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May 20, 2013

Richard A. Serrano: Is Meir Kahane's assassin now a changed man?

Hannan Adely: Town raises Palestinian flag at City Hall

Melissa Healy: Genetic copies of living people from embryos no longer science fiction
Morgan Housel: When smart investors do stupid things

Sharon Saloman, M.S., R.D.: Hunger games: Eat more, weigh less, without starving

Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom : Jews Inducted into Rock Hall of Fame; Anton Yelchin co-stars in New "Trek" film; Kutcher (but not Kunis) visits Israel; Jewish TV Star Praises Jewish Rap Star

The Kosher Gourmet by Cathy Pollak: WARNING: This WALNUT CAKE WITH PRALINE FROSTING, perfect for afternoon coffee, is addicting
May 13, 2013

Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo: Why the giving of the document that would permanently change the world could only be done in desolation

David G. Savage: Church-state, literally? Supreme Court weighing public school graduation in a church

Emily Alpert: Recession dragged down birth rates for less-educated women
Morgan Housel: The deep downside of home ownership

Peter Teffer: Will Dutch police soon be stalking cybercriminals on your computer?

Heidi McIndoo, M.S., R.D.: Meatless 'meat' can have its own set of problems

The Kosher Gourmet by Diane Rossen Worthington: Celebrate! This must-try appetizer is delicate yet has depth of flavor: Corn-Leek Cakes with Caviar, Smoked Salmon and Creme Fraiche

May 10, 2013

Rabbi Berel Wein: Be all that you should be

Caroline B. Glick: The dirty little secret about Israel's Arabs

Mona Charen: Hawking's Moral Calculus: The man and the movement he embraces
Morgan Housel: The biggest retirement myth ever told

Sandi Doughton: Eyes may provide new insight into brain problems

Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom : The Great Gatsby's Jewish Ties; Jews in the "Time 100 list" List; People's Most Beautiful Women

The Kosher Gourmet by Linda Gassenheimer: A sweet-hot meal: Pear salsa spices up salmon

May 8, 2013

Peter Ford: Why China is welcoming both Israel's Netanyahu and Palestinians' Abbas

Warren Richey: Obama administration quietly backs out of appeal over new contraceptive mandate

Fred Weir: At Kerry-Putin meeting, US-Russia relations thaw --- a tad
Amanda Paulson: Study reveals sad truths about community colleges

Harvard Health Letters: Evidence weak that zinc, echinacea are beneficial

The Kosher Gourmet by Leela Cyd Ross : Almost too pretty to eat, this colorful salad with Sicilian inspiration will tickle the taste buds and delight your visual sensibility

May 6, 2013

Edmund Sanders and Patrick J. McDonnell: Think Israel's objective in Syria is to weaken Assad or embolden the rebels? Think again

Brian Bennett: Israeli airstrikes may show weakness in Syrian defense

Michael Ollove: Millions of ex-felons, parolees and those on probation are about to be entitled to tax-payer paid health coverage
Karen Kaplan: Most men can skip PSA test for prostate cancer, urologists say

Kimberly Lankford: How to track down a lost life insurance policy

Dream of Mars exploration achievable, experts say

The Kosher Gourmet by Susan M. Selasky: EGGPLANT WRAPS are an easy, sumptuous and scrumptious meal

May 3, 2013

Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo: Human Courage and the Unavoidable, Disturbing Text

Steven Emerson: Attorney General Fights CAIR in Court, Lauds it in Public

Mediterranean diet helps beat dementia: study
Harvard Health Letters: When to be screened for a hearing problem

Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom : Iron Man's Jewish Connections; Marc Maron's New TV Show; Martin Landau Grows Up with Israel; Shalom, Allan Arbus

The Kosher Gourmet by Diane Rossen Worthington: A sweet surprise for Mother's Day dessert

May 1, 2013

Jonathan Rosenblum: An Improbable Journey to Orthodoxy

Jonathan Tobin: Blame Obama, Not Israel for Syria Push

Kids, kittens the Same? With employee perks at struggling Internet pioneer Yahoo! it's hard to tell
Halena M. Gazelka, M.D.: Mayo Clinic Medical Edge: What you need to know about implanted pain relief devices

Sandy Kleffman: Artificial kidney offers hope to patients tethered to a dialysis machine

Jessica Shugart: When it comes to math, MRIs may be better than IQs

The Kosher Gourmet by Mario Batali: The celebrated chef on how high-maintenance ASPARAGUS RISOTTO need not be

April 29, 2013

Roy Gutman: Poland's new Jewish museum celebrates life, doesn't revisit Holocaust

Mark Clayton: Terrorism in America: Is US missing a chance to learn from failed plots?

Kim Murphy: Boston Bomber's 'Svengali' Revealed
Morgan Housel: He's rich, smart and old: Listen to him

Thomas Salinas, D.D.S.: Mayo Clinic Medical Edge: The safety of amalgam fillings

Harvard Health Letters: Tomatoes and stroke protection

Pete Spotts: Tiny satellites + cellphones = cheaper 'eyes in the sky' for NASA

The Kosher Gourmet by Diane Rossen Worthington: Swing into spring with lemon cream pie

April 26, 2013

Rabbi Abraham J. Twerski: The world is a mirror

Caroline B. Glick: Time to confront Obama

Clifford D. May: Defense in the Age of Jihadist Terrorism
Kimberly Lankford: New strategies ease pain of paying for long-term care insurance

Howard LeWine, M.D.: Ask the Harvard Experts: Too much ibuprofen?

Sharon Palmer, R.D.: How to feel your best -- with plenty of energy, a healthy weight and optimal mental and physical function -- without driving yourself batty

Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom: Jewish Major Leaguers, 2013; New Movies and Comedy Show; Shalom, 'Lumpy' (Leave it to Beaver)

The Kosher Gourmet by Emily Ho : A bright and cheerful salad to herald the warmer months ahead

April 24, 2013

Steven Emerson: Boston Bomber Exposes Islamist Secret

Morgan Housel Admit it: No one has any idea what's going on
Harvard Health Letters: Can you get headaches from headache medication?

Kerri-Ann Jennings, M.S., R.D.: How to easily get more Omega-3s in your diet

Melissa Healy: Pot in a pill: All the pain relief without the smoke

The Kosher Gourmet by Susan Russo: Chipotle Chili Butternut Squash Soup is bold, zesty, hot

April 22, 2013

Ken Dilanian: Counterterrorism's future is unclear

US man departing country arrested on terror charges
Barbara Williams: An unorthodox but growing treatment in a 9-year-old's battle against cancer

P.J. Skerrett, M.D.: How to recognize a good whole grain product

Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom: Teen actor Jonah Bobo in New Flick: Hunky James Wolk on Mad Men; Erich Segal's Daughter Writes Prize-Winning Jewish Novel


Jewish World Review Oct. 5, 2006 / 13 Tishrei 5767

Public praise is fair game

By Jeff Jacoby

Jeff Jacoby
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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | Last month, Virginia Republicans claimed to be shocked — shocked! — that Democratic Senate candidate James Webb, a former Republican who served as Navy secretary and assistant defense secretary during the Reagan administration, would run a TV ad showing a clip of the former president extolling Webb in a speech 21 years ago. Now Democrats in Massachusetts are having a similar attack of the vapors. They profess to be scandalized by Republican gubernatorial candidate Kerry Healey's new commercial, which includes clips of Democratic politicians praising her at a recent bill-signing ceremony.


File both complaints under: Spare us. It's tiresome enough to hear politicians denounce "negative campaigning" whenever their opponents criticize them. Are they now going to cry foul over compliments too?


The Webb and Healey campaigns have refused to pull the spots in question (which can be seen on their respective websites). And rightly so. Both ads fall squarely within the bounds of truth-in-advertising. If anyone deserves to be whacked, it is the complainers, for making much ado about absolutely nothing.


In Webb's ad, Reagan is seen addressing the Naval Academy's graduating class of 1985. "One man who sat where you do now is another member of our administration," he says. "Assistant Secretary of Defense James Webb — the most decorated member of his class. James's gallantry as a Marine officer in Vietnam won him the Navy Cross and other decorations."


That brought a protest from Webb's Republican opponent, US Senator George Allen, as well as a request from Nancy Reagan, via the Reagan Presidential Foundation, not to use the 1985 footage. "Using the president's name, image, or likeness implies endorsement, which is neither fair nor respectful of any candidate," the foundation's letter said.


Webb is running for the Senate as an antiwar Democrat, and there is no reason to believe that Reagan would have endorsed his candidacy. But the ad doesn't imply that he would have. Reagan's words are seen and heard in context, and even Virginians who couldn't care less about politics are probably aware that the Gipper, who died two years ago, hasn't endorsed anybody in the Senate race. On the other hand, if Reagan admired Webb enough to salute his wartime heroism and government service, why shouldn't voters know about it?


Even more meritless is the demand by a clutch of Massachusetts Democrats that Lieutenant Governor Kerry Healey yank a TV spot in which they are seen praising her efforts to push through a tough new law on sexual predators. One of those Democrats, state Senator Steven Baddour, declares in the ad that Healey "deserves a great deal of admiration and respect" for her work on the bill — yet complains now that his words have "been twisted to appear as though I am endorsing Kerry Healey, when in fact nothing could be further from the truth."


But Healey's commercial twists nothing. Its opening words precisely set the scene: "Thursday, Sept. 21, 2006," the announcer says. "Kerry Healey signs historic sex-offender bill. Democrats praise Healey's leadership." Several of those Democrats are then shown doing just that.


Unlike Reagan's comments about Webb, the Democrats' praise for Healey was uttered not two decades but two weeks ago, in the midst of a heated gubernatorial campaign, by experienced politicians who knew exactly what they were doing. Baddour and the others may claim to support Democratic nominee Deval Patrick, but that wasn't the impression they gave on Sept. 21. As the nonpartisan State House News Service reported that day, the bill-signing event "quickly turned into a contest over which urban Democrat could lavish Healey with more praise." Some of those Democrats even used the occasion to comment on Patrick's left-wing politics, and to air concerns that a Democratic victory would, as one of them put it, "bring Massachusetts back to . . . the Mike Dukakis era."


Indeed, so fulsome was the acclaim for Healey that day that some State House reporters assumed they were seeing the emergence of a Democrats-for-Healey committee. Were they? Sure, Baddour & Co. loudly swear fealty to Patrick now. But they're the ones who made Healey's TV spot possible in the first place, then stirred up enough controversy to guarantee it plenty of free publicity. The idea that none of that was intentional is a little tough to swallow.


While political junkies try to figure out the angles, all that Massachusetts voters need to know about Healey's ad, and Virginia voters about Webb's, is that the words they quote are presented in context, and were not repudiated by those who spoke them. Whether they like it or not, what politicians say publicly is in the public domain. Even when they say something nice.

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.

Jeff Jacoby is a Boston Globe columnist. Comment by clicking here.

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