R. Keith Rugg http://www.jta.org/user/profile/38578 en-us zsilberman@washingtonjewishweek.com Copyright 2012 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Ron, perhaps my family and I are not typical, but as Jewish Democrats in one of the swing states that you mentioned, Israel is our highest priority. And for us, President Obama has waffled his way on the issue to the point that it is not beyond the bounds of imagination that we might be voting for someone else in the next presidential election. 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 It sounds like a great book... but he is WRONG WRONG WRONG about hunting. And also about Jews and hunting. Perhaps Foer is just hanging out with the wrong crowd. 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Walid- If you want to make a point, then make it, and back it up. What did Romney lie about? What is he an 'outright phony' about? To scream "Liar, liar, pants on fire, I hate you!" just makes you sound like a first-grader. Or are you just biased against Mormons? 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Dror- learn how to read... in one breath, you quote and then mis-quote Will. Thoroughly Disgusted- I guess your handle is a clue of how we are supposed to feel when we have to read your posts? As for me, I guess I'll just continue to be "Zionist garbage" and be proud to be judged by the company that I keep. 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 David, why do you even read and/or post here? Is it just to give us a steady stream of evidence as to the moral and intellectual bankruptcy of yourself and others who think as you do? 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 I'd much rather read a page-long post from Cheryl- intelligent and well-written- than a short post from most of the other people who leave comments. Will- thanks for serving. but- don't think you need to try to be shutting Cheryl down for her comments. Too many people don't remember, and her post serves to remind. And yes, I served as well. 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Leland- As soon as there is class scheduled on Christmas Day, then your comment will be valid. 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 David, just because you don't formally bestow it with the title of 'blacklist' doesn't mean that it isn't still, in essence, a blacklist. The counter-protest has everything to do with the real issue- one group of people in the performing arts who feel that they have found an 'acceptable' venue for their anti-semitism, and who want to punish others in the industry who don't toe the line to their biased agenda. In a side note, I always find it interesting and repugnant that Danny Glover is such a staunch anti-capital punishment activist, yet one of his most well-known and lucrative roles was in the Lethal Weapon movies, which are nothing if not de facto pro-capital punishment statements. 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 It's not quite McCarthyism... we're not going through your garbage, or encouraging your kids to rat you out, Dave and Ira. We just don't much want to have to be around people like you and Van Jones. So I'll second Norman's motion, and invite you to take your comments on over to the dumb-ass section of the internet. 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Another clear and concise commentary by Uriel Heilman. Hard to believe how difficult it is for entities (people, governments, even news media outlets themselves) to understand the distinction between criticism and censorship, even when it is spelled out for them in black and white, as in this blog post... 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Why is that, Archie? Last time I looked, our country didn't have an official language, but instead, celebrated and honored the contributions that many cultures and languages have made to the American way of life. And btw, if you want to limit our communication in such a way that we don't use words that have their roots or origins in languages other than English... then bon chance with that, amigo! 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Extremists from both sides aside, the Bill of Rights is not an a la carte menu. The rights that we claim to free speech, a free press and freedom of religion are part and parcel with the right to keep and bear arms. Just as some in our country engage in hate speech, some in our country inflict harm and death with firearms. But we would not enjoy the American freedoms that we do as Jews without the accompanying other rights laid out in the first 10 Amendments to the Constitution. I, too, as a journalist have had my frustrations with the NRA, but they are not the sole guardian and beneficiary of the 2nd Amendment, any more than the Catholic Church is the sole guardian and beneficiary of the 1st Amendment. 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Jack Kemp indeed showed us what the Republican party could and should be. He will be missed. 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 "Note to Mr. Barnea: Comments sections of Web sites are always driven by the most extreme readers -- those angry or passionate enough to take the trouble to post their comments. It's the nature of the beast." While this is true, it is also true that most newspaper and news Web sites have abdicated all efforts at moderating the comments sections. Racist and obscene comments that would have been thrown in the trash had they come in the form of a letter to the editor during the old days of hard-copy newspapers are now posted immediately following any given article, tacitly giving these abhorrent and sometimes literally crazy statements the same weight and validity of any other real, thoughtful, serious and constructive comment on the issue. 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 And one of the primary reasons cited for not thinking very highly of the pilot was that he wasn't quoted as thanking G-d? Wow. 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Excellent article- as a journalist, it bothers me when 'citizen journalists' are sloppy, but it absolutely drives me crazy when a professional puts out such poor work as I've been seeing by Cohen in particular, and by the Times in general. And Archie- your argument is that Zionism is the root of all troubles experienced by Jews? Perhaps you should crack open a history book. And a dictionary, while you're at it (or at least turn on your spell check.) 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Right on, DaMav. Would these same groups support allowing the District to restrict freedom of speech or of the press, or to establish a state religion? Of course not. Why, then, is the right that is meant to defend these other rights always considered fair game? And as much as some of these groups would like to frame it as such, being against the RKBA is NOT a Jewish value. 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 "And the Israelis can't tell me that the genocide that they suffered from the Nazis is less serious than that of Gaza because they have killed several thousand people while the Nazis killed 6 million," he said. I am confused... was he misquoted or did he misspeak? Because why in the world would the Israelies try to claim that the genocide committed by the Nazis is less serious than anything? Oh, yeah, and I like the fact that he notes that he's Jewish on his father's side. What a creep. 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00