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February 13, 2012
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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
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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
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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
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
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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
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
May 30, 2005
/ 21 Iyar, 5765
Right Down the Middle?
By
Mort Zuckerman
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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
Honor, trust, and respect for the Senate and the Constitution. These were the exalted words that enabled a bipartisan group of senators to avoid a destructive confrontation over judicial appointments. They overcame the threat to impose what Republicans themselves branded as the "nuclear option," which would have changed the long-standing rules that permitted the use of the filibuster to delay votes on judicial nominees. Many conservatives feel the Supreme Court is at the heart of the culture war in American life because of its rulings on issues like school prayer, obscenity and, above all, abortion.
In truth, this was really just another battle in the nation's culture war, and it reflects the growing significance of valueshow people live their livesversus economic class that has played such a critical role in the struggle between the Republican and Democratic parties and conservatives and liberals. At this point, the momentum is with the Republicans. Their popular majority may be small, but it is part of a significant trend, one that they believe they can convert into a durable political supremacy that could determine the nation's destiny for decades, similar to what FDR created in 1932 for the Democrats, which lasted until 1968.
The Republicans have had the Democrats on the defensive. They have won seven presidential victories in the last 10 elections since 1968; control of the House since 1994; and, recently, control of the Senate, both with increasing majorities. The Democrats have not broken 50 percent in any presidential election since 1976 or 48.5 percent in the six congressional elections since 1994. They have not won a majority of the white votes since 1964, and their geographic base has come to be concentrated on both coasts. You can fly over virtually the entire country without flying over states that voted Democratic.
This Republican resurgence has upended the traditional rule in politics that incomes, jobs, and economic outlook are decisive: "It's the economy, stupid." If it were, the Democrats should have coasted to victory in the 2000 election on the back of the boom of the Clinton years, and in 2004 on the developing squeeze on the middle and working classes from slow income growth and fast costs for healthcare, energy, and education that have led many families to feel they are falling behind, no matter how hard they work. The average two-income family earns far more than did most single-income families a generation ago, yet they have less discretionary income and savings than the latter because virtually all of their higher earnings go to keeping their families in the middle class, especially in homes near good and safe schools.
The "have nots". The ease of entry to the middle class that once buoyed the working lives of Americans and lies at the heart of the American dream has eroded. Higher education is now the ladder for moving up. But for many children the rungs are beyond reach, intensifying the growing gap between those with college and graduate degrees and those with only a high school diploma or who are high school dropouts, not to mention the bottom end where self-defined "have nots" have increased sharply, going since 1988 from 17 to 28 percent among whites and from 24 to 48 percent among blacks.
The Democratic Party has long cast itself as the party of the little guy fighting against the party of big business, privilege, and wealth. So why has it been unable to capitalize on these anxieties and connect its version of progressivism with American life? The roots of disenchantment lie in the 1960s and 1970s when Democrats began to focus less on economics than on liberal social programs to promote the interests of blacks, women, gays, and other groups. This pushed a lot of traditional Democrats into the Republican columnblue-collar workers, construction workers, homemakers, military veterans, cops, evangelicals, rural residents, and ethnics. They saw the efforts of the New Left to weaken oppressive authority as corroding all authority. Woodstock and Hollywood came to epitomize what was seen as a narcissistic assault on conventional values played out daily in the coarsening of our culture in gangsta rap, cable ranters, and pornographic websites, accompanied by the delegitimization of the sanctity of marriage, drug abuse, and recasting wrongdoers as victims of society instead of the reverse. There was a sense that the Democrats had become dominated by elitist, highly educated, progressive classes who believed they knew better than average folks.
The Republicans are not stupid. They tagged the liberals as "latte-drinking, Volvo-driving, school-busing, fetus-killing, tree-hugging, gun-fearing, morally relativist and secularly humanist so-called liberal elitists," as commentator Jason Epstein described it, soft on communism, soft on crime, opposed to capital punishment, and soft on the new war on terrorism. At the same time, they tried to shed the country club-boardroom image and portray themselves as the party of the hardworking, plain-speaking people who like country music and NASCAR, attend church regularly (as 120 million Americans do), and live in those parts of the country that fill the ranks of the military, defend the flag and patriotism, and are tough on national security issues. George Bush was an effective politician in exploiting the cultural alienation of the Democratic Party from its working- and middle-class roots, while a windsurfing John Kerry was the ideal candidate to aggravate it. Bush won culturally driven voters by over 70 percent and became the first president since FDR to preside over a steady gain in his party's seats, despite the fact that many social indicators that fomented the cultural divide had begun to improve, among them crime, abortion, teenage birth, illegitimacy, divorce rates, and teenage drinking.
Apart from an epiphany in the Democratic Party, what could threaten the Republicans' ascendancy? Quite simply, overreach. As the Democrats discovered before them, Americans do not long attach themselves to ideology or extremes. The Republican Party moved to the right under pressure from its southern base and by a congressional membership fearful of an attack from the right during a primary, so much so that it now risks alienating mainstream America across a range of issues. Over 60 percent oppose the privatization of Social Security; roughly 70 percent of moderates disagree with the president's opposition to the financing of stem-cell research; 82 percent objected to Republican intrusion in the sad case of Terri Schiavo; and there is uneasiness about the creeping abandonment of federal rules governing safety at home and in the workplace and the erosion of environmental controls.
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 Mort Zuckerman is editor-in-chief and publisher of U.S. News and World Report. Send your comments to him by clicking here.
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© 2005, Mortimer Zuckerman
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