NEWT

AS THE POLLS START COMING IN FROM ACROSS THE COUNTRY,IT IS EVIDENT THAT NEWT IS NOT A PASSING FANCY.HOW THIS WILL HOLD UP AFTER CAIN LEAVES IS STILL UP IN THE AIR.
I personally believe that Mitt has reached his peak,and GOP primary voters above all else want someone who can win ,as well as be true to conservative standards.
We all know Newt is not the perfect candidate,however his mastery of the issues is second to none.many of us would love to see obama debate Newt-someone said it would make great pay-tv.Although Newt has said he would challenge Obama to a Lincoln-Douglass debate(s), no one believes Obama would agree.
I also feel that the polls are a little behind events ,and in the next few days-week(s),Newt'a lead will become unbeatable-provided nothing unforeseen develops-such as Palin jumping into the race.
If he can win Iowa,S.C. and Florida,as well as come close in N.H. then this is a recipe for victory.

CAIN

I DO NOT KNOW WHETHER CAIN WILL WITHDRAW OR NOT,BUT I WOULD LIKE TO PRESENT A SCENARIO TO WHY HE IS IN THIS PREDICAMENT.
I don't believ he was ever serious about running.He was trying to sell a book he authored,and what with the TV debates giving massive publicity at no cost, he figured "why not?"
Because he never held office,and was an unknown, he was never vetted.He never gave any thought to reporters looking at every aspect of his life with a microscope.
In the beginning it was simple.He avoided foreign policy and at the same time sliding by difficult questions by referring to his advisors.
Then he hit upon "999" and it was simple, even simplistic and with his warm personality he caught on.He himself was suprised.
In addition it was a way for conservatives to show that there was no prejudice in the GOP.
Then came the sex accusations, followed by the Libya goof,and suddenly his star was dimming.
Now with a full blown adulterous affair , proven by e-mails etc,you have to ask,"HOW DID HE THINK HE COULD GET AWAY WITH IT?"
At least Sen. Edwards,had a plan,to blame his aide for the baby.
Running for Pres. is a fulltime job,that requires years of preperation to learn the issues,put together a team and ask yourself the real hard question-"-Do I have anything to hide?"
It is time for Cain to get out and avoid further pain for his family,and the country.

Back to warm weather

It was a tiring experience driving down from N.J..We thought we would have traffic congestion yesterday in N.J and the beltway-it being part of the Thanksgiving drive-home.However, perhap because we left early, it was a breeze, until Virginia.then it was bumper to bumper.
Driving in the car we heard about Newt's endoresment in N.H. from the leading paper.I suspect that Palin will endorse him.
The new charges against Cain could be the final blow.
Driving down and listening to talk radio,we were impressed with the number of anti-Obama talk show hosts.As a matter of fact, we did not hear a single liberal voice.If we were from outer space,I would not be able to understand how America elected such an incompetent.
Good-bye Barney Frank-words cannot describe the negative role he has played in the housing meltdown etc.
I cannot believe Bibi is bending on the issue of giving the PA tax money.

THANKSGIVING

For those of us of the jewish faith,we have much to be thankful for as Americans.Certainly not in modern times have we enjoyed the rights as equal citizens to practice our religion,and attain economic heights without fear ,as we enjoy today..
Yes there is still seen anti-semitism (as in OWS) ,however these are rare events, even in an economic downturn.
If there is any complaint,it is that the "golden" opportunities,have fostered a lost generation of Jews.I see it in Florida,and in our hi-rise in N.J.
Senior citzens either totally ignorant of their traditions (and that of their grandparents) or so weddded to golf,card plying,trying out the new restaurant and so on,that even Yom Kippur has little meaning or attraction for them.In essence it is a spiritual holocaust.For not only have we lost them, but their children and so on.
Thank G-d ,the yeshiva movement has grown exponentially.Outreach programs like NCSY and Chabad are reaching more young people on the college campus(and high school).NCSY in one program alone has 40,000 young people.
The demographic truth is that were it not for the Orthodox and Charedi poulations, there would not be an authentic Jewish tradition in America in 50-100 years.The Conservative movement is shrinking,the Reform 50% intermarried,the secular couldn't care less.
As we prepare to go to Boynton Beach for the season,yesterday I completed my portion of the Good Samaritan Hospital Talmud shiur.I believe we are going on to our 24th year.This to me is a very exciting class, that illustrates that educating adults,not for the purpose of making them Orthodox,but to inculcate our traditions and our Judaic philosophy does work.It is up to each individual to decide what to do with the knowledge they accrue.
In truth both I and the members of the shiur have all become more attuned to Jewish needs and the central role of Israel in our lives.Our shiur has visited Israel 5 times,and among other contributions were a Sefer Torah to the Navy at Ashdod,and an x-ray machine to Shaare Zedek Hospial in Jerusalem.
During the months that I am away,Dr. Michael Muschel a cardiologist and torah scholar teaches the class.Today he sits shiva for his mother Sara of blessed memory.May he be comforted among the mourners of Zion and Jerusalem.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO ALL

The campaig.

Today Rasmussen has Obama widening his lead over Romney.While it is still early,Romney has not caught on.
I spoke today to an old friend very close to Newt Gingrich.My impression is that the next few weeks will see an emphasis on S.Carolina and Iowa.If they do well there, then money will come in, and they can put together an effective team in Florida.
I do not personally know Cong Mack who is running for the Florida Senate seat of Nelson.I was very friendly with his father Connie Mack from his Congrssional and Senatorial days.They are desescendents of the great Connie Mack of baseball fame.
More importantly both are great friends of Israel.

AN UPDATE

Just a few thoughts on the Republican race so far.
Herman Cain is a nice man,who should save us the embarressment of his phumphing on foreign policy.999 is not an answer to the ills of the world,Nor is saying you will rely on your advisors.He never thought he would get this far,and he should get out while he is ahead.-UNLIKELY ,since he is still ahead of Huntsman etc.

Mitt Romney,is looking better after each debate.His strong statement on Israel tonite was reassuring.The question is can you believe him?His record is not stellar from the conservative point of view.

Newt, is a master of policy and history.He shines against all the other candidates.He would wipe the floor against Obama in debates.
Will his baggage weigh him down?
The ultimate question is who can beat Obama? That is goal number 1.
I hope as the campaign develops, Newt starts running away with it,SO ALL REPUBLICANS CAN COALESCE BEHIND HIS CANDIDACY.

JOURNEY THROUGH THE MINEFIELDS AVAILABLE ON KINDLE / OBAMA ON THE SUPERCOMMITTEE

I RECIEVED A CALL FROM THE PUBLISHER OF MY AUTOBIOGRAPHY "JOURNEY THROUGH THE MINEFIELDS -FROM VIETNAM TO WASHINGTON".HE INFORMED ME THAT AMAZON HAS COPIES OF THE BOOK.IN ADDITION EITHER IT IS AVAILABLE ON KINDLE,OR WILL BE AVAILABLE SHORTLY.

WHERE WAS THE PRESIDENT DURING ALL THE SUPERCOMMITTEE DELIBERATIONS ?
WHERE WAS HIS LEADERSHIP ?
IN FACT HE WAS COUNTING ON FAILURE-IN ORDER TO CONTINUE THE CLASS WARFARE CAMPAIGN HE INITIATED.

Sec Panetta and Israel

Defense Sec. Panetta gave 3 reasons why Israel should not attack Iran.
1-It will harm world economy
2-It will only impede the Iranian nuclear effort 2-3 years
3-there may be unexpected conequences

Whether an attack would harm the economy is not a given.If he refers to oil supplies,then the US has plenty of ability over the short and long run to correct the problem.
Open up ANWAR in Alaska,allow drilling in the Gulf of Mexico.encourage fracking,and approve the Canadian oil pipeline.

Even if it only stops the Iranians for a limited number of years,that represents a period without a nuclear Iran hanging over Israel.Who knows what will happen in 3 years? Perhaps there will be a new Iranian Govt? or a new US President with a backbone? Or Israel might have to attack again?

Why worry only about the world,when from the point of view of Israel, there is an existential threat to its existance.
Yes there can be unexpected consequences if Israel attacks-but there may be unexpected consequences if Iran obtains the bomb,and either uses it or threatens its region.

OWL / E-1

Everyone understands there are inequities in life-whether it is children born with disabilities or with a gift of intellect.There are those who drop out of school and become billionaires (Steve Jobs) or those with multiple degrees who cannot find their way in life.
There are those who wish to take no chances and settle for a 9-5 job.While others will borrow money and open a business in a garage,and grow to a mega -empire.
What is that the OWS crowd wants? Each one has their own frustrations.I just saw a man on a news program who works on Wall Street but is unhappy about salary inequalities.He is not prepared to wait to move up the ladder.
America is not prepared to throw out capitalism because ten thousand demonstrators supported by unions are going to decefecate on police cars or bang drums in the middle of the nite.
Let them organize in each Congreesional district and run candidates like the Tea Party. Absent that ,they are entitled to march,but not interfere with people going to work or about their business.
City administrations,have to toughen up their responses.

Over the years I have mentioned the need for Israel to build in the E-1 area.Now is the perfect time to build this link between Maale Adumim and Jerusalem.Every Israeli PM has approved this project,however American pressure has put in on hold.
With no peace partner,this area which covers 12,000 dunam is on State owned property.It is planned to have 3500 housing units,a commercial area and a hotel.It would connect the 36,000 residents of Maale Adumim to Jerusalem.We must connect Mount Scopus to Maale Adumim to protect Jerusalem.
Of course the EU will object along with Obama,but "MA NISHTANA?"

The Forward 50

There was a time when the Forward published a list annually of the top 50 Jewish leaders.One year I was priviledged to be in the top 2 or 3.
When the paper changed editors and owners, I stopped following the weekly edition.Howevwe I was in Israel 10 days ago and the Forward wad given out with Haaretz.
To my suprise, the list is currently "jews" who are in the news
For example Cong. Gabrielle Giffords is on the list for being "brave".Unfortunately her father was Jewish not her mother.
Of course people like Jennifer Laszio Mizrachi of the Israel Project deserves to be included.As does Rabbi Shmuel Goldin, President of the Rabbinical Council of America.
HOW IN THE WORLD IS CONG ANTHONY WEINER or Fred Wilpon of the Mets included?

The new Knesset controls on foreign funds for NGO's

During my 23 years as Pres of Huvpac,I became very familiar with federal election law.On one occasion we accidentally accepted a check from a union,cashed it,but then realized our error and sent the money back.Nevertheless we were fined by the Federal Election Commission (a few thousand dollars).
One key element of US federal law is that foreign corporations and non-US citizens cannot contribute to PAC's or to election campaigns.It goes without saying that foreign governments cannot contribute to American campaigns.
Thus it is difficult to understand the yelling by the EU,and left wing groups in Israel,now that the Knesset is putting the brakes on foreign govt contributions, and limiting them to 20,000 shekalim ( 3.5 to the dollar).
The Left has used these funds to smear and delegitimize Israel in the court
of world opinion.Sure they can do this if they can raise the funds within Israel.
An examination shows the extent of the problem.
After each organization is the amount recieved from foreign govts of their whole budget
PEACE NOW----1.5 /3.5 SHEKELS
IR AMIN ----1.5 /3.5
ASSOC. CIVIL RIGHTS --1.3 /8.5
BTSELEM ---4.8/ 9.0
BREAKING THE SILENCE 1.6 /3.0
YESH DIN --4.7 / 5.0
PHYSICIANS FOR HUM--3.6 / 4.5

This is not a cap on criticism of the govt.,but on foreign intervention.
This and the accompanying bill to tax these monies at 45 % are long overdue.
Israel has enough enemies without allowing foreign governments to shape the internal debate.

Netanyahu the 'LIAR' / last nites debate

I recall sitting in the Roosvelt Room of the WH as the head of an OU delegation meeting with Pres. Bush.(I).The Pres. said he would not speak to Begin since he was a"liar".
If you read the the book "The Prime Ministers" you note that every US President has problems with the Israeli PM, primarily because the Israel-Palestinian issue is not solveable.
There is an old adage, that when you accept money from a rich uncle,beware of the desires of the uncle to control your actions.Yes direct economic aid has gone down and only military aiud exists,however the WH would like to consider Israel as a vassal State.
Obama came to office with his inner Muslim feelings,and felt he could solve the Iranian nuclear issue,and the Isael-Palestinian issue with talk..talk...and more talk.
He has no feelings for the Islamic history of Iran which desires to conquer Iraq,Saudia Arabia etc not from today,but for centuries.To them a nuclear bomb may not be needed ,only the threat of one could cause panic among their neighbors.
In Israel,Obama has no feeling for the traditions and history of the Jewish
people.He believes that Israel is a product of the Holocaust, and there is moral equivalency between the claims of the Arabs and the Jews.
Thus when he came to office he planned to undermine Bibi, and hoped for a more moderate govt.He failed,and only strengthened Netanyahu.
Then was his ploy demanding a cessation of settlement building.Finally Bibi gave in,yet no Abbas talks, because he has no interest in making concessions on "the right of return and Jerusalem.
Obama failed again.Finally he pulled this shtick of embarressing Bibi just prior to the Oval Office meeting-regarding the '67 borders.
However, Bibi upstageds him with a forceful-live for- TV attack on his policies,This was followed by a Joint sesssion before the Congress, that was greeted with tumultuous applause. No wonder he can't stand him.His problem with such low ratings,Obama cannot ignore his pro-Israel constituents by not vetoing if necessary a "Palestinian State".If the issue came up after the elections,believe me he would screw Israel.

Looking at last nites debate,I came away again with the picture of Romney as an automated programmed politico.However as I see more of him I would feel less uncomfortable were he the nominee.
Cain -nice man is not ready to be President.Yes he has Ambassador Bolton as his adviser.However if Bolton were the candidate I would feel better.
Gingrich as always is deeply immersed in the issues,and right now, I am rooting for him.
Perry looked better than his previous debates, but is unlikely to recoup his loss.
The rest had some good answers,however there are too many candidates on the podium.

Perry--Newt and Co.

last nite I started to watch the debate,however jet lag kicked in and I missed the 53 seconds of Perry memory lapse.
A few weeks ago I thought Perry was THE MAN. However , that was not to be.It takes more than money to get ready to come on the big-stage with programs and policies in the domesic and foreign arena.
While Herman Cain may be believable,he too does not appear ready on the issues.
Newt is coming up,and yesterday Dorothy Rabin owita wrote a terrific op-ed in the WSJ on the ASCENDENCY of Newt.Intellectually he is the most in command of the issues.
Can his personal baggage get in the way of victory?

As I analyzed a few months ago, it appears thet the cancer-ridden Pres. Chavez is doing poorly, and may have 6 months to live..Yes there is payback time!

The action of the Senate Judiciary Comm -on party lines to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act,which defines a marriage AS BETWEEN A MAN AND A WOMAN is disgusting. The gay-loving Dems carried the day .

The announcement that Amb. Dennis Ross will leaveas a special representative of the WH toward Middle-East peace talks proves again that Obama has no viable options in that area.

Cigarette smoking in Israel / Obama response to Iran nuclear policy

It is good to be home after 3 1/2 weeks in Israel and on an Israeli cruise vessel that went from Haifa to the Greek Isles and Italy.
Despite having been to Israel so many times,the most overiding cultural phenomonon that perhaps I never fully appreciated ,and that is the huge number of people smoking cigarettes.
Young and old, religious and secular not only do people smoke,including next to young children, but think nothing is wrong.
I do not recall seeing any posters in the public arena warning about the dangers of cigarettes.Nor did restaurants etc have non-smokong areas.

The response so far of the Obama administration to the UN report on Iran ( as well as their own intelligence) has been tepid and will not solve the problem-unless they go for the oil jugular.Yes it might cause oil prices to rise ,but that is a lesser price than a nuclear Iran.

The "closed-mic" comments of Obama-and Sarkozy should not be a suuprise.Obama can never fogive Bibi for standing tall and for putting him in his place in the Oval office meeting-on air.

Cain Allegations III/UNESCO and Abbas

EDG writes:

It was disappointing to me to hear a number of conservatives defending Herman Cain. The allegations against Cain are extraordinarily serious and many Republicans are treating them like a liberal attack against him. The conservatives who are blaming Cain's problems on others are doing a tremendous disservice to the Republican Party and to the conservative movement. The emergence of a third woman makes it more likely that this episode will put a stop to the Cain candidacy. One final point- who cares which campaign leaked this story to Politico? As Redstate pointed out, the leaking campaign deserves our thanks since if Cain had become our nominee, this story surely would have emerged during the general campaign which could have proved disastrous.

___________________________________________________________________________
It was encourging to watch a full American cutoff of funding to the anti-Israeli UNESCO following its acceptance of "Palestine" as a member. Beside the savings of money which we otherwise would have sent to this cultural wasteland, the US has shown that these decisions to prematurely recogize a Palestinian entity will trigger negative reactions from the US. The UNESCO move, along with Abbas' remarks that he will never recognize a Jewish state, exhibit that negotiations with the Palestinians are a waste of time. Israel should push forward with massive construction in Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria.