The New Republic

I don't know how Shmuel Rosner of Ha'aretz got the breakdown of Jewish voters so fast. He estimates that most Jews who voted in the Democratic primaries voted for Hillary -- but by much smaller margins that had been predicted. It's no surprise that Illinois Jewry went with Obama, as New York Jewry went with Hillary. But Connecticut Jews chose Barack over Clinton by a whopping 61% to 38%. And the Jews of Massachusetts chose Barack over Clinton by 52% to 48%. READ MORE >>

Long ago, when it was conventions (or their bosses) that decided nominations, senators or governors would put themselves up through their state delegations as what was called "favorite sons." There are no "favorite sons" anymore. Neither, of course, are there "favorite daughters." When I was a precociously political kid--I think it was 1952--the Republican convention, the one that nominated Ike Eisenhower over Robert Taft, like the Democratic Party, was full of favorite sons. I recall listening on the radio to the proceedings. READ MORE >>

Despite the endorsements by senator Teddy Kennedy (and by the extended clan from New York to California), the other senator from the Bay State John F. Kerry and the governor of the Commonwealth Deval Patrick, Barack Obama lost Massachusetts, and he lost it by a rather sizable margin. If not exactly a repudiation of the three, it shows that voters don't put too much trust in what they say.Still and frankly, I can't understand why Teddy's enthusiasm for Obama didn't produce more strength at the polling booths.  John F. READ MORE >>

Do you remember the boycott of Nestle's? Well, here's an implicit reproach from an article by Lawrence K. Altman in today's Times about AIDS-infected children in under-developed countries. "Many babies born uninfected go on to acquire H.I.V., the AIDS virus, in the lengthy period of breast feeding because of contamination of the mother's milk." READ MORE >>

You think America is in decline? I don't. And neither does Bret Stephens, a truly literate foreign affairs columnist for the Wall Street Journal, whose piece today takes on the orthodoxy in the academy and in other fashionable circles of how American civilization is going down, down, down. The article is called "Marinating in 'Decline'." And it is a marinating process. But after most such processes have been going on for some time, they begin to smell. Which is actually what's happening. READ MORE >>

I am sitting at home reading a book, actually The First Day of the Blitz by the distinguished Stanford historian of modern Britain and an old friend, Peter Stansky. READ MORE >>

The Democrats cannot imagine losing in November. READ MORE >>

Do you recall when virtually the entire Muslim world went into delirium after a Danish newspaper published 12 caricatures of the prophet Mohammed?  How could one forget!  After all, mobs rioted and more than 50 people were actually killed in the violence that ensued.Now, The Art Newspaper reports that a "Danish museum (is) to buy Muhammad cartoons which sparked global riots." It is, of course, a very proper acquisition, especially given the fact that the cartoons and the events that followed their appearance in READ MORE >>

"The Clintons' shadiest donors" are featured on an adjoining spot on our home page. Generally, it is not entirely new. Still, in accumulated detail, one cannot quite get over how Bill and Hillary live with these scummy personages. And have the insolence, besides, to lecture others on ethics in public life. I've made this point once before: the former president's latest book should not have been called "Giving" but "Taking." READ MORE >>

I woke up this morning and went to Ha'aretz, my computer homepage.  A banner headline read "...Suicide bomber strikes Dimona."  Two articles followed. Because of military censorship of certain specific military facts neither these two articles nor the one in the Jerusalem Post (and, I READ MORE >>