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February 13, 2012
Binyamin Rose: Back to the Bunker: How a life-risking act by a Christian family during the Holocaust saved a family and built a thriving community a world away
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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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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
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February 6, 2012
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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
June 8, 2008
/ 5 Sivan 5768
Wise or grumpy?
By
Jonathan Gurwitz
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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
An axiom of American presidential politics is that an issue passes from the state of possibly pertinent to being gravely serious when it becomes the subject of parody on Saturday Night Live. In fact, the more irreverently SNL writers and performers treat the subject, the more politically significant it is.
Fair or not, Saturday Night Live has spoofed public perceptions of Gerald Ford's clumsiness, Jimmy Carter's paltriness, Ronald Reagan's forgetfulness, George H.W. Bush's whininess, Bill Clinton's tawdriness and George W. Bush's vacuousness.
Presidential elections offer a bounty for the comedy minded, with this year's harvest yielding as much parody of the media's coverage of the candidates as the candidates themselves. As in the past, the leading presidential contenders have made cameo appearances to demonstrate that they are adept at parodying themselves.
John McCain made the most recent and most consequential of these appearances last month. In it, he asked the American people: "What should we be looking for in our next president?"
The answer: "Certainly someone who is very, very, very old."
"I have the courage, the wisdom, the experience and most importantly the oldness necessary the oldness it takes to protect America, to honor her, love her and tell her about what cute things the cat did."
Race and sex have been the contentious issues of the extended Democratic primary fight. As the focus begins to shift to November, age will join the mix.
If, as expected, Barack Obama and John McCain become the nominees, they will have the largest age differential of presidential candidates from major political parties in American history 25 years, an entire generation. If sworn in at age 47, Obama would become the sixth youngest American to reach the Oval Office. McCain at 72 would be the oldest.
So it's wise for McCain to try to defuse the age issue by mocking himself before a young, hip audience that naturally gravitates toward Obama. That generational difference separates men and women who lived through the Depression, World War II, the Cold War, the Korean War, the civil rights struggles and the upheaval of Vietnam from those for whom these are merely historical references.
At best, the most recent of these events are but distant memories for Obama and his contemporaries. To bridge the generational gap, McCain portrays himself as a wise, old patriarch who tells kitty-cat stories to the grandkids.
There's more than just satire at work in this portrait. After eight tumultuous years of the Bush administration, McCain will use the wisdom and experience that come with age to campaign against the prospect of another leader untested on the national stage. McCain can't turn back the hands of time. But he can manipulate them to his advantage.
When Hillary Clinton tried to earmark $1 million in federal funds for a museum to commemorate the Woodstock music festival of 1969, McCain highlighted their differing ages and different political worldviews. "I'm sure it was a cultural and pharmaceutical event," the former POW deadpanned at a GOP presidential debate in Florida. "I was tied up at the time."
You can be certain that McCain strategists are formulating how best to juxtapose McCain catapulting off aircraft carriers with Obama in diapers, or McCain enduring torture in Hanoi while Obama was enrolled at Honolulu's exclusive Punahou School.
The challenge for McCain is that his newly cultivated, avuncular and jovial character is at odds with his better-known, short-fused and ill-tempered character one reminiscent of the Grumpy Old Man once played with great hilarity on Saturday Night Live by Dana Carvey:
"I'm old and I'm not happy. Everything today is improved and I don't like it. I hate it! In my day we didn't have hair dryers. If you wanted to blow dry your hair you stood outside during a hurricane. Your hair was dry but you had a sharp piece of wood driven clear through your skull. And that's the way it was, and you liked it!"
Wise old man or grumpy old man? For McCain, that's the Saturday Night Live dilemma.
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JWR contributor Jonathan Gurwitz, a columnist for the San Antonio Express-News, is a co-founder and twice served as Director General of the Future Leaders of the Alliance program at NATO Headquarters in Brussels, Belgium. In 1986 he was placed on the Foreign Service Register of the U.S. State Department.
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© 2007, Jonathan Gurwitz
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