By Jonathan Miller, on Tue Nov 15, 2011 at 12:30 PM ET  I'm placing a written within the cracks of Jerusalem's Wailing Wall, a centuries-old tradition Meandering yesterday through the cobblestone streets of Jerusalem’s Old City brought back some poignant memories of my first trip to the Jewish homeland — a precocious and often obnoxious 11-year-old — traveling on a community family mission in 1978.
I most vividly remember the reaction of many Israelis to my yarmulke (skull cap) — specifically the stitching of my first name translated into Hebrew: Yonatan.
They’d flash a proud smile, point to my head, and shout “gibor,” the Hebrew word for hero.
After some initial confusion — I couldn’t figure out why so many Israelis knew about my junior tennis exploits — I learned that I wasn’t the subject of their compliments.
Instead, it was my fellow Yonatan, Jonathan Netanyahu, who two years earlier had led the successful Raid on Entebbe, a hostage rescue mission at the Entebbe Airport in Uganada, in which all 102 hostages were rescued unharmed. Indeed, the only casualty of the mission was Netanyahu himself.
It was a great time to be a Yonatan. And I would never forget the surname.
 A few decades later, I became aware of a new Netanyahu. Yonatan’s baby brother, Benjamin — better known to Israelis as “Bibi” — made a dramatic splash on the international stage in the mid-1980s, as Israel’s representative to the United Nations.
Of course, I was intrigued. Bibi was smooth, polished, charismatic, and spoke the best American-ized English I’d ever heard from a native Israeli. I was proud to be connected to him; even though the association was mostly in my imagination.
But then came the bad news. Bibi was a card-carrying member of the Likud party, the dreaded right-wing of Israeli politics. A proud, progressive Democrat, I couldn’t associate myself with the Israeli GOP equivalent. And when Bibi’s first foray as Israel’s Prime Minister in the 1990s concluded unsuccessfully — and his personal reputation grew more controversial — my heart hardened further; the Entebbe narrative dissipated further into childhood fantasy.
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The RP: Me and My Bibi
By Zac Byer, on Tue Nov 15, 2011 at 12:30 PM ET As Newt Gingrich rises in the polls, you may want to read “Protecting Life and Religious Liberty” platform. I don’t really see anything new…have all the issues in this category been tapped out? [Newt.org]
Send your friends and family a patriotic e-card! [Assorted Patriotic E-Cards]
Here is a speech on liberty given by Abraham Lincoln in Baltimore on April 18, 1864. Read a few lines of the speech and then close your eyes and think of Lincoln. When I do that, I can see the gears churning in our beloved Abe’s head. [Lincoln in 1864]
By Patrick Derocher, on Tue Nov 15, 2011 at 12:00 PM ET  Rick Perry’s debate performance up until that point was not horrible. Every candidate has lapses at some point, its human. However, the fact that Perry has been bad in earlier debates and the fact that he forgot the Department of Energy puts his White House viability on life support. Throughout the campaign the governor has championed what he has done with energy issues in Texas. This is why the lapse is even more troubling. At this point of the primary race, Perry needs to put most of his emphasis and resources on Iowa. He has the money and organization to stay in the race for the time-being, but this misstep could and probably will prove to be the knockout punch for Perry 2012.
(Cross-posted, with author’s permission, from Politico’s Arena)
By Kristen Hamilton, RP Staff, on Tue Nov 15, 2011 at 10:00 AM ET
BREAKING NEWS: Two days ago, Gwen Stefani’s Harajuku Mini Collection debuted at Target. Check out the whimsical commercial that will be sure to have your kids wanting to rock Target’s latest collection: [Racked]
In case you are in need of a good laugh, check out this video of Snooki debuting her goodies on HSN – you know you want to! [The Cut]
While some may say that repeating an outfit is a fashion faux pas, especially if one is in the public eye, First Lady Michelle Obama does so anyway (flawlessly, might I add)! [The Cut]
Did you miss Versace and H&M’s runway show or the Victoria Secret Angel’s show? Check out FabSugar’s fashion recap! [FabSugar]
Walmart may have to forego the store’s fashion endeavors, because frankly, it just ain’t working. [Daily Finance]
By Grant Smith, RP Staff, on Tue Nov 15, 2011 at 9:15 AM ET
The Supreme Court will take up the Obama Administration’s health care law this term. [CNBC]
By Zack Adams, RP Staff, on Mon Nov 14, 2011 at 3:00 PM ET
In this week’s MMQB Peter King breaks down the weekend’s action including the Broncos and Tim Tebow, Mike Smith’s decision on 4th down, and Penn State. [Sports Illustrated]
Speaking of Penn State, here is an update to the goings-on in the case. [ABC]
Yup, we can now say that the 2011 version of the Philadelphia Eagles, dubbed the Dream Team by Vince Young, is done. [ESPN]
Here are some of the winners and losers from Sunday’s NFL games. [Yahoo! Sports]
The wonderful statisticians at Football Outsiders have a metric they call DVOA that measures team value. Check out the updated numbers after Sunday’s results. [Football Outsiders]
Finally, here is an update on what the draft stock is doing for some of the big names in the college game. [NFLs Future]
By Sandra Moon, RP Staff, on Mon Nov 14, 2011 at 1:30 PM ET
Former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Tony Blair offers 10 do’s and don’ts for religion and democracy. [CNN Belief Blog]
Christians and other religious minorities from the Middle East find refuge here in the U.S. from war and religious persecution. [The Tennesseean]
In the wake of Penn State’s sex abuse scandal, comparisons have been made to the scandals in the Catholic Church. One writer examines the similarities and differences of sexual abuse in these two institutuions. [Washington Post]
By Patrick Derocher, on Mon Nov 14, 2011 at 12:30 PM ET This is the message that greets visitors to California's newly-defunct transparency website. Earlier this month, California Governor Jerry Brown (D) shut down a transparency website that his Republican predecessor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, had established. The site, transparency.ca.gov, was lauded as a centralized point from which Californians could access the complete array of official documents and spending reports publicly released by their state government, though a spokeswoman for Brown said that all records will be available at other sites or by request. The latter group includes trip and spending reports, which the Brown Administration maintains are fare lower than those of the Schwarzenegger Administration. [Sacramento Bee]
A federal court indicated that Texas’s Republican-drawn Congressional map will almost certainly be thrown out in favor of a court-drawn map, at least temporarily. Because of a history of racial discrimination, Texas, along with several other Southern states, is required to have its Congressional maps approved by the federal government, which in this case will be drawing a map considerably less favorable to Republicans, affording Democrats further opportunities to capture the United States House of Representatives in 2012. [The Hill]
In New York, Democrats failed to obtain a veto-proof State Assembly when Republican Raymond Walter bested Craig Bucki, his Democratic opponent, in a Buffalo-area special election to replace retiring Assemblyman James Hayes. Unexpectedly, this outcome is considered a win for Democratic Governor Andrew Cuomo, as it strongly reduces the possibility of his party overriding vetos on issues where they are considerably to the left of the governor, namely property tax and budget cuts. [NY Daily News]
An attempt by Ohio Republicans to reach a Congressional map compromise with black lawmakers and avoid a Democratic-backed referendum is being met with further criticism, as it only significantly changes the borders of one district, which makes it only slightly less Republican. Moreover, There are now actually fewer competitive districts than in earlier maps, all of which lean Republican, giving the party a strong shot at winning 12 of the 16 Congressional seats Ohio will have beginning in 2013. According to Jim Slagle of the Campaign for Accountable Redistricting, the current map scores lower for competitiveness than all 53 submitted in a statewide competition that the Campaign held. [Columbus Dispatch]
Wisconsin’s fall legislative session continues, but lawmaking appears to have stopped, with key economic initiativs and plans left in the lurch. Although the state legislature would normally have several more weeks of floor debate and votes, a new round of recall votes is expected to slow or stop progress for the next several weeks, and highly-involved economic bills have been left unattended to, with simpler legislation like a bill providing legal protection to people who shoot home invaders has passed with no difficulty. This is, in many ways, a repeat of this past summer, when a suite of recall elections stopped Wisconsin lawmaking in its tracks for weeks. [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel]
By Jonathan Miller, on Mon Nov 14, 2011 at 12:00 PM ET “We’ve been waiting for the House to conduct their business and they’re having trouble conducting it.” – Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV); July 29, 2011.
“The only thing standing in the way of the House proposal…is the president and Sen. Reid.” – House Speaker John Boehner; July 30, 2011.
America’s leaders are playing the blame game — and citizens across the country are bearing the consequences.
America’s Congressional leaders have always held enormous influence in both chambers of Congress. While all lawmakers are involved in drafting and voting upon legislation, the central role of the Speaker of the House, the president pro tempore of the Senate, and majority and minority leaders in both bodies, cannot be underestimated.
However, the people with the most responsibility and capability to move legislation forward, rarely meet in-person. How can Congressional leadership pilot a nation together if they’re never in the same room with one another?
To fixing this glaring deficiency, No Labels proposes bringing our leaders together by creating a Bipartisan Congressional Leadership Committee.
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The RP: Ending the Blame Game on Capitol Hill
By Stephanie Doctrow, RP Staff, on Mon Nov 14, 2011 at 9:15 AM ET Remember shock rocker Bob Forrest? These days he’s known as the “Addict Whisperer,” using his own life experience to help Hollywood’s most troubled. [CNN]
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A few decades later, I became aware of a new Netanyahu. Yonatan’s baby brother, Benjamin — better known to Israelis as “Bibi” — made a dramatic splash on the international stage in the mid-1980s, as Israel’s representative to the United Nations.
