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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
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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
January 13, 2009
/17 Teves 5769
That was then, but this is now
By
Wesley Pruden
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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
Barack Obama might take a caution from the story about the man who died and showed up at the Pearly Gates.
The maitre d' told him that his death was particularly timely because he qualified for the weekly special. He could sample that other place down below, then paradise, and decide for himself where to spend eternity.
He took the down elevator and the doors opened onto a lush fairway, where everybody was breaking par. The restaurant at the 19th hole was the best in town, the roast beef just rare enough, the ham tasty and the broiled sheep's eyes tender and flavorful. The wines were the best that Kendall-Jackson or Lafitte Rothschild could supply, served by 73 of the most beautiful women the man had ever seen. "Yes," the guide said, "not all are virgins, but we're very multicultural now." The party seemed to go on for days.
Finally, he was escorted to the elevator for a long ride upstairs. Paradise turned out to be lush and green as well, and he was reunited with many of his old friends. The food was the best, the wines similar to those served below, but he eventually tired of shooting only holes-in-one. He reluctantly said thanks, but he wanted the livelier life downstairs. He was directed politely to the down elevator for the long descent to oblivion. The door opened at last on a scene of anguish, misery and utter desolation, similar to scenes of Sherman's Christmas bombing of Savannah, the leveling of Berlin and the great firebomb raid on Tokyo. The man was struck dumb by the difference in what he had seen only a few days before.
"I don't understand it," he told an assistant devil. "I was here the other day, and it was nothing at all like this."
"Ah, yes," the assistant devil said. "Last week, we were campaigning. Now, we're governing."
Indeed, only yesterday Guantanamo was a hell-hole that Mr. Obama couldn't wait to shut down, perhaps making it up to the prisoners with a picnic (no ham sandwiches) before returning them to violent precincts in Kirkuk and Kandahar, there to make radical Muslim merriment with roadside bombs and beheading knives.
But this week, closing Guantanamo, like heaven, can wait; maybe there are bad guys in the cages after all. Maybe the campaigner spoke too soon in the debates of spring and summer and on the hustings of September. Maybe a little rough questioning of certain tough guys is sometimes necessary to prevent another 9/11 (or something far worse). Summer was a time to campaign. This is January and time to govern.
The president-elect sends signals demonstrating his own confliction. Last week, he conceded that it would be "a challenge" to close Gitmo in the first 100 days; no one has yet figured out what to do with the 250 al Qaeda and Taliban guests plucked from battlefields in Afghanistan and Iraq, most of them unrepentant thugs and some of them unrepentant witnesses to the thuggery. They're too many to release at once, too many to find new prisons for, too many to be "shot while trying to escape."
For now, maybe, they can be left where they are, so they can (in the famous euphemism of the London newspapers) continue to "assist police with their investigation."
Monday, with a glance over his left shoulder at the impatient true believers who imagine that the war against terrorists is merely something dreamed up by President Bush to amuse right-wing red-hots, he sent out aides who speak only anonymously with the reassurance that he "might" issue the executive order closing Gitmo on Jan. 20, but the Associated Press reported that it's unlikely "the detention facility ... will [actually be] closed anytime soon."
Mr. Obama first must decide whether to confront a group of Democratic senators, first among them Dianne Feinstein, who want to limit the president's authority to prescribe interrogation techniques, particularly waterboarding, the simulation of drowning that can make hardened suspects spill their schemes for killing Americans in wholesale numbers. Presidential prerogatives can be airily discounted by presidential candidates, but actual presidents set great store by them.
Everybody's against torture, but everybody's for it, depending on circumstances. The argument is over where to draw the line. Perhaps saving the life of a senator's grandchild, for example, could merit even a little waterboarding.
"When I took my SERE (survival, evasion, resistance, escape) training at Warner Springs, Cal., in 1976," writes a retired naval aviator, "I watched as most of my class of about 25 were waterboarded ... at one time it was a part of almost every naval aviator's training. How bad a torture can it be? It certainly wasn't lasting, nor lethal. Perhaps it is just effective."
The difference, you might say, is between campaigning and governing.
Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in in the media and Washington consider "must-reading". Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.
JWR contributor Wesley Pruden is editor in chief of The Washington Times. Comment by clicking here.
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