Stephen Folkson http://www.jta.org/user/profile/10051 en-us zsilberman@washingtonjewishweek.com Copyright 2012 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Love is blind, so they say. Quite honestly I've always been curios how he came to have the name "Anthony." For a Jewish Congressman who has always been supportive of Israel, I would say that he has a bit of a problem on his hands. Who will conduct the ceremonies at his marriage? If there are children, how will they be raised. Will he convert to his wife's religion? These are all questions he should have realized that people will ask. 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 I am far from a fan of Michael Bloomberg, because I feel that his attitude from the very beginning has been smarmy, and I will not vote for him again. However, invoking the name of the Brit, Neville Chamberlain is perfectly OK with me. 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Why in the world were these things left behind? 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Wouldn't it be nice if this did not need to be noted. 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 I am not an emotional person, but this letter so reminded me of my father that I had to stop and gather my thoughts for a moment. When Mr. Jacoby asks "which son are you," he is speaking to the many facets of his son;s personality. I can vividly remember being one or two of those facets. In toto, this by far the very best communication from a father to a son that I hav ever read. My father would sum it by saying "be a mensch." My fathger has been gone long than I care to admit, but I can still see him standing in front of me and saying "be a mensch. 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 At this point in time, think Jackie Mason should give up the ghost and retire. I have always found him to be someone who should be swept under the rug. The word "schvartze" in the household I grew up in was always used in a derogatory manner and gave me the chills every time I heard it. 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 What concerns me is that the Obama administration had to see this coming. Rahm Emanuel is not a pushover, and should have solved this problem as soon as it appeared. I was not impressed with the selection of Dennis Blair, andhe should be made to take responsibility for something that happened on his watch. Israel is the only democracy in the middle east, and the United States knows it will stick with it through thick or through thin. American jews (myself included) take a substantive interest in Israel, and rightly so. Freeman sounds as if he is a member of the Saudi Arabian foreign ministry. I was not a fan of Bush and thought he was far and away, the worst president we had in years, but for the most part he stood with Israel and that is something I respected. I am not so sure that Obama will do the same. I hope I am wrong. 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Situations such as this are very, very difficult, especially for the young woman. I don't know whether her father realizes how difficult the circumstances are representing himself and questioning his daughter. There have been a gaggle of cases of molestation both in judiasm and other religions. People like this, if convicted should be prosecuted and never should be allowed to be in the company of young children 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 President Obama should know better. If he doesn't, at least the people in his administration involved with the middle east should. This is a bad appointment and will only make the relationship between Israel and the United States more difficult than it is. It seems to me that Mr. Freeman is going into this appointment with preconceived ideas which are totally wrong. He should been appointed to a top policy making position with Saudia Arabia. 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 While I disagree vehemently with what the British diplomat said about Jews, he certainly had the right to say it and should not have been arrested. Whenwe start telling people what they can and cannot say, we are on the road to what the Nazis advocated, He certainly should be sanctioned by the British foreign office, but most certainly not arrested. If the shoe were on the other foot, and an Israeli minister had the same things to say about arabs, do you think for a minute that he or she would be arrested? 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 If Mr. Kaufman is so concerned about the people of Gaza, why does he not make jis home in Gaza? My grandfather and father always said "we get too soon old and too late smart. They both would say this applies to Mr. Kaufman. The best thing the people of Great Britain could do it ignore this person. 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Neuman's comments are a crock and his magazine needs to be thrown in the garbage can where it belongs. This Courtney Love appears to be up there with another candidate for a padded room, Paris Hilton. 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 The German soldier shot the wrong person. 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Should anyone be shocked by this? They should not. I contend that this goes back a long time. During the 1967 war, Israel should have annexed the west bank, the gaza strip and the Golan Heights. Now Israel is involved with a very strong Hamas because they were able to smuggle rockets supplied by Syria and Iran through tiunnels that Egypt should have destroyed. As I write this there are incidents in Egypt and Jordan against the gaza invasion, so where is the peace treaty? Israel should destroy Hamas and the gaza strip, if necessary. The best defense is a good offense. 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 It might be a good idea if you gave the name of the disease that the child died from. Journalism 101 teaches that. 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 It certainly is about time. Israel for a very long time has suffered from a lack of leadership in the IDF, and conducted itself very poorly in the last skirmish in Lebanon. Hammas has been asking for this for a very long time, and the Israelis should keep up the pressure for as long as is needed. I am of the opinion that Israel has in many ways brought this situation on itself. It should never have given up the west bank at all. It was bad enough when it returned the Sinai. The situation in the middle east has improved greatly with the peace with Jordan and Egypt, but Israel must always be on guard. 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Once again Congressman Ackerman (my congressman) does not knowwhen to keep his mouth shut. My mother always said "if you have nothing nice to say, say nothing." He has seen the last vote for him. 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Is it a surprise that these terrorists were sent to target Israelis? That they were sent to "case the joint" sounds very much like 9/11. What the Israelis have to realize is that they are targets everywhere they are. I cannot get out of my mind the fact that Jews are basically in the same position in 2008 that they were in in 1933, with the exception of the State of Israel. This nanny should be allowed to stay in Israel on a permanent basis and given citizenship. People like this are few and very far between. God Bless her. 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Carter has done enough damage in the middle east. He should SHUT UP! 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Frankly, I did not know there was a king in Bahrain and that he was so liberal. His appointing a Jewish woman as his ambassador to Washington certainly puts him in a position of respect in my eyes/ Why no news stories? His offer to Bahraini Jews is something that the other countries in that region would not do. His attending the interfaith conference sponsored by Saudi Arabia is also good news. How many other arab countries will be attending this conference? Israel should be very careful about returning land. They returned the Sinai and the Gaza strip. That is more than enough. 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Frankly, with all due respect to the current Germany, I really don't think they will ever change and accept a Jewish presence. During the war in Viet Nam, I was in the United States Army and stationed in West Germany, I could not find a person who was a member of the Nazi party. Where did they all go? I think they are all camped out in Bavaria waiting for the Nazi party to come back. That song in The Sound of Music, "Tomorrow Belongs to Me," was not just entertainment. Despite the progress Germany has made, I would take their promises with a grain of salt. 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 I would say that this guy is an A Number One Mamzar, but in the business he is in, he has to be. The photos I saw of him standing behind Obama certainly had the body english of a very tough guy. However, give him credit for what he has accomplished. He certainly helped Clinton==and Clinton needed all the help he could get. He ran for Congress and in a very short time was a macher. If I were in Obama's shoes, I would want this person on my side. 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00