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February 13, 2012
Binyamin Rose: Back to the Bunker: How a life-risking act by a Christian family during the Holocaust saved a family and built a thriving community a world away
Menachem Wecker: Business Schools Teach Real Estate Despite Troubled Housing Market
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
February 9, 2012
Laura McMullen: 10 Least Expensive Public Schools for Out-of-State Students
Kimberly Palmer: How to actually enjoy -- relaxing, financially -- your vacation
February 8, 2012
Warren Richey: Why momentous Prop. 8 ruling might not satisfy gay-rights groups
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)
February 7, 2012
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
February 6, 2012
Jonathan Tobin: Iran Threatens Israel With Destruction, But the New York Times Doesn't Hear It
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
January 27, 2012
Caroline B. Glick: Obama: Of course I intend to prevent a nuclear holocaust . . . in a few months
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
Ben Lynfield: Israeli lawmakers move to annex Jewish Judea, one museum at a time
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
Warren Richey: Supreme Court says no to new rule on eyewitness testimony
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
Feb. 12, 2009
/ 18 Shevat 5769
A touch of Chicago
By
Paul Greenberg
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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
You can't say this new administration isn't changing Washington. Because, politically, the nation's capital is starting to look a lot like Chicago on the Potomac, complete with the sleazy deals and subsequent embarrassment.
Just because the new president came out of the Daley machine, and had his own ethical problems before he became the Hope of the World, didn't mean Barack Obama couldn't reform Washington. A new era of Change was in the offing! The country was about to get the most ethical administration in history. (Again.)
Tell it to Mr. Dooley, the fictional Irish barkeep in Finley Peter Dunne's timeless columns for the late and otherwise forgotten Chicago Evening Post. From his key listening post on Archer Avenue, Mr. Dooley, bless his Irish soul, had seen 'em come and seen 'em go reformers, that is and he didn't have much use for 'em. Or as he put it in a brogue straight out of County Roscommon:
"A man that'd expict to thrain lobsters to fly in a year is called a loonytic; but a man that thinks men can be tur-rned into angels be an iliction is called a rayformer and remains at large."
Mr. Martin Dooley, saloonkeeper and philosopher, would not be surprised at how rapidly this angelic administration is turning into an only human one, with all the ethical compromises pertaining thereto:
First there was the still-mysterious case of Bill Richardson, the governor of New Mexico who chose not to become secretary of commerce in the Obama administration after all. Something about a grand jury investigation and his not embarrassing our new young president who must be aging fast these hectic days, thanks to friends like Mr. Richardson.
After l'affaire Richardson came another exception to the high ethical standard that Barack Obama was bringing to Washington. It seems his choice as secretary of the treasury Timothy Geithner had failed to pay all of his taxes. (The bill came to $43,200 counting interest.)
It was all rather embarrassing for someone who's been picked to collect taxes from the rest of us. Still worse, Mr. Geithner didn't cough up till he was chosen for the Cabinet and realized that a confirmation hearing was bearing down on him.
There's nothing like the prospect of a congressional hearing to wonderfully concentrate the mind and add to the coffers of the U.S. Treasury. And show appointees to high office the error of their ways. By now confirmation hearings have probably saved more office-seekers than any tent meeting.
Like confession, such hearings are good for the soul. Indeed, they're becoming largely indistinguishable from confessions as one distinguished appointee after another raises his hand and swears he's sorry for not paying his taxes. It's become almost a rite of passage for members of this latest Most Ethical Administration Ever.
Then there's Tom Daschle, who until just the other day was Barack Obama's choice to head the sprawling Department of Health and Human Services. He was going to straighten out the country's physicians, hospitals, health insurance companies, and indeed the whole jumbled hodgepodge of a mess that is the American health care "system." Unfortunately, he couldn't even keep up with his own fiscal affairs, let alone those of every patient in the country.
The former senator failed to pay taxes on hundreds of thousands of dollars of income and, politically worse, didn't mention that little problem when he was being "thoroughly vetted" for the appointment. A busy fellow just can't be expected to remember every little thing. And he would have brought with him a record of collecting millions in consulting and speaking fees from a wide variety of outfits with an interest in his official decisions. Not exactly reassuring.
Does anyone think that if Messrs. Geithner and Daschle were Republicans nominated by a Republican president, they'd have stood a chance of being confirmed by a Democratic Congress, what with their record of paying taxes, or rather not paying them?
No need to mention the new president's choice of Nancy Killefer as chief performance officer of the U.S. government before she was caught not having paid her household help's employment taxes. Some duties, it seems, she didn't perform.
The first, disorganized days of the Obama administration haven't reached the proportions of another Most Ethical Administration Ever the Clinton administration's crack-up in the spring of '93 but it's getting there.
Here's one good sign amid all the ethical murk: The clearly new president has just admitted he's screwed up. To know you've got a problem is the first requirement for solving it.
But how many more Richardsons, Geithner, Daschles, and so questionably on can this "reform" president take on, and still be thought of as a reformer?
The problem cases are starting to mount up.
Barack Obama's great strength as a leader has been his ability to inspire hope the genuine, lower-case, real thing. But public opinion is a fickle beast, and bright hope can turn into contagious cynicism with dismaying speed.
At this rate, the grand illusion that was Barack Obama's charismatic campaign could quickly turn into a grand disillusion with his administration. That kind of disenchantment is bad enough in good times. In times like these, it could be crippling. Remember the Carter Years, aka Malaise? Please, not again.
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.
JWR contributor Paul Greenberg, editorial page editor of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, has won the Pulitzer Prize for editorial writing. Send your comments by clicking here.
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