Obama and the Jewish Vote

Obama and the Jewish Vote

by

Varo Borja

Recently I was perusing an article entitled, “Obama’s Jews” by Bernard Avishai for Harper’s Magazine, and I found it very interesting the shift that has taken place among a large section of the American Jewish population. According to Mr. Avishai, the Jewish American voter was traditionally a Democrat, mainly because of FDR’s opposition to Nazi Germany and then later in the century, because of civil rights. Mr. Avishai goes on to state though, that a large bloc of the Jewish American population didn’t feel well served by the civil rights movement, especially in regards to the empowerment and economic liberation of, as Mr. Avishai says, “black toughs”. It goes without saying that Jewish American voters aren’t thrilled with the likes of Louis Farrahkan and Al Sharpton, and Mr. Avishai goes on to say that American Jews lampooned themselves as, “earning like Episcopalians and voting like Puerto Ricans”. Mr. Avishai notes, however, that the 1968 Israeli war brought about a shift in the Jewish vote to a more conservative stance, progressing even further with the 1973 Israeli/Egyptian war and culminating in the support, by a significant section of the American Jewish population, of Ronald Reagan. Mr. Avishai does note though that there has always been a large section of American Jews loyal to the Democratic party—he also says that neoconservative Zionists in the media and the political arena misrepresent the majority of American Jews. He goes on to state that what the American Jewish population is looking for is a movement, a grand cause, to revive their interest in liberal American politics. Mr. Avishai states, in a matter of fact manner, that Barack Obama can and will provide that impetus. The days of the Paul Wolfowitz’s and the William Kristol’s won’t soon come to an end however, and Mr. Obama will likely be rejected by the majority of Jews over 65, but I am glad to know that the progressive spirit hasn’t left the Jewish community. Even more so I will be glad when the trumpet of Zionism blares its last note. Zionism is one of the major setbacks for the Middle East and especially the Palestinian/Israeli peace movement, and parties such as the Israeli Likud and its malefactors will hopefully tire of their collective psychosis and relent for the good of us all.

No Cash Left Behind

NCLB: No Cash Left Behind

by

Varo Borja

I was perusing an article in Harper’s magazine the other day about the implementation of testing preparatory agencies in America’s schools. This article paid particular attention to the Kaplan testing agency, and was written by a current employee of that company. The article stated, in sum, that because of the No Child Left Behind act, test prep agencies are raking in an enormous amount of revenue, especially from Title I schools. Furthermore, the article stated that these test prep agencies don’t show results, other than inflated budgets and downtown Manhattan office suites. The author of the article, Jeremy Miller, also stated that many of the teacher s in the schools that he has worked with are indignant about having to implement curriculum bonuses such as the Kaplan method into their already time constrained schedules. The Kaplan method takes 40 hours of class time to complete, and many schools, once they have failed to meet NCLB criteria, have no choice but to employ agencies such as Kaplan at inflated rates, with little to show for their efforts. Mr. Miller states that the Kaplan company pays him at least 10,000 dollars more a year than the highest paid first year teachers in the nation make, and the total revenue from the Kaplan company, which is a part of the Washington Post group, has exceeded 2 billion dollars for the past fiscal year. Mr. Miller goes on to say that companies such as the Kaplan group focus solely on “correct answers” to tests such as the SAT, and slight or totally ignore education philosophies that focus their efforts on process learning, or to put it mildly, real education. Companies such as Kaplan are bilking the U.S. taxpayer of billions of dollars, and what does the average citizen have to show for it? Nothing other than the discarded Kaplan materials passed out in under-achieving schools that most of the students don’t even bother to read, let alone comprehend. The Kaplan company has been evasive at best when questioned by journalists as to its credibility and viability, but as long as the NCLB act stands, companies such as Kaplan and The Princeton Review (another spurious test prep agency) will continue to prosper, and Title I funds that could be spent on worthwhile programs and teacher salary increases will go down the proverbial toilet along with the future of many underprivileged children.

Parallels

Beauty and the Beast

by

Varo Borja

I am shocked, nay, astounded at the turn in the polls in the McCain/Palin ticket’s favor. I was reading an article in The Economist today which states:

A post-convention poll shows the two candidates nearly tied in perceptions of who would change Washington. Independents are moving towards Mr McCain despite Mr Obama’s strong advocacy of “change” in his campaign. The “enthusiasm” gap is closing, too: before, many voters told pollsters that they would vote for Mr McCain, but not happily. Now, many more are pleased with their pick. Again, Mrs Palin's elevation has much to do with this. At the Republican convention in St Paul, she generated such enthusiasm that there was jocular talk of flipping the ticket to put her at the top and Mr McCain in the vice-presidential slot.

What in God’s holy name are the American people thinking? The current crisis on Wall Street brings to mind another period in American history that I think should be adequately addressed: The Great Depression. At the time of the crash of 1929, a similar administration to the one currently in residence on Pennsylvania Avenue was in office. That administration, after a large, seething boom and the subsequent crash due to, much like today, easy credit, offered the cheap condolences to the American people that, and I quote, “I see nothing in the present situation that is either menacing or warrants pessimism…I have every confidence that there will be a revival of activity in the spring and that during the coming year the country will make steady progress” (Mitchell 31). That quote was taken from Andrew W. Mellon, then Secretary of the Treasury for the Hoover administration. Another interesting, contemporary quote from a member of the current administration reads thus:

I can count many, many times that people have said that America had lost its competitive edge. We had lost our competitive edge vis-a-vis Japan. We were a power that was over-stretched in the '80s. We were going to converge with the Soviet Union, by the way, in the 1970s. So there have been many premature sentences for America losing its competitive edge. We're going through a difficult time in the economy; adjustments to a number of circumstances, including in the housing markets and in the financial markets, that will work their way out (ontheissues.org).

This quote is all the more interesting in what Ms. Rice doesn’t say. She fails to mention any parallels between the current crisis and that of 1929. What she offers is smoke and mirrors, and the lingering effigy/myth of Ronald Reagan as a sword of truth wielding, Caucasian crusader with the red cross of the Republican templars blazoned upon his breast. Do the American people desire more of the same smoke and mirrors, cross brandishing (and burning), and slick, blindfolded tomfoolery that was offered us by the same party who brought us the Hoover, Bush, and God forbid, McCain/Palin administrations? Will the American people actually take time to digest some information that isn’t brought to them in savvy sound bites, O’Reilly factor diatribes, or “straight talk” ads denouncing the Democratic candidate as a man who would corrupt our kindergartners by bringing them sex education, when in fact Mr. Obama desired to prevent the molestation of children? It is time for the American people to wake up, to rise from their self-indulgent lethargy and assert their right to a better future. It is time for us to denounce the slick maneuverings of those who would hoodoo our country by appealing to our religious leanings, gender preferences, and fears of “axis of evil” terror. For the love of God, we must use reason, instead of emotion to decide who will govern our country for the next four years. If we don’t, then we cast our heritage to the wolves as we pretend, all too innocently, to be sheep led to pasture by a warmonger and a prom queen.

Works Cited

“Condoleeza Rice on Budget and Economy.” Ontheissues.org.

23 May 2008. CNBC. 15 September 2008.

http://www.ontheissues.org/2008/Condoleezza_Rice_Budget_+_Economy.htm

Mitchell, Broadus. Depression Decade: From New Era Through New Deal.

New York: Rhinehart and Co., 1947.

“The Palin Effect.” The Economist 16 September 2008.

Free Speech and the Sarah Palin Campaign

Free Speech and the Sarah Palin Campaign

by

Varo Borja

Today I was browsing through the Christian Science Monitor and I happened upon an article titled, “Don’t Be Swept Away By Hype in the Palin Campaign”. The author, Jerry Lanson, stated in a nutshell that it was the media’s job to, “unearth facts, not repeat myths.” I found this statement quite interesting with all the media glam surrounding the Republican VP nominee. Every time I’m in the grocery store line I glance at the tabloid headlines and see Sarah Palin’s face emblazoned upon the covers of these rags with sensational text surrounding her either smiling or scowling face. Apparently, the McCain campaign has lashed back at the “liberal media” for its preoccupation with Sarah Palin’s personal life. Good for him. What is not good for him and also for us, as Americans, is Sarah Palin’s record and qualifications. According to the Christian Science Monitor, Sarah Palin, “went to 5 schools in six years before graduating” and has flip flopped on very important issues to not only her state, but by proxy to the American people. Mr. Lanson of the Christian Science Monitor berates mass media for its sensationalist, sexist, and sometimes ignorant coverage of such important events in the history of this nation, and I for one would like to see, as Mr. Lanson says, more “tough (sic and) fair” reporting instead of “balanced” coverage of the presidential election. In this instant, “balance” can translate to a virtual smearing of both parties’ candidates in an attempt to garner sales revenue, instead of covering the tough, but sometimes unpopular issues such as what each candidate has done and most likely will do, if elected. I agree with Mr. Lanson wholeheartedly in that the catchword of the moment, CHANGE, needs not only to come to Washington, but to The Washington Post, The New York Times, People Magazine, and most unlikely, The National Enquirer. Truly enquiring minds want to know facts, not a plethora of should-be’s, could-be’s, and delectable morsels about the irrelevant, private aspects of the lives of public citizens.