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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
July 26, 2007
/ 11 Menachem-Av, 5767
Baseball, apple pie, a 2nd chance
By
Jonathan V. Last
http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
The only thing standing between Hillary Rodham Clinton and the Democratic nomination is The Question. Its wording varies slightly, but the gist of it is this: Would you definitely not vote for Sen. Clinton for president in 2008?
The Question has been asked in polls for a long time, and the results are remarkably consistent. In January 2006, 51 percent of registered voters told Gallup that they "definitely will not vote" for Clinton. In June of 2006, a CNN poll of general respondents had the number at 47 percent. By March of 2007, the number dropped as low as 39 percent in a Harris poll, but by April, a Washington Post/ABC News poll had it back up at 45 percent. These responses to The Question have spooked many Democrats and provided the entire raison d'etre for the Barack Obama campaign.
I submit that this is all bunk; that the polls do not represent people's true feelings, and that should she be the Democratic nominee, Hillary Rodham Clinton will be given a fair look by most of the electorate. I may not have fancy, scientific polling data to support this claim - apologies to Messrs. Harris and Gallup - but I do have Paris Hilton.
There is no more contemptible figure in American culture than young Miss Hilton. Callow and vulgar, she is half Marie Antoinette and half Lydia Bennet. She long ago surpassed fame and achieved ubiquity with a combination of wealth, ambition and tepid pornography.
Yet when Hilton was sent off to jail last month, she began a public transformation. She called Barbara Walters, claiming to have found God.
"I'm not the same person I was," she said. "I used to act dumb. It was an act. I am 26 years old, and that act is no longer cute. It is not who I am, nor do I want to be that person for the young girls who looked up to me. I know now that I can make a difference, that I have the power to do that. I have been thinking that I want to do different things when I am out of here. I have become much more spiritual. God has given me this new chance."
As she left the big house, Hilton was peddling the same line, saying also that she's ready to start charity work and wants to build a "transitional home" for female ex-cons. This news has been met with surprisingly little mockery. And if the American people are willing to give Paris Hilton a second chance - bless their hearts - then do you really think they'll harden themselves to Hillary Rodham Clinton?
F. Scott Fitzgerald, right about so many other things, had it exactly wrong on the question of second acts in America. This is the land of second chances. Many of the first Americans were looking for a mulligan in life, of course. But even today, in nearly every facet of our culture, prominent people find it easy to recover the public's good graces.
Take Roman Polanski for a rather astounding example. Roman Polanski is no Paris Hilton. No merely obnoxious layabout he! No, he drugged and raped a 13-year-old girl in 1977. There was some unpleasantness when he fled the country to avoid a trial, but he kept working and making movies, and by the time 2002 rolled around, people were cheering his best director win at the Academy Awards for his film "The Pianist."
Martha Stewart is no Roman Polanski. Her crimes were much less offensive, and after being released from jail in 2005, she jumped right back into a rewarding television career.
Michael Milken, the Junk Bond King of the 1980s, went to jail for insider trading, too. He emerged as a respected philanthropist with a foundation focused on education and cancer research.
Donald Trump never went to jail, but in the `80s he, too, was seen as one of the rapacious jackals getting fat off of junk bonds. People cheered his bankruptcy in 1991. Today he's a gruff-but-lovable personality, doing bits of kindly self-parody on television.
Remember when Bill Gates was America's Dr. Evil, trying to strong-arm plucky companies such as Netscape out of business while forcing the dreaded Windows 95 on the world? One semi-retirement and billions of dollars in charitable giving later, he's a saint.
Americans are at least as forgiving of their political figures. Al Sharpton slandered innocent police officers during the Tawana Brawley affair - yet he's still very much with us. West Virginia's Sen. Robert Byrd is solemnly invoked as "the conscience of the Senate" these days; in the 1940s, he was an Exalted Cyclops in the KKK. Strom Thurmond was an out-and-out racist, too; that is, until he became a lovable old coot. Ted Kennedy zipped past the small problem of Chappaquiddick almost as soon as it happened. He is, after all, a Kennedy.
And then there's Richard Nixon, who got a second chance twice. Hounded as Eisenhower's vice president, he lost the presidency to JFK in 1960 and then lost an ugly campaign for governor of California in 1962 - "You won't have Dick Nixon to kick around anymore," etc., etc.
But Americans gave him another chance and elected him president in 1968. Then they reelected him five months after the arrests at the Watergate. (Incidentally, two other Watergate figures, Chuck Colson and G. Gordon Liddy, enjoyed public redemption - Colson as the founder of the Christian ministry Prison Fellowship; Liddy as a radio talk-show host - after serving their prison terms.)
Surely there are exceptions. No one ever gave Fatty Arbuckle or O.J. Simpson second chances.
But what's the worst Hillary Rodham Clinton has done? She dissembled and viciously attacked those who proved her husband had committed perjury; she tried to impose socialized medicine without having been either elected or appointed to an office; and she leveraged a very strange marriage into a carpetbagging political career based solely on celebrity. Small beer!
If she becomes the Democratic nominee, voters will almost certainly give Hillary Rodham Clinton a second look, regardless of what they tell pollsters today. We're a nation of softies, yearning to see people redeem themselves. And it's this generosity of spirit that makes us great. Or, at the least, great big suckers. It depends on where you sit.
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.
Jonathan V. Last is a columnist for the Philadelphia Inquirer. Comment by clicking here.
Previously:
07/24/07 Harry Potter and the alchemy theory
07/06/07 Life is hard and often short. The perils of professional wrestling
06/21/07 After Bush: Gingrich and others worry that his shortcomings could have a far-reaching effect on the GOP
03/09/07 Why the British outclass us in acting
01/23/07 Romney: Seriously great, but with baggage
12/23/06 When truth is transpicuous
12/05/06 A realistic plan: Split the country in two
11/08/06 We could easily pull out of Korea and let China have regional hegemony. But would it be the right thing?
10/24/06 The decline of revolution
10/18/06 Why the free market is king
08/07/06 Democracy, of itself, not solution to all problems
08/01/06 We get the movies we deserve
07/27/06 How long will U.S. empire last?
© 2006, The Philadelphia Inquirer. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
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