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May 25, 2012
Mark Clayton: Is Hillary's State Dept. hacking Al Qaeda? Not quite
Erika Bolstad: Temple cancels Wasserman Schultz speech
The Kosher Gourmet by Ethel G. Hofman: The former president of the International Association of Culinary Professionals, whose members included the likes of Julia Child, is back with contemporary Shavous cuisine: Ruby Fruit Soup, Sweet Noodle Kugel with Cheese, Key Lime Curd, Calsone Casserole Frittata with Wild Mushrooms, Sun-dried tomatoes and Olives, Baked Tilapia with Pepper Cheese Cream and Brown Sugar Shortbread
May 24, 2012
Jeff Jacoby: The peace process battered Israel's reputation
Michael Muskal: 'Pro-choice' position hits record low, according to poll
Chris Farrell: Are We in a Tech Bubble?
The Kosher Gourmet by Penelope Wall: PHILLY CHEESE STEAKS --- hold the steak!
May 23, 2012
Tony Pugh: More private colleges offering tuition discounts
Mary Beth Franklin: How to Choose the Right Annuity for You
Tina Susman: The wig wasn't enough: Man gets 13 years for posing as his dead mom
The Kosher Gourmet by Emma Christensen:A simple way to do fish right
May 22, 2012
Warren Richey: Can US group challenge overseas surveillance act? Supreme Court to decide
Thomas M. Anderson: Walking Away From a Mortgage
The Kosher Gourmet by Megan Gordon: Enjoy a celebration of the most rich and layered flavors: Black bean, sweet potato and quinoa chili
May 21, 2012
Mark Clayton: Cybersecurity: How US utilities passed up chance to protect their networks
Howard LaFranchi: NATO summit: Who will foot the bill for long-term Afghanistan security?
Chris Farrell : Earn Dividends in Emerging Markets with This WisdomTree ETF
Stephen Whiteside, Ph.D. : Mayo Clinic Medical Edge: Social anxiety disorder --- or just shy?
Guy Jackson : Victim's father regrets death of Lockerbie bomber
The Kosher Gourmet by Mario Batali: Famed chef's veal shoulder farsumagru: A festive meat course for late spring
May 18, 2012
Rabbi Berel Wein: Striving: The People of the Book's Book for (All of) the People
Steven Goldberg: 5 Great Stock Picks and the Exchange-Traded Fund that Owns Them
Mary Pickett, M.D.: Ask the Harvard Experts: Don't be forced into gluten-free lifestyle based merely on a doctor's false-positive test
The Kosher Gourmet by Carolyn Malcoun: DIY healthy lunchbox treats: HOMEMADE FRUIT BARS for kids and brown-bagging adults alike
May 17, 2012
Warren Richey: Teacher fired for being unwed and pregnant can sue religious school, court rules
Josh Mitnick: Netanyahu's 'centrist' coalition is already proving it's anything but
Steven Goldberg: Earn Dividends in Emerging Markets with This WisdomTree ETF
Amina Khan: Research links coffee to lower death rates
The Kosher Gourmet by Faith Duran : Cheesy Potato Breakfast Casserole with Cheddar and Sun-Dried Tomatoes
May 16, 2012
Carmen Terzic, M.D., Ph.D. : Mayo Clinic Medical Edge: A variety of exercises can help improve balance
Melissa Healy: National strategy on Alzheimer's disease aims to halt it by 2025
The Kosher Gourmet by Joyce White : GOODNESS GRACIOUS: GREENS! 4 winning recipes that are no longer just for down-home folks (Includes expert tips & techniques)
May 15, 2012
Kristen Chick: Obama administration resumes arms sales to Bahrain despite serious unresolved human rights issues. Activists feel abandoned
Pat Mertz Esswein: Homes are now affordable again and mortgage rates are low. What you need to know before you buy
Kathy Kristof: Our Practical Investor Fights Inflation with These 6 Investments
Sue Hubbard, M.D.: The Kid's Doctor: Lactose intolerant young child? Check again
The Kosher Gourmet by Kathy Hunt: Spread a Little Excitement with EXOTIC CONDIMENTS (4 RECIPES)
May 14, 2012
Lisa Gerstner: How to Protect Your Identity, Finances If You Lose Your Phone
Harvard Health Letters: Heart disease and dementia
The Kosher Gourmet by Megan Gordon: MANGO COCONUT OAT MORNING MUFFINS are a bright but hearty delight
May 11, 2012
Jessica L. Anderson: Get the Best Deal on a Used Car
Jett Stone: Forget face-lifts and fake knees. Scientists have seen the fountain of youth --- and it's broccoli
The Kosher Gourmet by Chef Mario Batali: The famed chef's vegetable dish that tastes true to the season: FAVAS AND SUGAR SNAP PEAS WITH POTATOES AND TARRAGON
May 10, 2012
Sergei L. Loiko: Putin sends warning to U.S., NATO in Victory Day speech at Red Square
Mary Rourke: How being a 'mentch' got Vidal Sasoon his start and fighting in Israel's War of Independence provided him with confidence and a strong sense of his own identity
Jeff Bertolucci: Get Home Phone Service for Less Than $10 a Month
The Kosher Gourmet by Betty Rosbottom: Gleaming with its golden, crimson, and snowy white hues, this silken smooth and creamy STRAWBERRY ORANGE TRIFLE looks impressive, but is easy to prepare
May 9, 2012
Sharon Palmer, R.D. How you can reduce your risk -- or delay -- chronic diseases associated with aging
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Jewish World Review
Jan 20, 2012/ 25 Teves, 5772
Race and Racist Screeds
By
Suzanne Fields
http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
Presidential campaigns are notorious for unleashing scurrilous rhetoric. Only George Washington was elected as an uncontroversial reflection of the nation's will. Then we got political parties, and it was downhill after that.
By 1800, when John Adams had been president for four years, he was inundated by what he called "squibs, scoffs and sarcasms" — nasty stuff imbedded in vicious attacks on his character and reputation. Presidential campaigns are actually a lot nicer today. Paul F. Boller, the historian who collects outrageous examples in his book "Presidential Campaigns," cites speculations on the "copulative habits" of one candidate to the "prevaricative habits" of another in campaigns of yesteryear.
But impugning the motives of the voter, and not merely the candidate, is bending politics to an imaginative new standard. Some of the partisans on the left are frustrated because Republicans and other conservatives, who are supposed to be mean and vicious racists, aren't reading their assigned lines. Lee Siegel, for example, who writes about culture for several left-wing magazines, accuses Mitt Romney of having to attract racist voters with appeals that the right-thinking might not notice. Writing in The New York Times, he accuses Romney of exploiting his white skin with Americans "who find the thought of a black president unbearable."
The snappy headline above his op-ed essay asks, "What's Race Got To Do With It?" and a prominent subhead answers the question: "Mitt Romney is ahead because he is the whitest white man to run for president in years."
Lest we get the wrong idea that Siegel actually means what he says, he's not measuring the density of melanin pigment in the Romney skin. Instead, he writes, "I'm referring to the countless subtle and not-so-subtle ways he telegraphs to a certain type of voter that he is the cultural alternative to America's first black president."
What's particularly pernicious about this argument is that millions of Americans, enough to win a national election, have demonstrated that, whether they agree or disagree with all of the president's politics, they elected a black man to the highest office in the land. Herman Cain held conservative Republicans in thrall for weeks until his campaign fell apart for reasons that had nothing to do with race.
But in Siegel's fanciful account, Romney cleverly exploits his "meticulously cultivated whiteness" in ways the rest of us could never imagine. For example, "he is nearly always in immaculate white shirtsleeves." White shirts? Imagine that. He has been known to hum a bar or two of "White Christmas" before the glowing yuletide log. Barack Obama, a natty dresser himself, occasionally wears white shirts, too.
Is he a traitor to his class? (Who remembers the color of Herman Cain's shirts?) But it gets worse. Romney appeals to narrow-minded, small-town prejudice with good manners. "He is implacably polite, tossing off phrases like, 'Oh, gosh!' with Stepford bonhomie." No F-word bombs for him.
This "could only be the world of the rapacious Babbitt, of small-town Rotarians," of civic-club luncheons of rubber chicken and ham in raisin sauce, and only Mitt Romney would say it's delicious. He knows and recites the lyrics of "America the Beautiful," no doubt warming the hearts of Ku Klux Klansmen lurking about the edges of the political debate, looking for a ballot box.
Even the virtue of a Founding Father is retrograde in Siegel's understanding of America: "He has mastered Benjamin Franklin's honesty as the 'best policy': a practiced insincerity, an instant sunniness that, though evidently inauthentic, provides a bland bass note that keeps everyone calm."
Though he is a Mormon, Siegel's real targets are evangelical Christians. They suffer a core fantasy "that the Barack Obama years, far from being the way forward, are in fact a historical aberration, a tear in the white space-time continuum." He doesn't say how he uncovered this fantasy, but he knows in his bones that Romney wants to conjure a social and cultural experience from that damaging past.
The essay was illustrated by a large photograph of the extended Romney family, with the candidate and his wife surrounded by children and grandchildren. Sure enough, they're all white. But some of them didn't get the word. They're wearing light blue and even — horrors! — black shirts. What on earth is Romney really up to? His racist followers know: "Mitt Romney is the conventional man with the outsider faith — an apocalyptic pragmatist — who will wrest the country back from the unconventional man with the intolerable outsider color."
The New York Times concedes that it's having trouble getting its facts straight and has asked for help from its readers. "I'm looking for reader input on whether and when New York Times news reporters should challenge 'facts' that are asserted by newsmakers they write about," Arthur Brisbane, the newspaper's ombudsman, pleaded last week. What it needs, as we move into another presidential campaign, are editors who spike "squibs, scoffs and sarcasms" — and racist screeds.
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Suzanne Fields Archives
© 2006, Creators Syndicate, Suzanne Fields
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