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February 10, 2012
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David G. Savage: Why activists may not be in a hurry to have High Court rule on alternative marriage
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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)
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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
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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
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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
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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. 29, 2008
/ 23 Adar I 5768
Weighing words for straight talk
By
Wesley Pruden
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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
By If John McCain has a hard time figuring out how to run against a black man, he can take consolation from Barack Obama's dilemma. It won't be easy for him to campaign against a white man while remaining "black" enough to satisfy the 'hood.
Talking about race in America is perilous. Offenses are taken when none are intended. Much goes unspoken, but keenly felt. Slights quickly become snubs; nuance is taken for evasion. Casual conversation becomes deadly when every word must be weighed. Every sentence must be carefully parsed in an age where the precise use of language is held in low regard. The successful candidate this year may turn out to be the most eloquent apologizer-in-chief.
John McCain felt he had to apologize this week after one of his supporters, a radio talk-show host, insisted on calling Barack Hussein Obama by his full legal name, reminding everyone that some of the senator's roots are in Islam as well as in Africa. Mr. Obama was pressed to "reject" the endorsement of Louis Farrakhan after he remarked that he has "consistently denounced" anti-Jewish Farrakhan rants and rages. He "distanced" himself again from his pastor and mentor, who champions Minister Farrakhan as "a great man" and reveals himself to be someone who doesn't like white people very much.
When Mr. Obama was asked about the Farrakhan endorsement at their final debate Tuesday night, he snapped at Tim Russert, the interrogator: "Tim, I have to say I don't see a difference between denouncing and rejecting. If the word 'reject' that Senator Clinton feels is stronger than the word 'denounce,' then I'm happy to concede the point and I would reject and denounce." Mr. Obama, as anyone might, prefaced his answers with several "ahs," "ummms" and "uhs," not exactly stammering but clearly demonstrating how uncomfortable he was and eager to get back to questions about health care, the war in Iraq, NAFTA and who hates George W. Bush the most.
Where will it all stop, and when can we get on with a debate for grown-ups? Certainly not before November, and therein lies the peril. Both nominees can decry it, but there's not much either can do to eliminate that peril while banging away at each other over genuine issues, neither pulling legitimate punches nor drowning everyone in mush and gruel.
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Shelby Steele suggests in his new book, "A Bound Man," that the senator, bound by the tangled web of race, can't succeed because by relieving whites of their guilt he will inevitably disappoint blacks who want him to sharply confront whites for the sins and shortcomings of yesteryear.
Trevor Phillips, the chairman of the Equality and Human Rights Commission in Britain where American politics is regarded as the game anyone can play argues that not only will Barack Obama fail to bridge the racial divide but will actually deepen it. "If Obama can succeed," he writes in Prospect magazine, "then maybe [guilt-ridden whites] can imagine that Martin Luther King's post-racial nirvana has arrived. A vote for Obama is a pain-free negation of their own racism ... so long as they don't have to live next door to him."
His diagnosis gets more depressing. "Obama may be helping to postpone the arrival of a post-racial America, and I think he knows it. If he wins, the cynicism may be worth it to him and his party. In the end, he is a politician and a very good one. His job is to win elections." The more "the bargainer" soothes middle-class whites, the more he irritates blacks who cotton to "challengers" like Al Sharpton, the Rev. Jesse Jackson and Louis Farrakhan, who wield power only as long as they can persuade their followers to remain "victims" of what Mr. Obama's pastor scorns as "the United States of White America."
John McCain, no doubt relieved that he won't have to run against a woman, has to weigh words and parse his respect to a black man while resisting paralysis to avoid offense, giving in to the temptation to play hug-me and kissy-face with Democrats. Republicans have done it before.
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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