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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
Oct. 23, 2009
/ 5 Mar-Cheshvan 5770
Record Time to Nowhere
By
Paul Greenberg
http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
No doubt about it, Barack Obama is the president of the future. The worrisome part is that he may always be. If there is a presidential decision that can be put off, a bold new policy that can be negotiated into just a continuation of the old, a way to change momentum into inertia ... this president's your man.
There's not a pressing problem he can't be trusted to discuss, and discuss, and discuss for so long that it remains a problem but only more complicated. Slowly but never surely, halfway measures become quarter-way measures become ... the same old policies. But now they're covered by still more layers of bureaucracy, expense and government debt. Without improving or even basically changing anything.
At this point, our ever new president's accomplishments are much like his Nobel Prize -- a laurel for promise rather than performance.
A bold new direction in health care has become a change in health-care insurance, which is fast becoming not so much a change as just an expansion of the old, ramshackle system. A system all can agree is broken will remain broken but in a more complex, more up-to-date way that will require more elaborate forms.
But that's all right; the forms will all be electronic. Isn't that the important thing? For as we know, computers never go down and Washington can fix all our problems. Don't fret, it'll all work out in theory. If only in theory. This much is sure, however: It'll cost a lot.
Even if something emerges from all the talk and votes and negotiation and renegotiation and polspeak and general dithering over health care or just its insurance, any real changes, if there are any, wouldn't go into effect till 2013 -- after the president is safely re-elected on a platform, no doubt, of change, hope and audacity. None of which ever seem to materialize.
It's all a lot like his economic stimulus, which somehow never seems to dent the unemployment rate. On the contrary, joblessness continues to grow in tandem with the deficit.
But who cares? This president is articulate even if he doesn't actually say anything, a great leader even if he isn't actually leading. It's the talk that counts, don't you see? The conferences and confabs and the glib explanations, those are what matter. Those are what the daily headlines are about. And the mantra running through them is always: To save more, spend more! And if you can't appreciate that, what are you, some kinda racist?
Meanwhile, a decision still looms in Afghanistan. As it has loomed for years. And may loom for years more while the war and the casualties go on. A necessary war somehow has become an optional one, and just in time for the midterm elections at that.
Remember the thorough, comprehensive review that the president and his advisers conducted only a few months ago, and how he appointed a brave new general to carry it out? Well, forget it. Everything's been put on hold (again) till another thorough, comprehensive review is conducted. As they say in the army, hurry up and wait.
At this point, the president of the future sounds much like one from the past, specifically George W. Bush enmeshed in Iraq before he summed up the courage to change everything -- strategies, generals, secretaries of defense, whatever it took.
Barack H. Obama has not yet shaken off the fog of war, and so he stumbles on into the slough of despond that awaits any commander-in-chief who doesn't command. At a cost that tears at the heart. Or would if anybody dared look beyond the president's always smooth words at the actual results of his policy, or rather non-results of his non-policy.
Speaking of halfway measures becoming permanent stalls, Bill Clinton's humiliating compromise ("Don't ask, don't tell") continues in kind of force. This president, too, is going to treat homosexuals as full citizens who can serve their country openly -- someday. "I will end Don't Ask, Don't Tell," Barack Obama promised just the other evening -- to cheers and applause. He just didn't say when.
What's the matter, can't he find a pen to sign an executive order? The way Harry Truman ended Jim Crow in the armed forces at a single stroke. All it takes is a decision -- but that's just what this president isn't about to risk. Else, what would there be left to promise next election?
When this president of the (always receding) future does announce a bold decision, what if anything happens? What ever happened to that slew of executive orders closing down the military prison at Guantanamo by the end of the year? Did reality intervene? Will we get an explanation instead of a result once again? Or will this president even bother to explain himself?
One thing's for sure: He's not likely to just come out and admit it was a dumb decision and reverse it. Whatever the explanation he comes up with, you can bet it'll be complex. Complexity, that's the thing. It's the perfect thicket in which to take refuge when hope, change and audacity become only words.
Why, for example, propose a simple and simply enforced tax on carbon-producing industries, or even on carbon-producing products like (perish the thought!) gasoline, when you can devise a cockamamie cap-and-trade system that would do credit to Rube Goldberg if no one else? A system that, like any changes in health-care insurance, wouldn't go into effect until safely after the next presidential election.
Anything so simple as a straight-out tax on fuels that would dirty the atmosphere would seem beyond this consensus-building, community-organizing, meeting-holding president. It's been observed since at least Adam Smith's time that, if you want to make something scarce, just tax it. Windows, income, capital, you name it. So why not tax pollution? Because, of course, that would require the scarcest political commodity of all: courage.
The surest way to tell the next great achievement of this president that won't actually be achieved is to note which ones he's spoken most forcefully about. Afghanistan is a war that must be won! Iran's crazies will never be allowed to have nuclear weapons! This president will be the last who will have to reform health care! The planet will be saved from global warming! And so the country drifts on in war and peace till it grows harder and harder to tell which is which. And this president of the future remains just that.
Paul Greenberg Archives
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