Jewish World Review Sept. 12, 2007 / 29 Elul 5767

Judgments

By Greg Crosby

http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | For Jewish people Rosh Hashanah is the start of a new year. As opposed to January 1st, it is not about making merry, drinking Champagne, or going out into the street to watch a ball drop. It is a solemn time, a time for reflection and a time for judgments. In fact, it is the day the whole world is judged for the coming year. Since Rosh Hashanah marks the day that G-d created man on the 6th day of creation, it is in effect, the birthday of the human race. This birthday, like any other, is a happy occasion but it is also a time for G-d to judge us. For Christians, judgment day is reserved for that one time after death - for the Jewish people judgment day is held on Rosh Hashanah, every single year of life.

G-d judges us fairly based on how we have performed all year, how we have lived our lives, how we have treated others, and how successful we've been in trying to live as good, decent people. G-d judges us and as people we judge ourselves as well. We ask forgiveness for our sins, and pledge to do better in the coming year. Being "Judgmental" is a Jewish tradition.

The act of judging is not a bad thing at all when done fairly and with good purpose and decent intent. Judging deeds as either good or bad is necessary if we are to improve as human beings. We need to be able to judge what is right and what is wrong - what is decent and what is indecent.

The far-left (now called "progressive") politically correct dogma among elitists holds that one should NEVER be judgmental. All cultures, all customs, all values, and all thinking are equally beautiful. Nothing is better than anything else. That is the number one egalitarian rule of thumb of today's liberal thinkers. Do not judge. There is no right or wrong. All is equal and the same. But that idea becomes preposterous when the very same people who claim to be non-judgmental make judgments constantly on those of whom they disagree.

Interestingly, during this week of Rosh Hashanah, not all the judging has been done by G-d. Democrats in Congress (who too often think of themselves as G-d) have judged General Patraeus' report on the war in Iraq - even before they saw it! G-d doesn't even do that! I guess it's okay to be judgmental when the people doing the judging are partisan Democrat hacks. It just would have been sort of nice, not to mention fair, for them to have at least waited until General Patraeus had the chance to actually present his report before they jumped all over it and trashed it.

Last Monday, MoveOn.Org - the Democrat anti-war group - took out a full page advertisement in the New York Times which said: "General Petraeus or General Betray Us?" This ad was written, taken out and paid for weeks before the general even delivered his report. You can bet it was planned for months. The ad doesn't mince words, calling the general's integrity into question and labeling him a liar and a puppet for President Bush. I don't want to seem judgmental, but isn't MoveOn.Org being just a wee bit, er, judgmental?

When General Patraeus was first appointed to take command of our troops in Iraq, there was universal approval from both parties for this well respected and intelligent military man. Now that the surge appears to be working and it's time for the general to give his progress report, things all of a sudden have changed with the Dems. For well over a week before the general even finished writing his report, Democrats began their prejudicial pontificating and political posturing - claiming to know what he would say before he said it.

"He has made a number of statements over the years that have not proved to be factual," said Harry Reid, the Democratic majority Senate leader and advocate of total American surrender. Gazing into his crystal ball, Mr. Reid predicted the assessments of Gen Petraeus would "pass through the White House spin machine, where facts are often ignored or twisted and intelligence is cherry picked." Judgmental? You decide.

In the judgment of General Patraeus the surge has helped America turn the tide in Iraq. We are making progress and are once again in an offensive position. It should come as no surprise to anyone with common sense that when a country is engaged in a war one needs to fight to win. The general knows this and that's why more manpower and more aggressive tactics will ultimately add up to victory. The Democrats can't acknowledge a successful surge. To do so would spell political suicide for them and they know it. They are depending on an American failure in Iraq to win back the White House.

The battle of Iraq has two fronts - the one in Iraq, and the one in Washington which is just as fierce in its own way. History will be the ultimate judge on whether the surge was the right way to go and whether General Patraeus' assessment of the situation was an honest evaluation. Meanwhile, political judgments at home in the coming months may well decide how the larger war against al Qaeda and other radical Islamist forces around the world will play out for the good guys in the years ahead. For the sake of civilization, let us hope those judgments are the correct ones. Only G-d knows for sure and He will most definitely be the final judge of our actions.