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February 10, 2012
Lisa M. Krieger: Man with defibrillator demands access to his own heart's information
David G. Savage: Why activists may not be in a hurry to have High Court rule on alternative marriage
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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?
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
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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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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. 5, 2008
/ 8 Kislev 5769
Obama takes fire from the Left
By
Clarence Page
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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
You can't please everybody in politics. You can't even please your fans all of the time. Remember back when President-elect Barack Obama was battling opposition to his promise of "change"? That was so last month.
Now critics on his left complain that his cabinet selections don't change things enough. Hey, don't feel betrayed, folks. Obama mostly promised "change" from the era of President Bush. The Bill Clinton years? Not so much.
That approach made sense during the campaign. Former President Clinton left Obama with a lot fewer headaches to run against than Bush handed his party's candidates.
But now that Obama is in a position to bring change that he said we could believe in, he does not get a free pass from his base, especially the believers in left-progressive purity who tried to hold Clinton's feet to the fire when he was in office. And they can be expected to do the same to his wife, Sen. Hillary Clinton, now that she is Obama's choice to be secretary of state.
Yes, that's the same Sen. Clinton who seemed, as Obama's Democratic primary opponent, to agree with him on almost everything except foreign policy. Oh, you know, that was just the heat of the campaign, they tell us now. Right. Still, left-progressives weren't the only ones who felt the choice, as Arianna Huffington opined in her Huffington Post, "turned 'No Drama Obama' into 'Mo' Drama Obama'."
Over at The Nation, editor and publisher Katrina vanden Heuvel had a bigger problem with Obama's appointment of Robert Gates to stay on as secretary of defense. "Obama may believe that Gates will give him the cover and continuity he needs to carry out his planned withdrawal from Iraq," she writes. "But so could many others, including Republicans like (Nebraska Sen.) Chuck Hagel who, at least, opposed the Iraq war."
Going in for the big sting, she argues, "Keeping Gates actually worsens the Democratic image on national security sending the message that even Democrats agree that Democrats can't run the military." Ouch. Of course, Hagel, who vanden Heuvel prefers over Gates, isn't a Democrat, either, but I guess the jab at the Dems was too tempting for her to pass up.
And let's not underrate the value of cover and continuity. Gates has received bipartisan praise as a healer at the Pentagon after Donald Rumsfeld's arrogant leadership. He could help Obama with the big job of withdrawing American troops from Iraq in the way that another popular moderate, Secretary of State Colin Powell, helped the Bush administration to sell the Iraq invasion to the United Nations.
It is frustrating for ideologues of the right or the left to see presidents turn to the middle, but it is in the political center that broad support is built and that big political changes get done in Washington.
Still, Obama probably could do without the unusual praise that came from Rush Limbaugh in an interview with ABC's Barbara Walters. The nattering nabob of right-wing talk radio called Obama's selection of Clinton "a brilliant stroke" if only because it discourages her from mounting her own possible White House challenge in 2012.
With roses coming from Rush and barbs from the left, Obama's head would be spinning around if he tried to pay attention to everyone who wants to give him advice these days. Fortunately, he showed himself during his long campaign to be steadier than that. He pretty much ignored the constant and conflicting advice that various pundits including me kept giving him on whether to speed up or slow down, get smart or get folksy, along the campaign trail, and he won anyway. I don' t think it was just luck that won the day for him.
The Clinton appointment is a big surprise, although it probably is not nearly as big a problem as its many critics suspect. The former first lady does have experience and a respected name overseas. She also has more reasons to do her best possible job in the lofty post than to go renegade on the man who gave it to her.
And by making the job conditional on a new public transparency for Bill Clinton's international speech making and philanthropy, Obama reduces nagging questions about the former president's international deal making. It also helps the Clintons to make their argument that they didn't have all that much to hide in the first place. That's a change I hope we all can believe in.
Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in the media and Washington consider "must-reading". Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.
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