The Mystery Of Charley Reese
Submitted for your amusement, a tale of two columnists, as different as it is humanly possible to be in their view of the Middle East.
‘A True Brother’
Jack Kemp, who died on Saturday at the age of 73, was, in the words of longtime public official Alan Steinberg, “not only a friend to the Jewish community – he was a true brother to us.”
Media Fickleness
Cleaning out some old files last week, the Monitor was reminded how fickle the media can be in the matter of designating heroes and villains, and how a world leader can go from slug to statesman merely by falling into line with the media’s preconceived notions of right and wrong.
Kneeling To Obama
Was there ever any doubt that liberal journalists and media outlets would swoon over whatever Barack Obama would say in response to the controversy concerning his relationship with his longtime pastor, Rev. Jeremiah Wright? Liberals just have too much invested in the storyline of a post-racial, biracial healer whose mission it is to set our house in order after the unspeakable depredations of the George W. Bush years.
Scaring Ourselves To Death?
The lengthy cover story in a weekly news magazine deftly sums up the profound unease afflicting U.S. Jewry. Titled “American Jews and Israel,” the piece paints a picture of a community enjoying unprecedented affluence and influence and at the same time worrying about the future of U.S.-Israel relations and the possible emergence of widespread anti-Semitism in America.
The Unbearable Lightness Of Larry King
Larry King will host his last edition of "Larry King Live" on CNN next week, and the Monitor can only say Good Riddance. King built a reputation and made a fortune as the master of the soft toss interview, which was fine for doing Frank Sinatra retrospectives but made for cringe-inducing television whenever the subject at hand required a tad more seriousness.
The Ever Reliable Jewish Voter
Roughly 30 percent of those Jews who had voted for Reagan in 1980 went for Mondale in 1984.
Media Mythology and the Yassin Hit
Due to unavoidable circum-stances at deadline time, the Monitor turns the stage over this week to highlights of HonestReporting.com's analysis of the early media reaction to the killing by Israel of Hamas founder Sheikh Ahmed Yassin:
Writing About Presidents
Writing about U.S. presidents and their relationships with Israel and the American Jewish community, whether in this column or a longer feature piece (i.e., this week’s front-page essay) is never easy. Readers are quick to react to any perceived slight of presidents they admire or, on the other hand, to chastise the writer for going too easy on an irredeemable reprobate.
Ranking The Presidents
The Dec. 29 front-page essay on Harry Truman by this modest scrivener continues to generate a heartening response – and not just from Jewish Press readers, as the piece was featured on FrontPageMag.com and reprinted by the Kansas City Jewish Chronicle in Truman’s home state of Missouri.
A Visit To Nixonland
Rick Perlstein, an unabashed man of the left, first attracted wide notice seven years ago with the release of Before the Storm: Barry Goldwater and the Unmaking of the American Consensus, his engagingly written and fair-minded study of the rise of the American conservative movement in the 1950’s and 1960’s.
Brando’s Branding
The death of the legendary actor Marlon Brando brings to mind an incident that tarred his reputation for years afterward and that serves to illustrate how certain Jewish organizations and their self-serving "spokesmen" risk trivializing the entire issue of anti-Semitism.
American Jewry’s New Religion
Rabbi Daniel Lapin has this rather refreshing habit of going against the Jewish establishment's liberal grain. He's also quite obviously unafraid of taking on even the most cherished folkways of American Jewry, perhaps most notably its obsession with the Holocaust - an obsession he views as nothing less than detrimental to the spiritual health of the community.
Rebuked By The Jimmy Carter Fan Club
A couple of recent columns that were less than laudatory to the 39th president of the United States provoked some interesting reader responses. If laughter is indeed the best medicine, the Monitor ought to bottle this stuff.
This Cancellation A Long Time Coming
Joseph Epstein, one of America's most distinguished essayists (and a man who over the past couple of decades has made his way along the well-trod political path from left to right), has canceled his subscription to The New York Times.
Presidential Politics And Jewish Priorities
Two decades ago, Jimmy Carter was closing out a stunningly unimpressive four years in the White House. His approval ratings were lower than Richard Nixon’s had been on the eve of his resignation, and even American Jews, that most doggedly loyal constituent group of the Democratic Party, were not immune to the disaffection with Carter suffusing the nation.
Harmless Humor — Or Insidious Influence?
NBC’s “Saturday Night Live” has once again inspired dismay among at least some Jewish viewers who feel the line between simple bad taste and outright anti-Semitism was crossed on the Dec. 17 edition of the long-running show.
Separating Rudy From 9/11
In a virtuoso display of the pettiness that has come to define the New York Times editorial page under Andrew Rosenthal, the Sour Gray Lady sniped last weekend against the active participation of Rudy Giuliani in the city’s memorial event marking the sixth anniversary of 9/11.
The Incredible Shrinking President
The liberal mainstream media seem to be turning with a vengeance on Barack Obama. Columns and articles bemoaning the president's acute lack of inspirational leadership, and the likelihood of a Democratic bloodbath in November, seem to be the order of the day.
Media For Kerry
Another week another clip file bulging with fresh examples of the media's accelerating campaign in support of Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry. In fact it's difficult to recall a presidential race where the media's liberal spin was both so blatant and so early in coming.
Media-Manufactured Outrage
The Democrats and their lapdogs in the news media really do expect George W. Bush to campaign for reelection with one hand - possibly both hands - tied behind his back. Witness the largely media-manufactured outrage over the Bush ads that dared make reference to 9/11 - only, after all, a watershed in American history and the signature event of the Bush presidency.
Worst Of Times
‘Tis the season for end-of-year lists, and the invaluable TimesWatch website has issued its annual roundup of dozens of biased or just plain silly quotes from the reporters, columnists and editors who work so hard to ensure that The New York Times maintains its august position as the flagship publication of the Democratic National Committee.
C-Span Falls Over The Edge
C-SPAN often teeters on the brink of self-parody, particularly when the hosts of its morning discussion program, "Washington Journal," stare impassively at the camera while yet another crazed caller recites chapter and verse of the latest conspiracy theories involving the Trilateral Commission or the Bush family's Nazi/Saudi/Zionist/ KGB/CIA ties (choose one or more and don't think twice about any seeming contradictions).
The Left Gears Up For Battle (Part III)
Ordinary Americans are more or less united in the war on terrorism, but one enters an altogether different universe when paying mind to the torrent of recent commentary from left-wing journalists, academics and entertainers.
Shining Some Light On The Flotilla Raid
No sooner had Israeli forces boarded the Gaza-bound Mavi Marmara than he mainstream media and the blogosphere lit up with the usual venomous condemnations of Israel. As usual, most of the condemnation could be found on liberal and left-wing websites and blogs while defense of Israel's actions came almost entirely from those on the Right.
The Nixon Fascination
Americans never seem to tire of Richard Nixon, the man who strode the nation’s political stage for three decades, as congressman, senator, vice president and president, only to see his career come crashing down when his involvement in the Watergate scandal led to his resignation – the only U.S. president to so step down – in order to avoid certain impeachment.
The 2009 Schwarzschild Award
It’s time for the Monitor’s sixth annual Henry Schwarzschild Award, bestowed on a Jewish person in the public spotlight who, by his or her statements, displays contempt for the Jewish people, disregard for historical truth, a desire to sup at the table of Israel's enemies, or who otherwise plays into the hands of the enemies of Jews and Israel.
President Palin?
Last week's column, on the declining popularity of several of talk radio's most prominent conservative hosts, seems to have ruffled more than few feathers. Even some readers who in the past have agreed with the Monitor virtually down the line took issue this time - but, interestingly enough, not on the subject of talk radio hosts.
More On That Old Democratic Treadmill
The last couple of columns, both of which focused on Jewish voting habits in presidential elections, inspired some spirited responses from readers.
The Lies Of Camelot
With 2013 marking half a century since Kennedy’s fateful limousine ride in Dallas, the current revels are exceeding the revisionist frenzies of years past, with a seemingly endless parade of books, articles and television specials designed to assure us that, despite everything that has come to light about him since his death, JFK was a great president, or at least a very good president who would have been great had his life not been so cruelly cut short.
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