Of Patriarchs and Matriarchs

by Nadine Epstein I watched both the Republican and Democratic conventions carefully, and now that they are over, I remain struck by the vastly different styles of leadership that each candidate has practiced throughout their long careers, and now offers America. Donald Trump is the unabashed and proud patriarch, and Hillary Clinton has shown herself to be cast from the mold of ancient matriarchs. As modern Jews, we are familiar with both styles of leadership. The Torah stars biblical patriarchs who wisely (and sometimes not so wisely) rule their clans, often accompanied by supporting actors — wives who acknowledge the primacy of men, yet assert power in a variety of ways. Their focus is often, but not always, on home and children. Pre-Judaic art as well as worldwide anthropological investigation add another dimension to female power: In...

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Hillary Clinton Crushing on David Miliband

By Sarah Breger Pssst...H has a crush on D...pass it on. In a profile in this month's Vogue, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton revealed that she is smitten with British Foreign Secretary—and this month's Moment profile (and cover story)—David Miliband. "Well, if you saw him it would be a big crush. I mean, he is so vibrant, vital, attractive, smart. He's really a good guy. And he's so young!" Miliband seems to be enamored of Clinton as well: "She applies intellect but also psychology to the dossiers that she's studying. She uses her experience in a very impressive way. She brings it to bear in a way that enriches a conversation but doesn't swamp it. She learns from history without being trapped by it. I think it's also important to say that she's delightful to deal with one...

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Clinton Confirmation Hearings: Good or Bad?

By Benjamin Schuman-Stoler First of all, hello! We at Moment and ITM hope you had a lovely holiday season. Here's to a beautiful 2009! (Or at least one without World War 3 and total economic meltdown.) In case you haven't seen it, our January/February issue is out, with a pretty set of photographs chronicling Jewish/black relations in this country to celebrate the inauguration of our 44th president. Darn, what's his name again? The important news of the day involves yesterday's confirmation hearings of Hillary Clinton for Secratary of State.  Clinton took the opportunity to prepare the country for a new kind of State Department that would have a renewed focus on diplomacy and direct negotiation with Iran and other previously untouchable rogue states; thereby signaling a break from the kind of shunning politics the Condoleeza Rice State Department...

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Obama's Jewish CIA Director: Anthony Lake?

The New York Times claims Lake can have the job if he wants it. While it's not clear that he does, he's certainly in the running for something important. After all, Bill Clinton's former National Security Advisor backed Obama from the start, as Robert Greenberger explains in his profile of the recent convert to Judaism in Moment's May/June issue. "Unlike other veterans of Bill Clinton's Administration—such as Madeleine Albright and Richard Holbrooke (Lake's equally ambitious rival in the foreign service class of 1962 who is considered to be a frontrunner for Secretary of State in a Hillary Clinton administration and is also Jewish), Lake chose not to support Hillary Clinton. "Instead, he threw his weight behind Democratic presidential candidate Senator Barack Obama, to whom he is now senior foreign policy advisor. Lake was one of the first...

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UN Roundup

What with non-stop hoopla at the convening of the United Nations General Assembly this week in New York, we offer a quick recap of the main issues to help you sift through the news coverage. Predictably, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has created the most amount of controversy. One example: The American Jewish Committee wrote an open letter to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon protesting a dinner at which Ahmadinejad will be honored. Republican Vice-Presidential candidate Sarah Palin has also made headlines, primarily because of her planned appearance at a rally organized today to voice opposition to Ahmadinejad. This is the rally that Hillary Clinton pulled out of because she didn't want to make it a political circus. In turn, it has become a political circus. Update 3:05 PM: JTA puts the number of protesters in the thousands. Palin...

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