Why Jews are Liberal

You cannot be Jewish and conservative. To be Jewish, to really live Judaism is to be in complete conflict with conservatism. Why then is there a growing American Jewry in the Republican party? Why am I so resolute about the progressive foundations of Judaism?

To be honest, I just felt it, it was something I knew to be true. Then I realized that made me no different from George W. Bush. So I wanted to research why I progressive values seem innate in my Jewish upbringing.

One time in my 7 years of Jewish Day School education was the question of Heaven ever breached. During our torah study class in the midst of the story of Jacob’s Ladder and Angels coming down, one of my friends finally asked the question. What do Jewish people think of Heaven, does it exists? Our Rabbi paused, and then said simply to be honest Jewish Rabbis do not have consensus on what Heaven looks like. There are some theories, but the most important thing is that we focus on being good people. That it didn’t matter what Heaven ended up being, what mattered was being a good human while we are here.

During the High Holidays, the Rabbi made a similar point. He explained that there are 3 things we are asked when we get to heaven:
1. Did you conduct your affairs honestly?
2. Did you make time to study the Torah?
3. Did you try to have children?

Nothing about following religious ceremony, nothing on beliefs, just about being a good person, about living a good life. While religious ceremonies can help with that, it is most important to live righteously. Studying Torah will help guide in that end. And having children to further humanity and continue the Jewish people.

For a Jew that questions the progressive nature of our religion, we need only look at the prayer book read on Friday nights and Sat Mornings:

God created us in His own image; in the image of God He created us; male and female He created us.
Our tradition says that God created us through one human being to teach us that whoever destroys a single human soul has destroyed an entire world.
And whoever sustains a single human soul has sustained an entire world.
And a single human being was created for the sake of peace, that none might say: my lineage is greater than yours.
I call heaven and earth to witness: Gentile or Jew, man or woman, manservant or maidservant -- all according to our deeds does the spirit of God rest upon us.
Speak to the whole community of Israel, and say to them: "You shall be holy, for I, the Lord your God am holy."
As God is merciful and gracious, so shall you be merciful and gracious.
When we oppress the poor, we offend their maker.
But we honor their maker when we are kind to the needy.
Let your neighbor's property be as dear to you as your own.
And let your neighbor's honor be as dear to you as your own.
You shall not wrong or oppress a stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.
You shall not insult the deaf, or place a stumbling-block before the blind.
You shall not rejoice when your enemy falls.
You shall not exult when your enemy stumbles.
Never say: I will do to them as they have done to me; I will repay them according to their deeds.
You shall not hate another in your heart; but you shall love your neighbor as yourself.
O God, You have called us to peace, for You are Peace itself. May we have the vision to see that each of us, in some measure, can help to realize these aims;
Where there are ignorance and superstition,Let there be enlightenment and knowledge.
Where there are prejudice and hatred,Let there be acceptance and love.
Where there are fear and suspicion,Let there be confidence and trust.
Where there are tyranny and oppression,Let there be freedom and justice.
Where there are poverty and disease,Let there be prosperity and health.
Where there are strife and discord,Let there be harmony and peace.

Or Look no further then our Weekly Prayer for our country.

Our God and God of our ancestors: In this time of national tragedy and sadness, we ask your blessings for our country, for its government, for its leaders and advisors, and for all who exercise just and rightful authority. Teach them the insights of Your Torah, that they may administer all affairs of state fairly, that peace and security, happiness and prosperity, justice and freedom may once again abide in our midst.

Creator of all flesh, bless all the inhabitants of our country with Your spirit. May citizens of all races and creeds forge a common bond in true harmony to banish all hatred and bigotry and to safeguard the ideals and free institutions which are the pride and glory of our country.

May this land under Your providence be an influence for good throughout the world, uniting all people in peace and freedom and helping them to fulfill the vision of your prophet: “Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they experience war any more."
--Based upon "Siddur Sim Shalom"

I wish our leaders would follow through.

I could recite more prayers or passages, but one needs not look that deeply. The Zionist movement was socialist. At its foundation Israel was a socialist democracy. Wondering where it teetered, America and Russia were the first two countries to recognize Israel at its inception.

At every turn our religion is about Justice, recognizing the humanity inherent in all people, and doing tzadakah. “It is derived from the Hebrew tzedek, meaning "justice" or what is right. In the Torah it is also used to mean righteousness - in the sense of piety. One cannot be considered pious - a tzadik - unless one lives a righteousness and just life, and that requires devotion to helping the needy.”

Every Sunday we wear Tzitzit which, “Gematria value of the word "Tzitzit" (tzadi-yod-tzitzit-yod-taf) is 600. To this we add the eight strands plus the five knots, totaling 613 in all. According to tradition, God gave us 613 mitzvot (good deeds we must do) in the Torah.” We are required to do good deeds.

There is nothing that would indicate a conservative slant, so to be Jewish and conservative is to become self-interested to the detriment of Jewish beliefs. While we can argue about the ways to protect Israel, or our place in the world, what cannot be argued is that to be Jewish is to be a progressive. We work toward ending poverty, and to piece. This is our calling, this is our gift to the world. We, the people that have been sought out, ridiculed, tortured, and massacred, have an obligation to act against all these injustices. We cannot stand for unjust wars, we cannot stand for greed, we cannot stand for divisiveness. We must live so that when we die we can say, I lived for others, I tried my best to make my life a gift to the world. To be anything else is to be a denigration of Judaism.

Jordan Gets Angry About Abortion

I have heard some people claim they cannot vote for John Kerry because of his stance on choice. What Should be said about Abortion:

“Any politician who claims that outlawing abortion will solve the problem is lying to you. If Outlawing abortions were the answer to the problem, I think even women’s groups would be for it. But restricting a women’s choices over her body is not the answer to the problem. We want a day when women no longer choose to have an abortion, but a culture of life means doing everything possible to nurture the decision to have children not simply stating the practice of abortions have to end. It means more than anti-choice it means pro-family, working toward supporting the most vulnerable of our society, and providing real access to health care and education. We should be working toward making abortion a choice women never choose to make. We can do that by gathering people from across all sections of the issue, women’s rights groups, anti-choice groups, religious organizations, family planning, High-School counselors, all involved with the issue and discussing not the value of choice, but how we can reduce abortion and in the long-term work toward ending the need for the practice. This simple recitation of life versus choice does nothing to address the issue and we should demand more of politicians and journalists when they speak on the subject.”

The Ultimate Hypocrisy

"New York, NY, Sep. 1 (UPI) -- Illinois Republican U.S. Senate hopeful Alan Keyes reportedly had tough words for vice presidential daughter Mary Cheney because she is a lesbian.

In an interview with SIRUS satellite radio, Keyes called Mary Cheney "a 'selfish hedonist' because she is a lesbian." Keyes continued, "The essence of ... family life remains procreation. If we embrace homosexuality as a proper basis for marriage, we are saying that it's possible to have a marriage state that in principal excludes procreation and is based simply on the premise of selfish hedonism."
Asked whether that meant Mary Cheney "is a selfish hedonist," Keyes said: "That goes by definition. Of course she is.

Well what do we have here? Alan Keyes' very own daughter making out with her own lesbian lover! LOL!"

Stop Sinclair

Stop Sinclair From Airing their anti-Kerry propaganda. It is working, their stock has plumeted, their advertisers are pulling support, keep the heat on:
www.stopsinclair.org

THIS IS AN AMAZING SITE
It is non-partisan group of Military Vets of this War in Iraq who are going around the country telling the truth about the War... Please visit, Please Help
www.optruth.com

And this is just funny

Memory's Cruelty

Why don’t we remember sun
How beautiful its rays feel while we rolled down a steep hill
How it lightens the soul even during the most serious of TV tag games.

Why don’t we remember the breeze
And the way it pricks at our hair as we sore on a swing
Such calmness as we glide toward clouds and back.

Why don’t we remember the sensual smell
The comfort of summer on the nose
The grass stains on the back well worth the proximity to the wild flowers.

Why don’t we remember the sweet summer sound
The song of the ice cream truck
That claims even the most lactose intolerant victim to its siren entrancing jingle.

Why don’t we remember the comfort
Of grass between our feet.
The joy that can only come from the long anticipated freeing of your toes from winters tomb.

Why don’t we remember the reassurance
Of a mothers caress on the forehead
The complete soothing as a mother strokes the hair back on an accepting brow.

Why don’t we remember the smile
When we didn’t disappoint our number one fan
Even though we struck out at the plate in that oh so crucial moment.

Why don’t we remember the joy
Of holding onto your friend's hand as a person runs full steam at your red rover line
The reassurance of a friend's squeeze as you successfully repel the best efforts to break the special bond.

Why don’t we remember the feelings
The fear and excitement
As the one we are anxious over final presses their lips against yours.

But we remember the hurt
“I really like you and care for you, but just as friends… Its not you its me... I am just not ready for a commitment.”
Relationships come and gone not diminishing the now eternal strangle that initial rejection has on the gut.

We remember the pain
The relentless pain from true rejection of who we are
The attack on the heart that can only come from the ones we let in betrayal of our insecurities.

Oh we can recall our fondest memories, but the details fade like the face of a loved one now past.
No Ginkgo can make the memories as sweet.

The mundane beauty of life is swept away by the unassuming cruelty of times unyielding march toward the next second.
Yet the ache a few sounds put together carelessly can be remembered with timeless clarity.
What a curse memory has on our life, who decided this is what we will remember?

Problems with Prescription Drugs

I have been thinking about the problem of prescription drugs.

We in the progressive community have been blaming prescription drug companies for the problem.

The prescription drug companies complain of liability lawsuits. But the Wall Street Journal hardly the beacon for liberalism, debunked this claim (an the presidents) explaining that liability explains at the most generous 10% of price increases. But rather bad investments and a little price opportunism.

All Things Considered on NPR interviewed Dr. Paul Antony, chief medical officer for the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America. In response to Dr. Marcia Angell’s book The Truth About Drug Companies. I read an article by her explaining the book.

Basically it comes down to an argument about how much is spent on R&D versus how much is spent on Marketing. According to Dr. Angell pharmaceuticals spend about 300% more on Ad’s then on R&D, and to progressives this seems intuitively to make sense. How many Ad’s do we see on TV pushing this and that pill. It is also confirmed by the fact that the pharmaceutical companies is the most profitable industry..

Dr. Antony claims that it is only about 30% more on PR than R&D and that Angell is disingenuous when she puts the overhead cost the PR as apart of that. (as it could be overhead for more than just PR)

But Dr. Antony did make an interesting point. That in America because we are the only developed country still with a market system for our prescription drugs, have to bear the high cost of R&D because European countries have used their socialized healthcare to bargain for the lowest possible prices where the companies make almost no profit.

Lets say that Dr. Antony is right, even if he is half-right, the idea of using prescription drugs from Canada becomes even less plausible. Because if we import all of our drugs from Canada, prescription drug companies could just force Canada’s socialized health care to pay more, making it not much less expensive for us and markedly more for Canada.

If we were to get rid of the market system or make it more restrictive on ad’s as we did up until the late 90’s, what doe we do about R&D. Are there enough profits to make it affordable for it? Essentially we as Americans are paying for European’s low health care costs. Something that seems unfair as an uninsured American. We could pay health care companies to stop shipping their product abroad to Europe until those countries help subsidize our higher profits. But then we make a false market system, and what about all those extra drugs. Do we pass them onto American’s and if so then we have to pay prescription drug companies for those lost profits as well. Making the same system of government subsidies as we have for agriculture.

I am not making a case for or against government healthcare nor answering questions about prescription drugs. I am saying it is much more complicated then even we progressives make it out to sound.

I KNOW that drug importation from Canada is a bad idea that solves none of the problems. And that it is unfair that we Americans are paying for Europe’s free to low cost healthcare. Which is completely unfair.

Perfect Answer on Draft Scare

"I rise in opposition of this bill, but I would like to clarify something. We are not trying to scare kids. This President's foreign policy is what is scaring the kids of this country. And people have said today, why are people believing this? Why are people believing this big Internet hoax?

It is the same people who told us that Saddam Hussein had something to do with 9/11; the same people who told us Saddam Hussein had something to do with weapons of mass destruction; the same people who told us we would be able to use the oil for reconstruction money; the same people who told us we would be greeted as liberators, not occupiers; the same people, the same President who told us the Taliban is gone; the same President who told us that Poland is our ally 2 days before they pull out; the same President who tells us Iraq is going just great; the same President who tells us the economy is going just great; the same people who told us the tax cuts were going to create millions of jobs; the same people who told us that the Medicare program only cost $400 billion when it really cost $540 billion.

So please forgive us for believing what you are saying. Please forgive the students of this country for not believing what you are saying. Not one thing, not one thing about this war that has been told to the American people or that has been told to these college students has been true. Not one thing. Bremer says we need more troops. The Pentagon says we need more troops, and this President cannot get them from the international community. There is only one option left. Let us be honest with the American people."

— Rep. Tim Ryan, October 5, 2004

The Worst Moderated Debate

THAT WAS THE WORST MODERATED DEBATE

3 Questions about relationship with G-d (WHO CARES WHAT THE ARCHBISHOPS THINK)
3 Questions on Foreign Policy in a Domestic Issue debate
1 Question if Homosexuality is a choice, as if the president can control that.
1 Question about a divided nation, as if poof a policy can fix that
1 Question ABOUT THE FLU... THE FLU
1 Question about their wives

NO QUESTION ON THE ENVIRONMENT
NONE ON EDUCATION
And none on Stem Cells

WHAT THE FUCK

WORST MODERATED DEBATE EVER

DID REPUBLICANS PAY BOB SCHIEFER OFF?