November 16, 2009 • Vol. 15, No. 9 Download Now! (pdf)

 

EDITORIAL
The Future Is Bright
by Fred Barnes

SCRAPBOOK
Pelosi's Victory, and Other Election News

ARTICLES
Painting Virginia Red
by Jennifer Rubin

Barack Obama's Leading Indicator
by Jules Crittenden

Next, Locusts?
by Elliott Abrams

Dictatorships and Double Standards
by Stephen F. Hayes

The Swedish Way
by Mark P. Lagon

FEATURES
As We Stand Down, Can They Stand Up?
by Max Boot

France on the Hudson
by Fred Siegel and Harry Siegel

The Palin Persuasion
by Matthew Continetti

BOOKS & ARTS
The Ayn and Only
by Katherine Mangu-Ward

Closing Time
by Martin Morse Wooster

Paint By Numbers
by Martha Bayles

Ghost Patrol
by Andrew Nagorski

Unthriller
by John Podhoretz

CASUAL
Keep Hope Alive
by Victorino Matus

PARODY
Headlines amid GOP victories


« Daily Blog Buzz: Pencil Me In... | Main

Purim Is Their Halloween

Mark Murray writes at First Read:

When McCain made a foreign policy gaffe in Jordan on Tuesday, it was Sen. Joe Lieberman who quietly pointed out the mistake, giving McCain an opportunity to correct himself in front of the international press corps. In Israel yesterday, NBC’s Lauren Appelbaum reports, Lieberman once again intervened when McCain made an incorrect reference about the Jewish holiday Purim -- by calling the holiday "their version of Halloween here."

Yglesias describes this as "more ignorance" from John McCain. Not really. Having just returned from Israel, I can assure Murray and Yglesias that the sight of little kids running around in costumes is explained to Americans with a simple, "this is their Halloween." Are they actually engaging in some ancient Jewish form of trick or treat? No. And of course Lieberman is an observant Jew, so no big surprise that he didn't love the comparison. But this is a pretty desperate game of gotcha. And if you don't believe me, here's a recent post by an Israeli on the Purim holiday--it's titled "Our Halloween."

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