 |
|
Nov. 23, 2009
JWisdom.com: Actually, it really is all about you with Rabbi Lawrence Hajioff
Nov. 20, 2009
Nov. 19, 2009
Jonathan Tobin: ADL Crosses the Line with Report Bashing Obama Critics
Nov. 18, 2009
JWisdom.com: The (Jewish) Dating Game
with Rabbi Lawrence Hajioff (8 minutes)
Nov. 17, 2009
Steven Emerson: How Does the 4th Amendment Impact Terror Finance Investigations?
JWisdom.com: If Frank Sinatra married Edith Piaf
with Rabbi Y.Y. Rubinstein (2 minutes) Life lessons from what would be regarded as the most inappropriate lyrics ever sung
Nov. 16, 2009
JWisdom.com: Deconstructing faith
with Rabbi Warren Goldstein (9 minutes)
Nov. 13, 2009
JWisdom.com Sarah's subjective reality
with Rabbi Sroy Levitansky ( 6 minutes)
Nov. 12, 2009
JWisdom.com Does God get tired?
with Rabbi Harvey Belovski ( 5 minutes)
Nov. 11, 2009
JWisdom.com Marriages are not made in Heaven
with Rabbi Lawrence Hajioff (VERY fast 15 minutes)
Nov. 10, 2009
Michael Doyle: Author of book exposing CAIR ordered to remove supporting documents from Web
JWisdom.com If the creation so loudly shouts the existence of the Creator, why aren't more people believers? with Rabbi Naftali Brawer (9 minutes)
Nov. 9, 2009
Mark Steyn: Shooter exposes hole
in U.S. terror strategy
JWisdom.com It's never too late to
have a happy childhood with Sarah Chana Radcliffe (5 minutes)
Nov. 6, 2009
JWisdom.com Zero to 1/60th: How
to Empower An Hour with Gavriel Aryeh Sande (7 minutes)
Nov. 5, 2009
JWisdom.com Hidden Hints: Unlocking
Faith & Prayer with Rabbi Jay Yaacov Schwartz (10 minutes)
Nov. 4, 2009
JWisdom.com When God played peacemaker
With Rabbi Sroy Levitansky (5 minutes)
Nov. 3, 2009
JWisdom.com Are you are closet idolater?
With Sara Yoheved Rigler (10 minutes)
Nov. 2, 2009
JWisdom.com Abraham's Strange Change
With Rabbi Yitzchok Fingerer (5 minutes)
|
| |
Jewish World Review
Dec. 4, 2008
/ 7 Kislev 5769
Obama and his new crew
By
Debra J. Saunders
| 
|
|
|
|
http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
If you're not a "Star Trek" fan, you might not get this, but as I've watched President-elect Barack Obama these past few weeks, I feel as if the country is passing the torch from the brash, rule-breaking Capt. James T. Kirk, whose Starship Enterprise boldly went where no man had gone before in the original sci-fi series, to the more cerebral governance of Capt. Jean-Luc Picard, who ran the Enterprise not so much as his merry ship but as a cutting-edge corporate venture, which culled databases and held meetings to brainstorm possible responses to new challenges. (Note: when "Star Trek: The Next Generation" first aired in 1987, viewers didn't look at corporate execs as greed-filled panic-fueled incompetents.) Monday, Obama made some savvy additions to his new crew.
Hillary Rodham Clinton as secretary of state? A smart political move. For Obama's foreign policy to succeed abroad, he needs support at home. Clinton in the Senate would have a stake in Obama failure, but Clinton at the helm of the State Department will have a stake in Obama's success, and no incentive to undermine it.
Poor Joe Biden. With Hillary Clinton in charge, it looks as if he will be attending funerals — not, as he may have imagined, pontificating and passing on to a less-seasoned president-in-training his sage advice on foreign policy, such as his plan to partition Iraq in three.
Obama's decision to keep on Defense Secretary Robert Gates has angered the anti-war left, as it signals that Obama is prepared to drop his pledge to withdraw U.S. combat troops from Iraq within 16 months - two brigades per month — of taking office. I'm thrilled. Gates would not agree to stay if he expected a precipitous troop withdrawal.
Thus, the big question about Obama has been answered: While Democrats — even Clinton and Biden, who both voted to authorize the war — may play the blame game with Bush about Iraq, Obama understands that if Iraq collapses after U.S. troops are withdrawn, then it won't matter who started the war. America loses, and he loses.
Now the question is: When did Obama know he would not honor his hard timeline pledge — during the primary, as I suspect, or over time, as the Bush-Gates troop surge brought about increased security in Iraq? Either way, Obama is where he should be on the issue.
As for Obama's national security adviser nominee, James L. Jones Jr.: It turns out that, to the horror of some enviroes, Jones is involved with Chevron and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce on the global warming issue. It's like Christmas for global-warming skeptics.
On foreign policy, the left will have to content itself with Obama talking with Iran — the left loves talks — and honoring his pledge to close Guantanamo Bay. Meanwhile, the rest of us will have to cross our fingers and hope the number of released Gitmo inmates who have been killed or captured fighting with terrorists abroad does not climb above the June count of 13. Beware: A Pentagon fact sheet estimated that 7 percent of released Gitmo detainees returned to terrorist activities.
Obama's pick for attorney general — Eric Holder, formerly of the Clinton Justice Department — promises to disappoint some on the left and on the right. Holder's role in the 2001 Clinton pardon of fugitive financier Marc Rich showed a smarmy side of Obama's would-be top lawman. Yes, recent presidents — both Bushes, Bill Clinton, Gerald Ford — have pardoned political allies who broke the law. While it is not pretty, the practice has precedent, and does temper efforts to criminalize politics.
The Rich pardon broke the mold. When Holder issued a "neutral, leaning toward" favorable appraisal of Rich's pardon request, he did so without a full briefing from federal prosecutors, in complete disregard of Rich's fugitive status and despite intelligence reports that Rich had done business with rogue states Iraq and Iran. As Rep. Lamar Smith, R-Texas, told the New York Times, "If a Republican official had engaged in this kind of activity, he would never receive Senate confirmation."
I believe Smith is right.
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.
Comment JWR contributor Debra J. Saunders's column by clicking here.
Debra J. Saunders Archives
© 2008, Creators Syndicate
|
|
Arnold Ahlert
Mitch Albom
Michael Barone
Dave Barry
Tony Blankley
Andy Borowitz
David Broder
Stratfor Briefing
Mona Charen
Linda Chavez
Ann Coulter
Greg Crosby
Larry Elder
Suzanne Fields
John Fund
Frank J. Gaffney
Lloyd Garver
Jonah Goldberg
Julia Gorin
Jonathan Gurwitz
Paul Greenberg
Lewis Grossberger
Victor Davis Hanson
Betsy Hart
Nat Hentoff
David Horowitz
Laura Ingraham
Cheri Jacobus
Jeff Jacoby
Paul Johnson
Jack Kelly
Ed Koch
Ch. Krauthammer
Michael Ledeen
John Leo
David Limbaugh
Kathryn Lopez
Rich Lowry
Michelle Malkin
Jackie Mason
Dick Morris
Bill O'Reilly
Jim Mullen
Clarence Page
Kathleen Parker
Dennis Prager
Wesley Pruden
Tom Purcell
Jonathan Rauch
Celia Rivenbark
Robert Robb
Cokie & Steve Roberts
Pat Sajak
Debra J. Saunders
Culture Shlock
Roger Simon
Michael Smerconish
Thomas Sowell
Mark Steyn
John Stossel
Cal Thomas
Bob Tyrrell
Diana West
Dave Weinbaum
George Will
Walter Williams
Byron York
Mort Zuckerman
Robert Arial
Chuck Asay
Baloo
Chip Bok
Dry Bones
Lisa Benson
John Branch
Gary Brookins
John Cole
J. D. Crowe
John Deering
Brian Duffy
Everything's Relative
Mallard Fillmore
Jake Fuller
Bob Gorrel
Joe Heller
David Hitch
Jerry Holber
Steve Kelley
Jeff Koterba
Dick Locher
Chan Lowe
Ranan R. Lurie
Jimmy Margulies
Rick McKee
Michael Ramirez
Kevin Siers
Jeff Stahler
Ed Stein
Danna Summers
John Trever
Gary Varvel
Kirk Walters
How 2
Lori Borgman
The Savvy Consumer
Elder matters
Fixit
Dr. Peter Gott
GET A JOB! by Marty Nemko
Richard Lederer
Tech Maven
Every Monday Matters
Nutrition Myths
Bookmark These
Bruce Williams
How Stuff Works
|
