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A Call for Healing

A Call for Healing
Democrats Call for Healing the Country

Mar 29, 2015

Why There Was Jewish Support For Civil Rights in 1964

It wasn't just the holocaust that made Jews sympathetic to civil rights protest. Even in the US, Jews were subject to some of the same discrimination as blacks. There were restrictive deeds which prevented Jews from owning property in certain areas. There were quotas on college admissions of Jews because admitting people based on objective criteria lead to too many Jews and not enough of the "right people" being admitted.

My grandfather was Jewish. My grandmother was a Methodist minister's daughter. When they married in 1929, both of their families thought they were nuts. However, one of the tricks they used to beat restrictive deeds was funny. They lived wherever they wanted to live. If the deed or lease said no Jews, my grandmother bought the property or signed the lease by herself. She wasn't Jewish. Restrictive deeds were outlawed by the Civil Rights Act of 1964

The Irony of Jewish Mistrust for Evangelicals

The big question last week was why the Jewish vote was still going to Democrats given that the current administration is so hostile towards Israel.  One answer was that the GOP alliance with Evangelical Christians made Jews nervous.

It's ironic that the GOP alliance with Christian Conservatives feels threatening to Jews. The alliance was born out of the government attempts to control church sponsored schools and home schooling. The Evangelical Christians became politically involved because state and local governments were harassing them. They wanted religious freedom to go their own way. The Jewish view of this is that the Evangelicals want to take over the public schools and force Christian prayers into the classrooms. While that may have been true prior to 1964, it certainly has not been their goal since 1976, and definitely is not today. My insight on this comes from the fact that while I'm a Protestant, my grandfather was Jewish and my wife is Jewish. I have talked to both sides and there's a big misunderstanding here. 

No TNR, Republicans are not Responsible for Netanyahu

The article from The New Republic linked below says that Republicans are responsible for what Benjamin Netanyahu does and says.  This is really crazy.   Clearly, the left never takes responsibility for anything.  The disasters of the last 6 years are all Bush's fault.  Why the Prime Minister of Israel is Republicans' responsibility is beyond me.  The only thing I can think of is that Obama has treated him as badly as he would treat a Republican, therefore he is one.  Israel is a sovereign state.  It is not a US possession.  A domestic American politician is not responsible for any foreign leader.  However, if you insist, then Obama and the Democrats who favor negotiating with Iran are responsible for "Death to America" and "Death to the Zionist Entity."  Please have them explain immediately and at length why they support that position. 

What Netanyahu said about the Palestinians is true.  There is no Palestinian leader who both wants to make peace and can deliver peace.  Any Arab territory where Israel withdrew from occupation has been quickly turned into a base for rocket and sometimes tunnel attacks on Israel.  There is no way any Prime Minister of Israel, no matter what party they belong to, can negotiate a peace agreement with the current or any foreseeable future Palestinian leader.  Netanyahu has revealed an inconvenient truth.  I would hope that the left is not so dedicated to Obama that it's willing to become as anti-Semitic as he is.  




Mar 23, 2015

What About Paid Up Dads With Visitation Problems?

As a divorced father without physical custody, you need all of your support payments to be on time.  If they are not, your wages will be garnished.  On the flip side, no enforcement mechanism exists for your visitation.  The police will not enforce your order.   It will cost you thousands of dollars to litigate missed visitation.  Agreements you make for allowing one of two field trips during your visitation time are unenforceable.  The child can go on both field trips and the school will do nothing.  The courts will do nothing.  

The current legal framework views fathers only as a source of funds, with no reciprocal rights to visitation.  This forces fathers into a position of extreme inflexibility on visitation, because no compensatory visitation is offered or if it is, it's not enforceable.  Years later, your children will resent the inflexibility, but won't remember their mother's part in it.  This situation cries out for reform.  It hasn't changed in 30 years.