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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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Kimberly Palmer: How to actually enjoy -- relaxing, financially -- your vacation
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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)
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Frank J. Gaffney, Jr.: Caught off-guard? President's Super Bowl interview with Matt Lauer gives those who need a reason not to vote for him, a darn good one
Suzanne Bohan: Leaping lizards! Tiny reptiles advancing robot design
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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
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Yochonon Donn: In liberal New York City, fervently-Orthodox Jews may soon be getting a district to call their own
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Katy Hopkins: New budget rules may affect how much money you get for college
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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
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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
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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
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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
May 5, 2009 / 11 Iyar 5769
Jack French Kemp, RIP
By
Mona Charen
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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
Jack Kemp was supposed to read this column. A dinner in his honor was
scheduled for next week and I had timed the column to appear just prior.
The last his friends had heard, he was improving. Now it's too late.
Jack Kemp was deserving of tribute in so many ways as a leader, as a
thinker, as a family man, and as a Christian (are you still allowed to
say that?).
In 1986, when the chessboard was being arranged for the 1988
presidential race, I chose to leave my post in the Reagan White House
and go to work for the most exciting political figure in the Republican
Party Congressman Jack Kemp. A speechwriter for Jack Kemp learns many
things superfluity being first. I'm not sure why Jack ever hired
speechwriters. We all had the same experience. You labored over a
30-minute address. He would go over it and suggest changes (he once
corrected my prose by telling me that it "read like an article in
Commentary" rather than a campaign speech) and we would proceed to the
event. Jack would mount the podium, put the speech on the lectern, and
talk for 30 or 40 minutes without once referring to the text in front of
him. He would pull articles out of his jacket pocket or respond to
something that he heard on the news that morning. His fertile mind was
always working. When I was introduced to supporters, they would say "Oh,
you write Jack Kemp's speeches!" and I would reply "I write them. He
seldom delivers them."
But what Jack had to say would change the Republican Party forever. An
autodidact, he had studied economics and history, and became a tireless
evangelist for supply-side economics. He peppered his speeches with
references to "capital" and "labor" which this speechwriter found a
little dry but he also preached "opportunity" and "growth," which
resonated. He recognized that capitalism, and the unique opportunities
it can foster, was far more important for those in the middle and at the
bottom of the economic pyramid than it was for those at the top. Jack
truly and deeply wanted to give people the chance to improve themselves.
He had seen how it could work close up. His father had started with
nothing. He borrowed money to buy one truck and eventually developed his
business into a profitable trucking company. Jack wanted to distribute
that kind of opportunity as broadly as possible. As the author of the
Kemp/Roth tax cutting legislation, Jack became the godfather of the
Reagan domestic agenda.
The United States Congress is chock full of lawyers and other
accomplished men and women. But no one read more avidly than the former
quarterback for the Buffalo Bills. I remember Irving Kristol marveling
over his first meeting with Kemp in the 1970s. Kemp had asked Kristol to
suggest a reading list. Kristol politely, if skeptically, complied. A
few weeks later, Kristol ran into Kemp again and was stunned to discover
that Jack had read every book on the list and was ready to discuss them!
Even the fact that Jack became a winning quarterback was a tribute to
his grit and buoyant spirit. Though he had been a college star, his pro
career did not get off to an easy start. Nothing was handed to him. The
AP described it this way: "Kemp was a 17th round 1957 NFL draft pick by
the Detroit Lions, but was cut before the season began. After being
released by three more NFL teams and the Canadian Football League over
the next three years, he joined the American Football League's Los
Angeles Chargers as a free agent in 1960. A waivers foul-up two years
later would land him with the Buffalo Bills, who got him at the bargain
basement price of $100." And yet, Jack Kemp led the Bills to the 1964
and 1965 American Football League's championships, and was voted the
league's most valuable player in 1965. He co-founded and became the
president of the AFL Players Association, and found time to serve in the
Army reserves. He would later say that pro football was excellent
preparation for politics: "When I entered the political arena, I had
already been booed, cheered, cut, sold, traded, and hung in effigy."
Kemp was more than a supply-side evangelist. He was also a serious
student of foreign policy. While his hopes for mankind were expansive,
his tolerance for dictators and tyrants was nonexistent. His love of
capitalism was inseparable from his love of liberty.
Most of all when I think of Jack Kemp, I think of his tremendous
devotion to his wife, Joanne, and to their four children and 17
grandchildren. Though he achieved great things in public life, he
managed to do it without neglecting his family. That is a man in full.
He will be greatly missed.
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Mona Charen Archives
© 2006, Creators Syndicate
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