I just posted the following on the Rosner article:

For why many Jews are turned off by Ms. Palin: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kj-on3kfWuE. Notice the Rev. Muthee’s tirade about the Jews as he lays hands on Palin to ward off the effect of witchcraft. Makes the Rev. Wright seem almost Episcopalian.

For why many Jews are uneasy with the Evangelicals: To the extent that so many of them seem to skip from St. John’s Gospel (that makes a great effort to lay all the onus for the crucifixion on the Jews, while exonerating the Romans in general and Pontius Pilate in particular, and is the foundation for 20 centuries of Jew-hating) to the Book of Revelation. This, while by a different John is a book that even Martin Luther hesitated to include in scripture, and is the source for endless horror movies not to mention the entire “Left Behind” series that reportedly is staple reading for many evangelicals. The key to why so many of these “support” Israel is because the prophecy therein is interpreted as requiring the re-establishment of a Jewish state to bring about the Second Coming, i. e. the end of the world. In fact, the prophecy is pretty explicit saying that some of the Jews will convert (I believe it is 144,000, a multiple of 12) and “accept” Christ and the rest will go to Hell (literally) with all the rest of the apostates, atheists, and agents of Satan.

With friends like this….?

Read your Bibles, folks. The New Testament in particular.

I lived in Massachusetts for 35 years, and many times after casting my vote in the morning, I would motor on up to New Hampshire an hour away to do campaign work for Democrats. (In Mass., that would have been rather superfluous.) Because housing costs are cheaper and the Interstates (thank you, Ike) are convenient, there is a lot of overflow into southern New Hampshire, and the demographic and voting patterns are carrying over.

It is the People's Republic of Cambridge spreading its evil tentacles outward! Be afraid, be very afraid!

Why is it that most Americans don't live in "real" America?

I just played with RCP roll-your-own map. I give McCain AZ, NC, FL, GA, OH, IN, MT, ND, and MO and Obama still wins 291-247. Remove FL, NC, or OH to the blue side and there is just no way that the map goes red. Much as they would like to, I can't see the Repubs stealing that many state elections. Be of good cheer, and sleep well!

The fight will not be over. On Nov. 5 the slime machine will be churning away as fast, if not faster, than ever. And if it takes longer to turn the economy around, don't lose heart. (There are some good signs...NYT business section has a couple of articles about some banks realizing that it makes sense for them to rejigger failing mortgages for lower but regular payments, rather than have to maintain vacant properties that they might auction off for a few cents on the dollar. What took so long? Well, W showed that having a working brain is not required to get an MBA, even from Harvard!)

I fear reaction from the left even more than the right. The perfect is the enemy of the possible, and if progressives (sometimes I think I'm one, and other times not so much) don't think strategically and keep their powder dry, they may inadvertently help the slime machine paint Obama as the "ultra-liberal" he certainly isn't. The American public has been brainwashed and hoodwinked into shooting themselves in the foot for decades, and that's not going to be turned around in a few months, or even years.

BTW...did anyone see CNN's Rick Sanchez eviscerate Joe Ferguson (follow-up to Michael Goldfarb) yesterday? Sanchez is no Rachel Maddow, but he and Cafferty stand out as having real potential, at least in the context of CNN. That Sanchez was born in Cuba and grew up in a Cuban exile household in MIami shows just how much the ground has shifted there...is it 10 years since Elian Gonzalez?

That's what he does...on bad bets, like 35-1 against 12 that pays off at 30-1.

Obama has been playing poker...patient, persistence, reading the table, sizing up the opposition, getting inside their heads and baiting traps for the time when the cards fall right and then cleaning up the pot.

Of course, as a Red Sox fan I know there's always a "bad beat" lurking (that's a Black Swan, folks, very rare but not impossible)but I don't think this is the time. Still, I'll be knocking on doors in NJ 5th on Tuesday. Every vote matters.