. The Republicans have told the country they will not support a comprehensive national coverage program. Our Democratic leaders have paid obeisance to the principle of a national medical insurance program, but have not agreed upon one and have not taken measures to come to a consensus on what the party will actually support. All we hear is talk and more talk, but no legislation.


The Democrats should be prepared to state well in advance of the pending election what such a program would offer. Anyone with knowledge of costs and medical demands knows there must be limits on what can be offered with the resources available. Limits could involve rationing, personal responsibility for illnesses caused by a refusal to stop smoking or to deal with obesity or to use safer sex practices (condoms). The party leaders must be willing to defend a defined program against the onslaught of those who will oppose any limitations.


The core issues of the Democratic Party, going back to FDR and expanded with the passage of time, include Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, environmental protection, education, race relations, abortion, gay rights, equal employment opportunities, fair taxation and others. The party should now clarify its positions and its platform should be intelligent and reasonable. Since 1973, I have defined my philosophy as that of a liberal with sanity. I believe a majority of Democrats see themselves that way.


If the leaders of the Democratic Party convey to the country that is how they view themselves and are prepared to govern that way, we will win in November. If all we convey is opposition to President Bush, we will lose.

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 Edward I. Koch, the former mayor of New York, can be heard on Bloomberg Radio (WBBR 1130 AM) every Sunday from 9-10 am . Comment by clicking here.

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