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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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Kimberly Palmer: How to actually enjoy -- relaxing, financially -- your vacation
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
May 8, 2009
/ 14 Iyar 5769
Borking machine gets early tuneup
By
Wesley Pruden
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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
The president hasn't nominated anyone to the Supreme Court yet but Democrats on the fringe are tuning up the Borking machine. The target is not the nominee, but the ranking Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Jeff Sessions of Alabama became the No. 1 Republican on the committee assigned to vet the nominee when Arlen Specter performed successful transplant surgery on himself. The assault on Mr. Sessions is intended to intimidate, to tell him to remember his place, to tug his forelock and salute just as Arlen would have done.
The racist slurs against Mr. Sessions aren't particularly vicious but they predict the tone and temperature of the hearings on whoever Barack Obama sends to the Supreme Court to replace David Souter. The rap on Mr. Sessions is that he's male, white, a Southerner from Alabama, bears a crypto-Confederate name and talks funny. Any of these charges are hanging offenses on the nutcake left, and even airing them out - as the accusers are counting on a compliant media to do - should be enough to make Republicans cower in shock and awe.
The senator's Democratic colleagues have been going out of their way to have nothing to do with the smear percolating on the Internet, though it's early and anyone who has been in Washington for more than a weekend knows better than to count on a United States senator to be a stand-up guy. When the chips are down, they're usually in the pocket of one of the distinguished gentlemen slinking toward the side door.
Making Jeff Sessions out to be a clone of Gene Talmadge or Theodore Bilbo will be difficult. This is not the season for dead white males, particularly if they're not dead yet, but Mr. Sessions can't finesse the circumstances of his birth. He bears the names of both Thomas Jefferson, a Virginia slaveholder of no particular distinction, and P.G.T. Beauregard, the commander of the Confederate line at First Manassas who led the rout of the Union army.
Mr. Sessions received his name from his father, who settled "Beauregard" on him with the pride that a Muslim father might feel in settling the middle name "Hussein" on a son destined for big things in Washington. A reporter for the National Journal was bothered by his speech (not a patch on Jimmy Carter's deep-dish Georgia accent), which the reporter found "Southern-sounding," and asked what he could do to soothe delicate ears.
"I think we have to do the right thing," he replied. "And so I think our committee should follow our principles. But I'm just one member. I had my views when Senator Specter was chairman, and I didn't always agree with him. So I have one vote. … I speak for myself."
This would satisfy everybody but the aggrieved nutcakes. Patrick Leahy of Vermont, the Democratic chairman of the Judiciary Committee who is not always the voice of sweet reason and partisan cordiality in his party, nevertheless praises Mr. Sessions for his "cordiality and integrity," and notes that Jefferson Beauregard Sessions supported Eric Holder's successful nomination to be the attorney general. And besides that, he admires women and some of his best friends may be Jews.
Given the Democratic strength in the Senate, concerns for the confirmation of whoever the president nominates seem misplaced unless Mr. Obama chooses Ramsey Clark or an ACLU hack between clients.
Maybe he will.
The president's farewell toast to David Souter suggests that he's not necessarily looking for a lawyer who understands the Constitution and the meaning of an oath to protect and defend that Constitution, but a nominee who knows all the words to "Kumbaya" and wants to give the world a Coke. "I will seek someone who understands that justice isn't about abstract legal theory or a footnote in a casebook; it is also about how our laws affect the daily realities of people's lives, whether they can make a living and care for their families, whether they feel safe in their homes and welcome in their own nation. I view that quality of empathy … as an essential ingredient for arriving at just decisions."
This is an odd job description from a man who once taught constitutional law, but there's a considerable difference between the Constitution and constitutional law. The Constitution is a remarkable document, written by learned men in the plain language that the common man understands. The modern study of constitutional law is the work of lawyers trained to deconstruct plain language in search of things the authors of the Constitution never put there. Mr. Sessions and his colleagues have thankless work to do.
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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