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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
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
March 20, 2009
/ 24 Adar 5769
The faith healer's tent in tatters
By
Wesley Pruden
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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
Watching faith healers is fun, if you can overlook the pain and desperation in the eyes of the supplicants, and cheerfully endure the mosquitoes, gnats and other night bugs flying in tight formation through gaps in the tent flaps. You have to ignore reality and just enjoy the show.
But the next morning, with the sound of the singing and the scent of the sawdust lingering on the cool air, the sick, the halt and the infirm are well advised to call the doctor.
Barack Obama conducted the picture-perfect campaign with the skill and bombast that any smooth-talking piney-woods charlatan would covet, but he's learning that a president can't pack up the piano, fold his tent and hurry off to the next town (or the next state) before the sun rises. Alas, there's no doctor to call for his patient.
Bill Clinton kept us entertained with the permanent campaign, enlivened by his permanent stalking of women that rendered his administration a comic-opera interregnum of sex between the Bushes.
But that was then, when we could forgive a bubba for being Bubba because the times, they were good and hardly a-changing.
This time around the singing was enthusiastic and the praying, such as it was, was loud and the faith healer was powerful, persuasive and smooth, as only a big noise from the South Side of Chicago could be. Voters who had never heard a faith healer in full voice were easy marks. Who knew the new president and all his men wouldn't have a clue about what to do about trouble? This is the kind of ambush of events that breaks presidents and endows them with a permanent legacy of criminal incompetence. The sight of Jimmy Carter emerging from a White House visit this week set hearts ashudder.
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The Keystone Kops confusion distracts public attention from the Islamic bomb in Iran, the war in Afghanistan, the confiscatory tax increases required to pay for the spending spree, renegade Muslim terrorism and the perennial question about what to do to buck up milkleg European "allies." When "trouble" is about what's no longer in Stupid's pocket, he pays attention to the outrage at hand. Money is divided by a decimal system that everybody understands. Pretty speeches, like the platform performance of a faith healer, won't cut it.
Whistling past the graveyard doesn't work, either, but it's tempting to try.
"People are not sitting around their kitchen tables thinking about AIG," says David Axelrod, the chief designer of the picture-perfect campaign. "They are thinking about their own jobs."
Rahm Emanuel, the White House tough guy, scoffs that the AIG disaster is merely "a big distraction" from the faith healer's real work of healing the economy (as if everything is not related). But the public-opinion polls, which measure the pulse of every administration, say otherwise. Gallup finds a big majority "very upset" about it, with only 11 percent "not particularly bothered." Messrs. Axelrod and Emanuel should talk to their friends to see who is oblivious of the AIG debacle, and how it happened.
This is where Mr. Obama and his friends fear most to go. The $165 million paid out in perfectly legal bonuses are only part of it. The Democrats in Congress are eager to join in the cheap-seat chorus against "greed" and "corruption," as long as nobody notices they're a crucial part of the cabal of corruption that set off the economic slide. The rumbling began with the exposure of mismanagement at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and the fingerprints of Chris Dodd, Chuck Schumer and particularly Barney Frank are all over the cooked books.
Mr. Obama was elected in part because so many Americans thought he was serious about getting serious. He would relieve a weary nation of "the partisanship and pettiness and immaturity that has poisoned our politics." Some of us, to be sure, were skeptical. When you've been in Washington for a while it's difficult to be impressed by the sight of a new tent, tattered flaps fluttering in the wind, going up on that vacant lot overgrown with wild blackberries and Johnson grass just down the street.
President Obama and his men act "as if no one is watching them when they contradict their campaign promises," writes Karl Rove, the evil villain of liberal imagination, in the Wall Street Journal. "That behavior is unwittingly giving the Republicans an opening."
The Democrats can take some small comfort in knowing that Republicans know how to blow opportunities, too.
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 emeritus of The Washington Times. Comment by clicking here.
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