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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)
February 7, 2012
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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
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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
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
Dec. 19, 2008
/ 22 Kislev 5769
Cronyism in an era of change
By
Rich Lowry
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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
The three most prominent Democrats in national politics during the past two years Barack Obama, Joe Biden and Hillary Clinton are all ascending from the U.S. Senate to the executive branch, creating open Senate seats for Democratic governors to fill.
And, oh, what a spectacle it is of corruption, insider dealing, treacly dynastic politics and rank nepotism. The tidal wave of change turns out to leave a brackish aftertaste in its wake.
We might be witnessing the most brazen bout of cronyism since Napoleon made his relatives and minions rulers of conquered Europe. Or at least since the Kennedy family arranged in 1960 to have John Kennedy's pliable Harvard roommate keep his Massachusetts Senate seat warm until Ted turned 30 and could inherit er, get elected to it.
If the recent Senate maneuverings are any indication, the "new politics" of the Obama Democrats is convenient cover while they take care of their own as the powerful have always done down through the ages.
Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich has been diagnosed from afar as a sociopath for his fulsomely profane musings about selling Obama's seat. But once the shock of his grasping crudity passes, one wonders if he didn't have a point: Why should he have appointed "Senate Candidate 1" Obama confidante Valerie Jarrett "for nothing"? Out of public-spiritedness?
As Mae West said in one of her movies when someone exclaimed to her, "Goodness, what beautiful diamonds!": "Goodness had nothing to do with it." Similarly, public-spiritedness had nothing to do with jockeying over the Illinois seat. According to the Chicago Sun-Times, Obama's chief of staff-designate Rahm Emanuel pressed Blagojevich to appoint Jarrett and do it by a date certain.
Her chief qualification for becoming one of the 100 members of the country's most august legislative body was service to the Obamas. Emanuel was therefore asking Blagojevich to do an enormous favor for an Obama insider, and Blagojevich's Chicago sensibilities were offended at the prospect of quid for no quo. Team Obama wanted its cronyism for free!
In New York, meanwhile, Caroline Kennedy offers herself as the appointee for the Senate seat being vacated by Hillary Clinton. She has honorably upheld the family name with Kennedy-related books ("The Best-Loved Poems of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis") and activities (the Profiles in Courage Award), augmented by Manhattan charitable work.
Heretofore, whatever their other merits, fundraising for the American Ballet Theatre and the Fund for Public Schools has not been considered the proving ground for high office, yet some of the same liberal pundits who were hell on Sarah Palin for her lack of experience are taken with Kennedy. How silly the Alaska governor must feel: To think running for office was the best way to build a political career, when what she needed was fashionable charitable causes and a storied last name.
Back in a debate during the Democratic Senate primary in 1962 in Massachusetts, Edward McCormack turned to Ted Kennedy and observed: "If his name was Edward Moore, with his qualifications with your qualifications, Teddy, your candidacy would be a joke." The joke never grows old.
The Kennedy mystique defines politicians of Joe Biden's generation. Biden didn't become the next JFK when his 1988 presidential campaign flared out, but he's managed to re-enact the 1960 caper with his own Delaware Senate seat. He arranged for the appointment of his factotum, longtime aide Edward Kaufman, who can be trusted to do the right thing with the seat. Namely, step aside when Biden's son Beau, the state's attorney general, returns from service with the National Guard in Iraq to claim his due inheritance when the seat is up in 2010.
If anyone cared what about happens in Delaware, Biden's tawdry dealing would be a national scandal. Or if there weren't so much other tawdriness competing for attention. The era of new politics is the same Vanity Fair as the old "all that is there sold, or that cometh thither, is vanity."
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© 2008 King Features Syndicate
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