5/8/12
A fascinating development in Israel with the establishment of a new unity government last night. PM Benyamin Netanyahu and now Deputy PM Shaul Mofaz will oversee a government comprising 94 members of the 120 member Knesset. Such a government will have stability and therefore power to move ahead on the critical issues facing the country. In theory it will be able to do so without being held hostage by the often parochial demands of small parties and minority factions, which have perennially made it difficult for Israeli governments to function effectively.
The centrist Kadima party has now joined the right of center Likud leaving the left leaning and far right parties largely on the sidelines. As one who believes that if any democratic society is to thrive the center has to hold, this is potentially a very healthy development. Let’s give this new government our best wishes for success and hope that its achievements measure up to its potential.
5/7/12
Here are three pieces that are pretty much guaranteed to depress you on the state of the nation. Sorry but I think they are pretty much “must reading.”
The first is by author E.L. Doctorow titled “Unexceptionalism: A Primer.” He wrote it for the NYT and it was published on April 28. If there has been a more concise and cutting short essay written that details exactly what has been ailing us I have not seen it. Please read it by clicking here.
Dan Rather, speaking about his new book “Rather Outspoken” on the Diane Rehm show on May 3 told three stories that confirm some of our worst fears about how the news media are functioning in late 20th and early 21st century America.
He recounts how his controversial report about George W. Bush’s absence without leave from National Guard duty during the Vietnam war was accurate in its essence, even though an element of the documentation was faulty. But a “smokescreen,” as he called it, generated by partisans that focused on the faulty documentation prevented the AWOL behavior itself from becoming the campaign issue it deserved to be. In the face of that organized effort to obscure, Rather and others were unsuccessful in returning public discussion to the original charge.
He also told how during the run-up to the Iraq war in 2002-3, journalists were told to “get on board” with the Administration’s program or face being branded as “unpatriotic.” To his credit he accepts that his conduct in the face of this government intimidation was a journalistic failure.
Rather also tells how Viacom (CBS parent company) majority owner Sumner Redstone, who felt that a second Bush Administration was in Viacom’s best interest, intervened to minimize in the network’s news coverage of the Abu Ghraib scandal. He did so (successfully of course) for fear that fuller reporting would harm the President’s re-election prospects.
These three stories that Rather told illustrate in turn how partisan attack efforts, journalistic cowardice and corporate influence, far more than journalistic independence, to say nothing of excellence, are determining the quality of the news we receive. This in turn has a direct effect on the quality of our democracy, which brings us back to the Doctorow essay at the top of the page.
And while we are on the subject of intimidation, I recommend that you see this report on former Prime Minister of Israel Ehud Olmert’s recent trip to New York. Urging caution (about attacking Iran) before an audience of American Jews,
“Mr. Olmert was booed…when he declared that while Israel should prepare the military ability to strike Iran’s nuclear program as a last resort, it should first push for American-led international action against Iran, including sanctions and possible joint military action.
[In response,] Olmert responded caustically. As a concerned Israeli citizen who lives in the state of Israel with his family and all of his children and grandchildren,” he said, “I love very much the courage of those who live 10,000 miles away from the state of Israel and are ready that we will make every possible mistake that will cost lives of Israelis.”
Say what you will about Ehud Olmert, as a Knesset veteran, he knows how to deal with rude and cheap criticism that is designed to intimidate. He also knows how not to wilt in the face of it. Would that our some of our media leaders show some of the same mettle.
Finally, do me a favor by scrolling down to the RDA Blog entry of 3/11/12 for evidence of how great minds think alike. 
I hope to have something more upbeat to share next time.
4/15/12
In a letter published in the NYT, my friend and colleague Rabbi Dennis Ross takes up the current discussion on the role of faith and religion in public life and politics. His conclusion, that “we should promote policies that protect private belief and practice in a way that does not burden, restrict or impose upon the larger spiritually diverse community” is one that I affirm as well. Of course the devil is in the details, the specifics and the commentary, but that is as good a place as any to start. Read his letter and follow the subsequent dialogue here.
If you are not going to read the whole thing, here are my favorite excerpts–and yes, they do affirm the side of the issue that I find most compelling.
“Rabbi Ross is correct that people of faith have every right and indeed have an obligation to participate in the public square and to advocate for public policy on the basis of their religious convictions. What they do not have the right to do is to insist that their views — because they are based on their faith’s teachings — are privileged…
So long as these actions are based on fact and reason, the protections afforded by the First Amendment are secure. But when a public official bases decisions that affect us all solely on the tenets of his or her religious faith, that person jeopardizes the religious liberty of all.” RACHEL STRAUBER, New York, N.Y.
“When a religion is convinced that it knows what God wants, it is hard to resist the urge to demand that it be put into law. We Protestants did it to the nation with Prohibition, and many churches now want to do it by putting into law their religious beliefs concerning women’s reproductive lives.” TOM DAVIS, Saratoga Springs, N.Y.
“…Barack Obama … wrote in a 2006 article in USA Today: “My faith shapes my values, but applying those values to policy making must be done with principles that are accessible to all people, religious or not. Even so, those who enter the public square are not required to leave their beliefs at the door.” (Rev.) MICHAEL P. ORSI, Naples, Fla.
“Those opposing same-sex marriage, contraception and reproductive rights — as well as those demanding equal time for teaching intelligent design or the display of religious symbols in the public square — don’t seem to be especially interested in protecting diverse religious beliefs.
They want to have it both ways: to use the political process to impose their views on others while claiming the moral high ground of protected religious freedom.” STEVEN BERKOWITZ, New York
Again, you can read the full discussion here.
4/2/12
Here’s 450 words on the Afterlife. It’s a new and even somewhat humorous perspective for me, maybe for you as well. Enjoy.
3/27/12
Here’s another New Yorker cartoon, this one with more theological sophistication. If it needs any commentary you could say that it is a mockery not only of the putative sport-God connection we hear about so often but also the whole notion of intercessory prayer. You can use this one for a chavurah group discussion starter. Enjoy.
———————————–
3/20/12
This should speak for itself. From the 3/19/12 New Yorker:
Continue reading →
