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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 August 28, 2007 / 14 Elul, 5767

Designated punching bag resigns

By Debra J. Saunders

Debra J. Saunders
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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | "I have lived the American dream. Even my worst days as attorney general have been better than my father's best days," outgoing Attorney General Alberto Gonzales noted during a press conference Monday.


Credit Gonzales for leaving not with a whimper, but with the knowledge that as rough as Washington gets, no one can take from him the accomplishment of, as the son of a Mexican-born construction worker, becoming America's first Latino attorney general. In his exit, Gonzales showed himself to be, as President Bush would say, "a good man."


But as this president tends to learn too late: You can be a good man, but not the right man for the job.


"It's sad that we live in a time when a talented and honorable person like Alberto Gonzales is impeded from doing important work because his good name was dragged through the mud for political reasons," Bush said Monday. Actually, Gonzales did the damage to himself.


I wrote in March that Gonzales should resign after he fudged explaining why the administration fired eight U.S. attorneys. Gonzales should have been honest and admitted that the administration discarded the U.S. attorneys for political reasons. Instead, he wrote in USA Today that he asked them to resign for "performance-related" reasons, and because they "simply lost my confidence."


By that standard, the credibility-impaired Gonzales should have walked then — not late in a year in which close to a dozen top Justice Department staffers resigned.


Or as Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., told reporters Monday, "It had to happen."


As the months dragged on, the best Republicans could say in Gonzales' defense was that the attorney general did not perjure himself when he testified before the Senate, but was misleading under cover of law.


While the left objected to Gonzales' hard line in the war on terrorism, many conservatives believed that his office was wrong to prosecute Border Patrol agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean for shooting at a fleeing drug smuggler and covering up the action. The prosecution resulted in draconian sentences — 11 years and 12 years — for the agents, while the smuggler is free and suing the federal government.


I figured that the Bushies had decided that if Gonzales left, congressional Democrats would respond by poking at a new administration biggie. So the ever-loyal Gonzales stayed on as Bush administration's designated punching bag.


Besides, as GOP strategist Ken Khachigian, who served in the Nixon and Reagan administrations, explained, "Alberto Gonzales was hardly the big casino" when it comes to issues that affect Americans in everyday life. With the country at war, Gonzales' plight was mainly of interest to political insiders. (Note the recent Gallup poll that found the approval rating of Congress among Americans had sunk to 18 percent — by comparison, the Bush 32 percent approval rating looks stellar.)


What next? Khachigian does not expect the congressional hearings and investigations to abate. "They won't stop," Khachigian noted. "He'll be called in for more hearings. They've got their teeth in his neck now, and they'll keep shaking him until he's a limp rag."


Feinstein told reporters that the head of steam may have gone out of the investigation, but also, "I think we have to get to the roots of it because I think we have to prevent this from ever happening again."


Now Bush has to name a successor who can withstand Senate scrutiny — which will be elevated with four Democratic senators, and one Republican senator, running for the White House.


Normally, the easy route would be to nominate a Republican senator — as senators tend to gush when one of their own, regardless of party, is named to a Cabinet post.


But with the news that Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho, pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct in an airport men's bathroom (not to mention the escort service-client Sen. David Vitter, R-La.), Bush would have to think twice. Suddenly it is too clear why Dubya values loyalty and prefers to name people he knows to Cabinet posts.

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© 2007, Creators Syndicate

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