According to the Jefferson Library: "There are a number of quotes that we do not find in Thomas Jefferson's correspondence or other writings; in such cases, Jefferson should not be cited as the source. Among the most common of these spurious Jefferson quotes are: 'Dissent is the highest form of patriotism.' "

In case you don't believe the source of the above quote, here's a link to the Jefferson Library directly.

Sorry liberals. As Mark Steyn says in the link above, "F--- OFF!" and "WE WON'T FIGHT YOUR WARS!" (not to mention "Bush is a chimp") are not constructive forms of dissent.

Thomas Jefferson himself said: "Dissent is the greatest form of patriotism." - John F. Kerry April 22, 2006

Dissent is the foundation on which all our other rights rest. If you listen to conservative radio blabs Rush Limbaugh or Sean Hannity, challenging Bush is un-American. It is, in fact, the greatest form of patriotism. - "Liberal strategist" Bob Becker in USA Today July 4 (when else) 2005.

DemocratRepublican Thomas Jefferson said: "Dissent is the greatest form of patriotism." - Walter Brasch, syndicated columnist, professor of journalism at Bloomsburg University October 26 2004

And finally, from the Crawford Peace House, home of The Left near Bush's vacation home:

There have been a lot of angry right wingers trolling this message board. I hope you'll pause for a moment, calm your angry minds, and read the words of the great Patriots from U.S. history:

"Dissent is the highest form of patriotism" - Thomas Jefferson

Boy, they couldn't even get the right mis-quote.

Editor's note - it sure is hard to keep the font right when you copy this stuff in from LJ.

Either the situation in Iraq is much worse than what has been reported so far, or Dexter Filkins of the New York Times has managed to define down a euphemism for genocide.

In northern Baghdad, Shiite families arrive regularly at the Muamal Sadr refugee camp, fleeing the ethnic cleansing that is transforming the mixed cities around Baghdad.

There's no doubt that there is a new problem of people leaving their homes to live in refugee camps in other neighborhoods or towns, but ethnic cleansing?

Much farther down in the article he says, "Full-fledged civil war, with widespread ethnic bloodletting and mass migrations, has not yet come to Iraq."

Is it possible to have ethnic cleansing without both widespread bloodletting or mass migrations?  Paint me confused.

Post number 2000! And to think of all the truly worthwhile things I could have been doing with all that time!

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I know the brother-in-law will love this one - The NY Times decides to make fun of the Presdient's English-speaking skills.

When President George W. Bush referred to himself as "the decider" last week, there was the ensuing list of dinner party queries: Is "decider" an actual word? (It is.) Is it applicable in the world of presidential politics? (Sure, whatever.)

I wonder if this is listed under news, opinion or culture in the print edition tomorrow.

This talk of dinner parties reminds me of the famous quote of the Upper West Side liberal who said of President Nixon's election - "He couldn't have won, I don't know anyone who voted for him".

Also of note, Tony Snow of Fox News Radio has been picked to be the President's Press Secretary as was widely rumored.  It ain't going to be easy, but what a great opportunity for a man who had to be treated for colon cancer just last year.

Being an avid listener of conservative talk shows, for years people have complained that the White House needed someone who could articulate their policies better than the President could hmself.  Hiring Snow is a big step in the right direction.  Now let's see if Fox News always gets the most questions answered at the press conferences.  "I'm glad you asked that Brit...." :-)

The Jerusalem Post now has a Christian Edition - after all there may very well be more English speaking Christians that care about daily events in Israel than there are English speaking Jews in the entire world.  Also, they have come to recognize that Christians may have different perspectives and interests than their current readers.

Maybe the New York Times could follow their lead. :-)

Tonight and tomorrow we remember not only the victims of the Holocaust, but the heroes that fought against all odds in their desperate attempts to survive.  Many people don't know that Yom Hashoah is officially known as Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Day.

As a Jew, to be a martyr means that you die at the hands of another who would force you to renounce your beliefs (or at least be forced to commit suicide in the face of certain death, see Masada).  None of this killing yourself while you kill whoever happens to be in the way crap.

Anyway - I can't explain why, but The New England Holocaust Memorial in Boston right near Fanueil Hall always gets to me.  Its six glass columns are etched with quotes from those who experienced the evil first hand.  I hesitate to call this quote my "favorite" becuase that makes it seem as if reading it brings me some kind of joy instead of a tremendous sadness that brings tears to my eyes.  It was written by Gerda Weissman Klein.

Ilse, a childhood friend of mine
Once found a raspberry in the camp
And carried it in her pocket all day
To present to me that evening on a leaf

Imagine a world in which
Your entire possession is
One raspberry

And you give it to your friend.

If Ben & Jerry's aren't worldly enough to be politically correct all the time, what chance do the rest of us have of avoiding offending someone, somewhere every time we open our mouths? Black & Tan ice cream, anyone? And no, it's not offensive for the reasons you probably think.

Ben & Jerry's apologizes over flavor flap

Are thirty year long baseball careers far behind?

Franco, at 47, becomes oldest player to hit home run as Mets win

OK, let's get this straight. The Republicans could "use" 9/11 for political purposes because a) they could blame he attacks on Democratic weakness in dealing with terrorism in the past and b) they effected a forceful response (regardless of it's appropriateness). The Democrats cannot use Katrina to the same effect because a) local Democrat politicians were at least equally to blame as Republican administration officials for the lack of preparedness and b) as wth other issues no one can prove that their response would have been significantly different.

I think the whole argument of not "using" tragic events in politics is asinine. The federal government exists solely to protect us from and prevent these kind of issues that go beyond the local ability to handle. If there were no large scale tragedies or threats, there would be no need for a federal governement. Maybe that's somwhat facetious, but it's the first thing that came to mind.

Democrats Try to Use Katrina as G.O.P. Used 9/11

We don't go to many concerts, but now that I've stumbled across the Tim McGraw and Faith Hill Soul2Soul tour, I will probably pay a ridiculous amount of money to a ticket agent to go see them. When I was living with my fiancee in Argentina in 1998, they're duet "It's Your Love" was popular - it was their first recording together after they were married. At the time my wife didn't speak English nearly as well as she does now, but she didn't need to for both of us to love this song.

Better than I was
More than I am
And all of this happened
By takin' your hand...

It's your love
It just does something to me
It sends a shock right through me
I can't get enough...

The President has declared the month of May 2006, "Jewish American Heritage Month". Who knew? Declared on "this twentieth day of April, in the year of our Lord two thousand six...". Honestly, this stuff doesn't bother me, but I do consider it ironic.

Via zarq - Things You'd Like To See on a Postage Stamp.

From the daily Opinion Journal e-mail:

"A fake Easter bunny and three of his friends terrorized a group of teenagers Sunday night," the Daily Item of Sunbury, Pa., reports from nearby Danville.....

Well, thank goodness it wasn't the real one.

-----------------------------------------------------

And if you haven't seen the "Easter Bunny Hates You" video yet - you haven't laughed your hardest today.

There's not too many days where it's easy to list out that news stories to which we can answer in the affirmative, "But is it good for the Jews"?

Germany Will Open Records on Holocaust Victims
WASHINGTON, April 18 — Germany agreed today to allow access to a vast trove of information on what happened to more than 17 million people who were executed, forced to labor for the Nazi war machine or otherwise brutalized during the Holocaust.

The German government announced at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum here that it is dropping its decades-long resistance to opening the archives in the town of Bad Arolsen. The files stretch for more than 15 miles, hold up to 50 million documents and make up one of the largest Holocaust archives in the world.

Al-Arian Admits His Role In Jihad (and will be deported...)
TAMPA - When Sami Al-Arian denied raising funds for the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, he now says he was lying.The former University of South Florida professor has portrayed himself as a martyr to free speech, a victim of anti-Muslim sentiment and the nation's war on terrorism. He maintained he supported only peaceful solutions to the problems in the Middle East.

But in court papers unsealed Monday, Al-Arian admitted he raised money for the Islamic Jihad and conspired to hide the identities of other members of the terrorist organization, including his brother-in-law, Mazen Al-Najjar. He also admitted knowing "that the PIJ achieved its objectives by, among other means, acts of violence."

U.S. District Judge James Moody on Monday approved a deal in which Al-Arian pleaded guilty to conspiring to help a terrorist organization. The plea was entered in a secret hearing Friday as part of an agreement that calls for Al-Arian to be deported after serving a prison sentence that amounts to a little more than time served.

I'm particularly happy about this - it's hard to believe that it was 10 years ago that I was living in Tampa only about a mile from where this jerk-off abused his position and the goodwill of politically correct Americans to raise money for, and incote people to kill the Jewish people. No need to wait 60 years for proof.

Just wanted to point out an interesting turn of phrase that I noticed in today's NY Times article regarding the Defense Department's rebuttal of criticism against Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld. In several places in the article, critics of the Pentagon are spoken of as having been "granted anonymity".

"I think it's part of the charm offensive," said the general, who was granted anonymity because he said he was afraid he would not be invited to future Pentagon sessions....

On Saturday morning, two Republicans with close ties to the White House said that they were deeply concerned about the situation and that Mr. Rumsfeld's resignation could help improve the party's prospects for the November elections.

Both men were granted anonymity because they feared that speaking publicly would damage their relations with the White House.

Doesn't this sound as if the Times is acting like God in deciding who gets anonymity and who doesn't?  What ever happened to, "so-and-so requested to remain anonymous" or "so-and-so didn't want to say on the record".  The current article almost makes it sound as if the Times could decide to uncover these people's identities at any times should it decide to remove it's "grant".

Another brief topic of conversation at dinner last night was Darfur and the rhetorical question was asked as to whether we shouldn't be there instead of Iraq? I of course suggested that even of the Democrats were in charge we wouldn't be stopping the killing, although I didn't make the suggestion that the Bush administration or Congress was doing all they could.

So, I asked myself, what are the Republicans doing, and are the Democrats in line, opposed or helpless to respond? Do they not bother bringing it up because of our situtation in Iraq and know that nothing more can be done as long as we're "stretched thin" or have lost our "moral authority"?

First, about the situtation - Wikipedia has a long background entry. As with many political items, perhaps some of the information needs to be taken with a grain of salt. That being said, it's seems too frickin' complicated.  Sunnis and Shia and Kurds speaking Arabic in a population of 27 million I can understand.  Many more tribes speaking

• Arabic, particularly south of Nyala and in the east, but also touching the Chad border in a narrow strip north of Jebel Si, between Fur and Zaghawa;


• Beigo, or Baygo, in a small area south of Nyala (this language, closely related to Daju, is also extinct).


• Daju, in a small pocket near Nyala (of the Western branch of the Eastern Sudanic group of Nilo-Saharan);


• Erenga, north of Geneina and across the border in Chad (considered a dialect of Tama);


• Fongoro, south of Sinyar (also a Bongo-Bagirmi language, nearly extinct; its speakers have shifted to Fur);


• Fulbe, or Fulfulde, in a small area south of Nyala;


• Fur, in the center, from Wadi Azum in the west to Al Fasher in the east (belonging to the Fur language group of Nilo-Saharan);


• Kujarge, south of Sinyar (unclassified);


• Masalit, west of Wadi Azum and around Geneina; also spoken across the border, and in a small isolated area south of Nyala (belonging to the Maban language group of Nilo-Saharan);


• Sinyar, along the border south of Masalit (a Bongo-Bagirmi language of the Central Sudanic group of Nilo-Saharan);


• Tama, in a small pocket between Jebel Si and Jebel Marra (also of the Western branch of the Eastern Sudanic group of Nilo-Saharan);


• Zaghawa, in the north (an Eastern Saharan language);

in a population of 8 million, is too much for my brain.
I know that there has been some additional focus in the Jewish community recently with petitions to sign etc., but I'm not so sure that anyone really understands the issue completely.  Just because one group of peoples is killing another group of peoples doesn't necessarily mean that it's easy to take sides. 

As tragic as the situation is, and I don't want to seem callous, I think comparisons to the Holocuast or even Rwanda are overblown.  We all know the Holocaust stats and in Rwanda, 800,000 died in a matter of months.  So far, it seems that about 200,000(?) people have died after three years of fighting in Darfur.  Maybe it's the "slow genocide" that makes it seem so relatively non-urgent. 

After that little bit of research, I don't feel like getting into the politics.  It seems that working through the UN probably is the only reasonable course of action, as poor of an option as that is.  I fully support the legislation going through Congress now to provide additional sanctions against the Sudanese government and support for the African Union troops. 

Yesterday, President Bush and Vice Presdient Cheney released their tax information.  Cheney wound up getting a $2mm refund, mostly due to the fact that 80% of his family's income went to charity.  My dad and I argued a bit, first because he said that people like Cheney were just taking advantage of the charitable contributions loophole passed by Congress and I argued back that it couldn't be because the loophole was meant to benefit lower income people that couldn't normally take charitable deductions.  He then told me that the new law removed limits on contribution deductions which I didn't believe.

Turns out I was wrong.  The Katrina Emergency Tax Relief Act of 2005 did in fact allow people (basically the wealthy) to deduct contributions against 100% of their adjusted gross income as opposed to 50%.  It does seem that this saved the vice president hundreds of thousands of dollars in 2005.  That being said, excess charitable deductions could always be carried forward for 5 years, so even if Cheney didn't get the tzx break thgis year, he would have gotten it this year, or the next.

That being said, Cheney's contribution deductions were mostly due to the sale of three of his wife's books which were published and dedicated to charity well before Katrina happened.

I was also getting my thoughts confused by the push to allow non-itemizers to be able to deduct their chariable contributions which has been pushed for by many over the years, but hasn't bee passed into law (although there was a period of time during the Reagan administration when it was allowed.  Two-thirds of Americans can't deduct their charitable contributions becuase they don't itemize.

Just wanted to wish people a Happy Passover, Happy Easter and just a Happy Long Weekend if you've got one coming.

Below is a list of links about Passover.

For those who are into a purely secular celebration of the holiday, ABC will be showing The Ten Commandments (ed. - the real one) on Saturday night.  Go Moses, you "stubborn, splendid, adorable fool!"

For some details on the history of the holiday and what it's all about, you always have Chabad, Judaism 101, OU.org, Wikipesach (I mean Wikipedia) and aish.com.  I have to remember to go back to Chabad and Aish to print out things for my kids to do.

If Kosher L'Pesach is important to you, check out Kashrut.com or kosher4passover.com.

Here's the official annual Passover greeting from POTUS.  How dare he quote from the bible!

A seder in Iraq.

I just stumbled upon the most fascinating lego project I've ever seen. It's an online, frame by frame account of the Old and New Testaments. I have included a few sample pics below, but really it's impossible to gauge the full scope of the work without going to the website, The Brick Testament, yourself.

It's not just the details that went into the work, but the way they used the camera to create a sense of depth and perspective to the scenes is incredible.

I totally missed the fact that the Mets formally anounced their plans to construct a new "Mets Ballpark" which will open in 2009. More here. I'm super excited about this even if I only go to one game a year being an expatriate New Yorker and all. NY fans deserved this ballpark 20 years ago. Of the few new ballparks I've been to, it's seems like a blend between those of the Colorado Rockies and Texas Rangers (my semi-adopted team).

I didn't like it then when Robin Givham of the Washington Post criticized the dress of John Roberts' family and I don't like it now that she criticizes the hair of Rep. Cynthia McKinney, as much as a loath McKinney.  I don't care that it's in section C of the printed paper instead of with the hard news.  It's just not right, especially for a newspaper of stature.

They're just one step behind the New York Post which should shut down Page Six TODAY regardless of the circulation consequences.  What Jared Paul Stern allegedly did is disgusting - does anyone doubt that the lying (if not the blackmail, verbal orotherwise) is standard operating procedure?

And another. Matzo Man.

Go to the jibjab home page for their entry in the silly Passover video craze. Matzah.

Of which leading American political figure was the following written in a recent biography?

"X" argued that  "although he had challenged the instigation of the war, he had never voted against supplies for the soldier".

John Kerry?  Nope....

U.S. Representative Abraham Lincoln.  According to historian Doris Kearns Goodwin in her current bestseller Team of Rivals, he was "clarifying" his position on the Mexican-American war led by Democrat president James Polk.  Lincoln also voted for a resolution "which stated that the war had been unnecessarily and unconstitutionally initiated by the President". In a speech shortly thereafter he claimed that the "entire matter was from beginning to end, the sheerest deception" by President Polk.

The more things change.....

More on the Mexican-American War here.  Lincoln only served one term as a representative from Illinois.  Maybe Kerry still has a chance if he learns his lessons well.  As Goodwin continues, "This maiden effort (by Lincoln) was not the tone of reasoned debate that later characterized Lincoln's public statements."

Last night I was listening to Alan Colmes' radio show. He's the "liberal" counterweight to Sean Hannity on Fox News' Hannity and Colmes show. I like him becuase he's actually a pretty sensible guy, even if I disagree with him.

Anyway, he kept going on about how yesterday's story about the "Libby Papers" clearly stated that President Bush ordered the outing of Valerie Plame. Several callers tried to convince him that it wasn't the case, that Bush allowed the release of previously calssified intelligence on Iraq, but not Plame's name specifically. He just kept telling the callers that they were blind to the truth.

This Reuter's atricle which came out today seems pretty clear on the matter.

The court documents did not say that Bush or Cheney authorized Libby to disclose Plame's identity.

When John Kerry announced his candidacy for Presdient in September 2003, he made the following declaration:

"So my economic plan sets this goal: To get back George Bush's (lost) 3 million jobs in my first 500 days as president and we can do it."

Let's not quibble over the fact that it was really 2.6 million lost jobs at the time - "three" does sound a lot bigger than "two and a half".  Today marks what would have been the 443rd day of the Kerry presidency.  Since the day Kerry made his speech, 5.1 million jobs have been created under President Bush, 2.1 million in the last 12 months alone.  At the current rate, you can add 300-400k new jobs by the time the 500 days are up.

To those who say that other expansions have created many more jobs - that is true.  But none of them were starting from such a low unemployment rate to begin with or had to deal with the loss of a major American city.

So under Kerry he would have given us half the jobs and taken away my tax break at the same time.  No wonder I'm Republican.  I like my money and my job.

As a side note, I signed a petition to have Kinky Friedman added to the Texas governor's ballot at the Kosher Chili Cook-Off last week.  You can actually sign the petition online at his site which I didn't  relaize.  I was bummed that they didn't have any stickers or buttons to give out, but that's OK.

For the brother-in-law. Darwin is no problem for Jews.

I understand what the writer is trying to say a lot better than I might have before I took my Kabbalah of Time class with Chabad. There's two ways to be religiously faithful with regards to science. One is to reject science as being anti-God and taking the Bible literally. The other is to believe that every scientific discovery is merely additional proof that only a God could create such a complex universe of wonders. I much prefer number two.

The Democrats' dream has finally come true. They want have Tom Delay to kick around anymore. Can't say I'm not a little tired of the whole thing m'self. So now who do they go after? Hastert and Frist have so little personality, they'll make poor substitutes as the source of all Republican evil.

The Cynthia McKinney sideshow continues - you' d think it's summer. Is there nothing else going on in the world?

The Mets won their home opener today 3-2. I can't even name their starting lineup, but somehow, this day, every year, is extremely important to me.

I didn't think "Matzoh Man" was as bad as my brother-in-law seems to think it was.

Oh, And about that anti-Israel lobby paper from Harvard - ouch. Via PowerLine.

One of the nuttiest passages in "The Israel Lobby," the co-production of professors Stephen Walt (Harvard) and John Mearsheimer (University of Chicago), occurs in the very first footnote. (It's in the full version, on the website of the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard.)

Indeed, the mere existence of the [pro-Israel] Lobby suggests that unconditional support for Israel is not in the American national interest. If it was, one would not need an organized special interest group to bring it about. But because Israel is a strategic and moral liability, it takes relentless political pressure to keep U.S. support intact.

Other commentators have pointed to the absurdity of this statement, since every conceivable special interest has a lobby in Washington, and they can't all be working against the national interest. "By that standard," writes Max Boot, "Social Security, the 2nd Amendment and Roe vs. Wade must not be 'in the American national interest' either, because they are all defended by even more powerful lobbies." Caroline Glick hits even harder:

Every semi-sentient person with even an incidental knowledge of American politics knows that there is no area of human endeavor that is not represented by a lobby in the US. Walt and Mearsheimer's asinine assertion means is that every American interest group--from the elderly to the insurance industry, from the Muslims to gun owners to organic food lovers--stands opposed to the American national interest simply by existing. Any professor who made a similar assertion about any other interest group would be imperiling his career.