Requiem For Rudy

Posted on: February 6th, 2008

It’s a shame that Rudy Giuliani couldn’t have run for president in the fall of 2001. Back then, voters probably wouldn’t have cared if he skipped not just the Iowa and New Hampshire primaries, but all of the Super Tuesday ones, too.

The Campaign That Wasn’t

Posted on: February 6th, 2008

A recent Atlanta Journal-Constitution political cartoon depicted Rudy Giuliani attempting to explain his campaign strategy: “The strategy is, lose every primary and become the Republican nominee.” To which his listeners replied: “So far so good.”

New Approaches Needed For Auschwitz Visits

Posted on: January 30th, 2008

In the past two years, the number of visitors to Auschwitz-Birkenau, the Nazi death camp in southern Poland, has nearly tripled to an unprecedented 1 million people annually. These astounding statistics comprise an international phenomenon – one that highlights the continued significance of Auschwitz as a memorial site, a museum and now a growing tour destination.

Why John McCain Is My Choice For President

Posted on: January 30th, 2008

All across the nation over the next two weeks, the American people will be voting in a tightly contested election that will help determine who will be the next president.

Traumatic Brain Injury And The Permanent Intifada

Posted on: January 30th, 2008

The International Solidarity Movement (ISM) relentlessly grinds on. The organization and its fellow travelers just held their annual Hate Israel follies, which they dubbed “Israel Apartheid Week.” Rallies outside Israeli consulates and embassies were held in Boston, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., San Francisco, Seattle, New York, Cleveland, Anaheim and Chicago.

Where Have All The Flower Children Gone?

Posted on: January 30th, 2008

The American left clings to the myth that the antiwar movement ended the U.S. war in Vietnam. In fact, the antiwar movement failed to prompt any substantive changes in U.S. war policy.

Obama Should Be Treated Like Any Other Candidate

Posted on: January 30th, 2008

African-Americans and Jews were joined in a relationship long characterized by mutual respect and shared commitment to civil rights. But it was also one that foundered on the sensitivities and resentments that both groups often could not rise above.

A Theory Of The Ten Commandments

Posted on: January 23rd, 2008

In 2003, Alabama Supreme Court Judge Roy Moore attained brief fame when he placed and refused to remove a monument of the Ten Commandments in the State Supreme Court building. Moore’s actions and his subsequent removal from office by a unanimous decision of Alabama’s Court of the Judiciary were just another part of the American debate about the role of religion in the United States.

Why Boots Matter

Posted on: January 23rd, 2008

In 1974, Ronald Reagan made the best purchase of his political career: he bought a ranch. Rancho Del Cielo – the “Ranch in the Sky” – was nestled in the hills near Santa Barbara, California. Reagan said the ranch was “a sanctuary … like no other … at Rancho del Cielo, Nancy and I could put on our boots and old clothes, recharge our batteries, and be reminded of where we had come from.”

When Compassion Kills

Posted on: January 23rd, 2008

Sixty years ago, the Jews of Israel and the world learned one of the harshest lessons in political realism and the ethics of war. It was a tragedy that forced them to abandon their moral naiveté and acknowledge the harshness and brutality of military reality. And it is a lesson that Israeli politicians and the leftist media would have the country forget today.

When Compassion Kills

Posted on: January 23rd, 2008

Sixty years ago, the Jews of Israel and the world learned one of the harshest lessons in political realism and the ethics of war.

Bush Alone: A Balanced Look at a Much-Maligned President

Posted on: January 23rd, 2008

As George W. Bush begins his eighth and final year in the White House, it’s fitting to step back and look at this president who almost wasn’t, save for the decision by the U.S. Supreme Court to halt the relentless recount process in Florida.

Casualties Of War: The Untold Story

Posted on: January 16th, 2008

According to recent intelligence reports, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) killed 40 Hamas terrorists in Gaza last month without inflicting a single civilian casualty. In fact, over the past five years, collateral damage and civilian casualties caused by Israeli military actions have decreased dramatically. Meanwhile, Hamas continues to fire Kassam rockets indiscriminately at the working-class town of Sderot and into the suburban areas of the nearby seaside city of Ashkelon.

A Minyan To Remember

Posted on: January 16th, 2008

If one wants to be a bit closer to heaven, he should come to the combined minyan of a Hebrew school and synagogue. There he’ll find the voices of children echoing with the mourners’ Kaddish and ringing with the prayers of those devoted few who begin their morning by attending services, regardless of rain or snow.

Should Bloomberg Run?

Posted on: January 16th, 2008

Due to term limits, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg stands to be out of office come January 1, 2010, a thought he may not relish. Hence, while he continues to deny it, his aides keep sending out trial balloons alluding to an independent run at the presidency.

George Bush, George McGovern, And The Failure To Bomb Auschwitz

Posted on: January 16th, 2008

“We should have bombed it.” With those five words, President Bush helped shatter one of the most enduring myths of the Holocaust – the notion that U.S. forces were unable to reach and destroy Auschwitz.

Ms. Magazine’s Msogyny Toward Israel

Posted on: January 16th, 2008

For a long time now, Israel’s reputation has taken a real beating among American liberals and leftists. Many American Jewish (liberal) organizations have either agreed with the criticism or have been afraid to challenge such groups with whom they agree on other important issues.

‘Next Great Big Jewish Idea’ Is A Long-Forgotten One

Posted on: January 9th, 2008

Every January, in an annual rite, nearly half of all Americans make New Year’s resolutions to lose weight. About half of those will pledge eternal servitude to their new diet plans. Sometimes the diets work – in the short run. We drop a size or two, look younger, more svelte and bask in insincere gratuitous compliments from colleagues and friends. But two-thirds of Americans who lose weight gain it back within a year. Over 90 percent gain it back within five years.

Bush Risks Sacrificing His Pro-Israel Legacy

Posted on: January 9th, 2008

Saul Bellow once observed that a great deal of intelligence can be invested in ignorance when the need for illusion is deep. President Bush’s ill-advised trip to Jerusalem and the West Bank this week to promote a “two-state solution” would seem to underscore the wisdom of Bellow’s insight.

Welcoming Israel’s Newest Olim

Posted on: January 9th, 2008

Having spent earlier sabbaticals here in Israel, I knew the subject of aliyah loomed as a background issue but hardly expected the untold ways it would recast itself.