It’s been a while since I’ve written about politics, but today’s New York Times carries a really disturbing editorial. The Times argues against Israel’s position to bar East Jerusalem Arabs fom voting in the PA elections in which Hamas is on the ballot. For the Times, such an action violates the fundamental principles of democracy:

The messy thing about democracy is that people tend to vote for the candidates they want – a point that seemed lost on Israel…Israel is concerned about a strong showing by Hamas. That’s understandable, but democracy doesn’t work this way.

Of course, the Times conveniently forgets that Hamas is not just a political party, but an officially designated terrorist organization. For the Times, Hamas achieving power democratically “is the lesser evil because any movement, once in power, is compelled to supplement its bluster with deeds.” Considering that one of their “blusters” is that “Israel will exist and will continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it, just as it obliterated others before it,” are we to assume that the Times then is advocating the destruction of Israel?
The issue here is not merely on the rights of democracy, but of responsibility. Thomas Jefferson famously declared “the price of freedom is eternal vigilance,”and legitimizing a terrorist organization as a policital party hardly demonstrates vigilance.
Hitler also rose to power through the democracy of the Weimar Republic, and we see how well that worked.

The New York Post has some excellent coverage of the strike including some history of past strikes and apparently, my observations from yesterday could have used a little more research.
The Transit Workers Union was formed way back in 1934 and even went on strike in 1966. Back then, the public sector employees were subject to the “Condon-Wadlin Act” which also prohibited city workers from striking, but imposed such harsh penalties that it wasn’t enforced.
Although then Mayor Lindsay acquiesced to the union, Governor Rockefeller commissioned a new panel to reevaluate and redefine the labor arrangement for employees of the public sector. This panel was chaired by George W. Taylor and its recommendations ultimately became The Taylor Law. Striking was still prohibited, but the penalties, while harsh, were more reasonable and thus would have a better chance of being enforced by the courts.
That said, I still share the views of the many angry New Yorkers who are fed up with the union.

For as difficult as it must be to write quality fiction, it is probably more challenging to write good Jewish fiction. Not only must the author tell a compelling or insightful story in a specific religious context, but s/he must do so without resorting to shallow stereotypes, condescending explanations, or heavy-handed moralizing. Sadly, I’ve found that most authors of Jewish fiction fail on one or more of these areas, and in the worst cases do so while compromising the actual story. The result often is not only a biased or inaccurate portrayal of Judaism, but also a work of bad fiction.
That said, I was pleasantly surprised by Rabbi Gidon Rothstein’s Murderer in the Mikdash. While exploring the highly controversial Messianic era, R. Rothstein skillfully addresses significant religious issues without compromising or distracting from the core narrative. The end result is a readable work of fiction in which the narrative is supported by educational material and social commentary.

I’ve been getting quite a few comments about my recent citation in Tuesday Morning Quarterback (TMQ). For those unfamiliar with TMQ, it is a weekly analysis of the previous week’s football games written by Gregg Easterbrook whom you may recall was involved in an overblown kerfuffle some time ago over some comments he made on his blog. Thankfully, NFL.com saw past the stupidity and now hosts on its website one of the most thoughtful, articulate, and entertaining football analysts in the media.

In a recent year long Batman story arc, Batman’s Gotham City is virtually destroyed by a cataclysmic earthquake. Due to Gotham’s reputation as being a difficult and crime-ridden city the government deems the city not worth saving, and basically seals off Gotham from the rest of the United States declaring it a “No Man’s Land.” In the NML, the citizens lack basic resources and are terrorized by gangs while the power brokers consolidate and manipulate for their own personal or political gain.
Sounding familiar?
As the news comes in from New Orleans I am increasingly reminded of Batman’s frightening scenario. While there aren’t super-villains (in the literal sense at least), there is still the tragedy, despair, lawlessness, and political wrangling. “Chaos” and “anarchy” are the most common descriptions, and the comparisons to third world countries are not even hyperbole anymore.
The Independent writes:

Robberies, carjackings and even reports of rape and murder have all abounded in a city where the dead have been left lying where they fell or else float eerily down the rivers created by the water-filled streets.

Oh, and martial law is getting underway as well.
People are already questioning if New Orleans is worth rebuilding. Even the the Speaker of the House has already given up stating that part of New Orleans “could be bulldozed.”
Yet despite all the obvious problems, the media seems to focus more on placing the blame be it on the about blaming the President, FEMA, or even the residents themselves.
This entire tragedy has been mishandled from every angle imaginable. There is plenty of blame to go around, all of which can be sorted out later. But the first priority has to be making sure that people get the help they desperately need.
As today’s WSJ lead editorial reminds us, maintaining civil order isn’t easy in a crisis, especially when there is “complacency born of prosperity and the resilience of our legal and civic institutions.”
But unlike Gotham, we don’t have a bat signal to bail us out.

I’ve never liked golf. Sure there’s loads of skill involved in hitting 1in ball 400 ft and into a tiny cup, but I daresay it’s even more boring then NASCAR which livens things up with a crash or two.
My uncle took me to the driving range once when I was in high school and that was a disaster, but at least then you had the fun of trying to hit the moving target of the ball collector truck. Maybe the PGA can somehow incorporate the truck-guy for bonus points, and even then I’m not sure I can bring myself to care.
But every so often, the PGA invades the tiny hamlet of Springfield New Jersey with one of their major tournaments. Twelve years ago we had the US Open and now we’ve got the PGA Champoinship. Back then there was loads of traffic, a goodyear blimp, and blatant profiteering. We’ve still got all that stuff, but now I have access to a digital camera.
Warning – large pictures ahead

I just finished watching the three parts of the video “A Stab In The Heart” and was one of the more powerful things I have seen on the current disengagement (the first part especially, it gets a bit redundant afterwards).
Every Jew ought to watch this video, regardless of your positions of the disengagement or of Israeli politics in general. You may be for or against disengagement. You can think it’s good, bad, or a necessary evil for the country.
And that’s entirely not the point.
This film is an important reminder that even with Eretz Yisrael we are still very much in galut. I cannot think of anything more appropriate to watch during the 9 days.