FL Jews vs Obama or the New York Times?

Eric Thayer for The New York Times

Shirley Weitz, right, talking to Ruth Grossman in Boynton Beach, Fla. The Jews she knows will not vote for Senator Barack Obama, Ms. Weitz said, because of “his attitude toward Israel.”

There's an article in The New York Times on the ambivalence many Florida Jews feel about voting for Barack Obama. It's a serious article about an important issue. But somebody at the Times didn't pay attention to some decidedly unserious gaffes.

Let's start with Mrs. Weitz of Boynton Beach, pictured above in the article's cover photo. Styled dark hair, expert make-up, trim figure, trendy clothes. I see similar lovely ladies when I visit my parents in nearby Boca Raton.

Not one of those women would ever choose to be identified in the New York Times by her age, except possibly in her obituary.



Okay, maybe a small thing. But let's move on to Ms. Grossman, literally outed by the Times on race and her voting preference.



I think the cat's out of the bag now, Ms. Grossman. Unless none of your neighbors read the Times.

Then there's the sidebar photo. Unintentionally hilarious. Oh, don't give me a hard time about fat-bashing. I don't care what you look like as long as you're healthy. But I'm guessing the lady pictured isn't too thrilled with the offer to um, further enlarge her image.



Finally I have to ask Rabbi New how he thinks his senior constituents will respond when they read his highlighted Times quote as he mused about "The fate of the world for the next four years."



Oy.

Happy and HEALTHY Birthday, Karen

"Nothing contributes so much to tranquilizing the mind as a steady purpose -- a point on which the soul may fix its intellectual eye." Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley

Today is my niece Karen's birthday. You could ask, who gives a whoop besides her family? Anybody who's ever faced cancer, that's who. They know, as Karen knows, that every birthday is a gift. More, a triumph.

Karen's been fighting cancer for 8 years. During most of those years not for herself, which would be hard enough. But for her young son, which is, to a parent, much, much worse.

Alex was diagnosed at age 4 with a rare disease called VHL. An operation removed all the mechanics of his right ear, carotid artery and part of his brain. The outer ear is still there, but the hearing is gone.

You all know Alex. I haven't written about him for a while because although he's an extraordinary boy, thank god there's been nothing out of the ordinary to say. Last week Alex celebrated his 12th birthday.

A continuing triumph. Of family and medical diligence, healthy lifestyle, good karma, mind over matter. Whatever, we'll take it. Especially now for Karen's birthday too.

Because incredibly, a year and a half ago Karen got cancer. Not VHL. Skin cancer. Melanoma. Oh yeah. we've all heard of that. And not in a good way.

Karen's was first a small patch on her leg. Excised, clean margins, finished. Then, six months later tumors in her right eye signaled the much rarer, much more dangerous, ocular melanoma.

They tried everything, but it came back. On April 16, barely a month ago, surgeons had to remove her right eye. An outer cover is there, attached to the muscles which still work, but the sight is gone.

Karen and Alex. Mother and son. Different cancers, similar losses, totally the right attitude.

Fight. Mobilize. Energize. Laugh. Love. Live. Learn all you can. Gather your physical and emotional resourses. Seek and accept support and counsel and advice. Lean on your loved ones and stand on your own two feet.

According to Karen's example, that's what you do to survive. More, that's how you live life to the fullest.

Karen is a survivor of the highest order. An inspiration to cancer victims, mothers of cancer victims, other survivors and those who are trying to be. An object lesson to those of us who waste time moaning about petty problems.

Tomorrow Karen has her first appointment to be fitted for an artificial eye. She's been wearing cool eye patches, but is really looking forward to looking like she's got the real deal.

What a birthday present, eh? And not just for another of life's milestones, but for a true celebration of life itself.

Happy and HEALTHY Birthday, Karen. We're all wishing you many, many, many, many more.

Get the whole 411 on Karen HERE.

Family Fun Facts

"If you can't make it better, you can laugh at it." Erma Bombeck

Okay, so I'm a week late for Mother's Day. Most mothers are farther behind than that.

I was supposed to leave for Israel today but my sore paw is still acting up and will delay my trip at least a month. I need a distraction. And I thought we could all use a laugh, even a week late.

Our family in Israel has 10 kids, youngest is 7. There are now 7 grandkids, oldest is 6. Here's something funny (and potentially too true), supposedly written by a mother in Austin, TX.

25 THINGS I'VE LEARNED FROM MY CHILDREN

1. A king size waterbed holds enough water to fill a 2000 sq. ft. house 4 inches deep.

2. If you spray hairspray on dust bunnies and run over them with roller blades, they ignite.

3. When you hear the toilet flush and the words "Uh-oh," it's already too late.

4. One 3-year-old's voice is louder than 200 adults in a crowded restaurant.

5. Brake fluid mixed with Clorox makes smoke, and lots of it.

6. No matter how much Jello you put in a swimming pool, you still can't walk on water.

7. Pool filters do not like Jello.

8. Certain Lego's will pass through the digestive tract of a four-year-old.

9. Play Dough and Microwave should never be used in the same sentence.

10. Super glue is forever.

11. Garbage bags do not make good parachutes.

12. Marbles in gas tanks make lots of noise when driving.

13. You probably do not want to know what that odor is.

14. Always look in the oven before you turn it on. Plastic toys do not like ovens. Neither do gerbils.

15. The spin cycle on the washing machine does not make earthworms dizzy.

16. It does, however, make cats dizzy.

17. Cats throw up twice their body weight when dizzy.

18. If you hook a dog leash over a ceiling fan, the motor is not strong enough to rotate a 42 pound boy wearing Batman underwear and a superman cape.

19. It is strong enough, however, if tied to a paint can, to spread paint on all four walls of a 20 by 20 foot room.

20. You should not throw baseballs up in the air when the ceiling fan is on.

21. When using the ceiling fan as a bat , you have to throw the ball up a few times before you get a hit.

22. A ceiling fan can hit a baseball a long way.

23. The glass in windows (even safety glass) doesn't stop a baseball hit by a ceiling fan.

24. Your sister's head will, however, stop that same baseball.

25. Sisters hit in the head by baseballs cause a LOT of commotion.

Hillary's Last Stand?

HillaryClinton.com - Action

"A quitter never wins and a winner never quits. To quit while losing is to lose while quitting." Napoleon Hill

Here's the latest email from Hillary. It's called Florida and Michigan. Here's what it says:

Millions of voters in Florida and Michigan are depending on you to help make sure they have a voice in this race. Will you stand up for them today?

Thanks to your efforts, thanks to the hundreds of thousands of people who have already spoken out, the DNC's Rules and Bylaws Committee is meeting May 31 to make a decision about whether or not the votes in Michigan and Florida will count.

Now I need you to urge the DNC to make the right decision on May 31. I need you to remind them that in the Democratic Party, we count every vote.

Tell the Democratic National Committee to count the votes of Florida and Michigan.

On May 31, the DNC has a chance to make it clear that the people of Florida and Michigan have a voice in our party. The decision is especially critical given the important role these states will play in November.

And your voice could make the difference for the millions of people who went to the polls in those two states to make their choice for president.

Stand with me today and tell the DNC to count the votes in Florida and Michigan.

I have consistently said that every vote must count. It is such an important principle in our party. I really appreciate you standing up for the values we share.

Thank you,

Hillary Rodham Clinton

What do you think I did?

Right. I clicked on the link and I signed up and I wrote what I truly believe. Everybody who voted for Hillary Clinton should see their votes count. Not just in Florida and Michigan, but everywhere.

I'm not a quitter. I want my vote to count too. I chose my candidate because I believe in her and I think she can win. I'm with her to the bitter end. I don't bail without a damn good reason. And I haven't heard one yet.

I don't make pompous, regal endorsements in favor of one candidate, not because I like him or his positions but because, personally, I can't stand her. Kennedy? Kerry? Are you kidding me??

I don't endorse the candidate who seems to be winning so I can seem to be on the winning team. How unbelievably shallow can you get? NARAL? Are you kidding me??

I don't endorse the presumptive best shot to secure myself a cabinet post or who knows what else. John Edwards? Are you kidding me??

I don't jump on a bandwagon just because it looks like the cool kids are there. That bandwagon was created by the so-called cool kids. Who are so very often so very wrong.

I have a position, an ideology, a belief system, a candidate ... and I stand firm until it's really over.

Here's what I told the DNC:

The DNC rules are arbitrary and wrong. It's bad enough our party has been unable to stand up effectively against all the judicial rulings made in favor of Republicans over many elections ... we should not now turn against our own. All the Democratic voters in America should be heard, not just the endorsing-for-gain politicians and other opportunists. Too many convention battles in the past have shown us that it's not over until it's over.

Why did I say that?

Because it's true. And because I don't give up when it seems to become more fashionable to support the other guy. Especially since I don't think the other guy can win.

The Democratic Party has become a joke compared to the Republican Machine. Florida and Michigan are hugely pivotal states in the general election. They represent a pattern that predicts a Clinton win over McCain in November.

If we disallow those voters a real voice and allow nouveau uber liberal guilt to become our clarion call ... it will instead become our swan song.

When are we going to get over ourselves and play to win?

Reflections on Israel's 60th

Yamit, Israel 1978, Israel's 30th Birthday

"If you liked the book, you'll love the country." Israeli Tourist Bureau

Most people who write about Israel do so passionately, unable to suppress their beliefs, ideologies, politics. That's okay. Israel has sparked supercharged emotions from its inception to the present day. How could it not?

A country formed by displaced Holocaust survivors, European, Levantine, Jewish and Arab nationals, the political agendas of Britain, France, Germany and the United States. Home to the holiest shrines of Western civilization's three major religions.

Israel, let's be frank, is--and always has been--the biggest political football in the world. That's not going to stop any time soon. But it won't stop me from going there, either. And it shouldn't stop you.

I've written about Israel from my own biased perspective as a Jew and an American, but also as one who's lived there, has family there, has had many up close and personal experiences.

On the occasion of Israel's 60th Anniversary as an independent nation, here's my sampling of what Israel means to its own citizens, to the world and to you and me.

Yamit, Israel - A Cautionary Town > Gaza - Yamit: Been There, Done That - Friends who made the desert bloom. And then had to give it all away.

Terrorism - A Daily Fact of Life - 9/11 from Israel's point of view.

Israel - Reality Check - See my mother with Israel's founder and first president.

I'm Home and I'm Fine - I unknowingly travel to the US from Israel on the first day of last year's war.

Another Wedding in Israel - And then, I go back again.

And by the way, I'll be heading there next month for a long overdue visit.

Liz Spikol and 'Mad Pride'

Shea Roggio for The New York Times

"It's not a 'mental' illness, it's a medical condition." Dale Neaman

So there she is, Liz Spikol, profiled in the New York Times and on the Huffington Post, back to back. Wow. How cool is that. Especially on a subject about which she happens to be an expert: mental illness.

The focus is on Spikol's contribution to a modern movement dedicated to bringing mental illnesses out of the dark ages and onto the Internet and YouTube. To shine light on a litany of very real medical conditions once hidden in the same kind of closet as homosexuality.

I knew Liz as a child, followed her impressive professional career, learned of her long battle with mental illness. I've celebrated her growth here but never came out, so to speak, about my own membership in her not so exclusive club.

'Mad Pride' is finally a group I can get behind 100 per cent. No, I'm not crazy (neither is Liz). But I'm not totally sane either. If you just went, HUH? that's the problem 'Mad Pride' proponents are trying to address.

Look around, hardly anybody you know is issue-free, so to speak. Or chemical-free, as a result of any number of very real mood disorders and illnesses. Usually inherited, just like heart disease or diabetes.

Yeah, I live a "normal," mentally balanced life, but only with the help of prescribed pharmaceuticals, internal fortitude and external support. So do millions of others, many, many of whom are related to me.

In our family alone we've got bi-polar disorder, manic depression, hypo-mania, clinical depression, suicidal ideation disorder, a potpourri of anxiety disorders, PTSD, obsessive-compulsive disorder, alcoholism, ADHD, Asperger's Syndrome and last but not least, body dysmorphic disorder.

Just about the only thing missing is schizophrenia. Although.... wait ... no! ... maybe ... well ... hold on! ... shut up! Oh, nevermind. Just kidding.

Mental illness isn't funny. Unless you've been through the tunnel, come out the other end and are managing your disease well. Then it can--for some, Must--be a stitch. Because that's the best way to patch yourself up.

A poster girl for 'Mad Pride,' Liz Spikol speaks with heart, humor, raw honesty, intelligence and incredible perception about her battles with bi-polar disorder. Listen to her.



Then listen some more.

I'll take my turn in print. Sometime soon.

Gore and Kerry and Clinton, Oh My

"All people are born alike - except Republicans and Democrats." Groucho Marx

In the democratic process, it's not over til it's over.

In the Democratic Party, it's over when somebody is publicly excoriated, humiliated and undermined by lies, innuendo and personal agendas.

In the Republican Party, it's only over for the Other Guy, after a rousing game of dig up the dirt, spin dross into dirt, throw the dirt, buy some soulless ditch diggers, say a lot of self-serving prayers and bury the Democratic opposition.

In a perfect world, Gore should have learned that from Ducacus, Kerry from Ducacus and Gore, Hillary from Ducacus, Kerry and Gore. But it's not a perfect world.

All four ran campaigns more imperfect than for any Eighth Grade Treasurer (Pick Me! Pick Me!). When attacked, the first three ignored, refused to defend or cry foul, engaged in massive denial. At least Hillary Clinton kept plugging, explored every avenue, attempted to Go the Distance.

Too little too late, especially combined with betrayal after betrayal by fellow Democrats with nothing to gain or lose, no ideological difference save personal animus for Bill or Hillary or both.

And unbelievably, Hillary chose equally arrogant, ineffectual advisers as her predecessors. (And ignored the best, brightest advice available). All those advisers allowed the candidates to run the campaigns. To make major strategic decisions. Big mistake. Really. Really. Big.

Political marketing has been a science for decades. Now in the 21st Century, and especially at the presidential level, it's become astrophysics. Mastering that particular skill isn't in the candidate's job description. Nor is it a role we want him or her to fill.

In smart campaigns, the candidate determines policies, positions, goals, visions. Schmoozes the big money. Appeals to smaller donors too. Does his/her homework and shows up ready to rumble.

It's up to the political pros to stage the right rumble, set the right stage, brainstorm and execute the best strategies to get the message out and the candidate in.

Winning campaigns are poised from day one to read the country's mind, locate the sweet spot, fill the money pot, have fallbacks and Hail Mary's at the ready, know the big stuff from the small stuff and never appear to sweat either.

It's pretty clear the Obama campaign figured that out from the jump. As did the McCain team, though that's no surprise ... Republicans have made political campaigning an atomic art form.

It's very clear Team Hillary got it wrong. (My former pol colleagues and I have been making these same points to each other for months. Hats off to Karen Tumulty of Time for getting it right).

No matter what happens before or during the Democratic National Convention this summer, I fear much of the country will look back in dismay next November and for years to come, wondering how a war-mongering Republican became President of the United States. Again.

Still, it's not over til it's over.

Jenna Bush, AKA J-BU

"I think this wedding is one of the most special ones we've done." Donald Trump

Okay, now that the pictures are out, I have to dish. I didn't think I'd care and really, I don't. But still, to see such crashing bad taste all in one place is just too much fun to overlook.

First of all, Oscar de la Renta or not, that low-cut, tightly fitted gown would look more fitting on say, Katherine Heigl than on Jenna Bush. It screams Hottie on the Red Carpet instead of murmuring Blushing Bride.

And I have to ask, what was up with Maid of Honor twin Barbara's Greek Goddess look, complete with wreath headdress? Jeez.

George and Barbara Bush Senior are conspicuously absent from the photos, which is okay since Laura choose a matronly, ugly dress more suitable for Grandmother of the Bride.

Then we had the two fathers and the groom in complimentary and matching ice blue ties. Again, Jeez.

These people have access to the best clothes and fashion advice that money can buy. Aside from a truly lovely engagement ring--which come to think of it came from the groom's side--and a glorious setting provided by nature, the wedding party's look was as tacky as the souvenirs being hawked all over Crawford.

It is sweet the wedding took place this weekend, but I bet that wasn't Jenna's idea. Releasing those pictures on Mother's Day is too good an opportunity for a sagging presidency to pass up.

Around here, there's no wedding, just the usual pride. Our son spent the weekend down in Boca with his grandparents (today is my Dad's birthday too). Tonight we'll pick him up at the airport and go to our favorite Italian restaurant for a relaxed Mother's Day dinner.

All that and roses too.

I won't be wearing Oscar de la Renta ... just the usual jeans. And a great big happy smile.

KAREN ANDERSON

Karen at the beach

"The eyes are not responsible when the mind does the seeing." Publilius Syrus

My niece Karen and her husband have been raising a son with a rare cancer called VHL. I've written about him so often it seemed fitting to give him his own page: ALEX ANDERSON

Hard as it is to believe, less than a year ago Karen was diagnosed with a different but equally rare cancer, Ocular Melanoma. April 16, 2008 doctors removed Karen's right eye.

Her story is really something. So here's her own page too.

I See Courage Karen's First Diagnosis and Surgery

Pray for Karen Please Karen's Enucleation Surgery (Removal of the Eye)

Update on Karen Post-Op Stories

Eye Catching Views of Karen The Coolest Eye Patches Ever

Happy and HEALTHY Birthday, Karen Karen's Post-Op Birthday

Hag Sameah ve Yom Ha'atzmaut, Israel

Title Translation: Happy Birthday and Independence Day to Israel

"The security of Israel is a moral imperative for all free peoples." Henry Kissinger

Israel as a soverign nation is now 60 years old. Seems it's been around forever, doesn't it? I guess that's because most of us don't remember the world without it. Or without the constant conflict between Israel and its Arab neighbors.

That's been around forever too. And it's not likely to stop any time soon.

Read a little about worldwide celebrations of Israel's 60th Birthday. Broaden your horizons.

Take a look at some breathtaking pictures of modern Israel celebrating its Independence.

Our family has many direct connections to Israel, then and now. And we've seen, as the world has seen, that Israel's independence comes with a very high price.

Most of us don't have to pay that price, but our freedom too depends on those who do.